Chapter 82 – Borrowed Knife
Chiyo was the first to lay her chips on the table.
The moment those three words left her lips, the temperature inside the cave seemed to plunge below freezing. Her voice was icy, laced with bone-deep hatred: "That lunatic isn't dead—and he's wearing red cloud black robe. He's clearly joined that organization."
"What?!"
Even Shikaku's composure cracked; his pupils quaked. Beside him, Akimichi Choza jerked so hard that potato chips scattered across the floor.
Orochimaru surviving was expected—but he'd joined the Akatsuki?
Shikaku's mental CPU began to overclock, cold sweat soaking his back in seconds.
What had Orochimaru taken when he defected? The scroll of seals—the sole repository of every forbidden jutsu since Konoha's founding, a strategic heirloom left by the Second Hokage.
"This intel is worth the price." Shikaku drew a slow breath, forcing down the tidal wave inside him. "In exchange, I'll tell you what we've learned."
He locked eyes with Chiyo and spoke one measured word at a time: "We've met their leader—he calls himself 'Pain.' At his side was a Puppet-user. If Intelligence isn't mistaken, that's your own Suna prodigy who defected: Sasori of the Red Sand."
Chiyo's hand convulsed.
That name was the eternal thorn in her heart, the Family disgrace she had to erase.
"And there's more." Shikaku's voice turned merciless; he had to rip the scab clean off so Sunagakure grasped the full horror. "During the fight, Sasori used a unique Ninjutsu: Magnet Release—Iron Sand."
Crack.
The brittle sound echoed through the dead-still cavern.
The delicate porcelain cup in Chiyo's hand crumbled as though crushed by an invisible giant, slipping in a fine powder through her withered fingers.
Boom—!
A maelstrom of Chakra, suppressed to the limit, detonated with the old woman at its center. The bonfire shrank to the size of a bean; everyone's robes whipped like flags in a storm, as though they stood inside a cyclone's eye.
"Magnet Release… Iron Sand…"
Chiyo rose slowly, her furrowed face twisted into a demonic Noh mask.
She knew exactly what it meant.
Across the entire Ninja World, only one man had ever pushed Iron Sand to its apex—the Third Kazekage who had vanished without a trace years ago.
Now the truth struck Sunagakure like a brutal slap: the Third Kazekage hadn't disappeared; he'd been hunted. Not merely killed—his organs hollowed out, his body turned into a so-called human puppet.
And the murderer was none other than the grandson she had raised and treasured, Sasori of the Red Sand.
"Well, well… a good grandson indeed…"
Chiyo laughed in fury, the sound shrill as a night-owl's cry echoing through the cave. "Turning the Village's strongest Kage into a weapon… Sasori, you've truly given this old woman a grand surprise!!"
Every Suna Ninja in the cave saw red, nails digging bloody crescents into their palms. This wasn't mere betrayal—it was dragging Sunagakure's dignity through a sewer.
Watching Chiyo teeter on the edge of rampage, Nara Shikaku's eyes narrowed as he mentally clicked the final piece into place.
The intelligence loop had closed.
It was a monster Alliance of S-rank defectors—hunting Kage-level shinobi, collecting forbidden jutsu, rumored to wield the legendary Rinnegan, and… operating with the logic of madmen.
"Land of Rain…" Shikaku turned toward the ceaseless black rain outside the cave, a chill crawling up his spine.
"This isn't armed neutrality—it's a jar for raising Gu. When that Gu-king crawls out, none of the Five Great Nations will stay clean."
…Konohagakure, Hokage Building.
Smoke hung thick in the council room, stinging eyes and throats.
Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi clenched his pipe, his brows knit into a single harsh line. The intelligence Shikaku had sent via urgent hawk left the usually kindly elder's face dark enough to drip water.
Outside, the rain drummed against the windows like a death god's countdown.
"Orochimaru… Rinnegan… Third Kazekage turned human puppet…"
Each word hammered the Konoha high command like a mace.
"Hiruzen, what are you waiting for?"
Shimura Danzo, seated in shadow, spoke coldly, his single eye glinting with calculation. "Enemies of this caliber shred regular forces. The Tsuchikage himself retreated in defeat—do you intend to feed the Anbu into that bottomless hole?"
"Then what do you propose?" Advisor Utatane Koharu frowned. "Those are the mythical eyes of the Six Paths Sage. Who besides Shodai(1st)-sama could stand against them?"
"Eye techniques are countered by eye techniques."
Danzo's voice cut through the silent room like a blade. "Since our foes possess the legendary 'Sage's Eyes,' let the Uchiha handle them."
At those words, the chamber turned so quiet even breathing sounded loud.
Borrowed knife.
A strategy as poisonous as they come.
The Uchiha, already suspected over the Nine-Tails Attack, stood on the Village's razor edge. They craved vindication, craved power, craved a return to the center.
"Let Uchiha Fugaku lead them," Danzo continued, voice devoid of emotion. "If the Uchiha win and eliminate this so-called god, Konoha reclaims Orochimaru and the scroll of seals—total victory. If they lose…"
A cold curve tugged at Danzo's lips: "it still cripples an unruly clan and removes a future threat."
Win or lose, Konoha's leadership profited.
Hiruzen drew deeply on his pipe, the exhaled ring veiling his expression.
He knew this shoved the Uchiha further away, yet the danger posed by Orochimaru's scroll of seals and that mysterious Rinnegan was too great.
As Kage, sometimes you had to choose the less bitter of two poisons.
"…Approved."
After a long silence, Hiruzen's hoarse voice broke the hush. "Issue a top-priority mobilization order in the Hokage's name. The Uchiha Clan will spearhead the assault. Move on the Land of Rain at once. Mission objective: retrieve Orochimaru—at any cost."
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