All the captured Cloud Ninjas were handed back, including the two Jinchūriki. Not everyone was happy with this outcome, and some felt that letting them go was like "releasing a tiger back into the mountains." However, these dissenting opinions weren't enough to change the decision. Those who had concerns only voiced them in private—no one dared to speak out in front of Sōgen.

After releasing the prisoners, the Fourth Raikage immediately ordered his army to withdraw and return to the Land of Lightning. The army split into two groups, with one part led by Dodai and Killer Bee, traveling day and night to intercept the Iwa-nin who had not yet left the Land of Lightning.

The Fourth Raikage himself led the rear guard, clearly wary of a possible sneak attack from Konoha.

Sōgen paid no attention to these defensive maneuvers by the Cloud Ninjas. He had made his stance clear, and if Dodai was truly as smart as he seemed, there should be no disappointments. If, in the end, the Cloud Ninjas dared to pull any tricks, Sōgen was prepared to deal with the consequences they deserved.

War is a great catalyst.

Soldiers who have been to war are different from those who haven't, and the same rule applies to ninjas. Even for Sōgen, the constant battles this year, along with his repeated use of the Mangekyō Sharingan, had only made him more proficient in mastering its power.

In addition to the various spoils he had collected on his journey—the Flame Fan, the Banana Palm Fan, and the Kusanagi Sword (Shisui's loot, though it passed through Sōgen's hands)—the most important find was the Flame Fan. This fan, crafted from the branches of the God Tree, had shown him the correct path forward.

The Mangekyō Sharingan was not the peak.

After clearing away the fog, Sōgen saw an even higher summit ahead. The future wasn't limited to what he currently possessed—he had a much broader horizon awaiting him.

After the Cloud Ninjas retreated, the Konoha ninjas didn't leave the Land of Hot Water right away. Instead, they stayed behind to rest and recover in this country known for its hot springs. Unlike the Cloud Ninjas, who were rushing back to expel the Iwa-nin, Konoha's forces had no such urgency.

While this campaign hadn't lasted long compared to the previous Ninja Wars, which had spanned several years, the intensity of the battles was no less severe. Both Konoha and its allies from the Mist Village were exhausted.

This exhaustion was not only physical but also mental.

The Land of Hot Water was famous as a tourist destination, and soaking in hot springs was an excellent way to recover. But that wasn't the only reason Konoha's forces hadn't withdrawn. The other reason was Turtle Island. Before leaving, the Cloud Ninjas had left behind a small team led by the Jōnin, C.

C's squad had one mission: help the Konoha ninjas locate Turtle Island and take control of it.

Before this important task was completed, the army couldn't withdraw. If they failed to find Turtle Island and the Cloud Ninjas were playing tricks, the army was prepared to march north and attack the Land of Lightning. This decision wasn't made by Sōgen alone but came from an order issued by the Hokage after consultation.

As a result, the Konoha ninjas remained in the Land of Hot Water and enjoyed its hot springs!

Leading the Konoha team to take over Turtle Island were Jiraiya and his deputy, Uchiha Shisui. The squad also included members from the Hyūga, Nara, Yamanaka, Akimichi, and Inuzuka clans, representing nearly all of Konoha's major families.

This impressive lineup was largely due to the significance of the "Perfect Jinchūriki."

Despite how easily the Eight-Tails and Two-Tails Jinchūriki were defeated by Sōgen and Shisui, people still valued the importance of Jinchūriki. While Shisui was sent by Sōgen, the others, including Jiraiya, were there to uncover the secret behind achieving the perfect Jinchūriki.

Especially Jiraiya.

Upon learning about Turtle Island, the Toad Sage, who had recently returned from Mount Myōboku feeling uncertain, immediately perked up. Naruto was the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki, and if the secret to becoming a perfect Jinchūriki really existed on Turtle Island, Naruto would definitely need it in the future!

...

"Done! Finally finished!"

Sōgen set down his pen and stretched as he stood up, loosening his stiff muscles. Just then, the door to his office opened, and Uchiha Futaba entered with a wooden tray. The delicious aroma of food filled the room.

His stomach growled.

Suddenly, he felt a wave of hunger hit him.

Glancing at the clock on the wall, Sōgen noticed that it was already noon. He sighed. When work gets busy, time really flies! Rubbing his brow, he asked, "What's for lunch today? That smell... is it pork soup?"

"It's stewed pork."

Futaba placed the tray on the table.

She lifted the lid, revealing a bowl of rice, a bowl of stewed pork, a plate of cucumber salad, and a steaming bowl of miso soup. The enticing aroma exploded in the room, making Sōgen's mouth water instantly.

What followed was a ravenous feast.

In just one minute, the tray was empty, and Sōgen leaned back in his chair, patting his satisfied stomach.

"Futaba, anything interesting happen today?"

With work done, a full stomach, and no immediate need to train, Sōgen was too lazy to nap right after eating. Curious, he asked Futaba, who was cleaning up, if there was any news. As the commander-in-chief of the army, his days were filled with work, leaving him little time for gossip.

Now that the war had ended,

his workload had significantly decreased, giving him time to finally catch up on any juicy news.

"Nothing much, but I heard something odd from the corpse disposal team. It seems they're investigating something, and if they can't solve it, they might escalate the issue soon," Futaba said, piquing Sōgen's curiosity.

"The corpse disposal team?"

Sōgen repeated, raising an eyebrow.

"Futaba, are you sure it's the corpse disposal team? What could have happened with them? Their job is just to handle bodies. Did the corpses start walking on their own?"

This corpse disposal team was exactly what its name implied—not an undercover group from the Anbu.

Their job was to collect bodies, preserve the intact ones, and piece together the incomplete ones. When they returned to Konoha, the bodies of Konoha ninjas would be buried in the village's cemetery, while those of the Cloud Ninjas would be used as experimental materials for Konoha's research institutions, including the hospital.

Typically, their biggest issues were related to the large workload and unpleasant working conditions, not to mention the psychological strain of constantly dealing with corpses. Although many ninjas have taken lives, few are comfortable spending all day with the dead.

In short, the corpse disposal team was a low-profile group that rarely made the news.

"I'm not sure. I overheard some cooks talking about it. Apparently, a body went missing," Futaba replied.

"A body went missing?"

Sōgen's eyes narrowed.

Interesting!

Most corpses don't grow legs and walk away. If one did go missing, it likely meant theft. Was it an inside job, someone from the army, or an outsider? Too many possibilities, and without evidence, it was hard to pinpoint.

However,

Futaba was right. If the corpse disposal team couldn't handle it, the issue would likely land on his desk. After all, ninja corpses held significant value. There was always a demand for them on the black market, where certain individuals or groups would pay large sums to acquire them. The remains of famous ninjas could go for millions, and even the bodies of average Chūnin could fetch tens of thousands.

If a Konoha ninja's body were to end up in the wrong hands, it could lead to a significant leak of information—this was no small matter.

By afternoon,

the situation had escalated. After realizing they couldn't find the missing body, the corpse disposal team conducted an internal investigation, but it yielded no results. Lacking the authority to investigate outside their own group and with word spreading beyond the team, they couldn't cover it up.

"...So, your investigation turned up nothing? You've ruled out any internal involvement from your team?" Sōgen asked, reviewing the report in his hand. Shaking his head, he added, "No other leads? Not a single clue?"

He stared at the middle-aged head of the corpse disposal team, a man in his forties, who was a regular ninja of Konoha. Though his combat skills were unremarkable, he was particularly skilled in stitching and preserving corpses—a talent that had earned him the rank of special Jōnin.

"Um... Hokage's assistant, sir... we... well, we're really only good at handling corpses... we're not exactly skilled at investigations..." stammered the team leader, clearly intimidated by Sōgen's presence.

Had he been younger or even more timid, he might have wet himself on the spot.

"I see."

Sōgen sat back in his chair.

He could tell that the head of the corpse disposal unit wasn't one of those sharp-minded, clever people. He was a typical technical expert, someone who got to this position purely through his skills. It also helped that working in the corpse disposal unit wasn't exactly a sought-after, competitive role, so there was no one vying for the position. This allowed such a technically skilled yet simple man to become the leader.

"I thought it was a small matter… didn't expect it to be such a big deal."

Sougen felt a bit troubled.

A considerable number of corpses had been stolen—nearly a hundred. This was because most of the bodies, after being processed, were sealed in scrolls. Doing so saved a lot of storage space and prevented the bodies from decaying for a long time.

However, this also made things easier for the thieves. With little effort, they managed to steal almost a hundred corpses, most of which were Jōnin-level. Among them were both Kumo-nin and Konoha-nin bodies. The thieves only took a few scrolls but made off with so many corpses.

The only small comfort was that none of the stolen bodies belonged to clans like Uchiha or Hyūga.

Not only the Uchiha and Hyūga, but also the Ino-Shika-Chō and the *** clan all had their own ways of handling their members' bodies. The only bodies left for the corpse disposal unit to deal with were those from smaller clans or ordinary civilian ninjas.

The reason for this was simple: to prevent the leakage of bloodlines or secret techniques.

"This matter needs to be thoroughly investigated. We can't just brush it off when so many Jōnin-level corpses have gone missing," Sougen said. Even though the stolen bodies were all from civilian ninjas, the sheer number of them, and the fact they were Jōnin, meant that not taking this seriously could lead to big trouble.

Moreover, Sougen himself didn't intend to deal with this casually.

"Futaba, go get Shisui... Tch! Almost forgot, Shisui's off on Turtle Island..." Sougen slapped his forehead. With such a useful asset like Shisui unavailable, he had no choice but to rely on someone else.

"Let me think... right, Kakashi. Go get Hatake Kakashi for me."

After a brief moment of thought, Sougen remembered another useful asset. "Also, bring Itachi and Kimimaro. This situation might not be so simple." Stealing so many bodies… Sougen doubted it was an inside job. Of course, if Orochimaru hadn't defected, that would be another story!

But as far as he knew, no one in the village was conducting secret forbidden jutsu research like Orochimaru. So, if the theft wasn't for research purposes, then perhaps it was for profit... though that seemed unlikely. This kind of thing was too taboo. Desecrating the bodies of comrades would get you sentenced to death if caught!

All things considered, it was most likely an outsider's doing!

But speaking of which—

"Didn't you have any security measures in place? How could someone steal so many bodies so easily?" Sougen asked the head of the corpse disposal unit once Futaba had left.

"Uh... well... it's just that nothing like this had ever happened before… we never thought anyone would steal bodies. Plus, this is the military, so we didn't think anyone would dare sneak in to steal anything..."