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  Iermath of that intetle, the allied forces from Suna, Kumo, Iwa, and Ame—having suffered heavy losses—pulled bace more.

  The battlefield shifted from the borders of the Land of Fire…right bato the Land of Rain.

  Because of that, Konoha's ninja forces once agaiered the Land of Rain. This time, though, the pressure wasn't nearly as crushing as before.

  Previously, when Konoha had faced the bined armies of four vilges at ohey'd practically been backed into a er—barely able to breathe.

  Even the Sandaime had felt as though a mountain weighed on his shoulders. But now, that burden had lifted off Konoha and fallen squarely on the four vilges.

  In particur, the name "Uzumaki Shin" struck terror into their hearts. Shin's reputation alone had left so many enemy shinobi demoralized that some were ht calling for surrehey were tired of this war.

  However, their respective Kage weren't so keen to yield. Surrender meant crippling reparations. You 't just say, "We surrender," and call it a day—there'd be massive pensation demands afterward.

  Not wanting to face that, they refused to yield. But with morale shattered among their troops, those four vilges had rgely resorted to dodging battles rather than risking open flict.

  It led to a ical situation: basically, one single vilge—Konoha—was chasing down four vilges on the run.

  Konoha was finally feeling a swell of pride again.

  ...

  A Heavy mood for Shin

  While Konoha's mood had improved overall, Shin himself wasn't in high spirits. He kept a tight-lipped, distant expression that made Tsunade worry. Beh her , a flicker of anger rose inside her.

  "Shin, don't let gossip get to you," Tsunade said softly.

  Shin lifted his gaze toward her, then shook his head. "I'm no saint. Of course I care."

  Rumors had fred up again in the Konoha camp, bming Shin for Konoha's own casualties in that previous battle.

  Specifically, they cimed that if Shin had joihe assault on Iwa's encampment—something Hiruzen supposedly ordered—fewer Konoha shinobi would've died.

  Some had lost family or close friends in that enter, and they now pihe bme on Shin, demanding he apologize or admit fault.

  The situation snowballed over a few days, so the hero who once single-handedly turhe tide was suddenly on the verge of being a pariah.

  "Shin, we're back!"

  Kushina, Mikoto, and Koered the tent, with Kushina announg, "We taught a lesson to a few of those loudmouths who kept yelling about you."

  But Shin just sighed. "Beating them up might only make it worse, you know. Now they say I sent you three to silehem. Tomorrow, the rumor'll be that I'm not just uant—I'm violent, too."

  "Definitely sounds like Danzō is stirring the pot," Tsunade said darkly, g her fists.

  "He always tries this kind of manipution."

  Frankly, many in camp realized there had to be someooking the fmes behind the ses. A lot of these angry shinobi were just being used, and a smaller subset were Danzō's direct pawns.

  An ed Tsuood, ready to storm off and front him.

  "Wait, Tsunade," Shin stopped her. "It's true Danzō pyed a role in fanning the fmes, but he's not the real mastermind. Turns out it's mostly…the Sandaime."

  That made her freeze. "Are you sure?"

  "I used the Sharinga to trol Danzō and questioned him," Shin expined bluntly.

  "He had a hand in it, sure, but the bigger push came from Hiruze's face it—if it's not Danzō, it has to be the Hokage. No one else in Konoha's of and would stand to gain so much from this."

  "Then I'll go ask the Sandaime myself." Tsunade's expression hardened.

  "I'll join you," Kushina echoed.

  But Shin reached out and grabbed Tsunade's wrist. "No. Don't bother. I've already made up my mind."

  He spoke calmly, but the resolution in his tone was unmistakable.

  "Made up your mind to do what?" Tsunade asked warily.

  "I'm leaving Konoha. After all this, I have no attat left to the vilge. If the Sandaime wants to mark me as a Missing-nin after I'm gohat's up to him."

  He'd mentiohis possibility before: if push came to shove, he would walk away from Konoha. And now, he had reached his limit. Once Shin decided, no amount ument could ge his course.

  "If Shin goes, I'm going too!" Kushina decred without hesitation.

  "Same here," Mikoto said softly. She'd lost most of her Uchiha ties anyway; between Konoha and Shin, the choice was obvious—she'd follow him.

  Konan said nothing, merely tched onto Shin's arm. She wasn't from Konoha at all; as far as she was ed, wherever Shi was home.

  Tsunade felt a pang, seeing how easily they all chose to leave. She, however, wasn't the same—she'd grown up taught to protect Konoha above all else. The euation tore at her.

  "You're absolutely set on this, then?" she asked in a low voice.

  Shin gave a solemn nod. "Yeah. You know me. I've reached my limit. If I stayed any longer, I might burn Konoha to ashes—and that wouldn't do you any favors."

  He wasn't exaggerating. Shin had no iion of letting rumors or hostility slide; if it weren't for Tsunade's sake, he might have destroyed the camp by now.

  Tsunade exhaled deeply. "Fine. I won't try to stop you. I said before: I'll support you no matter what. I keep my word."

  A grin tugged at Shin's lips. "Even if I threateo blow up Konoha itself?"

  Tsunade shot him a gre.

  "Where will you go after the war?" she asked. "Ohis war ends, I'd like to…find you."

  "Wait, you're ing to see him?" Kushina cut in with narrowed eyes, but Tsunade ignored her and stared only at Shin.

  "You're wele any time, Tsunade," Shin began to say, but Kushina abruptly interjected:

  "We don't wele you at all!" she said, pokio.

  That earned her a lethal scowl from Tsunade.

  "Kushina," Tsunade growled, "I'm in a foul mood already. You really want to provoke me?"

  Kushina only darted behind Shin, making a face. "Shin, protect me!"

  Amused, Shin uedly shoved her forward. "We're leaving anyway, so might as well let Tsunade blow off some steam."

  "YOU TRAITOR, UZUMAKI SHIN!" Kushina yelped as Tsunade seized her by the colr. "I'll never five you!"

  Tsunade, unimpressed, tinued hauling Kushina off for a well-deserved lesson, while Kushina cursed Shin's name in vain.

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