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Chapter 776 : Hide & Seek
🕑 Added 2024-10-19 15:44:26 +0000 UTCThe movements made by Iwagakure and Konoha were quickly picked up by other hidden villages. In Sunagakure, the council met again to figure out what to do.
Ryusa muttered with a frown, “Instead of targeting us, Konoha went to the Land of Grass. What are they intending?”
Goza replied, “This should be Kusagakure's doing. They want to prevent Konoha from being weakened by attacking us. Even if Konoha wins against us, a weak Konoha will put Kusagakure in a lot of danger.”
Ryusa asked, “Does that mean Konoha wouldn't pursue our attack?”
Tojuro snorted, “Of course, they will. However, it'll depend on how this campaign goes. If they fail to eliminate the rebels or enter into a conflict with Iwagakure, they won't be in a position to attack us.”
“I wouldn't be too sure about that.” The council members turned their heads to Baki, who had rejoined the council after returning. After meeting him, they had a far clearer picture of what happened and how terrifying that battle was for Sunagakure ninjas.
Baki explained, “We underestimated Konoha by a huge degree the previous time. And, we paid a terrible price for it. During our attack, Konoha was even more prepared for it than us. Considering how quickly Fujin attacked, it felt like they were waiting for us to attack so that they could begin slaughtering us.
It'll be foolish to believe that they aren't prepared this time. The only scenario that would be in our favor is if Iwagakure decides to go on the offensive. However, that is even more unlikely. The Tsuchikage would never do something so risky. We should be thankful to Kusagakure for buying us some time and need to use this time to prepare for any plans Konoha might have for us later.”
The rising hopes in the Suna Council were immediately crushed by Baki's trauma of the battle. Before they could recover, Baki muttered, “Besides, they have sent that demon to lead their army. Inexperienced as he may be, Konoha's intentions must be very nefarious.”
Ebizo glanced at Baki and wondered, ‘How much trauma did the battle leave on him? Suzuki Fujin… How terrifying is he?’
In Kumogakure, several important ninjas gathered in Ay's office as he read the reports. A smirk appeared on his face as he muttered, “Interesting, the fence-sitter is finally making a move.”
He glanced at Darui and Yugito and ordered, “This is the perfect opportunity. Make the move. Be careful and stay in constant touch with Mabui. If needed, I'll make a move myself. We can't afford another loss after the earlier debacle. ”
Darui, Yugito, C and Samui nodded. Along with a few other elite squads, they left Kumogakure within half an hour and began moving towards the West!
Both factions in the Land of Water ignored this news. They were too busy with their civil war. They were just glad that other villages were facing losses too, even though to a lesser extent. The minor villages became tense. A war between Konoha and Iwagakure could easily turn into the next Great Ninja War. Considering that the matter between Konoha and Sunagakure was still unresolved, they were very nervous.
Needless to say, the ones who were the most tense were Kusagakure. However, they had already foreseen this situation when they asked for Konoha's help. They could only hope that their calculations were accurate.
While the world was paying close attention to the events, Konoha's army reached the rebel faction's base.
A senior Hyuga ninja muttered, “As expected, no one is here. However, there are several areas my Byakugan can't penetrate. We'll need to inspect the base properly.”
A Hyuga youngster observed the base and chuckled, “They did such a sloppy job. Leaving behind so many dead bodies. Even a novice would know that they are traps for us.”
Even though the base was empty, several dead bodies were lying throughout the base and even the surrounding areas. Such bodies were commonly used to set traps to harm any unsuspecting ninjas.
However, the senior Hyuga ninja scolded, “Don't get overconfident. Even though you have done hundreds of missions, this is the first time you're going to a battlefield. If anyone leaves such obvious traps, then it only means that they want us to see these traps. If our attention is focused on them and we get careless, we'll fall prey to the real traps.”
“That is right. Let us take over from now. You guys stay in the back and watch over us in case the enemy has an ambush planned.” The SealMasters stepped up and took over. They created Shadow Clones, who went ahead to inspect the base.
Some distance behind them, the Konoha army set up camps, waiting for their reports. In the main camp, the leaders assembled around a round table. Hoka muttered, “Iwagakure is sending a 5,000-strong army towards us.”
Illumi added, “And, they're being led by Kitsuchi and the Four-Tails Jinchuriki. This could be troublesome.”
Renjiro looked at Fujin and asked, “What did Shikaku say?”
Worry was visible on the faces of all the leaders. Fujin answered, “It's fine. Both of us believe that they are just doing a show of strength since we are attacking a faction they support. They'll appear weak if they don't do anything at all and similar factions would be wary of working with them in the future. They won't step into the Land of Grass.”
Illumi worriedly said, “Let's hope that is the case. Otherwise, our losses would be too high. Roshi can use the Tailed Beast Bombs. Our army will have severe losses if he decides to go all out.”
Fujin nodded and replied, “True, but they will also be worried that I'll target their weaker ninjas. While killing Roshi and Kitsuchi would be difficult, neither can save them from me. So, it's a lose-lose situation. Considering that I could even kill Roshi and Kitsuchi if the circumstances are in my favor, they risk losing a lot more. So, don't worry.”
Fujin ended with a chuckle. It alleviated their worries a bit, but they were still more than a bit nervous.
It took nearly an hour for the SealMasters to disable all the traps, following which the ninjas specializing in tracking started doing their work.
Half an hour later, a ninja arrived at the main camp and reported, “Commander, we have inspected everything. The enemy isn't here. Though there were several traps, none of them injured our ninjas. We inspected the tracks that they left behind. However…”
He became slightly nervous as he continued, “We found as many as ten tracks heading out of the camp. All are quite similar as they have made attempts to hide all of the tracks. We can't say for sure which is the right one.”
Hoka was taken aback. He thought, ‘They left 10 tracks to confuse us? This will be harder than I thought…’
Fujin replied casually, “Hmm, I expected as much… These guys aren't slouches. We'll follow every track to find them. Rank the ones you think are the most plausible and start the work. We'll inspect each one by one to avoid falling into any traps.”
The ninja nodded and left. The army quickly began working through the tracks. It took several hours to find the right track, and they reached the second base where the rebels hid. Unfortunately, they were met with the same situation!
The Iwagakure army reached the border and stayed along it. A few squads entered the Land of Grass occasionally to see if there would be any reaction. However, both the Konoha army and the Kusagakure army completely ignored their activities. Neither paid any attention to them, puzzling as well as angering the Iwagakure ninjas.
Kitsuchi muttered, “Tsuchikage-sama was correct. Something is indeed fishy. Despite our forces being so close and in a position to launch a massive assault, the Konoha army continues to do their job as if we aren't even here.”
Roshi nodded and added, “Even if they know his nature, they shouldn't be this confident. It's as if they are waiting for us to attack them. However, I can't seem to put a finger on what their plan could be.”
Kitsuchi agreed. He had the same feeling. Regardless, they didn't have the orders to attack Konoha in any case. They were just fishing to see how Konoha and Kusagakure would react and so far, neither had taken the bait.
In Kagetani, the Konoha army trailed after the rebels for 8 days! Yet, they didn't even catch a glimpse of the rebel army. The rebels set behind several traps to cause harm to the Konoha ninjas, but all failed since Fujin ordered them to prioritize their safety. Though the traps slowed down the Konoha army, they failed to harm a single ninja. On the contrary, 25 rebel ninjas were caught and eliminated.
Finally, the Konoha army reached an inconspicuous valley, where they were confident the rebels were hiding. Since the Nara Jounins were sure of it, no one doubted them.
Comments
Jack Nathaniel Mikhail
MC is like going for excursion or paid vacation haha
Devil Hex
90 seconds
Aman Ramnani
eta?
Devil Hex
Best case - 2 hours. Worst case - 4-5 hours
YHBA
What time more or less will todays chapter be?
Jorge Leon Castanos
Uff, with all those S-ranks there, I hope everything explodes and all sides get hurt (like even if Fujin kills one or two of the S-ranks of the other villages, konoha also get a hit to his forces so that they dont become so unbalanced and there is still tension), hella good chapter
Nyd. Studio
I see. No wonders. I'm still surprised thou
Devil Hex
Umm, they aren't bandits. They are a full-fledged army and quite an experienced one too.
Nyd. Studio
These bandits are something! Its nightmarish to get tracked and hunted down by konoha jonins. They got the byakugan to see anythings kilometers aways in a 360 fashion, the aburame whose bugs can vanguard and scan entire areas, the nara who are chess master and clever than everybody else lol
Kelevra
I can’t exactly remember their reasoning to be honest, I just wanted to point it out for ya. I think something along the lines of them thinking Orochimaru is still a shinobi of Konoha and as revenge for the destruction of their bases. Kumo cant attack Konoha directly unless they want war.
Tjja97
More as misguided retaliation thinking Orochimaru is still working with the leaf and for orochimaru’s desecration of the third raikage’s remains
Devil Hex
I have writter a quarter of the chapter, but can't promise I can finish today. Chapter is a bit complicated, so it's unlikely 😅
Mersh
So you think they want his research notes and value that more than a conflict between 2 army’s? I could see both, though I bet the reanimated jutsu made everyone think twice about what priorities they need. Hmm good point!
Kelevra
Well I was thinking they was gonna target the land of sound and Orochimaru, I seem to recall something along those lines
Kelevra
Would be epic
Mersh
Nice chapter! It’s nice to see the cat and mouse game being played out. Wonder what the lightning ninjas are about to do? Probs attack either leaf or stone and make it look like the other to make the army’s fight for real instead of a standoff like everyone thinks gunna happen.
YHBA
will there be a double upload today?
StinkyFard
i too would be traumatised by Fujin if i was on the opposing side lol
