Chapter 153 - The Hero's Return.

[Chapter Size: 2000 Words.]

Third Person POV

Land of Sand, Year 38.

...

...

The sound of feet touching the trunks as the ninjas propelled themselves forward echoed through the forest, while hundreds of Konoha ninjas continued to run through the forest they had finally reached after leaving the desert, heading north and going further north. The Phantom Squad was among the ninjas, and of course, there was Minato too, running at the center of the formation.

More and more Konoha ninjas were arriving after leaving the Land of Wind as they finally started returning, joining them.

"Do we have enemies following us?!" one of the ninjas asked the group.

"No one followed us, sir! They went north to help with the attack on their camp," the ninja replied as their leader nodded in agreement.

"And how's the situation with the wounded?" the lead jonin asked.

"We have 43 wounded, some seriously, but no losses... we had the advantage since we outnumbered them and attacked from the north, so we're fine..." another ninja responded.

"Wow... I still can't believe we managed to invade the Land of Wind, find Minato in the desert, and escape... I'm definitely taking a vacation after this!" Zelda said with a smile.

"I have to agree with you... Our rebel mission was a success. It's hard to believe," Echo said.

"We had reinforcements at the last moment, so we managed after all..." Horny said.

"But it's impressive... Our boy is gaining enough confidence to lead so many ninjas, as expected, Minato..." Falcon said, smiling behind his mask.

"Thank you, guys," Minato murmured, grateful.

"Come on, kid, you just became a war hero! Everyone already knows what you've done by now," Blade said, sparking a look of surprise in Minato, who looked back, not knowing what to think about this statement.

"Don't look like that, kid. You just changed the course of the whole battle. Maybe it's finally time for us to have our own advantage in this war. We've been losing for years! Chiyo's poison wasn't created long ago, and we got the antidote thanks to your actions... do you know what kind of impact this will have on the war? Besides, it will take a long time for Chiyo to create another poison, so we can rest until then," Alpha said as they continued through the forest, then added.

"This brought hope to our army, and it was you who did that by risking yourself on such a suicidal mission. So yes, you are a hero now," he finished, smiling behind his mask.

Minato scratched his head but kept moving forward without further comment. His companions were all wounded, or at least most of them, and all he wanted was to finally reach the camp to rest. His body was already at its limit. He wasn't feeling healthy at all, exhausted after so many battles using chakra and stamina.

The group continued, with no more pursuers, until they finally met up with other ninjas, who were waiting for them ahead. Among them was a man, smiling as he saw Minato, leading them and waiting for them to approach.

"Sensei!" Minato called out, looking at Jiraiya, who quickly approached him.

"Come on, everyone, we need to escort them back to the camp," he said, then looked at Minato. "You did well on this mission. Honestly, I would never have sent you on something like this, but you always know how to exceed everyone's expectations..." Jiraiya commented, admiring the success of Minato's crazy operation.

"Thanks for the honesty... I guess..." Minato replied.

As they advanced, the war in the west continued. A giant chaos ravaged the battlefield. Giant serpents had been summoned by Suna's enemies and were advancing against the desert country's ninjas, who used puppets, jutsus, and paper bombs to defend themselves. Explosions were happening all the time, and with many ninjas leaving for Suna in recent days to search for Minato, Suna was at a disadvantage.

Even so, Suna's forces began to return from the desert and were slowly starting to turn the tide of the battle as more and more groups joined under the Kazekage's orders.

The turning point happened when the presence of the Kazekage himself appeared on the battlefield, as two other important ninjas, Rasa and Kai, were not there, both being unable to fight after being taken down by Minato. Another person who joined the reinforcements was Chiyo herself, along with her son's wife.

Orochimaru, leading the attack, resisted as long as he could, but eventually, he began to lose ground. In the end… with no choice, Orochimaru finally raised his hand to everyone.

"We're going to retreat," he finally ordered.

The ninjas began to pull back, and the snakes vanished into smoke. The Kazekage watched this with a frustrated expression, observing the battlefield.

"What are we going to do now?" one of the ninjas asked.

"It won't do us any good to chase them now. Check the damages and take control of the situation," the Kazekage gave the order, looking at the last of the Konoha ninjas before they disappeared into the forest of the Land of Rain. Things had turned quite bad for the Sand Village, but the Kazekage had no choice but to bear the weight of shame.

Meanwhile, a few minutes later, Orochimaru and the others started to return to Konoha's southern camp, or rather, Camp 1.

"You've finally returned..." the camp commander approached Orochimaru, while over 3,000 people were in the camp preparing to be called into battle. After all, the first team had been sent only to assess the enemy's strength and gather information on Minato; there were 3,000 ninjas here ready to carry out the mission.

"We're going to attack again... Commander Orochimaru?" Nawaki asked.

"We won't need to, after all, they're coming here right now," Orochimaru said, smiling. He had his own ways of knowing this even from a distance.

It didn't take long for a sentry ninja to arrive from the south, kneeling before the camp commander.

"Well... you heard him, let's get ready to receive them!!" the camp leader said.

Meanwhile, Minato was finally arriving. He sensed thousands of people ahead of him and sighed in relief, thinking he would finally get to sleep for about three days. The light at the edge of the forest finally reached them as they leapt toward the camp entrance, soaring through the air as the small breeze brushed against his face, along with all the ninjas surrounding him.

However, as soon as he touched the ground, an explosion of voices erupted with a deafening sound that filled the entire place. Minato was quite stunned when people started shouting for him, or rather, when the ninjas at his side took a step back, he realized it was for him.

"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHH!!!!" The explosion of cheers continued. The entire camp had been waiting for him, and as soon as he arrived, everyone came to see him.

"Minato Namikaze! I always believed in you!!"

"You saved my brother. I owe you a lifetime debt."

"Minato, my son was on the front lines... if it weren't for you, he wouldn't have survived!"

"You've brought us hope, Minato! We're going to win this war!!"

"I knew you were special, Minato! You've proven it to all of us!"

"Thanks to you, our infected ninjas will live to see another day!"

"You've just saved thousands of Konoha ninjas, we'll never forget what you did!!"

Thousands of voices rose around him, as everyone turned their attention to Minato. The boy stood there, frozen, as he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"This time, you really surprised us, Minato. You alone accomplished the greatest feat of this war. Now, everyone is looking at you as a hero," Jiraiya said.

"Sensei..." Minato murmured, looking at his teacher, holding a small smile but with a proud glimmer in his eyes.

"Go, they're waiting for you. This is your moment," Jiraiya said before giving Minato a gentle push forward.

Minato took a few steps forward but stopped again, unable to move as he looked at all those ninjas.

"Well, it seems the kid is starting to leave us behind," Vortex said with a smile.

"Damn, Vortex, he really surpassed all of us..." Falcon said.

"I wish I was as strong as you," Echo said, sounding like he was crying behind his mask.

"I'm so proud of you, my student. You learned everything I taught you," Ghost said, while Blade slapped Ghost on the head, causing him to scratch the spot.

"Stop thinking his achievements are thanks to you," he said to his cousin.

"Now go," Alpha said with a proud tone, patting Minato on the back.

Minato still seemed frozen, with all those people shouting for him. He didn't even react when he was pushed even harder by Zelda, causing him to fall into the middle of the crowd. The people surrounded him at that moment, with smiles and admiration in their eyes, something Minato had never seen from so many people directed at him.

Jiraiya just watched from afar, arms crossed and with a calm smile, as he saw people start to tell Minato things, and Minato scratched his head, a little embarrassed, not used to this kind of situation.

"Well, that's quite a reception," a voice came from behind him, as Tsunade walked up to Jiraiya.

"You're here? I thought you'd be taking care of the main operation," Jiraiya commented, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, I had to see if the kid needed any help. Besides, six ninjas appeared out of nowhere at my camp after he teleported them, all of them wanting to help Minato as soon as they started receiving medical care," she said before looking at the crowd of ninjas in the middle of the camp with Minato.

"He just came out of hell, but it looks like he's doing quite well," she added, moving closer to Jiraiya and standing by his side. "And also, someone insisted a lot for me to come here, very worried about his beloved companion," she said as Tsuna approached as well, looking ahead where Minato was.

"Who would've thought that by saving a friend, he'd affect so many lives and an entire war," Jiraiya said.

"You knew this would happen sooner or later. Minato has all the qualities; he just needed the right moment. Even so, I'm stunned to think he's done something even more impressive than usual. Besides, thanks to him, my daughter is alive," Tsunade responded.

"It's a shame he's not used to crowds yet, but I'm sure soon enough, he'll have to be..." Jiraiya murmured.

"Are you talking about your destined student or wearing that hat?" Tsunade asked.

"Maybe both." Jiraiya smiled widely this time as he said that.

Tsunade didn't reply, her eyes falling on the girl beside her, keeping a curious and uncertain look as she watched her friend from a distance.

"You're not going over there too?" Tsunade asked Tsuna, who seemed to hesitate.

"I don't think so. I'll wait to talk to him later, there are too many people there. He won't hear me like this," Tsuna murmured.

"Wow, I wish I had had that kind of relationship in my teenage years with a certain woman," Jiraiya couldn't help but murmur.

"That woman is very well married, Jiraiya," Tsunade replied, her tone quite serious.

Jiraiya just shrugged, turning his attention back to Minato, while the crowd chanted his name in unison.

"MINATO!!"

"MINATO!!"

"MINATO!!"

"MINATO!!"

"MINATO!!"

Minato was lifted into the air by the crowd as many cheered and clapped, with smiles and shouts of admiration echoing around him. Minato couldn't help but smile at that moment, affected by everyone's feelings.

Konoha had finally found a hero, a hero who was just at the beginning of his legend, a story that would go far beyond this war and the coming decades, one that would affect the entire world, and in time, there would be no one who hadn't heard of Minato Namikaze.

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