This puppeteer is a bit... well...

Chapter 106 Actions of All Parties (Please Subscribe)

"Lord Rasa, shall we accept the negotiations?" the messenger asked cautiously.

In fact, he felt that Lord Rasa was overthinking things.

Although he cannot distinguish whether a person is hypocritical or honest, he can generally sense the intentions of a sincere person.

However, he did not refute Lord Rasa's reasoning.

After all, he was just a lowly messenger, while the other party was the assistant and bodyguard of the Third Kazekage, whose intelligence and strength far surpassed his own.

Since Lord Luo Sha has made this conjecture, there must be factors he hasn't considered.

"accept."

Luo Sha answered decisively, then changed the subject and said thoughtfully, "But I have to choose the time and place for the negotiations. If he doesn't agree, then let's not talk about it anymore."

"Yes."

The ninja responsible for relaying the order left, while Rasa remained standing in the same spot, deep in thought.

He did not want to negotiate.

Although the specific changes that have occurred in the village are still unknown, the mission to the Land of Iron alone has resulted in heavy losses.

If they cannot complete the mission and obtain the corresponding rewards, it will be a devastating blow to Sunagakure.

But he had no choice.

Given the current overwhelming disadvantage on his side, coupled with the instability posed by the village, he had no choice but to accept the situation.

But Luo Sha still held a sliver of hope in his heart.

Hopefully, nothing has changed in the village and they will send people to help.

"Delay as much as possible, and find out the situation in the village. If it is the worst-case scenario, then we will have no choice but to accept negotiations and withdraw our troops."

……

The next night.

"puff!"

The puppet swung its arm blade, slaying the ninja in front of it, before being pulled back to its master by the puppet strings.

This was a Sand Ninja wearing a gray mask, with somewhat cold eyes. Even after killing someone, his gaze remained unchanged.

He put away the puppet, leaped forward from branch to branch, and finally came to a thick branch on a large tree in the forest. He reported to the boy leaning against the back of the tree: "Lady Xuanqi, all the sentries in the south have been dealt with."

"Okay." Ryuji nodded and said, "Go and rest first, recover your strength and chakra, and we'll talk again when the other companions return."

"Yes."

The puppeteer wearing a mask instantly left the tree, while Ryuji remained leaning against the tree, head bowed, as if asleep, letting the rain wash over him, unmoving.

But as ninjas came to report, he would respond and tell them that he was not asleep, but just thinking.

As the last ninja arrived to report, Ryuji emerged from behind the tree, and countless eyes were cast upon him from all directions in the forest.

"The hidden sentries ahead have been eliminated; continue advancing."

After saying that, he jumped out first and leaped forward through the forest.

A red figure descended from the bushes above, following half a step behind him.

People also emerged from the other hidden places, leaping and darting among the tree branches.

The once quiet and empty forest was suddenly crowded with people.

This is the puppeteer unit led by Ryuji.

A hundred-man unit, that doesn't sound like much.

However, during the march, everyone maintained a distance of five or six meters. In the rainy night forest, the light was dim and there were many obstacles. Only the faint outlines of dense figures could be seen moving forward at high speed.

At first glance, it looked like there were thousands of people.

They marched silently, the only sound in the forest being the whooshing sound of their high-speed advance. Their destination: the Akatsuki camp.

They are not just here to win the war, but to win it quickly and decisively.

There is no tactic more suitable than blitzkrieg.

Therefore, Ryuji changed his marching route, spending an extra day to enter Amegakure from the border of the Land of Fire, so as to directly attack the Akatsuki camp from the side.

However, the Akatsuki organization turned out to be even more cautious than expected.

Even when facing the war with Sunagakure, they did not give up their reconnaissance towards the Land of Fire.

It's impossible for a hundred-man unit to infiltrate with so many sentries on guard; they can only clear their way through.

In this way, even if the enemy knows something is wrong, they will not know the specifics and will be unable to take any targeted measures.

Whoosh...

The group moved forward quickly, and by the time they reached the edge of the forest, colorful clouds had appeared on the horizon.

Long Er raised his hand to signal to stop.

The main force immediately stopped in a concealed location.

He took out his binoculars and looked out of the forest; a settlement appeared in the lens.

It was a fortress built on the edge of a cliff, an oval-shaped building of about a hundred square meters.

Patrols can be seen in important locations.

Long Er counted; there were ten people.

He pondered for a moment: "Considering the shift change, there are at least 20 people in the fortress. We killed twelve sentries on the way. Considering the size of the fortress and its population, this is roughly a stronghold of about fifty people."

Taking down a stronghold of 50 people is easy, but taking it down silently is very difficult.

It's about three kilometers from the forest to the outpost. The route is flat and there's nowhere to hide.

Any slight movement can be detected immediately.

A hundred-man unit... unless everyone can teleport or become invisible, it's impossible for them to sneak past silently.

"Master, shall I go and take them out?" Hong asked from the side.

Because she was going to war, Kurenai took off the maid dress she had worn since birth and put on a Sunagakure vest. Her long red hair was also tied into a ponytail at the back of her head.

This outfit has a unique charm.

Although she lost her gentle and virtuous temperament, she gained a dashing and heroic air.

After a moment's thought, and having no other options, Long Er agreed, "Go ahead, but don't let them send any signals."

"Don't worry, they won't have a chance."

A confident smile spread across his red face as he formed a hand seal in front of his chest: "Camouflage Concealment Technique!"

hum!

The air around her vibrated slightly, and then she entered optical cloaking mode.

This is a ninjutsu from Iwagakure (Hidden Stone Village).

However, it was not a complicated or difficult ninjutsu. After capturing an Iwagakure ninja who knew this ninjutsu, they conducted an autopsy and further research, and that's how they came up with it.

In fact, so-called ninjutsu is nothing more than a change in the form or nature of chakra.

As long as chakra is connected through a flow that conforms to the laws of the world, a technique can be formed.

Ryuji has studied chakra for many years and has studied countless specimens. Through analysis, restoration, and his own development, he has mastered thousands of ninjutsu.

Kurenai mastered all of these ninjutsu techniques.

She herself doesn't know just how strong she is, because no one can make her use her full strength.

As he pondered this, a red coded signal came from the direction of the stronghold.

"Let's go there."

Long Er waved and led his men out of the forest, arriving at the stronghold at top speed.

The stronghold was littered with corpses, all killed instantly by a single blow, and even their causes of death were the same: the senbon needles stuck in their necks.

The puppeteers were horrified, and their gazes toward Red changed.

In such a short period of time, she assassinated so many people using the same method without making a sound. What kind of fairy sister is she?

"Master, I spared one life."

Red threw a ninja over.

This is a ninja from Amegakure, wearing a diving suit and an oxygen mask, making him easily recognizable.

Long Er bent down and craned his neck, his right hand resting on his knee, a chilling smile on his face. "I'll ask you something, and you'll answer it. If you don't answer, then you have no value in living."

"I would rather die than betray Lord Hanzo."

"Then go die!"

The power unit on Long's back ejected a blade, which plunged into Long's back without hesitation.

The Rain Village ninja stared wide-eyed, wearing a "mmp" expression.

The Red Cross had its reasons for keeping this person as a target for interrogation.

He is not a person with any backbone at all.

They were just pretending to resist, to appear tough.

That way, even if you betray someone, it won't look so bad.

If Long Er interrogated him any longer, he would pretend to have been tortured into confessing.

Unfortunately, Ryuji was too lazy to put on an act with the drama queen.

"Wait for me a moment."

Ryuji opened his personal space and dragged the corpse inside.

A short while later, he came out, having obtained the information he wanted.

"The enemy will negotiate with Rosa the day after tomorrow. We will attack their camp while they are out negotiating."

With that, Long Er glanced at everyone and continued, "Now, let's rest here at this stronghold, recover our strength, and then speed up our advance."

"Yes."

……

The next day.

The Akatsuki camp was in an uproar.

These ninjas, who came from all over the country and shared the same ideals, found someone to rely on and confide in. They became fast friends and shared their experiences with each other.

Even if there are guys who have conflicts, they just resolve them through competition, and then they quickly start making a ruckus together, which even the heavy rain can't stop.

This joyful atmosphere always gives people the illusion that the war is over.

However, saying that the war has ended isn't entirely wrong.

The enemy has agreed to ceasefire negotiations.

They held a significant advantage and offered extremely favorable terms, so they didn't know what reason the other side might have to refuse.

However, they didn't know that.

The leaders, however, were not so optimistic.

The atmosphere in the commander's tent was heavy.

Although Rasa agreed to negotiate the next day, he chose a valley that was easy to ambush in as the meeting place and ordered that Yahiko's guards not exceed two people.

This kind of request shows a lack of sincerity, and no one would agree to it.

But Yahiko agreed.

Having been taught by Jiraiya, he firmly believed that people could understand each other, just like Akatsuki is now.

Weren't they enemies back then?

But after getting to know each other, people gradually developed trust, then mutual understanding, and became family and partners working together for peace.

Now, Akatsuki Yahiko has even greater faith in Jiraiya's teachings.

He firmly believes that peace will eventually come.

But the other members of the Akatsuki were different.

Especially for a wandering ninja like Daibutsu, who has been wandering the ninja world since childhood, he knows the darkness in people's hearts and is not as naive as Yahiko.

He was deeply skeptical of the negotiations.

The other party was not a wandering ninja, but an organized ninja organization.

He found it hard to believe that Sunagakure would abandon the war because of his words or actions.

Moreover, they have already offered these ceasefire conditions, yet the other side shows no sincerity whatsoever.

This clearly shows there's no intention to pursue peace.

"Yahiko, this is a trap, you can't go."

The elder Buddha, who was much older than Yahiko and the others, said, "We haven't received any news from the southern base since yesterday, and the ninjas we sent there have also disappeared without a trace. There must be something wrong here."

"Yes, Yahiko, you can't go," Ida Tennojusuke also advised.

The other original members also tried to dissuade them, and even Konan and Nagato were very worried.

"I know!"

Despite the crowd's attempts to persuade him, Yahiko remained remarkably calm. He looked at them with composure and said, "I know this negotiation is a dangerous undertaking, but for the sake of peace, no matter how difficult it may be, I will strive to achieve it."

At this point, Yahiko smiled and continued, "Hasn't the Akatsuki always operated this way since its inception?"

Upon hearing this, everyone fell silent.

Yes, pursuing peace in this cursed world is such a difficult thing, didn't they all know that from the beginning?

They initially dismissed the three children who claimed to be seeking peace.

But in the end, he was moved by their sincerity and chose to join them.

Perhaps this time will be no exception.

"Alright, I won't try to stop you anymore." The Buddha said, his expression turning serious, and continued, "But you can't just go to the negotiations like an idiot. Before the negotiations begin, we need to investigate and guard the negotiation location to make sure no one is lying in ambush."

"We also need to find out the situation at the southern base as soon as possible," said Ito Tennozuki. "This negotiation may not be successful. Sunagakure may be stalling for time, so we cannot let our guard down during this period."

"That's right." Yahiko nodded and said, "Ibaraki-doji, Oobutsu, you two have more experience, so I'll leave the investigation of the negotiation location to you. Nagato, you and Konan take some men to check on the situation at the southern base."

"Yes."

Seeing that everyone is eager to read on, I'll release two chapters first, and there will be another one tonight.

In addition, I've updated quite a bit, although it's only three chapters, but that's equivalent to five chapters for others.

If you only look at the updated chapters, then even Eagle only has about three chapters a day. Isn't that being crushed by those with five chapters a day?

(End of this chapter)