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

Chapter 249 Iwa Ninja Hero
"Sasuke-kun's plan is truly intricately linked."

A strange light flashed in Orochimaru's golden eyes. He immediately grasped the general outline of the situation. He would take advantage of the weaknesses in the Cloud Ninja's tailed beast seal to make the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki go berserk and hold back the Cloud Ninja's power.

Then, by using Iwagakure spies, they detonated bombs in the core areas of Kumogakure, including the logistics area, workshops, and medical department. This was a series of interconnected and extremely precise and ruthless actions. What's even more remarkable is that they perfectly shifted all the hatred and suspicion onto Iwagakure, while completely disregarding Konoha.

At this moment, Kumogakure probably wishes he could devour Onoki alive. His insight into and utilization of human nature and the situation is truly admirable.

"Orochimaru, you flatter me. Let's leave as soon as possible and leave the mess to Onoki."

Sasuke Umino remained calm, merely nodding slightly and gazing intently in the direction of Iwagakure.

Not long after the two returned to the front lines of the Land of Grass, the Hidden Stone Village in the Land of Earth finally received this good news.

After surviving near-death experiences and scattering to break through the encirclement, many of the Iwagakure spies who participated in Operation [Iwakage] and managed to escape finally returned to the village in a sorry state.

They brought back news of the immense destruction suffered by Kumogakure, as well as the devastating news that their superiors, the Earth Collapse Team, had been separated during the evacuation and might have perished.

Inside the Tsuchikage Building, Onoki floated in mid-air, his short body exuding a powerful sense of oppression as he listened to the intelligence provided by these long-abandoned spies.

"Lord Tsuchikage! We bombed Kumogakure! We destroyed the warehouse area, the workshop area, the medical department, and other core areas. You don't know, the firelight lit up half the sky!"

"It was Lord Earth Collapse who directed us to detonate a large number of explosive tags."

"The Cloud Ninja are hunting us like madmen. Lord Di Beng was covering for us, and it's possible that the Cloud Ninja were caught and sacrificed."

"We...we've completed our mission, and we've been exposed. Can we go back to the village now...?"

Listening to these inexplicable reports, Onoki frowned and stroked his beard. He was shocked by the news of the devastating blow suffered by Kumogakure, but the reports from these spies, whom he had long since abandoned, gave him great doubts and some speculations.

"Could it be that the number two spy, [Earth Collapse], knew that the village had abandoned him, and in a desperate gamble, he orchestrated this [Rock Echo] operation?"

Onoki pondered for a moment. He knew that with [Earth Collapse]'s abilities and personality, he might be an excellent spy, but to plan and execute such a large-scale destructive operation was beyond his expectations.

Could it be that after learning that the village had abandoned them, [Earth Collapse] unleashed its astonishing potential in a desperate situation, taking advantage of the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki's rampage to steal the explosive tags from the Hidden Cloud Village's logistics department and hastily planned this destructive operation with tremendous results?

After much thought, the most likely explanation is that [Earth Collapse] realized he had been abandoned. Rather than stay in Kumogakure waiting to die, he decided to go all out, fight to the death, and maximize the destruction of Kumogakure to prove his worth to the village. He then returned to the village with numerous merits.

Thinking of this, Onoki's doubts were replaced by a complex emotion: he was shocked by the scale of the destruction of Kumogakure, saddened by the sacrifice of the Earth Collapse, and felt a sense of indescribable exhilaration.

Kumogakure, you've finally met your match! You dared to invade my Iwagakure a while ago, now you're getting your comeuppance.

"Although the process was full of surprises and sacrifices, the result was good and quite beneficial to my Iwagakure."

Onoki's eyes flashed with a sharp light. Compared to Konoha, Kumogakure posed the greatest threat to their village. Now, the Eight-Tails' rampage had severely injured the Third Raikage and the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, and the core area of ​​Kumogakure had been blown to smithereens, resulting in heavy losses of resources and a double blow to the morale of the people. Whether the Earth Collapse was an extraordinary performance or there was another hidden reason, this result was real and could be considered as exceeding the mission's expectations.

"Now it seems that [Earthquake] and these spies are heroes of my Iwagakure Village. They have made such great contributions to my Iwagakure Village. Although some sacrifices were made, their merits cannot be erased."

Onoki said in a deep voice to his secretary, "Pass down the orders: First, give the fallen heroes a grand burial, double the compensation for their families, especially the family of [Earthquake]. Lift the surveillance on his sister, Lan Tu, and restore her freedom and honor. Also, give her brother the honor and compensation he deserves. Second, record the S-rank merits of all heroes who participated in this operation and survived, and promote them to the highest level of reward."

Third, announce to the entire village that the [Earth Collapse] team has been commended for their bravery and loyalty; their actions have dealt a heavy blow to the arrogance of the Cloud Ninja!

The secretary took the order and left. Onoki floated to the window, looking towards the direction of Kumogakure, his expression becoming solemn and full of fighting spirit.

"Heh, that brute Third Raikage must be furious by now, right? If you want revenge on Iwagakure, bring it on! Perfect timing, strike while the iron is hot!"

Onoki clenched his fists, and a powerful aura erupted from his short body.

Little did he know that he was stepping into a trap that Umino Sasuke had already woven, thus relieving a lot of pressure on the front lines of the Land of Grass.

In response to the impending furious revenge from the Hidden Cloud Village, the Hidden Stone Village quickly entered a state of high alert.

A massive storm sweeping across the Land of Earth and the Land of Lightning was quietly taking shape, fueled by Sasuke Umino. The true instigator, however, had already concealed his achievements and returned to the front lines of the Land of Grass.

Frontline of the Land of Grass, Konoha Camp Main Base.

Orochimaru appeared quietly outside the command post, as if he had just gone out for a patrol, while Umino Sasuke returned to the office of the frontline mobile support unit.

"Lord Sasuke, you're back?"

Nara Shikaku, as if he had Inuzuka's nose, immediately noticed the difference.

"Oh? When did you find out?"

Sasuke Umino was quite surprised; he had been using shadow clones all along, yet this little guy had actually discovered his true form before leaving.

It seems this little guy still needs more experience. If he's mature and smart enough, he should be able to pretend nothing happened and continue to slack off and relax as before.

Nara Shikaku did not give a direct answer, but instead complained bitterly about wanting to reduce his workload.

"Xiao Lu Jiu, I heard you're quite efficient at work, and you spend your days lying on the roof sunbathing and sleeping, living a very carefree life. Is that true?"

"Huh? Lord Sasuke, that's not true."

Nara Shikaku snapped to attention and immediately became wary, vehemently denying it.

"That's good." Umino Sasuke nodded, a strange meaning in his smile. "Then, should we reduce the workload?"

"No need, no need, it's fine as it is."

Nara Shikaku quickly waved his hand and began to compliment the commander on how considerate and caring he was of his subordinates.

(End of this chapter)