Unaware that their plan had already been discovered, the Cloud Ninja had already entered the ambush site set by the Konoha Ninja.
When the Cloud Ninja reached the designated location, the Konoha Ninja immediately sprang into action.
Explosive Tags, shuriken, kunai, traps, and ninjutsu hidden beneath the ground all rained down upon them at once.
In an instant, flames erupted and cries of agony filled the air.
The Cloud Ninja stood there stunned—thinking they had come to launch a surprise attack on Konoha's base camp, only to be ambushed themselves by Konoha forces.
After this first wave of fierce assault, a large number of Cloud Ninja were killed instantly.
Now, fewer than one-fifth of those present remained alive.
That is, out of more than a hundred Cloud Ninja, massive casualties struck in an instant, leaving just over twenty survivors.
"Retreat! Retreat quickly!"
One after another, the Cloud Ninja shouted desperately as they tried to flee.
However, Orochimaru had issued clear orders—to completely eliminate all the Cloud Ninja here.
With only about twenty scattered enemies remaining, who no longer posed any real threat, the Konoha Ninja swiftly launched pursuit operations.
Time dragged slowly minute by minute.
For the Konoha Ninja, the passage of time didn't matter—they were the hunters, while the Cloud Ninja were prey.
But for the fleeing Cloud Ninja, each second felt like a year; being hunted without mercy felt like unbearable torment.
Daybreak approached.
The pursuing Konoha ninja regrouped and returned to Jiraiya and Orochimaru, who had been waiting patiently.
One ninja reported, "In this battle, we confirmed the elimination of 92 Cloud Ninja. Nine have definitely escaped, and there might be a few others we missed who also fled."
Orochimaru frowned slightly, "Even with the initiative, we let them penetrate this deeply, and still nine managed to escape?"
Faced with Orochimaru's question, none of the Konoha Ninja dared speak up.
Jiraiya chuckled, saying, "That's still pretty good—only letting nine escape. It would've been extremely difficult to wipe them out completely. Some of them could've been specialists at escaping. This was a major victory for Konoha."
Orochimaru showed no sign of blame—his words were merely a question, not an accusation. Then he ordered, "Gather the bodies of the fallen Cloud Ninja, collect any usable supplies and equipment from them, then dump everything thirty miles into the wilderness."
"Yes, sir."
The Konoha Ninja immediately carried out Orochimaru's commands.
...
Two days later.
Inside the Cloud Village's outpost located within the Hot Water Country,
A, the future Fourth Raikage and current Jōnin of Kumogakure as well as son of the Third Raikage, angrily slammed his hand onto the table.
The table shattered instantly under A's immense strength.
"Damn those Konoha ninja—how dare they!"
A panted heavily, clearly furious.
The current commander in the Hot Water Country was Killer B, the eight-tails jinchuriki from Kumogakure.
A's expression also looked grim. Losing nearly a hundred Cloud Ninja at once—anyone would be devastated.
A's face twisted with rage as he said to Killer B, "Let me lead a team to attack Konoha's stationed camp!"
Killer B replied solemnly, "Don't act recklessly, A. Right now Minato Namikaze is near us, continuously attacking our Cloud Ninja. We must deal with Minato Namikaze first. It won't do to keep getting harassed by him."
A angrily retorted, "Are we just going to let this slide?"
Killer B said darkly, "We have to hold back for now. The Third said that the entire ninja world only needs one spark before total war erupts. We cannot be the one to spark it, or we'll likely become targets of the other ninja villages.
"For now, let's bear this injustice. Once full-scale war breaks out, we'll collect our debts from the Konoha ninja!"
...
Meanwhile, in Sunagakure.
The Third Kazekage had already received a reply from Shindai.
After reading the letter, the Third Kazekage felt pleasantly surprised: "Oh? He has already gained Minato Namikaze's trust. Now he's working on earning Jiraiya's as well? I didn't expect Shindai's talent for undercover operations to be so impressive. Truly remarkable."
Just as the Third Kazekage felt pleased about the successful progress of Shindai's infiltration mission, someone had already begun resenting him.
In the basement of Sasori's house.
Sasori was operating on a corpse, blood splattering onto his face.
This corpse had once been a ninja Sasori had killed.
Right now, Sasori was modifying this body, preparing to turn it into a human puppet.
This wasn't the first time Sasori had attempted making a human puppet—he'd experimented multiple times before.
However, all previous attempts at creating human puppets had failed. This time though, Sasori was confident he could succeed—or rather, already had succeeded.
Because he'd overcome the most difficult part of creating a human puppet.
That was crafting the Chakra Core.
The Chakra Core—the most important component of a human puppet—had already been successfully completed. Now Sasori was embedding intricate mechanisms into this human puppet.
And for this first successfully manufactured human puppet, Sasori had already chosen a name.
[Hiruko]
"Father… Mother… Don't worry. Once I complete Hiruko, I'll kill the Kazekage who abandoned his duty and caused your deaths. I'll turn him into a human puppet too..."
Behind Sasori stood two puppets—one male, one female—watching him silently.
These were Sasori's very first creations, modeled after his parents' appearances.
...
In Konoha Village.
Hiruzen Sarutobi was sitting in his office at the Hokage Building, nursing a headache the size of two heads.
The fallout from poaching Shindai had already begun to unfold.
Onoki, the Tsuchikage of Iwagakure, had sent a formal condemnation to Konoha, accusing them of abducting their rightful Magnet Release kekkei genkai bearer. If Konoha refused to demand the immediate return of Shindai, Iwagakure would formally declare war.
Were they really going to have to give Shindai up?
Konoha didn't have a single Magnet Release kekkei genkai bearer—Shindai was their very first. If they handed him over, how could they ever hope to build a future Magnet Release ninja force?
But if they refused, Iwagakure would go to war with Konoha.
Then that would become the trigger for full-scale war. Once Iwagakure declared war on Konoha, Sunagakure would certainly follow closely behind, joining the attack.
At that point, Konoha would face simultaneous assaults from three great ninja villages.
Kirigakure… the Third Mizukage's blood mist policy had warped its ninja into ruthless, battle-hardened fanatics. They might not hesitate to join the fight either.
Konoha couldn't possibly withstand coordinated attacks from all four major ninja villages. Even if Konoha was powerful, it couldn't hold out against such odds.
Were they really going to have to give Shindai up?
Hiruzen felt reluctant. He had hoped to use Shindai to establish a complete squad of Magnet Release ninja within Konoha.
Hiruzen puffed morosely on his pipe, deep in thought over possible countermeasures.
Suddenly, a bright idea flashed through his mind.
Hiruzen hit upon a viable plan and broke into a broad, delighted smile, his face lighting up like he'd just found a ray of hope.
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