Chapter 127: Invitation
"If he doesn't die... how can I transform into his appearance?"
"Hehe, then you can just go die!"
"Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!"
Densely packed venomous snakes lunged and bit toward Yahiko's direction.
But in the end, it was completely useless.
"Jie jie jie! Give up, you can't hit me!"
"But I..."
"Water Dragon Bullet Technique!"
A water dragon appeared directly above Orochimaru's head and struck him before he could even react.
"Hehe, but I can hit you!"
"Eh~ It was actually just a clone!"
"Summoning Technique!"
"Ang~"
"Orochimaru! Where is my sacrifice!"
"Right here! There's a Giant Clam as big as you here; if you can find it, it's yours!"
Manda: "???"
...Inside the Allied Forces' camp.
There were still the four figures at the main table.
However, only one of the four was calmly drinking tea.
As for the other three... "What's going on! It's been so long, and not a single piece of news has come back!"
"Exactly! Hokage-sama, don't you have anything to say?"
Onoki and the Third Raikage both looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi, who was already shrouded in smoke.
"Tsk... Phew~ Everyone, at this point... all we can do is trust them, trust Orochimaru!"
"I believe that Orochimaru will definitely..."
"Hehe... Sensei, I'm back!"
Facing the pressurized gazes of Onoki and the Third Raikage, Hiruzen Sarutobi was about to give some polite remarks and take the opportunity to boast about his disciple Orochimaru's strength.
But who would have known that in the next second, a weak and familiar voice would emerge from underground.
"Oro... Orochimaru! How did you get injured like this!"
Seeing Orochimaru crawl out from the ground covered in wounds, Hiruzen Sarutobi hurriedly used Body Flicker to arrive before him, speaking in shock.
"Cough, cough... Sensei! I think I need some emergency treatment first!"
"Ah! Right, right! Medical Ninja! Medical Ninja!!!"
...Ignoring the chaos at the Allied Forces' camp.
The Hidden Sand Village stronghold seemed much more lively.
"Hahaha! My Younger Brother-in-law, you've finally been sent here!"
Looking at Nawaki, who had been brought back, Saito happily patted his shoulder and said.
"Hahaha, don't be afraid, Younger Brother-in-law! We're all family!"
"What! I wouldn't use you as bait for your sister! Am I that kind of person?"
"You know me! As the Kazekage, I have the proper perspective; how could I do something like forcing things?"
"What! Then you ask why I still had you captured!"
"Hehehe, I'm going to appoint you as my wingman, hehehe..."
"What! Impossible!"
"That's not up to you! Someone, prepare a home for my Younger Brother-in-law! Let him rebuild the Senju Clan!"
"Remember to send invitations to the Allied Forces!!!"
...Allied Forces stronghold.
"Orochimaru! Where is Orochimaru! I want to see Orochimaru!"
"Tsunade, calm down! Orochimaru just woke up!"
"Calm down! How can I calm down! That's my brother! My only relative left! How can you ask me to be calm!"
"Cough, cough... It's Tsunade, come in."
Tsunade's loud voice reached inside the tent, followed by Orochimaru's weak voice.
Hearing Orochimaru's voice, the people outside the tent stopped blocking Tsunade and slowly made way for her to enter.
Fortunately, the worst-case scenario they had anticipated did not occur.
It was also possible that hearing Orochimaru's weak voice dissipated some of Tsunade's anger.
"Orochimaru, you..."
"Hehe, sorry, Tsunade! I failed to protect Nawaki."
"You... just wait until you've recovered, then I'll show you what's what!"
After saying that, she left without looking back... Shortly after Tsunade left.
"Orochimaru, I've come to see you."
"It's Sarutobi-sensei."
"How are you feeling now?"
"Hehe, the human body really is frail!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi: "..."
"Can you tell me exactly what happened? Where are the others, and what about Nawaki?"
..."It was a trap!"
"Everything was fake!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi: "!!!"
"You mean... the intelligence Minato brought back..."
"Yes! Exactly! It was all fake!"
Everything there was created by Yahiko's Summoned Beast!"
"That Giant Clam!"
"Yes, exactly!"
"After I summoned Manda, the intense battle affected that Giant Clam, which is how I found out."
"From the very beginning, all of us were trapped in the Genjutsu created by that Giant Clam..."
After hearing what Orochimaru said, the tent fell into a long silence.
"I see... I'll have someone escort you back to Konoha. Go back and recover in peace!"
After saying that, Hiruzen Sarutobi prepared to get up and leave.
"Sensei."
"Hmm?"
"No one could have survived! Most of those Sand Ninjas were from the Land of Rain back then. Konoha..."
"I know!"
Inside the command camp.
"According to the intelligence, the one Yahiko of Hidden Sand Village contracted with should be the Summoned Beast of Nidaime-sama from back then."
The four sat in their respective seats, listening to Hiruzen Sarutobi's explanation.
"So, besides being able to create large-scale Genjutsu, does that Summoned Beast have any other abilities?"
"No more! Nidaime-sama's Summoned Beast is a support type."
Although it's a support type and its ability is relatively singular, it is very powerful.
When you're inside it, unless you're truly powerful, you won't notice anything.
"Because you yourself haven't actually been placed under a Genjutsu!"
"Yes, but now is not the time to discuss this. Although Orochimaru failed this mission, he brought back data on the Giant Clam and learned how to break its Genjutsu."
"That is, its main body must be attacked."
This can be considered good news. I believe Hidden Sand Village can only use this trick once."
"Humph!" x2
Hearing what Hiruzen Sarutobi said, Onoki and the Third Raikage were clearly unimpressed.
"Hokage-sama makes it sound so easy. Are large-scale Ninjutsu that easy to perform?"
"For ordinary Ninjas, what's the difference between this weakness and having no weakness at all!"
"Would ordinary Ninjas require Yahiko to use a Summoned Beast? Those who force Yahiko to use a Summoned Beast can't be ordinary Ninjas!"
"Humph!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi's words directly silenced the two of them.
It was indeed as Hiruzen Sarutobi said; for Ninjas of this level, who didn't have a large-scale Ninjutsu up their sleeve?
They were just seeing how many of their own Ninjas they had lost and trying to squeeze out some benefits before Hiruzen Sarutobi could react.
Now that Hiruzen Sarutobi had reacted, the two naturally couldn't say anything more. After a cold snort, they moved on to the next topic.
"What should we do now? We thought this operation would sweep away our previous slump, but instead, we lost the elites of our three Great Ninja Villages."
"In my opinion, it would be better to just launch a direct charge. With so many of us rushing straight into Hidden Sand Village's formation, I don't believe that explosion girl would dare to release so many exploding tags!"
"Raikage! You're being too extreme. Don't you know how many Ninjas we would lose if we did that!"
"Humph! It's still better than staying here and being worn down to death! In just one week, we've already lost three thousand Ninjas! If this continues, we might as well just surrender to Hidden Sand Village!"
"..."
After the Third Raikage finished speaking, the field fell into silence once again.
No one was able to respond to that.
Just as the atmosphere in the tent reached a freezing point.
"Report... Items from Hidden Sand Village have arrived."
"???"
"Why would Hidden Sand Village send something at a time like this?"
"Maybe they're here to mock us."
"Tch! The four of us are all Kage of our respective villages; how could we be fooled by such childish tricks?"
"Exactly! Take me out to see what kind of tricks Hidden Sand Village is playing!"
...At this moment.
Outside the command tent.
"Neigh Neigh Neigh~"
An Allied Forces Ninja was driving a horse.
Just then, the command tent opened from the inside, and Onoki, who was floating at the front, came eye-to-eye with the horse.
"What's going on? Why is there a horse here?"
Reporting to Tsuchikage-sama, this is one of the gifts sent by Hidden Sand Village!"
"?"
"Sending a horse? What does Hidden Sand Village mean by sending a horse!"
Onoki sized up the horse in front of him... Small!
That was his first impression.
Unlike other tall horses, this one was much shorter in height.
Secondly, it was lean and sturdy.
Although the horse looked very small, its limbs were extremely powerful; it clearly looked like the type that could run well.
However... no matter how you looked at it, it was just an ordinary horse with nothing special about it.
"Eh~ what's this?"
While Onoki was puzzled, he noticed a piece of paper stuck under the horse's belly.
Because Onoki was floating, he hadn't noticed it for a moment.
"Let me see what Hidden Sand Village actually wrote."
"Hmm? This horse is a gift for me!"
"Humph! Hidden Sand Village is truly childish! Is this an insinuation toward me? I've lived for so many years; what haven't I experienced!"
Just as Onoki was secretly feeling smug about seeing through Hidden Sand Village's trick... "Tsuchikage-sama! There's another gift from Hidden Sand Village here, also for you!"
"Oh? For me as well? Then let me see... Dust Release: Detachment of the Primitive World Jutsu!"
A white cone directly pulverized the second gift into a molecular state!
For no other reason.
Because what Hidden Sand Village sent was a huge carriage! A carriage several times larger than the horse!
Bad memories once again surfaced in Onoki's mind!
"Abominable! Simply abominable! Damned Hidden Sand Village! Attack! We must attack!"
"Tsuchikage-sama! Calm down! Please calm down!"
...While everyone was trying to dissuade Onoki and urge him to consider the bigger picture.
"Bastard! This is too much! Does Hidden Sand Village think my Hell Stab is not sharp enough!"
"Bee! Come with me, I'm going to tell my old man to send troops to Hidden Sand Village right now!"
"Eh! Dad! What are you guys doing?"
"Cough, cough, it's nothing!"
The Third Raikage, who was holding Onoki back, let go of him upon seeing his son arrive.
And Onoki, who was still struggling, lunged forward a distance, caught off guard.
Then he turned to look at the Third Raikage.
[Why did you suddenly let go?]
[Isn't this exactly what you wanted?]
[Don't you know I was just acting?]
[Well, my son is here!]
After their eyes met, the Third Raikage turned his attention back to his son.
"A, did you come to see me for something?"
"Father! Let's send troops to Hidden Sand Village! They actually dared to humiliate me!"
"Hmm? How did they humiliate you?"
"This..."
"Yo yo! Big brother won't say, so Bee will say! Yo yo!"
"You bastard! Shut up!"
After casually giving the interrupting Killer Bee a flick on the forehead, A continued to face the Third Raikage.
"I don't care! Anyway, I want to send troops to Hidden Sand Village! I'm going to cut down the person who made that sculpture!"
"Sigh! Kid A, don't be in such a hurry; war is not a game!"
Seeing this, Hiruzen Sarutobi stepped forward to act as a peacemaker.
"It's just a mere provocation. As the future Fourth Raikage, how can you act so impulsively!"
"Look at me... you were only provoked, while my beloved disciple was seriously injured, and even..."
"Hokage-sama! This is an invitation sent by Hidden Sand Village."
Hiruzen Sarutobi: [???]
"From Hidden Sand Village to me?"
"Yes."
[Strange! Who in Hidden Sand Village would send me an invitation?]
[??? Did Danzo get married???]
[No way! No way! Is Danzo living that well in Hidden Sand Village!]
Thinking of this, Hiruzen Sarutobi couldn't wait to tear open the invitation's packaging.
The first thing he saw... Nawaki Senju!!!
"Hey, hey, hey! Hokage-sama!"
"Hokage-sama! Hokage-sama!"
"Quick! Medical Ninja!!!"
..."How is it? Have all the invitations been sent out?"
"Don't worry! Kazekage-sama, are you still not at ease when I'm on the job?"
"Hmm, true! So, who was chosen for the wedding?"
..."Yakushi Nonō!"
"Who! That blonde with the big waves!"
"Uh... yes!"
"How could it be her!"
"She said it was love at first sight... but I think she wants to protect the Senju Clan's bloodline."
"After all, compared to a Hidden Sand Village woman... as a Konoha woman... there's a difference after all!"
"Fine, then let it be! As long as the person is in Hidden Sand Village, it's fine!"
..."What did the others get?"
"Onoki was sent a horse-drawn carriage—a small horse and a big carriage."
"The Third A didn't have many weaknesses, so it was sent to his son. I had someone make a sculpture of two muscular men wrestling for him."
Saito: "???"
"It's like two people with one hand on each other's muscles."
After saying that, he actually tried to demonstrate the pose in front of Saito.
"Alright! Alright! I can already imagine it! You don't need to demonstrate!"
"Hehe, I was just afraid that Kazekage-sama wouldn't be able to picture it."
"What about the Fourth Mizukage?"
"The Mizukage didn't get anything; we didn't have any data on him."
"That's fine. Anyway, three out of the four got something, and only one didn't. I imagine he must be quite angry too."
..."Are you sure Hidden Sand Village didn't prepare a gift for me?"
"Uh... sure... should I go check again?"
"No! Hidden Sand Village has never sent me anything! Do you understand?"
"Understood! Understood! I understand!"
"Very good! You may leave!"
"Yes!"
Watching his subordinate leave and then looking at the farce that had just ended.
Yagura Karatachi let out a long sigh of relief.
[Good, good.]
[Good thing nothing was sent to me!]0
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