The young researcher was clearly less stiff than before this ti. In fact, he looked a little excited.
The second set was placed down in a folded-back pattern.
This ti, the main detonation had only just started when the first two tags linked smoothly. The third connected as well, but when it reached the fourth bend, the chakra thread suddenly snapped with a sharp pa.
The next two tags only half-detonated, while the rest misfired.
The old man from the sealing team frowned. "The bend can't withstand the load."
The ninja tool team leader imdiately said, "It's not that it can't withstand the load. This section absorbs heat too quickly. The thread burned first."
"Then change the wrapping around the thread."
"The wrapping will make it thicker!"
"Thicker is still better than snapped!"
The two looked like they were about to start arguing again when Chizumi spoke.
"Test the third set first."
Shizune, listening from behind, felt her heart climb into her throat. "Shouldn't we… wait a little and solve the second set's problem first—"
Chizumi glanced back at her. "Even if the third set breaks, it will break in a way that tells us why."
Shizune was left speechless. In the end, she could only grip the clipboard tightly.
When the third set was laid out, even Kakashi closed his book.
"If this one works, things are going to get interesting."
The main detonation began.
The first sound was muffled.
It wasn't crisp like the previous two tests. Instead, it sounded as if so suppressed force had suddenly swelled outward from the center.
Imdiately afterward, the first outer layer lit up all at once.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The three explosions nearly overlapped.
In the next instant, the second layer was pulled in, and the third layer connected right after it. The bursts of light didn't scatter outward. Instead, they seed to be forcefully contained by the looped structure, crashing into one another until the final impact compressed into a larger shockwave. It blasted away a huge chunk of the stone slab and the small dirt slope behind it.
Earth, stone, and splintered wood flew everywhere, pelting the barrier with sharp crackling sounds.
Everyone behind the safety line instinctively narrowed their eyes.
Kiba cursed. "Holy—"
Shikamaru stared at the smoke and dust over there, then slowly finished the thought.
"That really does feel like a jōnin-level ninjutsu."
The corner of Kakashi's mouth curved up, but his eye was genuinely serious.
"And that was with such a small set."
Chizumi said nothing. He only looked at the crater that appeared after the smoke cleared.
The old man from the sealing team had already rushed to the edge of the barrier, his beard trembling with excitent.
"The structure didn't collapse! The main axis didn't shift either! The right side of the third layer burned a little fast, but the overall structure held!"
The young researcher stood where he was, as if he still hadn't recovered from the explosion.
"It really can work…"
The ninja tool team leader murmured, "If we scale this up a little…"
Shizune suddenly spoke. "No imdiate scaling up!"
Everyone froze.
Holding her clipboard, Shizune's face was pale, but her tone was firm.
"Finish the stability testing first. That explosion just now almost exceeded the first-layer barrier estimate. If we increase the size, the barrier team will have to recalculate everything."
Soone from the barrier team imdiately called from afar, "Exactly!"
Shikamaru watched from behind, then couldn't help leaning toward Kakashi and whispering, "That's the first ti I've seen Miss Shizune yell like that."
Kakashi smiled.
"That ans she also knows how troubleso this thing will be if it's really completed."
Only then did Chizumi speak.
"That's enough for today."
The old man from the sealing team froze. "So soon? We can still adjust the third set—"
"Record the data first," Chizumi said. "Record the break points, heat absorption, delays, and loop positions. We're not increasing the scale today. We'll only mature the three structures."
The old man clearly still wanted to continue, but when he t Chizumi's gaze, he ultimately forced down that impulse.
"…All right."
Chizumi turned to Shikamaru and the others.
"Co here."
The group moved closer. A larger diagram had already been spread out on the ground.
Chizumi pointed to several spots on the diagram.
"These are the places where this kind of linked explosive ninja tool may be used next. Ravines, under bridges, convoy stopping points, and the edges of temporary fenced camps."
Shikamaru crouched down and studied it for a while.
"You want to bury them in chains, not have people place them on the spot?"
"Correct."
"Then soone has to go there in advance to bury the wires."
"So they have to be lighter, shorter, and faster to connect."
Neji looked at the diagram. "If they're buried underground, the Byakugan can see them."
"That's why they won't only be buried underground." Chizumi's finger traced across the map. "They'll also be placed in rock cracks, wooden beams, under carts, and at the joints of temporary fences."
Kiba bared his teeth. "Now they really won't be sleeping well."
Leaning off to the side, Kakashi suddenly asked, "Are you planning to give this thing a na?"
Chizumi looked up. "Is that necessary?"
"We can't keep calling it 'that thing where we link explosive tags together with chakra threads,'" Kakashi said with a smiling eye. "Too long. You can't shout that on the battlefield."
Kiba imdiately cut in. "Then call it Boom-Boom Chain?"
Shikamaru fell silent for two seconds.
"Shut up."
Shizune couldn't help holding her forehead. "What kind of na is that…"
Shino said calmly, "Too literal."
Tenzō added quietly, "And it sounds awful."
Kiba was unconvinced. "What's wrong with simple and easy to rember?"
Looking at the diagram, Chizumi casually said, "Chain Explosive Tags."
Everyone paused.
Shikamaru thought for a mont. "…That's not bad."
Kakashi smiled. "At least it's better than Boom-Boom Chain."
Kiba's face darkened.
"What's wrong with my na?"
"A lot," Shikamaru said.
"Many things," Shizune added.
anwhile, the air inside the Allied Forces' temporary command camp was anything but relaxed.
By evening, the wind outside the camp was snapping the flags loudly, but inside the tent, the atmosphere was so stifling it made people feel blocked in the chest. Several long tables had been pushed together into a temporary conference table, and it was surrounded by representatives from the three great daimyō, envoys from smaller nations, officials in charge of supply allocation, and several ninja commanders who truly held military authority.
Spread across the table were newly reorganized supply maps and casualty reports.
But at the mont, no one wanted to be the first to look at the words written on them.
The Lightning Daimyō's face was gloomy, his fingers tapping the table again and again.
"The dicine warehouse, ninja tool warehouse, and main grain warehouse are all destroyed. Tell , who decided on those defenses?"
An old minister responsible for logistics from the Land of Earth imdiately raised his head.
"The number of guards was decided according to our previous estimates. No one expected Konoha to—"
"No one expected it?" The Lightning Daimyō cut him off directly. "So now you're telling that we were beaten this badly simply because you 'didn't expect it'?"
The old minister's expression stiffened. "Daimyō, that isn't what I ant."
The envoy from the Land of Wind said coldly, "If that isn't what you ant, then what did you an? The location of the rear warehouse was first decided by your Land of Earth. You said the terrain was good, easy to defend and hard to attack. And now? Burned clean overnight. Who is going to take responsibility?"
Soone from the Land of Earth imdiately grew displeased. "That's easy for you to say. The warehouse location was decided jointly, and the guards weren't only our people. When it was bombed last night, what were the patrol squads your Land of Wind sent over doing?"
"What were they doing? At least they weren't like your useless bunch, who couldn't even see the enemy's shadow!"
"You—"
"Enough."
A low voice pressed down, and the tent instantly quieted sowhat.
The one who spoke was not a daimyō, but a man sitting slightly farther back.
His exact age was hard to tell. He was tall and thin, draped in a dark-colored robe, with no exaggerated emblem on his shoulders. But there was an old scar running diagonally from his temple to his jaw. The scar didn't look especially hideous. Instead, it made him seem cold and hard, like tal.
He had barely spoken since entering the tent, but whenever he did speak, the people around him quieted.
The Lightning Daimyō frowned, but did not refute him on the spot.
The man raised his eyes, his gaze sweeping over everyone's faces.
"Arguing over who defended poorly last night is useless."
The Wind envoy suppressed his anger. "Lord Heidan, soone still has to take responsibility."
The man called Heidan said flatly, "Responsibility will naturally be taken. But not now."
The old minister from the Land of Earth seed to have found a step down and imdiately followed up, "Lord Heidan is right. The most important thing now is repairing the supply line, not cursing at each other."
The Wind envoy sneered. "Of course you people from the Land of Earth want to repair the line first. The warehouse was bombed in your rear section, so you're the ones in the greatest hurry."
The Lightning Daimyō suddenly said, "They are not the only ones in a hurry."
His voice sank. "What burned last night wasn't only the Land of Earth's grain. It also included the soldier pills and ninja tools sent by the Land of Lightning. Our forward columns are already pressed to the very front. With that batch of supplies cut off, it's still unclear who will suffer more."
The Wind envoy froze, and his expression worsened.
Because that was indeed true.
For a mont, the tent fell silent again, leaving only the sound of wind shaking the fabric.
Heidan raised his hand and opened one of the casualty records on the table.
"The main grain warehouse is gone. Replenish it."
"How?" the old minister from the Land of Earth imdiately said bitterly. "It's not that the rear can't transfer grain at all, but even the closest batch will take ten days round trip. Not to ntion dicine and soldier pills—"
"Then dismantle it."
"Dismantle?"
Heidan pushed the map toward the center and placed his fingertip on several warehouse points that had not originally been on the main line.
"Break up the reserve warehouses. Fill the front line first. Reduce the allocation for the mixed units in the middle. Prioritize the forward supply line and the elite units at headquarters."
As soon as he said that, several people at the table changed expressions.
An envoy from a small country couldn't help saying, "Reduce allocation? Lord Heidan, our people were already receiving very little. If you reduce it further—"
Heidan didn't even look at him.
"Then have your people go ho."
The envoy's face flushed.
"How can that be? Since we've already—"
"Since you've already co, shut your mouth and exchange your lives for rations." Heidan's tone was terrifyingly level. "This is not the ti to bargain. If you think it isn't worth it, you can take your people and leave right now."
The envoy's lips trembled twice, but he actually didn't dare say anything more.
The Lightning Daimyō looked at Heidan and said in a low voice, "Continue."
Heidan tapped another spot on the map.
"Second, change large warehouses into small warehouses. Don't pile supplies into huge relay points anymore. Split them into four to six scattered warehouses. Each stores less, but they can connect with one another. Even if Konoha destroys one again, it won't cut off the entire line."
Soone from the Land of Earth imdiately frowned. "That will scatter the defenses even more."
"They should have been scattered to begin with," Heidan said. "One reason you were bombed last night was that you piled too much in one place and still thought the people of the Land of Fire would only wait for us to push forward."
The Wind envoy said coldly, "Easy to say. But if the warehouses are scattered, the escort teams need to increase too. Where do the people co from?"
Heidan said, "From those who shout the loudest but have the weakest combat strength."
The small-country envoy who had spoken earlier changed expression again.
"Lord Heidan, what you an by that—"
"Don't understand?" Heidan finally turned to look at him. "I an from your people."
The blood drained from the envoy's face.
The people around the table exchanged glances. Everyone could see that once this adjustnt was truly implented, the small nations' mixed units would suffer first.
But right now, no one dared be the first to flip the table.
Because last night's fire had burned far too hard.
Just as the tent was about to fall into another deadlock, a guard suddenly announced from outside.
"The Land of Wind's frontline commander has arrived."
The tent flap was lifted, and a man wearing a sand-colored outer robe walked in, still carrying traces of wind and sand on his shoulders and back. Compared to the people sitting in the tent arguing, he looked far more like soone who had truly co from the camp and the columns. With one sweep of his gaze, he clearly knew how much complaining had already happened outside.
After entering, he didn't bother with excessive formalities. He first glanced at the map on the table.
"I heard the general situation from outside."
The Wind Daimyō said, "You arrived at the right ti. Tell us what the situation below is now."
The man frowned, his voice dry.
"Chaotic. Especially among the mixed units and the hired ninja transferred in from the rear. There's a lot of talk. So suspect there will be more raids. So are already asking if supplies are short. If this drags on for another two days, people may start deserting during night patrol."
The old minister from the Land of Earth turned pale. "Deserting?"
"Yes." The man nodded. "So people are already testing the waters."
The atmosphere in the tent sank another layer.
The Lightning Daimyō gritted his teeth. "Those useless bastards. The battle hasn't even—"
Heidan calmly interrupted him.
"That is why we cannot keep wasting ti."
He looked at everyone and finally said the last sentence.
"Set the date."
The Wind Daimyō's eyelid twitched. "Now?"
"Yes, now," Heidan said. "The greatest danger from last night's blow is not the loss of supplies. It is the scattering of morale. The longer you remain undecided, the more chaos spreads below. Conversely, once the date is nailed down, replenishnt, redeploynt, warehouse restructuring, and anti-raid defense will all have a clear target."
The Lightning Daimyō's face darkened. "How long?"
Heidan didn't answer imdiately. Instead, he turned to the frontline commander who had just arrived.
"Based on the current supply speed, redeploynt capacity, and column stability, what is the latest date by which the forward supply line can be stabilized again?"
The man thought for a mont, then said, "Twenty days to repair the line. Ten days to reorganize. It can't be faster."
The old minister from the Land of Earth hurriedly said, "But if the rear is raided again—"
"Then within this month, we rearrange the warehouse points, redo the guard deploynts, and double the sensory teams." Heidan's voice was low and steady. "Every relay line will no longer rely only on ordinary guards. Each section must be assigned at least one night-vision scout and two trackers. Then draw real suppressive forces from the three main countries and place them in the middle sections. Anyone who dares cause chaos gets cut down first."
The small-country envoy couldn't help it. "Lord Heidan, isn't that too—"
Heidan looked at him.
"Too what?"
The envoy swallowed, but in the end did not dare finish the sentence.
The Lightning Daimyō slowly sat up straighter, as if weighing those words in his heart. Finally, he said, "One month."
The Wind Daimyō looked at him.
"You agree?"
"What else can we do if I don't?" the Lightning Daimyō said coldly. "Right now, both supplies and manpower need to be reorganized. Rather than let those below guess every day, it's better to announce it directly—in one month, we advance toward the Land of Fire again."
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