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

Chapter 289 Bait Plan
After temporarily abandoning their attack on the Daimyo's residence in the Land of Wind, Umino Sasuke and Hatake Sakumo turned their attention to the large oases they had not yet visited.

The retreat of the forces in Daming Prefecture made their efforts to liberate the oasis even more efficient.

Many people, including Sasuke, Anroku, and Shinsori, who wanted to improve themselves, did their best to prove their worth in front of Umino Sasuke.

In particular, Sha Chongba, with the powerful wind release brought by the implanted energy golden core and the advantage of not needing to form hand seals, not only provided a lot of accurate intelligence, but also single-handedly conquered a medium-sized oasis called Black Rock. He almost crushed the Sunagakure Chunin squad stationed in the oasis with overwhelming force, and planted the Dawn Flag, symbolizing the free sand people, in the center of the oasis.

Sasuke Umino was quite satisfied with this, and in a good mood, he casually taught him a decent set of swordsmanship techniques that he had obtained from Kumogakure.

Sha Chongba was overjoyed and grew increasingly respectful and loyal to Umino Sasuke.

Seeing that Sasuke's power was growing stronger, Anroku and Shinsori were consumed by jealousy. After spending a considerable amount of money to conquer a medium-sized oasis, they mustered up their courage and went to find Umino Sasuke. They knelt down and begged their master to grant them even greater power, vowing to go through fire and water for their master and liberate more oases.

Sasuke Umino looked at these two subordinates who were clearly more loyal than Shigeaki Sa, and considered them as good tools. He happened to have the Giant Lizard Chakra Regeneration Core and the Poison Scorpion Chakra Regeneration Core that he had previously made using summoning beast materials. Although the energy contained in these two regeneration cores was far less than that of the Hashirama Cell Regeneration Core, it was still far beyond that of a regular elite Jonin, and they each had the characteristics of Earth Release enhancement and neurotoxin.

The transformation process went very smoothly. An Lujing gained a defensive ability as tough as a giant lizard and an affinity for earth-style techniques, while Xin Sasori gained the ability to release paralyzing toxins and easily control poisonous scorpions. As a result, their strength soared, reaching a level similar to that of Sha Chongba.

The ecstasy brought by power and the absolute awe of their master made An Lujing and Xin Xie even more fanatical and hardworking than Sha Chongba. The three of them, as if in a competition, led the ever-growing Free Sand Bandit organization to conquer cities and territories for their master.

Soon, another large oasis was captured. Umino Sasuke skillfully gathered the mountain of supplies and gold and silver jewelry piled up in the warehouse. Hatake Sagumo, who was recovering his chakra, walked over with a solemn expression.

He held a specially made communication scroll in his hand, which was imprinted with the special seal of Konoha's Anbu.

Hatake Sagumo's voice carried a barely suppressed tremor, "Sasuke, the Hokage has ordered us to immediately cease all military activities, hand over frontline affairs, and return to Konoha as quickly as possible!"

"Recall?" Umino Sasuke stopped what he was doing, raising an eyebrow. "Sakumo-senpai, the Sand Village's supply lines are about to be completely cut off. Why would the Third Hokage give such an order?"

Hatake Sagumo handed the scroll to Unno Sasuke, on which Hiruzen Sarutobi's signature and sternly worded command were clearly visible: "I don't know, but an order is an order."

Although his tone remained calm, the knuckles of his fingers gripping the scroll turned slightly white, revealing his inner turmoil. As a perfect ninja, obedience to orders was an ironclad rule, but as a ninja on the front lines, he knew better than anyone what being recalled at this moment meant. It was tantamount to giving up the victory that was about to be won and giving Sunagakure a chance to catch its breath.

Sasuke Umino quickly scanned the scroll's contents, and when he saw the words "[Sasuke Umino relieved of his post as commander of the frontline mobile support force]", a barely perceptible glint of cold light flashed in his eyes.

He looked up, a playful smile on his face, and teased, "Senior Zuo Yun, could it be that you wanted to become Hokage, and someone slandered you, causing the Third Hokage to fear that your achievements would surpass Orochimaru's, so he urgently recalled us?"

Hatake Sagumo glared at him irritably: "If you're worried about getting too much credit, you should be worried about yourself. I've heard that some people are using the title of 'Second Hokage's successor' to get around.

He verbally refuted the order, but in his heart, it felt like a huge rock was pressing down on him. His loyalty to the Hokage was beyond question, but his dissatisfaction and regret about the order itself entangled him like vines.

He took a deep breath, suppressed all his emotions, and regained the composure of the Konoha Anbu chief: "The order has been given, and there is no room for doubt! Sasuke, prepare to evacuate. We must return to Konoha as soon as possible."

"Evacuation is no problem, but—"

Umino Sasuke casually tossed the scroll to Hatake Sagumo, a look of "I'm in a dilemma" on his face. "Senior Sagumo, my Flying Thunder God Technique is useful, but crossing such a long distance to return to Konoha consumes an astronomical amount of chakra! Last time, I almost collapsed while carrying just one person. This time, crossing the entire Land of Wind and the Land of Rivers, I'm afraid it will ruin my kidneys."

Hatake Sakumo rolled his eyes: "Come on, the Flying Thunder God Technique consumes spatial teleportation chakra like the Summoning Technique. The difference in consumption depending on the distance is negligible. You took me back and forth through the heart of the Land of Wind before, and you didn't complain about being tired. Now, what tricks are you trying to pull?"

Umino Sasuke chuckled, leaned closer, and lowered his voice, saying, "Sakumo-senpai, don't be so serious. Look, it's so embarrassing for us to slink back like this. Besides, if we just leave like this, Aunt Chiyo and her elite puppeteer unit are watching us like hawks. Wouldn't we be completely exposing our backs to the enemy? What if she catches up and bites us? How dangerous would that be?"

"Dangerous my foot! Who can outrun the Flying Thunder God Technique?" Hatake Sayun rolled his eyes again, annoyed. Seeing that Umino Sasuke still refused to use the Flying Thunder God Technique, he finally gave in. "Alright, what exactly are you planning?" Umino Sasuke immediately leaned closer, his eyes gleaming with cunning. "That's more like it! My plan is to first spread the word that we've angered the Fire Country Daimyo and have been ordered back to Konoha by the higher-ups. We're slinking back to Konoha in disgrace. With Chiyo's personality, and the deep-seated hatred of us killing her brother, son, and daughter-in-law, she'll definitely chase after us no matter what! Then, hehe..."

Umino Sasuke made a throat-slitting gesture and continued his plan: "In this way, we won't disobey the Hokage's orders, and we can also wipe out this elite Sand Village puppet force along the way. If we're lucky, we might even be able to send that old lady Chiyo to the Six Paths Pure Land to be with her loved ones! What do you think of my plan?"

After hearing this, Hatake Sagumo remained silent for a long time. His ninja duty told him that this was disobeying orders and was not allowed, but deep down, as a Konoha ninja, this plan was full of fatal temptation for him.

If Chiyo and her puppet army could be annihilated, it would be a devastating blow to Sunagakure, far more significant than the liberation of a few oases.

He hesitated for a long time, then finally nodded slowly, a fighting spirit burning in his eyes: "Okay, but the plan must be meticulous to ensure that nothing goes wrong. After this battle, you must use the Flying Thunder God Technique as soon as possible to get back to Konoha."

"Okay, I keep my word!"

Sasuke Umino patted his chest and immediately gave his guarantee.

Then, to express his dissatisfaction and get a little revenge on Hatake Sagumo, he looked at the blazing sun and complained, "Senior Sagumo, you are a master of taijutsu and have amazing stamina. Why don't you take your time and pretend to 'accidentally' reveal your whereabouts along the way, and seduce Aunt Chiyo to get close to you? As for me, I'll go deal with the spoils we just captured and take care of the handover of command in the Land of Rivers, so as not to make things difficult for Senior Tokifusa."

"Don't worry, I'll come to you as soon as I'm done. If you need anything, I'll be there the moment I sense you activating the Flying Thunder God Kunai!"

Hatake Saikumo was speechless again when he saw Umino Sasuke's "I'm busy, you take over" expression. However, he also understood that he had felt a little bad for Umino Sasuke earlier, and it was perfectly legitimate to handle the handover at the front line. So, the task of luring Chiyo into the trap fell to him.

"Hmph, you're so slippery." Hatake Sakumo snorted, tacitly acknowledging the arrangement. "Hurry up, don't keep me waiting too long."

"Understood!" Sasuke Umino grinned and quickly formed hand seals.

hum~
A ripple appeared in space, and his figure vanished instantly, leaving only Hatake Sagumo standing alone in the scorching yellow sand.

He looked at the spot where Umino Sasuke had disappeared, shook his head helplessly, and then his eyes became sharp as knives as he looked toward the heart of the Land of Wind, as if he could already see Chiyo leading her puppet army rushing toward him.

"Chiyo, for Kakashi's sake, I cannot let you live."

With murderous intent in his eyes, Hatake Sagumo then flashed into the vast sea of ​​sand, beginning to execute the so-called "bait" plan.

Meanwhile, on the front lines of the Land of Rivers, in the Konoha camp.

The atmosphere was extremely oppressive. Akimichi Torifu, who had just received the Hokage's order, was frowning as he looked at the document relieving Umino Sasuke of his post and temporarily placing him in charge of the Mobile Force. His heart was filled with mixed feelings.

He greatly admired Umino Sasuke's command skills and remarkable achievements. Now, the sudden change of commander would not only be difficult to accept, but could also damage the morale of this battle-hardened elite force, and even have a comprehensive impact on the morale of the frontline ninjas.

"Lord Tokifumi, Commander..." Shirokumo Yesan couldn't help but speak, his tone filled with worry and indignation. The Commander had led them to victory, reaped rich rewards, received generous treatment, and enjoyed extremely high prestige. Yet, the Konoha high command wanted to remove him from his position without even distinguishing right from wrong.

Akimichi Toki waved his hand, about to speak.

hum~
A spatial fluctuation appeared in the command center without warning.

"Who?!" The guarding ninja immediately went on alert, gripping his kunai tightly.

(End of this chapter)