It took roughly half an hour before the Iwa-nin finally broke through the blockade of the "living corpses" and continued their pursuit in the direction where the Kumo-nin had retreated.
Yet not long after they left, the entire village behind them suddenly dissolved into drifting ash.
Earth Style: Summoning: Soil of the Dead.
This was an S-rank jutsu Hanzō had taken from the feudal lord's mansion in the Land of Earth.
It transford corpses—and the very space around them—into a summoning contract, storing them in a separate dinsion. Any corpses buried in that area would be altered into "living dead," ready to be summoned whenever needed.
"Good thing that space still had plenty of resources stored inside. Otherwise, this operation would've been a nightmare."
"But the timing of Iwa's pursuit is perfect… Now Kumogakure really won't be able to explain themselves."
A while back, Danzō had stord deep into the Land of Earth with three thousand n.
So today, Hanzō would show he could march three thousand n all the way to Iwagakure itself.
Suna's offensive, Agakure's harassnt, Konoha's unresolved sses, and now the loss of the Five-Tails… and to top it all off, the Fourth Tsuchikage was only at elite jōnin strength, still unable to perfectly control the Four-Tails within him.
Without question—right now, Iwagakure was at its weakest.
And even so… Iwagakure still had twenty thousand troops remaining.
"If they actually try so mindless human-wave tactic, that's just sending themselves to die in the blast of my explosive tags. As long as they've gathered even a few reports about my recent battles, they won't be that stupid."
"What worries is whether Iwa has anything like Edo Tensei hidden away… Of the Five Great Nations, the only one whose background I really understand is Konoha. I've had far too little contact with the other four to know their cards."
"…Surely they don't have anything too ridiculous tucked away, right?"
"…Maybe I should probe them with a clone first…"
At this mont, all Hanzō hoped for was that Kumo would move faster, hurry up, and take the "gift" back ho.
A-nin had been operating inside the Land of Earth for a while now; Iwa's counterattack would begin at any mont…
The brutes from Kumogakure better not ss this up!
---
Iwagakure – Council
"What?! The tailed beast was stolen?!"
Rōshi slamd the report shut and exploded in fury.
"What were you people doing? The sealing unit had nearly a thousand guards! And they just stood there and watched?!"
"And how did they even know the exact location of the sealing team? It was a massive military camp—how did they pinpoint them so accurately?!"
The Fourth Tsuchikage, Rōshi, fired question after question, leaving the trembling Iwa-nin drenched in sweat.
"Explain the situation from the beginning. Every detail."
"Yes, sir."
The Iwa-nin swallowed hard. "A group of over ten Kumo-nin suddenly charged the encampnt. The outer sentries sounded the alarm imdiately, and reinforcents quickly surrounded them."
"But every one of those Kumo-nin was at least jōnin-level. We couldn't subdue them quickly. Their battle with our periter forces rapidly spilled inward toward the sealing team."
"More than half our forces rushed out to fight. Since the sealing team was guarding a tailed beast, we couldn't gamble on their safety. The situation was spiraling out of control—so even though the seal was unstable, we had no choice but to relocate toward Iwagakure."
"But… we never expected their outer assault was just a feint. Their real target was the tailed beast all along. They were watching the sealing team's movents the entire ti. They'd already planned everything—leaving traps along the route back toward the village."
"The sealing unit dropped their guard for a mont… and the entire unit was wiped out. He also took the container used to seal the beast."
Rōshi narrowed his eyes sharply. "…He?"
"Yes. The one who infiltrated the camp and ambushed the sealing team was just one man."
"With that many of you present, and none of you could stop him?"
"I… I'm sorry, Lord Tsuchikage. His strength was overwhelming—at least elite jōnin level. And he'd already set traps along his escape route."
"Since that area was deep in our territory, we thought it was safe… And also… all the jōnin stationed in the camp had already been summoned away… by you, sir. We… couldn't catch up."
"...Hmph."
Rōshi smashed a fist onto the table, making the Iwa-nin flinch hard, heart practically jumping out of his chest.
"S–Sorry, Lord Tsuchikage!"
"That damned Ōnoki! Dies and leaves with this disaster!"
Just thinking about Ōnoki infuriated him. Back then, when they competed for the position of Third Tsuchikage, there was no reason the title should've gone to Ōnoki.
But while Rōshi was away on a mission, Ōnoki sched behind his back. Forced into becoming the Four-Tails' jinchūriki, Rōshi lost all qualifications to run for Tsuchikage.
Any other promising talents in the village were quietly eliminated by Ōnoki, along with clans who opposed him.
He was ruthless to his own people—but when faced with a minor nation, he got himself killed outright. Fucking useless!
The consequence of Ōnoki's rule: Iwagakure now had pathetically few jōnin, no rising prodigies, and now that the Great Ninja War had begun, even seven- and eight-year-olds were being forced onto the battlefield—giving talent no chance to grow.
His death threw the entire village into chaos right as the war began.
Leaderless, Iwa lost initiative. Konoha seized the chance to strike straight into their heartland, facing almost no real resistance.
They finally repelled Konoha, but then Suna attacked.
They shifted their elites to the Suna front and barely stabilized the situation—only for Agakure to strike from behind, annihilating thousands of border troops.
And just as they finally prepared a counteroffensive against Agakure…
Kumogakure stole their tailed beast.
When it rains, it pours. Misfortune just doesn't want to leave them alone.
Rōshi could only sigh. "Did any of the captured Kumo-nin give useful intelligence?"
The newly recovered Iwa-nin instantly started sweating again.
"L–Lord Tsuchikage… after that man succeeded, he fired a signal flare."
"And then all the other Kumo-nin activated sothing like a forbidden jutsu. Their strength instantly surged, and despite our numbers, they forced their way out."
"We chased them, but… they were gone."
"Hundreds of you couldn't stop a dozen Kumo-nin?! Are you all useless?!"
Rōshi finally lost all composure—screaming insults so vicious he practically included the man's ancestors.
The Iwa-nin completely broke down, crying through his explanation:
"Lord Tsuchikage, we were nothing but expendable fodder! Did you forget who I am? I'm just an elite chūnin—barely! I have no talent for commanding troops!"
"The mont the jōnin left, they dumped command on !"
"Our forces were all genin and warti chūnin! We barely had any formally promoted chūnin left! There were originally three jōnin, but all of them were reassigned!"
"They had over ten jōnin using forbidden techniques! How could we chase that?!"
The crushing pressure of the battlefield, fighting desperately with no results, and now the Tsuchikage's rage—It all broke the decades-hardened shinobi. He burst into helpless tears.
Truthfully, even a great village had limited resources.
Iwagakure had the largest number of shinobi among the Great Nations, aning each individual received fewer resources. Without special opportunities, advancent was nearly impossible.
The Land of Earth was already strained supporting so many ninja.
If this were a smaller nation, it would've collapsed long ago.
Rōshi finally rembered this reality. The man's sobbing only made him feel worse.
He also recalled that the entire feudal clan of the Land of Earth had been wiped out by Hanzō—not only the daimyo but every official who had dealings with Iwagakure… all assassinated.
If the war dragged on without the daimyo or nobles supplying resources, even fighting on ho soil would soon beco difficult.
And Agakure was still raiding villages across the Land of Earth—those starving lunatics who even stole civilians' blankets and bedding…
Rōshi's headache intensified.
—
"Report!"
Another Iwa-nin rushed into the office.
Seeing the crying commander, he hesitated before speaking:
"Sir… the pursuit unit you previously dispatched has sent back information."
Both Rōshi and the subordinate straightened imdiately.
"What does it say?"
"They report they found traces of the fleeing Kumo-nin joining up with another Kumo squad. They were then obstructed by corpses summoned by the enemy. After eliminating them, they resud the pursuit."
"The Kumo-nin retreated toward the Land of Lightning, but it seems the Kumogakure is not their final destination."
"After chasing for so ti, all traces of them disappeared. The pursuit unit has begun to withdraw."
...
"Damn it… I've underestimated Kumogakure this whole ti."
Rōshi clenched his fists.
"I thought they were focused on Konoha and had no interest in us. But they're the craftiest of all."
He sighed and reassured his subordinates:
"This isn't your fault."
It was all that useless Ōnoki's fault—
and that damned Third Raikage.
Rōshi ntally cursed their entire bloodlines.
"We can't keep going like this…"
As he pondered, yet another Iwa-nin burst inside in panic.
"Report!"
"Lord Tsuchikage—bad news!"
"A scout from Takigakure has just sent word. Takigakure has mobilized troops against us—around two thousand soldiers."
"And our border forces there are light. They may break through imdiately."
Rōshi's face twisted in fury and humiliation.
"So they think Iwagakure is easy to bully now?!"
"No matter how miserable we look, it's because we've faced Konoha and Suna—two of the strongest villages!"
"A tiny village like them should know their goddamn place! It's not like they have soone like Hanzō backing them!"
"We may lack many things, but we don't lack manpower. Six thousand shinobi remain in the village—send half and wipe them out!"
"W-Wait, Lord Tsuchikage!"
The ssenger quickly raised his hands.
"There's more!"
"After we used the tailed beast to crush Konoha's forces last ti, Takigakure caught wind of its power."
"Based on intel… Takigakure's Seven-Tails jinchūriki may be entering the battlefield as well."
Rōshi: "?!!!"
-----------------------------///
Advance Chapters on Patreon!
p(a)treon(.)com/HudaLin
-Remove the parenthesis to access patreon normally
Thanks for the Support!
Reviews
All reviews (0)