Chapter 123: Who Purchased Supplies from Hidden Sand Village?
As news of the Rinnegan gradually spread throughout the Ninja World...
It added a bit more heat to this already lively New Year.
"Kazekage-sama, rumors are spreading throughout the Ninja World that Hidden Sand Village possesses the Rinnegan... Should we make a response?"
On a high mountain in Hidden Sand Village, Ebizo stood beside Saito and asked.
"Response? Respond to what?"
Ebizo: "..."
"Ah, right, a response. We must respond!"
Seeing Ebizo's extremely speechless expression, Saito suddenly said as if realizing it late.
"What should we respond with..."
"I've got it! Just reply with 'Lue lue lue'."
Ebizo: [???]
"...Kazekage-sama, isn't that being a bit too arrogant?"
"Is it? I think it's fine. Anyway, we're going to fight them all regardless, so what's wrong with being a little arrogant?"
"..."
[That... seems to make some sense.]
Seeing Ebizo fall into thought again after hearing this.
Saito interrupted his thinking once more.
"I'll leave Hidden Sand Village to you and Nidaime(2nd)-sama."
"Hmm?"
"Kazekage-sama, are you going to take the field personally?"
"Of course. Didn't you see the intelligence? The Kage of the Four Great Shinobi Villages are all taking the field personally. If I, as the Kazekage, don't go... others might think I'm afraid of them!"
"Besides... never mind, it's safer if I go anyway."
"I'll leave Bunpuku and two thousand Hidden Sand Village Ninja in the Village. I believe that's enough to protect Hidden Sand Village."
...In the 46th year of Konoha, while the Ninja World was still shocked by Hidden Sand Village's possession of the Rinnegan.
An announcement from Hidden Sand Village pushed the restless Ninja World up another level.
Subsequently... the Third Raikage of Kumogakure personally led the elites of Kumogakure, sweeping up all the Ninjas from small hidden Villages along the way. Claiming a force of twenty thousand, they met up with Dodai in the Land of Grass and advanced toward the Land of Rain.
While the other powers in the Ninja World were still shocked by the madness of Kumogakure's Third Raikage, Onoki of Hidden Stone Village was not to be outdone.
He also gathered the subordinates around Hidden Stone Village and led the Village's elites, claiming twenty thousand Ninjas. After meeting with Kitsuchi's troops, they also advanced toward the Land of Rain.
Then... Hiruzen Sarutobi of Konoha Village followed closely behind. Even the Hidden Mist Village swept through some small island nations, landed from the Land of Rivers, and advanced toward the Land of Rain.
Three days later, the Four Great Shinobi Villages successfully joined forces in the Land of Rain, claiming a total of seventy thousand Ninjas. On the same day, the Four Great Shinobi Villages issued an ultimatum to Hidden Sand Village, demanding their unconditional surrender.
(PS: Don't argue. The Second War didn't involve much fighting and not many Ninjas died, so this number is entirely possible.)
That day, Hidden Sand Village gifted seventy thousand bottles of carbonated drinks to the Four Great Shinobi Villages in the Land of Rain.
"Sa...bi!"
The Third Raikage looked at the drink sent by Hidden Sand Village in his hand.
"What does Hidden Sand Village mean by sending this stuff?"
"Could they be trying to brush us off with this?"
"Is this even enough for anyone to drink!"
After saying that, he gulped down the sabi in his hand, smacked his lips, and snatched the sabi from Onoki next to him.
"Burp~, you don't say, this little thing is quite refreshing!"
Everyone else: [...]
"Cough, cough. Let's discuss what our first step should be."
Seeing the Third Raikage look like he wanted to swipe another one.
Yagura Karatachi, sitting next to the Third Raikage, inconspicuously moved his sabi closer to his chest and changed the subject.
Thanks to the Third Mizukage's physical condition and the fact that he was officially announced as the next Mizukage back in Konoha.
Yagura Karatachi was able to sit with the other three Kage as the Mizukage.
Hearing Yagura Karatachi bring up serious business, the Third Raikage also became slightly more serious and looked toward Hiruzen Sarutobi.
"Currently, Konoha is doing its best to set up the Intelligence Department. I believe it will be fully established today. By then, everyone will be able to receive real-time intelligence on the battlefield."
"It won't be too late to deploy our troops then."
"Hmm, the Hokage has a point."
After Hiruzen Sarutobi finished speaking, Onoki also spoke up.
"Furthermore... the Ninjas of our respective Villages don't have major issues, but it will take some time to integrate the Ninjas from the other small Villages."
"Besides, the supplies we ordered haven't arrived yet."
"Things like exploding tags and Kunai—we need to be equipped before we can go to war."
"Hmm, the Tsuchikage has a point."
Just as the four were preparing to discuss the next topic, the noise outside the camp made them all frown.
"Report..."
Just then, a messenger Ninja rushed in from outside.
"Report, the people from Hidden Sand Village have arrived."
"Hmm?"
Hearing the news from the messenger, the four at the table looked at each other, exchanging glances.
[The people from Hidden Sand Village are here at this time. Could they be here to surrender?]
[Hard to say. Maybe it's a trap.]
[True, the fighting hasn't even started yet. I wouldn't surrender so quickly either.]
[Why worry so much? We'll know once we ask.]
"What are the Hidden Sand Village people here for?"
"They're here to... deliver weapons and equipment."
[???]
[Which of you ordered equipment from Hidden Sand Village?]
[I didn't! Who would order equipment from Hidden Sand Village when we're at war! Even if you did, would you even get it?]
[Exactly, who would order equipment from Hidden Sand Village!]
[Then why is Hidden Sand Village delivering equipment?]
[Who knows? Why don't we go take a look?]
...A long while later... the four Kage appeared together at the entrance of the Allied Forces' camp.
A man with mung bean-like eyes stood at the front of a group of Hidden Sand Village Ninjas, looking completely impatient.
Seeing the four Kage come out, the man with mung bean-like eyes immediately started shouting.
"Hurry up! Why are you just standing there? Come over and sign for your equipment!"
The four Kage: [!!!]
"Bastard! Kakuzu! What kind of trick is Hidden Sand Village playing? When did I ever buy equipment from Hidden Sand Village?"
Hearing what Kakuzu said, the hot-tempered Third Raikage was the first to object.
"Oho! Still acting tough!"
After saying that, he raised his hand.
Immediately, a Hidden Sand Village Ninja behind him stepped forward and pulled out a scroll.
[Release!]
As the sealing jutsu was released, a dense mass of Kunai and shuriken continuously flowed out of the scroll, quickly piling up into a small mountain.
Ten minutes later... under the Third Raikage's stunned gaze.
Kakuzu pulled a purchase order from his chest.
"Third Raikage, the 200,000 Kunai, 300,000 shuriken, and 10,000 Ninja Vests you wanted are right here. Remember to sign for them."
Third Raikage: [???]
After saying that, he ignored the Third Raikage and turned to the other three.
"Wait a moment, I've brought your equipment as well."
Ten minutes later... three more metal mountains appeared at the entrance of the Allied Forces' camp.
"Alright, we've delivered all the supplies. We look forward to your next visit!"
The four Kage: [...]
As the Hidden Sand Village group left, the four Kage still stood in place, not reacting.
After a long while... "Where did you order your equipment from?" x4.
Four different voices rang out at the same time.
"I/this old man purchased it from the Land of Artisans!" x4.
"So it turns out... the Land of Artisans' equipment was bought from Hidden Sand Village!" x4.
"You guys didn't realize it for so long!" x4.
As the same four sentences were spoken again, the atmosphere fell into silence once more.
"Cough, cough. I specialize in Dust Release and never use weapons!"
After saying that, Onoki looked at the Third Raikage beside him.
"I've always only used my fists, never weapons!"
"I use a staff and specialized Ninja Tools, never standard-issue ones!"
"I have my own weapon!"
"..."
"Sigh! Forget it, have someone check the equipment. At least... we got the equipment, right?"
"Yeah, looking at so many weapons on the ground, nothing should be missing..."
"Wait! Something is missing!"
Before the speaker could finish, the Third Raikage interrupted.
"Where are my exploding tags!"
The other Kage: [!!!]
That's right!
Where are the exploding tags?
Damned Hidden Sand Village! They played us in the end.
Just as the four Kage were cursing at the camp entrance, a figure flying in the sky caught their attention.
"Sorry about that, I forgot to give you the exploding tags. I'll give them to you now."
After saying that, without waiting for the four Kage below to speak, the woman flying in the sky performed a Ninjutsu.
Then, under the horrified gazes of the four Kage and the Allied Forces.
She transformed into a hundred-meter-tall paper giant.
Of course, what horrified them wasn't the giant's height, but what the giant was made of.
exploding tags!
It was all freaking exploding tags!
Snap!
A crisp sound came from the giant's body and drifted into the ears of every Ninja with the light breeze.
It scared many Ninjas into falling directly onto the ground.
Then... the giant's pinky finger broke off.
Finally, it fell heavily onto the ground.
"Alright! I've delivered your exploding tags! There should be some extra; consider the surplus as interest for my forgetfulness."
"Remember to give us a five-star review!"
As the last words fell, the sky was finally empty.
And the severed finger on the ground, having lost the control of Chakra, could no longer maintain its shape and collapsed into a small mountain... "Did... did I... survive?"
Among the Allied Forces, as the first person spoke, it was like a Wi-Fi signal was turned on, and people were connected one after another, successfully reloading. Then, constant ad pop-ups appeared.
At the camp entrance.
The four Kage each pulled their hands back from behind them.
"Cough, cough. If I'm not mistaken... that woman just now should be one of the children the Third Kazekage took from the Land of Rain battlefield back then."
"Then according to the intelligence provided by the Hokage, the information on those three children is now clear. One has Tailed Beast-level Water Release, one has... exploding tags, and one has the Rinnegan. None of them are simple! And they're all from the Land of Rain!"
At this point, Onoki looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi with a strange expression.
And the others were the same.
Good grief, three victims from the Land of Rain. Konoha is... really 'enjoying the rewards' now!
"Hmph!"
Seeing the meaningful looks from the other three, how could Hiruzen Sarutobi not know what they were thinking? He immediately let out a cold snort.
"Do you think you can escape? There are enough exploding tags here to blow all four of our Villages sky-high. Do you think you can get away!"
!!!
...On the other side, after delivering the exploding tags to the Allied Forces, Konan quickly chased after the Hidden Sand Village Ninjas who had just left.
Before long, she spotted a group of people on the ground.
However, among the group, there was an additional blonde figure.
"Father Saito."
"How was it? Wasn't it fun seeing the expressions of those Allied Forces?"
"It was alright. But Father, why did you want me to specifically show off all the exploding tags? Won't that reveal how many I have?"
"What difference does it make if you reveal it or not? It's not like anyone would dare to fight you anyway."
"I did it to deter them. Although Hidden Sand Village's new generation has decent strength, their combat experience is still too low. They'll easily suffer when facing people of equal strength. So, I have to train the troops first!"
"Alright, you guys head back first. I'll stay here a bit longer to gather intelligence. Remember to evacuate the civilians of the Land of Rain; they are firm supporters of Hidden Sand Village."
"Yes, Kazekage-sama!"
"Okay, Father Saito, I'll head out first."
"Mm-hmm, go ahead!"
After everyone left, Saito composed himself again and focused his perception on the dynamics within the Allied Forces.
"Oho! They even set up a Barrier! Do you think I won't be able to hear you like this?"
As he spoke, golden wings appeared at the corners of his eyes.
"Hehe... let me see what Hidden Sand Village's future Dean of Biology is up to? Hmm? Why is it a clone? Where's the original? Oh, underground. He's quite good at running!"
...Land of Rain.
Outside a Village.
A blonde Konoha Ninja was leading a team, hiding behind a rock outside the Village.
"Everyone, our mission this time is reconnaissance. According to intelligence sent back by the Allied Forces, this is a secret supply base for Hidden Sand Village. Our task is to determine the number of Hidden Sand Village Ninjas in the base and whether there are any powerful experts stationed here. Inoichi, you're responsible for sensing how many Hidden Sand Village Ninjas enter and leave, and record their Chakra levels. You two are responsible for protecting Inoichi. I'll look for an opportunity to see if I can infiltrate."
"Yes."
"Minato, be careful!"
"Don't worry, Inoichi. I have the Flying Thunder God. If I can't win, I can teleport back directly."
After saying that, he left his hiding spot with a flicker and moved toward the Village... Relying on his excellent perception and the sealing jutsu knowledge Kushina had taught him.
After entering the Village, Minato Namikaze successfully discovered anomalies within the Village.
After careful sensing, Minato Namikaze also successfully identified the source of the anomaly.
"Is it a large-scale Genjutsu? If I remember correctly, Kushina should have taught me how to break this kind of Genjutsu."