The roaring screams were slowly buried by the sound of wind and snow that covered them again, and the hot airflow gradually disappeared in the icy cold wind. The eyes of the lava-burning warrior, who were originally as bright as the sun, began to dim.

During the rampage, he fought with the ninjas of Konoha and the two toads of Mt. Myoboku for more than a long time, and finally slowly lowered his head in the nervous sight of the ninjas of Konoha.

The hands holding the giant sword also lost their strength, causing the giant sword to fall down, causing a slight vibration.

The solid body transformed towards transparency. In a burst of light and shadow distortion, accompanied by a large number of sparks, it merged into the air and lost traces, as if it had never happened.

Seeing the lava warrior disappear, the Konoha ninjas did not cheer. They did not feel that this was a battle that could be called a victory. They only felt happy and bitter for the rest of their lives.

The earth is in a mess and the cold wind is howling.

On the charred earth, beautiful snowflakes began to fall, covering the gradually cooling corpse.

As far as the eye can see, this originally high-spirited army has already been suppressed by absolute force to the point where it can no longer hold its head up.

Everything that happened this night will be remembered for the rest of their lives like a nightmare that never goes away.

Standing on top of Toad Bunta's head, Jiraiya looked at the devastated land and countless corpses of Konoha ninjas. He had nowhere to vent the anger in his heart. He just stood on top of Toad's head with a livid face, accepting the biting cold wind. It seemed like this would make him sober up.

As the leader of the team, the Jonin of the Sarutobi clan has an unshirkable responsibility in this encounter.

But he knew that now was not the time to feel guilty and self-blame. With this feeling of grief and self-blame, he must direct everyone to clean the battlefield and collect the bodies of his dead companions. He did not want their bodies to be exposed in the wilderness in a foreign land.

Jiraiya lifted the psychic technique and sent Gamabunta and another toad back to Mt. Myoboku.

He came to the side of the jounin of the Sarutobi clan and said in a deep voice: "Tell me exactly what happened this time. I need to understand the situation."

The jounin of the Sarutobi clan nodded, not paying attention to the black ash and blood on his face, and began to dictate the story of the encounter to Jiraiya with a dull expression.

From encountering a surprise attack and then counter-encircling them, they misjudged the combat effectiveness of both sides, resulting in the three thousand troops being completely intercepted here and being ravaged by the eleven-man squad from the Kingdom of Ghosts, resulting in heavy losses now.

If Jiraiya had not provided timely support, I am afraid that very few of the three thousand troops would have been able to escape, and more than half of them would have been annihilated by the enemy here.

After listening to the narrated experience of this jounin of the Sarutobi clan, Jiraiya kept a sullen face, and finally took a deep breath of cold air and sighed.

He did not accuse this Sarutobi clan jounin of his fault here. If there was a fault, as a commanding officer, each of them would be responsible for the fault of command.

After all, they thought they had planned the efficiency of the Demon Kingdom's actions and miscalculated the Ghost Kingdom's counterattack time, which could be as early as tomorrow morning at the earliest.

As a result, the Ghost Country moved faster than all of them expected.

And no one expected that such a terrifying elite team was hidden in the military of the Kingdom of Ghosts...

And the members among them are all holders of forbidden arts, secret arts, and blood inheritance limits. Leaving aside the leader Ichiki, each of the remaining ten people has a powerful strength that is at least as strong as a hundred chunin.

Ninjas with such strength, once formed into an organization, can go into battle lightly and rely on their strong mobility to run unimpeded on the battlefield, weaving back and forth between enemy formations and disrupting the opponent's strategic deployment.

Even if a large-scale force confronts the enemy from the front, it can easily retreat even if it is ultimately defeated.

In the past, Konoha also had such troops.

Interspersing enemy formations on the side battlefields and using them properly can effectively contain the enemy's main force and greatly increase the winning rate on the frontal battlefield.

That's the White Fang Team.

But even the White Fang squad could only contain the enemy's main force from the side battlefield in the past.

Unable to compete with a large ninja army.

Caught in a large force, White Fang's team will also suffer.

This elite team from the Kingdom of Demons has surpassed the White Fang team from Konoha in the past in terms of size and combat effectiveness.

Whether it is to contain the opponent's main force from the side battlefield or from the front battlefield, they are capable of doing the job.

This encounter undoubtedly confirmed this.

An army of eleven.

"Jiraiya-sama, what should we do next? The Kingdom of Demons has such a force. Just based on our words, I'm afraid..."

Even standing next to one of the three ninjas, the jounin of the Sarutobi clan did not feel much safe at this moment.

In fact, after witnessing such power, only returning to Konoha can bring a sense of security.

"Anyway, let's go to the camp to rest and discuss the next thing."

For a moment, Jiraiya couldn't think of any good ideas. He was good at leading a charge, but it was better to leave things like strategy and tactics to professionals.

However, only one thing is clear, that is, the strategic and tactical templates used by the Demon Country in this war that they deduced from existing data have no reference value at all, and must be rearranged.

◎

Konoha.

Naruto, Sakura, Shikamaru and others gathered around the table in the private room to celebrate Hinata's birthday and enjoy the delicious food.

It is still snowing outside, but the excitement and heating inside the private room create a warm world that is completely different from the outside.

They were sweating hotly as they put the hot delicacies into their mouths.

Time passed slowly in their lively exchanges.

The last step is to give gifts.

Everyone carefully prepared gifts for Hinata, and Hinata thanked them one by one and accepted them.

Being blessed by so many friends is a very rare and precious memory for a young lady.

After all, in her memory, this was the first time she spent a birthday party with her friends.

In previous years, I basically spent time at home with my parents and my sister Hanabi.

Although I am very happy, I still feel a little nervous when spending a birthday party with my family, especially when my father is present. I feel that even a lively birthday party will become a normal family meal.…

"Invincibility starts with sacrificing the ancestor"

"Hinata, this is my gift to you, it's a chakra glove!"

When it was Naruto's turn to give a birthday present, he gave him a pair of gloves that could conduct chakra well. They were packaged in a beautiful gift box and placed in Hinata's hands solemnly.

Hinata accepted Naruto's gift a little shyly and coyly.

"Thank you, Naruto-kun..."

Seeing Hinata accepting the gift, Naruto was about to say something when Sakura's question came from beside him:

"I've been wanting to ask for a long time, why did you give me chakra gloves, Naruto?"

Naruto scratched his head and said: "Ah, well, I think the most practical gift should be given. If it is left at home and never used, wouldn't it be a meaningless decoration?"

After all, Hinata uses soft fists and is a typical melee ninja.

With the physical characteristics of the Hyuga clan, coupled with this kind of gloves that can conduct chakra excellently, it can be said to be even more powerful.

"In other words, do you want Hinata to keep it in mind? Naruto, I didn't expect you to be quite capable."

Sakura smiled ambiguously.

Naruto blinked in confusion, not understanding what this sentence meant.

He just considered the practicality of the gift, and Hinata used soft fist, so he chose this gift?

Why did it feel weird in Sakura's mouth? Naruto scratched his head for a while, feeling very confused.

Hinata's face turned red and turned into an attractive red apple.

"Well, Hinata, please don't take it seriously, Naruto's stupid head won't understand."

Shikamaru came over and patted Naruto on the shoulder, seeming to notice something.

"?"

Naruto was even more confused now.

I always feel like I am not talking to them on the same channel.

"I, I know."

Hinata nodded. Although she knew Naruto didn't mean that, she still felt warm in her heart.

"Then, it's almost time, so I'll take my leave."

Hinata held the gift box, bowed to everyone, and planned to leave.

As the eldest daughter of the Hyuga clan, even though it was her birthday, the clan's schedule for her was very strict and she could not stay outside for too long.

The clan had many opinions on her, but in the end they did not make up their mind to abolish her status as the heir of the clan. They just expressed that intention, which also meant that Hinata's many things now have to follow the rules of the Hyuga clan.

There is no way to go beyond the rules.

Sakura turned to Naruto and said, "Naruto, go see Hinata off."

"Eh?"

"It's inconvenient for Hinata to carry so many gifts alone. And it's not safe for a girl to walk alone at night."

"How is that possible? This is inside the village. How can there be any danger?"

Ino and the other girls helplessly held their foreheads, as if sighing. Even Choji, who was still sitting at the dining table eating, couldn't help but stop eating.

Zuo Jing smiled and said nothing, seeming to find this scene very interesting.

"Idiot, just go if you are told. What are you talking about?"
To be continued...