"We…won't be getting reinforcements. And there are rumors in the village saying it was you, Tangping, who failed at relaying intel — that's why the border camp fell!"
Xiǎo Línpíng finished relaying the message he'd received from the messenger hawk.
It was the kind of news that made them all sink into despair.
No reinforcements.
They had thought that if they held on a little longer help would arrive — but there was none.
And on top of that they'd been handed a smear aimed at Tangping. If it had been anyone else, people would naturally pin the blame on him.
But those who'd been through the incident knew the truth. Facing an ambush by someone as strong as Pakura, without an equally matched ally present, no one could have held out. The responsibility lay squarely with the village leadership. Sunagakure had shown signs of unusual activity for a while, yet the higher-ups had done nothing beyond sending supplies — if no one was to blame, who else could it be?
Tangping remained utterly calm; the news didn't faze him in the least.
As if he'd even care — why should he? He had the Taiyi on hand; at worst that would get him out of an encirclement. Reinforcements or not, it made no difference.
As for being smeared? Sorry, he wasn't Byakagami, and he wasn't one of those proud Uchiha who'd shoulder the blame just because of a rumor. Rumors can hurt a ninja who still clings to morality and conscience — but Tangping had long since let go of such scruples. He was enjoying the immoral life; gossip wasn't going to bother him.
"All right — let's discuss how we break out," Xiǎo Línpíng said, moving the topic on. He didn't understand why Tangping was so unfazed, but they needed a plan. Whoever was to blame, the priority was to get out alive.
Silence followed. Everyone understood their situation: as things stood, there was no way to fight through the Sand shinobi cordon and make it back to Konoha. No one even mentioned abandoning the convoy and fleeing back to Konoha — doing that and leaving the poisoned ninja behind would be a death sentence even if they made it home. That would be indistinguishable from shirking their mission. The Will of Fire wouldn't allow it; Konoha's shinobi were raised on that creed, and their loyalty to the village was unquestionable.
"What if I can slow the poison's onset?" Tangping said, and the words made the others catch their breath. Nobody wanted to die. Before there'd been no choice — now, suddenly, there was hope.
"Really?" Xiǎo Línpíng's eyes lit up with eager expectation.
"I've got…a ridiculous amount of experience in pharmaceuticals. Slowing the poison's onset shouldn't be a problem," Tangping replied, with mock modesty.
He wasn't hiding anything — the antidotes had been developed by him, after all. Claiming ignorance of medicinal development would be the lie; showing competence here carried no risk. In fact, he'd benefited from Tsunade's tutelage — she'd left him a wealth of medical knowledge, including antidotes. With that foundation, his confidence was understandable. Curing outright is hard; delaying symptoms is much easier. If the toxin were lethal enough to kill instantly, they wouldn't even be alive to wait for Konoha's help. The materials needed were common enough in the forests.
"So where do we head?" Xiǎo Línpíng dropped the pretense and spread the map.
"There." Tangping traced a line on the map and tapped a point.
"The Land of Rivers?" The others followed his finger. It was a small country south of the Land of Fire and bordering the Land of Wind — sparsely populated, largely uncultivable because of its rivers, chaotic and disordered. Ironically, it bordered the Wind Country: one suffers drought while the other suffers floods — the contrast was stark.
"Exactly. The Sand won't expect us to flee toward the Land of Rivers. If we lay low there for a while, by the time Konoha's forces arrive we can return by the same route." Tangping laid out the plan.
"All right." Xiǎo Línpíng nodded, and the two other chunin voiced no objections; the plan made sense. But they needed time, and someone had to act as bait to draw the Sand shinobi's attention away.
"Leave it to me." Tangping took the task without hesitation — not out of altruism, but because it was an opportunity he couldn't pass up. Usually when he left the village there was either a mission or someone tailing him; he rarely had true freedom. This time, the chance to operate freely was perfect. He could take care of some important business while he was at it — like planting the Fusang tree.
The Fusang tree couldn't stay in Konoha anymore; he'd even been holding back resources to limit its growth so it wouldn't become impossible to carry. Taking on the bait role gave him the time to place the Fusang in a spot he'd already scouted.
Xiǎo Línpíng agreed without hesitation and let Tangping be the decoy. He wouldn't volunteer himself — he was in no condition to act as bait. Tangping had already proven his capability; he was the obvious choice.
That night Tangping disappeared — not to run, but to gather medicinal herbs. He spent the night producing large quantities of the antidote to delay the toxin, then set out to draw the Sand shinobi's attention.
When he'd been moving with the convoy he'd had to hold back; alone he could use everything he'd got. If he'd wanted to, he could have smashed through the encirclement and taken the group all the way back to Konoha — but that would be foolish. Returning to the village meant more endless missions; risking everything to rush back made no sense. Better to use the time to further his own goals.
Whoever had framed him — it was obvious who did it. An eye-for-an-eye. Tangping wasn't one to swallow insults. If the enemy sent a Root detachment after him, he'd already wiped out that Root squad without hesitation; this time he'd teach Root a lesson and grab the prize he'd coveted for who-knew-how-long.
Life or death — whatever. If he didn't like someone, he'd do something about it.
Before the transmigration, Tangping hated the "for the greater good" guilt trips aimed at the lower ranks. They could hurt him and call it mission, but when he wanted revenge he was supposed to "think of the greater good"? The great good wasn't his. When you're powerless, you endure; when you have power and still endure, you're just a turtle. Now that he had power, his attitude had changed. At first, after crossing over, he might have sacrificed for the greater good. Now he wouldn't even endure a bit.
With a blade in his heart, killing thoughts rose.
Planting the Fusang and taking revenge on Danzō — both could be finished while he lured the Sand shinobi away. That way he'd have an alibi: he wouldn't be "present" when things happened.
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