With one of the 15-person groups dead, the rest of them fell like dominos. The balance of power shifted in Konoha's favor rapidly as soon as Jiraiya began moving on the battlefield.
In just a few more minutes, the whole outpost was now empty, not a single soul left inside. All of the ninja who were able to come out or were on guard duty were sealed in storage seals, as per Shikaku's order, though not all of them understood why they did this because only Jiraiya knew the actual reason behind this, and he was just glad that Shikaku was on their side.
The actual reason why they took the bodies was to simply confuse the enemy into thinking that Konoha was going to use those bodies in something sinister, which they sure could, but were not planning to. Shikaku just did this to increase the paranoia of the enemy.
This would not only make them double-check every move Konoha made, but also keep on increasing the security of their outposts.
This was also one of the reasons Shisui's group had created a mountain in the place of the Iwa outpost. If their enemy was confused, they would waste their effort in the wrong direction, may plan counter to some of the attacks which were never going to happen.
Especially since Konoha had an infamous Jutsu which could very well use the dead bodies of ninjas. During wartime, Konoha never used them to maintain their image and respect the dead, but in shadow, no one could be trusted, and Kumo and Iwa would always be on guard against such an attack.
Turning away his thoughts from Shikaku's nefarious plan, Jiraiya gave a last look to the outpost.
Even though there shouldn't be any backup, since they didn't allow anything like a distress signal to be sent, but that didn't mean Konoha Jonin could take their time.
The burning outpost was a distress signal in itself; the burning building could be noticed from miles away, and if they were unlucky, other outposts might find this and notify Kumogakure about the attack.
With Raikage's speed and temper, they may have to face a lightning beast if they wasted too much time there. So after confirming that the mission was complete, Jiraiya gave a quick order of retreat. Everything else would have to wait till they reached their temporary base.
…
"Sir, we lost three ninja and 9 are injured to various degrees," one of the Jonin gave the report to Jiraiya, who was being treated by a medical ninja.
After the blow and sword slash, even he had lost some of his mobility, resulting in an increasing number of close calls. His whole body was covered in various injuries, but still better than some of the ninja who were being treated by the other two medical ninjas.
Though they would have to be treated at the village for a complete recovery, the Jonin present there just had a basic knowledge of medical jutsu, enough for first aid but far from enough for a complete recovery.
The thing that stung him was the death of the three ninja. Two of them fell to suicide attacks, and one to the fifteen-ninja team Kumo had created. In their desperate attempt to flee, they used some ninja as meat shields to breach the circle.
One of the Jonin intercepted them but was clearly not enough to go against 11 ninja alone. By the time others handled them, he was already injured beyond saving.
"Treat all of the injured as soon as you can, then we will retreat," Jiraiya said, sending away both the medical ninja and the Jonin.
'I would have loved to go back to the village, but we are already too late for the Daimyo mission; any more delay and this may raise a few questions we will not be able to answer,' Jiraiya thought and sent another messenger hawk toward Konoha.
Even though they had lost three Jonin-level ninja in the mission, it was still a huge victory, considering Kumo had lost over two hundred ninja. While he wasn't happy about the loss, that didn't mean the mission was a failure—no, it was as successful as it could be.
However, this success raised a few concerns. Losing over two hundred ninja during peacetime was an enormous blow—one that could push the Raikage past the point of rationality and drive him to start a war.
Alas, it was not his job to think about these issues; there were two shrewd politicians back in the village who were very good at such tasks.
His job was now simple: let these remaining ninja retreat back to the village safely and then go to the Land of Hot Water, join the Daimyo's caravan, and complete another S-rank mission.
…
Once again, a ninja called Shikaku back from his house—an important message had arrived, and Hiruzen had requested his presence. However, Shikaku wasn't as irritated as he normally would be in such a case.
He had been expecting the summon anyway. The team sent to Kumogakure should have completed their mission by now, and it was time for them to get to work.
Without delay, he swiftly made his way toward the Hokage Building.
"Good evening, Lord Third," Shikaku said as he entered the office.
"Read this and tell me whether the evening is good or not," Hiruzen replied, passing a message scroll to Shikaku while gesturing for him to take a seat.
Shikaku took the scroll and gave it a quick read. The message was as small as it was going to be. They had lost 3 Jonin and almost all of them were injured, 9 gravely while the rest could take a few more hits, so they were not in any immediate danger.
Though losing 3 Jonin level ninja was a huge loss, but comparing that loss to what they had achieved...
"I don't see any reason why not. Complete eradication of over two hundred ninja, even with all the preparation and presence of Jiraya-sama, I was expecting to lose over ten ninja at least, considering the number of enemy they had to face. Compared to that, losing only three jonin is really an achievement," Shikaku said.
"I know, but now the moment of truth will come when those two villages find out about the attack. I just hope that hot-blooded fool will not let anger dictate his decisions," Hiruzen said, releasing a sigh, then he took out his smoke pipe.
"It's highly unlikely that they would consider war at this time, Lord Third," Shikaku said. "With such a clear example before them, they'll surely realize that Konoha is far ahead in war preparations.
They simply can't take us on alone, and even if they were to combine their forces, they don't have enough commanders to sustain a full-scale war. Even if the Raikage lets his anger cloud his judgment, I'm sure there are still some smart enough people in their council to talk sense into him."
"I hope so," Hiruzen said, releasing a puff of smoke toward the window before continuing. "But make sure we're not caught off guard if they actually decide to start a war."
For some reason, there wasn't much tension in his voice. Whether it was due to the high dose of tobacco he was inhaling or his confidence in the strength of the new Konoha was debatable.
But Shikaku wasn't going to wait and find out. He simply bowed and left, ready to activate all of Konoha's spies related to this wartime situation.