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"To be honest, tailed beasts are not easy enemies to deal with. As for completely eliminating a tailed beast, that's impossible."
"'Killing a tailed beast' is actually a non-existent option. Even if we kill a tailed beast, the most we can do is make it temporarily disappear. The event will end with Kumogakure losing ownership of the Two-Tails. In reality, in terms of the danger a free tailed beast poses to the entire ninja world, I personally don't agree with this approach, but unfortunately, war only gives us this choice."
Minato's words were a bit redundant. It was as if they had really killed the Two-Tails, but in reality, that wasn't the case at all.
"Although tailed beasts have physical bodies, they even breathe and have intelligence, it's hard to classify them as ordinary life. In essence, tailed beasts are a collection of chakra. After they are destroyed, it only takes a few months to a few years for the chakra that dissipated due to their 'death' to re-aggregate, and the tailed beast will be resurrected. This ability to not truly die is one of the reasons why they're permanently considered weapons."
Because of the commotion caused by the Jinchūriki's tailed beast transformation, Minato's squad had to retreat temporarily. The mission progress would be slowed down.
As for the large group of Kumogakure ninjas who were coming, they would inevitably have to pay a heavy price if they wanted to subdue the enraged tailed beast. This situation was undoubtedly something that Konoha would welcome.
"I don't think so. Tailed beasts aren't unkillable. It's just that we haven't truly killed them. It's not wrong to consider tailed beasts as ordinary life. Their ability to revive is just an anomaly. As long as we use the right method, there's always a way to completely kill something that can be killed."
Haori's viewpoint was clearly different from Minato's understanding. If there's a beginning, there must be an end. They hadn't killed the tailed beast, but they just hadn't found the right method.
"…Perhaps you're right, but if we can't find that method, it's the same as not having it."
"The existence of tailed beasts has almost been around for the entire history of the ninja world. But unfortunately, there are several cases in history that have been clearly recorded where tailed beasts were killed. But until now, the number of tailed beasts has always remained at nine. Not a single one has been reduced."
"So, ninjas started using sealing jutsu to deal with tailed beasts… This doesn't mean that it's a 'lesser of two evils.' On the contrary, because of the continuous development and refinement of sealing jutsu, it became possible to utilize the tailed beast's vast and terrifying power. From a certain period of time, Jinchūriki appeared…"
"Tailed beasts have always been seen as disasters. Even after they could be sealed into the bodies of ninjas, this was still the case. But power is like that. What makes some people fear and dread it, makes others envy and crave it. So, after Jinchūriki appeared, ninjas began to fight over tailed beasts, until the ninja village system was established. Only then did the tailed beasts have a clear ownership."
"So, Haori, if there really is a feasible way to kill tailed beasts, that would be a good thing for everyone."
Minato's tone was tinged with a different kind of emotion. Perhaps he was thinking about Kushina.
"Maybe…" Haori's words were on the tip of his tongue, but then he felt he couldn't say it. He swallowed the words and said, "No, nothing. I mean, we'll find that method eventually."
"Yeah, but that's probably a long time from now."
People have to hold onto hope for some things, even ninjas.
Minato's squad's mission would continue. They were only temporarily retreating. After all, the mission objective wasn't for them to fight the enemy's main force.
And after this mission was over, as time passed, Minato's squad would face countless other missions.
...
The overall situation and the battle situation were worse than Konoha's high command had originally expected.
Konoha and Sunagakure had ended their war two or three years ago. This came from the decisive, all-out attack led by the Hokage. And ending the war with the Hidden Mist ahead of schedule was a pleasant surprise.
As for Iwagakure, the two sides were in a state of tacit ceasefire. Although this kind of tacit agreement was always unsettling, as long as both sides remained silent, it was peace.
But the war between Konoha and Kumogakure continued, and it was going to continue.
Although Konoha's active retreat had created some distance between their front lines, the small-scale battles that broke out from time to time were still fierce.
The good news was that over the past year, the overall trend of battles between the two sides was shrinking. The bad news was that this shrinkage was limited.
In other words, although the situation on the battlefield itself hadn't changed much, the overall macro-battle situation was heading in a good direction.
But no matter what, Konoha's plan to end the battle with Kumogakure within a year didn't come to fruition. They didn't even manage to secure a short ceasefire.
This war, which was destined to have no result, had already lost its real meaning. But for Kumogakure, the act of war itself was meaningful. So, they would continue this war, even if they were battered and bruised.
Minato's squad's combat strength was deployed frequently for missions. But strangely, they had never encountered Kumogakure's strongest duo.
Given the information Konoha had obtained and the personalities of the brothers in rumors, it was hard to imagine that they would deliberately avoid Minato because they feared the Yellow Flash's reputation.
Even more convincing evidence was that Kumogakure's AB duo was also very active during the final stages of the war. They caused Konoha a great deal of damage. After all, ordinary ninjas couldn't resist such enemies.
Encounters on the battlefield could be attributed to chance. Not encountering them could also be attributed to chance. That's the only way to explain it.
Currently, there are about 6,000 ninjas from Konoha and Kumogakure facing off and fighting on this battlefield, one and a half times the number of Kumogakure ninjas.
Even in this situation, Kumogakure was still fighting on multiple fronts. When it came to war, they weren't just refusing to lose to Konoha. They refused to lose to anyone.
One day, Jiraiya found Minato again because of something. But this time, it had nothing to do with combat missions. He just had something to tell Minato.
"Jiraiya-sensei, is there any new situation on the Kumogakure side?" Minato asked, noticing that Jiraiya's expression was a bit different than usual.
"No."
Jiraiya gave a negative answer. "This has nothing to do with Kumogakure. It's a situation within Konoha itself. I got information about Danzō's new activities."
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