novelraw Chapter 106: The Aftermath of the Riots
Chapter 106: The Aftermath of the Riots
Chapter 106: The Aftermath of the Riots
Just as the Konoha camp was celebrating Minato's victory, the Iwagakure frontline camp...
Onoki leaned against the soft couch. The bleeding from his severed arm had stopped thanks to the medical ninja's treatment, but his face was still pale.
A group of high-ranking members of Iwagakure surrounded the sickbed, and a somber atmosphere filled the ward.
"I never imagined that the child would possess such immense power."
Onoki sighed deeply: "This is no longer something that can be defined as a genius; it's a monster—"
Recalling the sword strike that rendered him utterly powerless, and the rain of light that illuminated the heavens and the earth, Onoki couldn't help but recall the terrifying figure that looked down upon him and his master, like a demon god, when he and the Second Tsuchikage went to Konoha to form an alliance.
Has such a terrifying existence reappeared in Konoha?
Hearing Onoki's dejected sigh, the Iwagakure leaders exchanged bewildered glances.
Some hesitated to speak, but in the end, a senior Jonin broke the silence.
"Lord Tsuchikage, your injuries—"
"He won't die."
Onoki waved his hand, using his remaining left hand to prop himself up on the edge of the bed: "But this war cannot continue."
As soon as he finished speaking, the ward erupted in an uproar.
"Lord Tsuchikage!"
One of the more capable ninjas couldn't help but speak up: "Are we, the Hidden Stone Village, going to admit defeat like this? Although we've lost some troops, the overall losses aren't too great, and besides, we still have Jinchuriki—"
"Jinchūriki—"
Onoki gave a wry smile: "The Four-Tails and Five-Tails of our Iwagakure were captured by the First Hokage using Wood Release and then sold to us!"
"How...how is this possible?"
Upon hearing this, the person who had just spoken looked utterly bewildered.
"The First Hokage once captured all the tailed beasts except for the One-Tailed Beast. Except for the strongest Nine-Tails, which was kept in Konoha, the rest were all sold to other villages."
Onoki shook his head slightly, his tone wistful: "He hopes that the various ninja villages can restrain and deter each other because of the powerful strength of the tailed beasts, and avoid further warfare."
"Although the balance was immediately broken after his death, no one dared to start a war while the First Hokage was still alive."
"This is also why I chose to ambush Minato Namikaze. If he were to grow up successfully, he might become the next God of Shinobi, but—"
Onoki sighed heavily: "I misjudged the strength of the target. This is my dereliction of duty. After this war ends, I will resign to take responsibility."
"Lord Tsuchikage, no!"
Everyone's expression changed, and they all spoke up to dissuade them.
"Let's not talk about resigning yet—"
The staff officer standing to the side said with a heavy expression, "The war has only just begun. If we surrender now, not only will we have a hard time explaining to Daming Prefecture, but the reputation of the village will also be damaged, and the workload afterward will probably be drastically reduced."
"I'm in a dilemma—"
"Let's fight Konoha!"
A commotion broke out in the ward. Onoki waved his hand, signaling everyone to be quiet: "Alright, everyone, stop arguing."
He glanced around, his expression showing a hint of weariness.
After thinking for a moment, he suddenly said, "Send someone to negotiate with Konoha, saying that we have been deceived by Sunagakure and are willing to fight against Sunagakure's invasion together with Konoha."
"Sunagakure has no chance of winning this war, so this will be a satisfactory outcome for both the Daimyo and the village."
Since we can't win, we might as well just cling to a big team and win without lifting a finger!
Iwagakure needs a victory, but it doesn't matter who they fight.
The reason we attacked Konoha before was because Konoha was rich.
But if Konoha can't beat them, then they'll fight Sunagakure; they'll pick the weakest one to crush.
Although Sunagakure's economic conditions meant that even if they won, there wouldn't be any substantial benefits, all he wanted was a victory.
The war has only just begun. Although Minato has killed several hundred people, most of them were just cannon fodder Chunin. For Iwagakure at this point, it is not a serious blow.
There's even less pressure when it's two against one!
Not to mention that it's two strong sides fighting against one weak side.
In this way, Iwagakure managed to save face, and the Daimyo's family was given an explanation.
Meanwhile, at the Sunagakure camp.
Several members of the Shadow Guard returned in a disheveled state, bringing news that was like a bolt from the blue for Sunagakure at this point.
"The Third Kazekage—is he dead?"
Ebizo stared in astonishment at the group of people before him, his voice filled with disbelief.
"That guy—Minato Namikaze, he's a monster!"
The leading Sand Ninja had red eyes, still carrying a lingering fear.
"The opponent has the ability to fly, and his speed is so fast that we didn't have time to react. The Kazekage was defeated. In addition, he can also fire lasers and use a flash-like ability. The Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, also had one of his arms severed by him—"
Upon hearing the reports from the Sand Ninja, the command post fell into a deathly silence.
Ebizo remained silent for a long time before finally expressing the same sentiment as Onoki.
"This is a monster!"
Because the Shadow Guard returned in such a disheveled state, and with the added fuel of the fire by those with ulterior motives, news of the Third Kazekage's death quickly spread from the command tent like a plague.
"Have you heard? Lord Kazekage—is dead."
"How could that be? The Third Kazekage is the strongest Kazekage. Where did you hear this rumor?"
"It's not a rumor. The Shadow Guard has returned, and they said it themselves: they were killed by Minato Namikaze from Konoha!"
"That Wood Release monster?!"
"I heard he single-handedly killed hundreds of Iwagakure members, even Ōnoki had his hand cut off, and the Kazekage was forced to self-destruct by him!"
Similar discussions arose in every corner of the camp. At first, they were just suppressed whispers, but as more and more details were revealed, the panic brought about by the Wood Release monster began to spread like a tide throughout the camp.
In an instant, the morale within the Sunagakure camp plummeted to its lowest point.
Panic gradually turned into chaos.
Some radicals clamored for revenge for Feng Ying, while some rational people tried to stop them. Most people were at a loss, not knowing what to do next.
Ebizo was also exhausted. Sunagakure had almost emptied its coffers for this war. Now that the front lines had failed and the Kazekage had died, he, as the chief of staff, had been placed in the same predicament that the Third Kazekage had been in.
To make matters worse, there was factional infighting. The death of the Third Kazekage caused the already turbulent Sunagakure to lose its balance. Representatives of different factions argued incessantly, and the command center was practically turned into a marketplace.
"We must elect an acting Kazekage immediately! Without a leader, how can we fight this war?"
"Still fighting? Lord Kazekage has already fallen in battle, are you going to deal with that monster?"
"The election of the Wind Shadow is imminent, and someone must take charge. For now, we have no choice but to abandon the front lines."
"Give up? You make it sound so easy! Do you think Konoha will let us go? Are you going to let the war spread to the Land of Wind?"
"So what do you suggest we do? Keep fighting? Go and die? Or stay here and waste our resources?!"
"We still have tailed beasts!"
"Use a Tailed Beast against Wood Release? Have you lost your mind?!"
In the main seat, Ebizo remained deeply silent. He saw no future for Sunagakure in this group of people.
Or perhaps, he has already seen the future of Sunagakure.