Sure enough.
After hearing Pakura's report, Ishikawa Tetsugan's face darkened terrifyingly. He slammed a heavy fist onto the table with a dull thud.
"Useless! You couldn't even deal with a few brats, and you left one of your team members in Konoha's hands… Do you not know Konoha has secret techniques for probing memories?
"Now the surprise attack plan we originally drew up may have to be scrapped and rebuilt from scratch. Can you bear responsibility for such a huge loss?"
"…"
Pakura remained silent.
At that point, a jōnin staff officer beside them coughed.
"Lord Ishikawa, that can't really be helped, can it? According to Pakura's report, the opponent was very likely a student of the Yellow Flash. The technique he used in battle may even have been the Flying Thunder God. If that's true, then mission failure was inevitable.
"Why not record this mistake for now and let Pakura make up for it with future merit?"
His words were reasonable enough.
But Ishikawa Tetsugan frowned.
"So what if the Yellow Flash was there? Does that mean Suna should just stop fighting whenever he appears? Besides, Pakura didn't even engage him up close. Whether that person was really Namikaze Minato is still uncertain."
Just as Ishikawa was about to continue losing his temper,
an aged voice suddenly came from the shadowed corner.
"Wait. What were you just saying? What white-haired brat from Konoha?"
The moment that voice sounded, Ishikawa Tetsugan stopped. Along with the other staff officers in the tent, he held his breath and looked respectfully toward the source of the voice.
Pakura also turned.
An elderly woman in traditional Sunagakure clothing slowly rose from a chair hidden in the shadows. She looked around fifty, with graying hair and a face marked by years of wind and sand. It was none other than Sunagakure's highly respected elder, a master of puppetry and poison techniques—
Chiyo.
At this point in time, Chiyo could still be considered "in her prime" compared to how aged she would be by the Shippuden era. With the Third Kazekage missing, she could basically be regarded as an acting "3.5th Kazekage."
Sasori of the Red Sand's defection had also not yet affected her position.
After all, it had only happened recently, and Sasori's assassination of the Third Kazekage had not been exposed. In the eyes of most Suna ninja, he was still the obvious candidate for Fourth Kazekage, so his "defection" had not yet been fully defined.
In theory, as long as they brought him back later and said, "The child was just being immature and ran off to play," no one would dare argue with Chiyo's prestige. So while Chiyo was anxious right now, she had not yet reached the point of despairing over it and withdrawing from everything.
This time,
Chiyo had originally only come to sit in on Ishikawa and the others' discussion and offer suggestions. She hadn't planned to intervene directly.
But Pakura's report had contained one detail worth noticing.
"You're Pakura, correct?"
"You said just now that the white-haired Konoha brat used a short sword? What kind of sword? How short was it? And what was his swordsmanship like?"
"Huh?"
Pakura froze slightly.
What kind of question was that?
But given the other party's status as a Suna elder, she could only answer honestly.
"It was about… this long. The style was slightly different from ordinary blades.
"As for his swordsmanship, it was extremely fierce and sharp. It also felt like he could read my movements ahead of time, as if everything I did was transparent in front of him…"
As Pakura spoke,
Chiyo's brows slowly drew together.
Similar.
Too similar.
Ever since her son and daughter-in-law—Sasori's parents—had been killed by Konoha's White Fang in the Second Great Ninja War seven or eight years ago, Chiyo had hated him to the bone. She had spent an enormous amount of time collecting intelligence on his swordsmanship, waiting for the day she could personally avenge her son.
Previously, there had been some rumors that Hatake Sakumo was already dead.
Chiyo didn't quite believe them.
That was why, as one of the pro-war elders, she had accompanied the vanguard forces to the front. It wasn't impossible that part of her goal had been to personally confirm the truth.
But now…
"Almost exactly the same design as the White Fang short blade, and the sword style matches too. Could that white-haired brat named 'Yuu' be Hatake Sakumo's son? 'Hatake Yuu'?"
"But this girl also mentioned another white-haired brat with a mask who uses a short sword… Did the Hatake family send both sons to the battlefield at once?"
If so…
Then what a joyous double blessing!
If Hatake Sakumo could kill her son and daughter-in-law back then, then now she, Chiyo, could kill his pair of sons!
Thinking this, Chiyo's previously calm gaze instantly became razor-sharp, like the tip of a poisoned needle. Her voice carried hatred that had been suppressed for many long years.
"Good. Very good! I truly didn't expect to encounter his descendants here!"
"…?"
Pakura was a little stunned.
After a while, she finally realized: Wait… did that mean the white-haired kid she encountered had been using Hatake Swordsmanship?
Then…
That made sense.
The name "Konoha's White Fang" was extremely famous in Sunagakure. After all, during the last Great Ninja War, many Suna ninja had been killed by that master swordsman, including Chiyo's son and daughter-in-law—the well-known elite puppet master couple. That blood feud was known to everyone in Suna.
As for the fact that she had casually chosen a squad to attack and ended up running into the son of Konoha's White Fang and the student of the Yellow Flash, Pakura had no words.
On the other side,
Ishikawa Tetsugan also sucked in a cold breath.
He could look down on Namikaze Minato, who was still a young rising star, but he could not look down on the White Fang. For Sunagakure, that man was practically like Zhang Liao to Eastern Wu in another world. Saying his name could stop children from crying at night might be a little exaggerated, but he was absolutely someone who made faces change at the mere mention of him.
"So in that case… Pakura's operation actually stumbled upon an important piece of intelligence? We hadn't noticed this squad's existence beforehand. If we had followed the original plan, we might have run into unexpected problems."
"…Correct."
Chiyo took a deep breath and forcibly suppressed the hatred filling her chest.
"Namikaze Minato is indeed a very powerful ninja. Although he still cannot compare to the White Fang at present, he has already become a major threat to us. And Jiraiya is also currently at Wildfire City. If we want to defeat them, we must proceed carefully."
What a pity Sasori wasn't here.
If he were, then with the two of them working together, grandmother and grandson, Chiyo was confident she could set up a killing trap and forcibly eliminate Hatake Sakumo's two "descendants." It might even be possible to kill either Jiraiya or Namikaze Minato as well.
Thinking of this, Chiyo turned to look at Pakura, a trace of assessment appearing in her eyes.
"Pakura, do you want to personally reclaim the humiliation you suffered today?"
"!"
~~~
Patreon(.)com/Bleam
— Currently You can Read 70 Chapters Ahead of Others!