Naruto's civilian cannon fodder starts with the three-body technique

Chapter 160 The Chief Culprit of Defeat
"I suggest that if we encounter this white blood demon again, we should abandon the mission."

Juzo Biwa stared at Sasuke Umino's departing figure, his eyes filled with fear.

Faced with Kibi no Juzo's somewhat rash suggestion, none of the Kirigakure ninjas objected. They all agreed that the White Blood Demon's strength was too unfathomable, and they should avoid him in the future.

"Konoha Village is truly a place of outstanding people and resources, with a large number of strong individuals emerging in each generation."

The group of Mist Ninjas sighed in admiration, saying that Konoha Village truly lived up to its reputation as the number one ninja village in the ninja world, with a truly profound foundation. Previously, this White Blood Demon was just an unknown Chunin. If it weren't for the Ninja War, Konoha Village would probably have remained hidden for who knows how long.
"Raiga, do you think that watermelon rind guy might actually be a genin?"

When Biwa Juzo thought about how the White Blood Demon was just an ordinary Chunin from Konoha Village before, it didn't seem so hard to accept that the watermelon-skinned Genin could unleash Kage-level power.

Now that you mention it, it's actually quite possible.

Kurosuki Raiga thought back carefully. The watermelon-skinned guy was dressed as a genin, and judging from the attitude of those Konoha ninjas, the watermelon-skinned guy's genin identity was very likely real.

"hiss……"

Raiga Kurosuki and Juzo Biwa looked at each other in shock and fear, finally gaining a completely new understanding of the astonishing strength of Konoha.

Upon hearing this, Suigetsu Hobuki recalled the attack on the Morning Peacock and was still shaken, but he pretended to be calm and quickly tried to save face: "Everyone, this White Blood Demon has already annihilated two Sand Ninja puppet armies, totaling more than 600 people. Only the Sand Village elder Ebizo managed to escape from him. The fact that so many of us escaped this time is much better than what Ebizo did."

"Yes, it's already quite good that we were able to escape with our lives."

"Fortunately, Lord Fugu Demon was resourceful and used diplomatic language to intimidate the White Blood Demon, otherwise how could we have escaped?"

"Yes, thank you for saving my life, Lord Fugu Demon."

The Mist Ninja expressed their gratitude and lifted up Suigetsu Hozuki.

Knowing that his strength and status were no less than Suigetsu Hozuki's, Raiga Kurosuki was about to object when he saw this scene, but was pulled back by Juzo Biwa.

Then, even Juzo Biwa started praising Suigetsu Hozuki, showering him with compliments.

Even though Raiga Kurosuki wasn't very bright, he finally realized what was going on after receiving a hint from Juzo Biwa.

Now that the Hidden Mist Legion has suffered heavy casualties, someone has to step up and take responsibility. Even if Kaguya Hyakuzan, a dead man, is made to bear the main responsibility, someone else has to take the secondary responsibility.

Among the surviving Kirigakure ninja, he held the highest position among the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. Since Suigetsu Hozuki wanted to steal the limelight, who else should take the blame for the Kirigakure army's crushing defeat if not him?
Unfortunately, Suigetsu Hozuki appears rough and rugged, but he is extremely treacherous at heart, a typical example of someone who is loyal on the outside but a traitor on the inside. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been in charge of intelligence work for Kirigakure.

After regaining his senses, Suigetsu Hozuki immediately realized that Juzo Biwa and Raiga Kurosuki were plotting something, and that they wanted him to take the fall.

Then, Suigetsu Hozuki's eyes darted around, and he raised a question: "Do you think this White Blood Demon was holding back the whole time, never intending to be an enemy of Kirigakure, until he discovered that the coastal fortress blocked their way back to the Land of Fire, and only then did he unleash his full power?" Suigetsu Hozuki then added: "The White Blood Demon said before that he wanted to cooperate with us to fight against the Sand Ninja Army. They just wanted to leave the Land of Rivers, not to be enemies of Kirigakure. It was all that Kaguya Hyakuzaki who insisted on abandoning such a good partner of Konoha and actively provoking them."

“That’s right, what Lord Fuguki said is very true. It was all Kaguya’s strategic mistake during the Hundred Battles. If we had cooperated with the Konoha Hundred Puppet Army, we might have already occupied the Daimyo’s residence in the Land of Rivers by now.”

The Mist Ninja echoed this sentiment, actually pinning all the blame on Kaguya Hyakusen. Some even went so far as to lie through their teeth, claiming that Lord Fuguki had advised Kaguya Hyakusen several times, but Kaguya Hyakusen remained obstinate, leading to his crushing defeat.

If it weren't for the pufferfish demon's heroic intervention, the entire army would have been wiped out.

"Juzo, Raiga, do you two think Kaguya Hyakusen deserved to die? Did she have any accomplices?"

Suigetsu Hozuki stared intently at Juzo Biwa and Raiga Kurosuki, exuding a threatening aura.

Juzo Biwa and Raiga Kurosuki saw that the entire fleet of Mist Ninja had reached a consensus. Although they were somewhat resentful that Suigetsu Hozuki had taken command of the entire fleet of Mist Ninja, they did not object to this excellent suggestion. Shifting all the blame to Kaguya Hyakusen was entirely in everyone's best interest.

"Alright! We're all in the same boat now, so we'll have to help each other out from now on. Hehe, if a traitor appears, he'll be our common enemy."

Suigetsu Hobuki warned everyone, then said with a mix of threats and persuasion, "Raiga, your daughter, Kurosuki Buntan, is already in the Ninja Academy, right? How about she become my disciple?"

After thinking it over, Raiga Kurosuki agreed. After all, Suigetsu Hozuki was not only one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, but also in charge of the intelligence department of Kirigakure, so he held a good position. It would be a good choice for him to be his daughter's teacher.

"Raiya, from now on we're on the same side. Don't hesitate to call me if you need anything."

After Suikyouzan Hozuki dealt with Kurosuki Raiga, he turned his attention to Hibiki Juzo, using both soft and hard tactics: "Juzo, the responsibility for this battlefield defeat lies entirely with Kaguya Hyakusatsu. You wouldn't be trying to protect him, would you?"

Juzo Biwa was quite perceptive and immediately said decisively, "If it weren't for Kaguya Hyakusen's excessive belligerence and her insistence on provoking the Konoha Hundred, I would already be enjoying myself with palace maids in the Daimyo's palace. Why would I be protecting that damned Kaguya Hyakusen?"

Suigetsu Hozuki smiled and nodded. Seeing that everyone on the ship had a unified story, he put aside his worries and ordered the sailors to go full speed ahead and quickly return to the Land of Water.

There was no other way; if we didn't hurry, and the White Blood Demon changed his mind and caught up with us on his Desert Falcon, everything would be over.

At this moment, how could Umino Sasuke possibly give chase? He had already returned to the sunken ship in the river and released a large number of Hidden Mist Techniques, covering the entire river.

In the river, the mecha puppets were too cumbersome to operate, but the other Sand Ninja standard puppets did not have this problem.

Now that the skilled ninja have all escaped, and the true elites have all perished in the poisonous gas maze, the remaining ninja on the ship are mostly in logistics and are not particularly strong.

Even those few special Jonin-level managers quickly died at the hands of Jonin puppets controlled by shadow clones.

(End of this chapter)