Born in Sunagakure, dedicated to antagonizing Konoha for decades

531. Handsome Scorpion was provoked again.

Just as everyone was speculating about who the mastermind behind the ambush was, no one noticed that Handsome Scorpion was keeping his head down and not saying a word, his eyes starting to dart around again, and his two little hands clenched into fists.

His father got chopped up again!

This had a profound impact on the handsome Scorpion, who was at a crossroads in his life. When his father was stabbed last time, he had already begun to distrust people's frail bodies. No matter how strong or skilled he was in puppetry, he would still die if he was stabbed. However, he was awakened in time by Shinto, so he did not succumb to despair. After that, he fought the giant beetle and successfully lost weight, developing a cool ten-pack, which shifted his focus. So he never went in that direction again.

When people reach a bottleneck, if they can't break through it, they start to overthink. Take Sasori, for example. He's already mastered Chiyo's puppetry. What he lacks now isn't skill or experience, but age. He's too young, and his body isn't fully mature yet, making him fragile. There's nothing more to learn. Even in a real-life PK with Kudo Yusaku and Yohkura, who have opened the Gate of Death, they can't beat him in a 2v1. This makes him feel lost about the future. Sasori is also a quiet person who never asks questions and always prefers to find the answers on his own.

The key is that this kind of answer is not in the book. Relying on oneself, it is easy to go astray if even a little bit of uncontrollable factors occur. At this time, after being stimulated by his father being killed again, the handsome scorpion's thinking began to develop in the direction of human puppets. It has to be said that the temptation of human puppets is indeed very great. They are not afraid of enemies getting close. As long as the driving core is still there, the body can be repaired even if it is damaged. Moreover, they can transcend time and always maintain their peak and will not be dragged down by age.

Handsome Scorpion sat there calmly, seemingly unhappy because his father had been attacked again. However, his mind was racing, devising his human puppet plan. Firstly, since this was his first time, he couldn't use himself as a test subject. This opportunity truly only came once; if he was clumsy with his own experiments, he'd be doomed...

Meanwhile, Shinto was still wondering whether the mastermind was Onoki or Hiruzen Sarutobi. At the same time, he was surprised that Sasori's father, who had blacked out from drinking, could actually use the Three-Sword Style. Surprisingly, his keen Observation Haki did not activate passively, and he failed to detect Sasori's unusual behavior.

...

Ding-dong!

The operating room lights went out, and Chiyo and Yusaori emerged, looking exhausted. Needless to say, it was definitely more like Sasori's dad going overboard with his three-sword style, going into melee combat with three swords while playing mid-lane, and who knows how many cuts he'd sustained...

Even when Chiyo and Yusaori were stabbed in the lung last time, they weren't this tired.

"How are you? Is Jie alright?"

When Masato saw the two of them come out, he asked with concern.

Everyone else also looked at Chiyo and Yusaori. After all, he was their young master, and with so many powerful figures present, they would be criticized if they didn't show concern...

"He's out of danger, but he's lost too much blood and won't wake up for a while. He'll be fine after some rest. This is a hospital, we don't need too many people here, so you can all go back."

Chiyo waved to a group of high-ranking officials who had come running over, whether they were genuinely concerned or just putting on an act.

"Phew...! Now that Jie is alright, we'll take our leave. We'll come back to visit him when he wakes up."

Yusa Kaku was a shrewd person who could read people's expressions. She knew that Lady Chiyo and the Kazekage must still have something to say, so after receiving a look from her daughter, she turned around and took her leave.

Seeing Yusaka leave, the others also said goodbye and followed suit.

"How was it? Did you get slashed in the face?"

After everyone else left, Masato couldn't help but ask. Chiyo was somewhat of a looks-obsessed person; you could tell from her attitude towards her son and grandson. Before her grandson was born, Sasori, who inherited half of her good looks, was a treasure to his father. But ever since Sasori, who perfectly inherited her good looks, was born, Chiyo's status in the family had declined day by day. And after Retsuto's death, Chiyo would often look longingly at Senju's portrait...

If this face gets scratched, goodness, I'll probably have to eat leftovers every day after get off work.

"His face is fine, although he was slashed several times, but none of the cuts hit vital organs. It's just that the wounds were quite deep, causing him to lose a lot of blood. Do you know who did it?"

Chiyo rolled her eyes at her nephew, annoyed. How could she not know what he was thinking? He was just saying she was a member of the "looks-matter" club. Everyone loves beauty, so what's wrong with being a member of the "looks-matter" club?

She then asked Ebizo and Sunagawa in a cold tone, indicating that she was on the verge of exploding.

twice!

She raised her own precious son for so many years without ever laying a hand on him, yet he was seriously injured twice. The first time was understandable, given that it happened on a battlefield with many people and chaotic situations, and it's normal for bodyguards to not be able to provide adequate protection.

But this time, she was ambushed, and right outside the border of the Land of Wind. Isn't this a slap in the face to Chiyo and Sunagakure? It seems that everyone thought that after all these years of burning incense and praying to Buddha, she had lost all her anger. How dare she mess with her son right on their turf!

"Based on our analysis, both Konoha and Iwagakure are suspicious, but we are not sure who it is yet. They have sent out so many people, so there will definitely be follow-up actions. We will have the Anbu keep a close eye on them, and we will know who it is as soon as they take any follow-up actions."

Ebizo shook his head slightly as he explained.

"...Find out who those people are as soon as possible, and then get to work."

Chiyo nodded and then gave Masato a wink.

"...I understand. Once I find out who it is, I'll cripple those people and then pluck all the hair off the mastermind to vent my anger. You must be tired, go back and rest."

Seeing Chiyo's expression, Masato nodded and offered a somewhat speechless consolation.

This woman really does get more ruthless with age! Chiyo's eyes just now conveyed that message.

Once you find these guys, beat them to a pulp!

Over the years, she had frequently burned incense and prayed to Buddha, and her son and daughter-in-law hadn't died. Chiyo should have developed some Buddhist qualities, knowing compassion and tolerance...

“Scorpion, let’s go. Your father will wake up soon.”

Only after receiving Masato's assurance did Chiyo, satisfied, leave with Yusaori helping her and leading her beloved grandson. She didn't need to tell them to keep watch; she knew it was for someone as idle as Masato. Ebizo and Sunagawa were too busy, with follow-up matters to handle, and their status wasn't equal. They were afraid that keeping watch there would shorten Sasori's lifespan...

532. Young people are never short of impulsiveness and punishment.

"Huangtu, we've killed Chiyo's son, will we be okay?"

They were now far away on the border of the Land of Fire. In a group of four or five hundred people, Wenya, who was in the center and had transformed into a Konoha ninja using the Transformation Technique, said with a little worry to Onoki's son, Huangtu, who had also transformed into a Konoha ninja beside him.

Although he was the most ruthless at the time, he began to worry afterwards. The person they killed on the border between the Land of Rain and the Land of Wind was the crown prince of Sunagakure, the son of Chiyo, the pillar of Sunagakure, and the younger brother of Shiki. If the people of Sunagakure found out, who knows how Sunagakure would retaliate and how much trouble it would bring to their village.

Especially Shiki the Golden Lion; he'd personally witnessed that guy beat the Four-Tails to a pulp. Goodness, even the Tsuchikage wasn't that fierce...

"Don't worry, we've already entered the Land of Fire. After the operation is over, we'll immediately return to the village from the Land of Stone. The people of Sunagakure definitely won't guess it's us. Besides, we were using taijutsu at the time, so they won't suspect us."

Huang Tu, now a Konoha ninja, confidently reassured his teammates, who were inwardly sweating bullets. "Damn it, you were the one who chopped people off the fastest before, and now you're scared...-_-||"

While in Daimyofu, his father, Onoki, came up with a brilliant plan. Since their Land of Earth had been attacked, they couldn't let the other villages have peace. So, he sent him and his teammate, Bunya, with their underlings to raid the Land of Fire, while Kurajiro led a group to raid the Land of Lightning. They also sent Hikari and Yukari with their men to raid the Land of Sin. This would train the young people, make up for the losses in their Land of Earth, and get revenge. After all, only one of them was causing trouble in their Land of Earth, so they should just go for it!

As for not targeting Sunagakure, firstly, the Land of Wind is extremely resource-poor, with few local specialties besides gold dust, and secondly, the environment there is not suitable for hunting.

Secondly, they also had the idea of ​​shifting the blame to Sunagakure. By then, the territories of four of the five great ninja villages would have been cleared out, leaving only the Land of Wind unscathed. No one would believe that the Land of Wind was not involved in something fishy. So, in order to shift the blame to Sunagakure, they deliberately detoured from the Land of Rain to the Land of Fire. However, before they could even infiltrate the Land of Fire, they coincidentally encountered a group of Sunagakure at the border between the Land of Rain and the Land of Wind. The leader of this group was none other than Jie, the leader of the Sunagakure puppet army and a genius puppeteer of Sunagakure.

There's no truth to the idea that the brave will win when paths cross.

Initially, they had no intention of confronting them. Although they outnumbered the puppeteers, the Sand Village's puppeteers were not to be trifled with, especially puppeteers of Jie's caliber. With enough tanks, their numbers wouldn't be enough to overwhelm them. In team battles, the puppeteers' advantage was amplified. Moreover, Huang Tu and Wen Ya's current strength was insufficient even in a doubles fight against this genius puppeteer. Furthermore, the two villages had deep-seated conflicts. Therefore, Huang Tu originally planned to hide and let them leave first. After all, their target wasn't Sand Village, and there was no need to provoke them at this time.

However, they discovered that almost all of the Iwa ninjas reeked of alcohol, and their leader seemed to have blacked out, walking unsteadily!

If that's the case... Huang Tu and Wen Ya exchanged glances, and an evil idea popped into their minds. Since their father (the Tsuchikage) was already planning to shift the blame to Sunagakure, they might as well muddy the waters. That way, it would be even less likely that they, the Iwa ninja, would be suspected. Moreover, these Sunagakure ninja had arms that reached past their knees, long Achilles tendons, bright foreheads, and steady steps. They were clearly the elite of the Sunagakure. And with the Sunagakure crown prince leading the group, they must have come back with some great feast.

Both Huangtu and Wenya are young people, and what young people have no shortage of is impulsiveness and a thirst for punishment...

Seeing a group of Sand Ninja reeking of alcohol, with their leader completely drunk and probably having just pulled off a big heist, how could they possibly resist?

Since they'd already gone this far, they might as well go all the way. Considering the grudge from when Shiki came to their Land of Earth to raid their territory before, they were going to go for it!

Huang Tu and Wen Ya led the charge, with their underlings rushing out from both sides. Despite their burly and seemingly honest appearance, Huang Tu was Onoki's favorite son, and his cunning nature was ingrained in his bones. As the saying goes, "one is influenced by one's company," and Wen Ya, as Huang Tu's teammate, was also a young man promoted by Onoki. If he didn't have brains, Onoki wouldn't have given him a second thought.

So both of them are... well, you know... shrewd people.

They had the initiative and the advantage in numbers, and the enemy leader was drunk and had blacked out. In order not to arouse suspicion from the Sand Ninja, they instructed their underlings not to use their unique Earth Release ninjutsu. If necessary, they would fight hand-to-hand. They lived off the land and were naturally larger and stronger than the Sand Ninja. In close combat, coupled with the difference in numbers, they were not at a disadvantage.

However, none of them expected that the Sunagakure prince, who had apparently blacked out from drinking, was indeed truly drunk. Instead of pulling out his puppet to fight them, he grabbed a broken sword from one of his underlings, one in each hand, and held the other in his mouth, practicing a three-sword style. The pose was quite imposing. Initially, seeing the three-sword style made them a little uneasy, after all, Shiki's swordsmanship was renowned throughout the ninja world, his incredible sword energy rumored to have cleaved even the heavens. And this genius puppeteer from Sunagakure was Shiki's younger brother—who knew that beneath the puppeteer's exterior lay a top-tier swordsman...?

However, it turned out they were overthinking it. The puppeteer, wielding three swords, charged towards them with fear and worry in his eyes, but he was already injured as soon as he entered the crowd, with one sword cut into his back and another into his chest.

Seeing this result, Huang Tu and Wen Ya couldn't wait any longer. They grabbed their weapons and rushed forward to hack and slash. However, these Sand Ninja were indeed elites. Although they couldn't defeat them, they couldn't stop them from running away. Moreover, this place wasn't far from the border of the Land of Wind, so they didn't dare to chase after them. They could only turn their guns around and continue to head towards the Land of Fire as fast as possible to avoid the Sand Village's people coming.

......

"...What should we do now...?"

"You do not know?"

"Never done it before..."

The more enthusiastic they were before, the more panicked Wenya is now. If Sunagakure really finds out about them, and then Shiki goes to the Land of Earth to cause trouble, he will become a sinner in history!

My friend Huang Tu is the son of the Tsuchikage, no doubt about it, he's definitely his biological son, so if anyone has to take the blame, it's definitely him...

The more he worried, the more restless he became. Then he looked around blankly at the lush greenery and the beautiful surroundings. The people living in the Land of Fire were truly blessed.

After a long while, when he finally calmed down, he and Huang Tu looked at each other, and then they were both dumbfounded.

This is their first time playing jungle, they have absolutely no idea how... (⊙_⊙).

533. Trainee Grand Marshal: Nara Shikaku

"How much did we lose? Have we found those people?"

Konoha Village

Inside the Hokage Building, Hiruzen Sarutobi rushed back to the village and immediately began a thorough investigation into the looting of the mines and armory. He didn't even bother to check how the negotiations between Head Horse and Golden Lion Shiki went, since they certainly hadn't suffered as much damage as the other two.

"Lord Hokage, according to our inventory, a total of four mines and three arms factories were looted this time. The mines are all small to medium-sized, and the two arms factories produce shuriken and kunai. Since they were in production, the losses were not significant. However, the only explosive tag arms factory was completely looted. Everyone is gone, and there are no traces of ninjutsu left behind. It seems that someone has already dealt with it. Even the guards have all disappeared. It feels like an army has been here... And considering their previous pattern of operating every few days, perhaps they knew it was difficult to act after we strengthened the security, so they left. Who could it be...? It's all possible!"

Nara Shikaku, who had just taken office and was in his internship, gave a report with a frown and a somewhat resigned expression.

Taking advantage of Lord Sakumo's wicked influence, his father successfully retired early, while he was forced into this situation and this kind of thing happened right away. In order to investigate this matter, he has already gone against the nature passed down from his ancestors, and no one has been sleeping in for a long time.

Like his father, he was not interested in power and had no interest in the position of Grand Marshal. However, for the sake of his family and the future of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio, he had to bite the bullet and take the plunge. As a result, he encountered such a big case right away.

When bad luck strikes, even drinking water can cause problems. This morning, he actually did...

"Oh? Tell me your thoughts."

Hiruzen Sarutobi was also in pain when he heard that the explosive tag factory had been completely wiped out, but he was quite surprised when he heard Nara Shikaku's last words, "anything is possible." In his mind, he already had a rough idea of ​​who these people were. Their methods were so professional that they must be related to Sunagakure. Don't think that Sunagakure is impossible just because it seems impossible. Often, what seems impossible is the most likely.

Firstly, Sunagakure is very poor, so poor that they have to split a single sheet of toilet paper into two to wipe their bottoms. They are also resource-poor, having nothing but a pile of "useless" gold dust. To be honest, if he were in charge of such a place, he might have no choice but to rob it.

Secondly, this group's investigative methods are very similar to those of the three disciples of Golden Lion, demonstrating speed, ruthlessness, and precision to the fullest. However, they are even more professional than the three disciples of Golden Lion, cleaning up the scene thoroughly afterward. Few people in the ninja world can do such meticulous investigative methods. Although they did see Golden Lion in the Land of Wind and he has an alibi, the others do not.

He suspected that the Sand Village's purpose in telling him about Nawaki's defeat and then asking him to block the border was primarily to distract them and then sneak around to their Land of Fire to launch a major attack.

The second possibility is Onoki. It's entirely possible that Onoki was fighting them while simultaneously sending people to sneak into their Land of Fire from behind. After all, it was Onoki who was fighting, and he could have perfectly timed the entry of these people into the Land of Fire to be completely staggered, so that when they returned from their search, they couldn't find anyone at all.

Even the ultimate purpose of Onoki's adventure to have his spies infiltrate Sunagakure and steal Nawaki might very well be this!

In his mind, it's either Iwa ninja or Sunagakure ninja; there's basically no way he can escape it.

But now that Nara Shikaku actually said anyone could be a possibility, he wanted to hear what new ideas this little Nara Big Head with an intelligence of 98.5, which is 0.5 more than his own, had to say.

What other aspects did he overlook?

"...Actually, I know that Hokage already has his own answer in mind. It's either Sunagakure or Iwagakure, but I think Kumogakure and Kirigakure are also very possible. Hokage, don't forget that in this line of work, the Second Mizukage, Gengetsu Hozuki, was the first. And although Kirigakure is said to be closed off, no one knows the real situation. Moreover, during the battle in the Land of Water, Lord Sakumo killed many Kirigakure ninja to rescue Lord Danzo. It's entirely possible that they infiltrated our Land of Fire while we were fighting the Iwagakure ninja."

"And the Cloud Village side, they've done this kind of thing quite a few times... ┐(-??;)┌"

Nara Shikaku spread his hands and said, "Although most of the people in Kumogakure are muscular, burly, and big-headed men, there's Azabu Big Head, who's just as famous as them. Kumogakure has been scheming against others quite a bit over the years, so I think Kumogakure is also a possibility. Besides, the Land of Lightning isn't that far from their Land of Fire."

"...You go back first, let me calm down..."

After listening to the analysis from the alt account of Nara the Big-Headed, Hiruzen Sarutobi was both gratified and bewildered. He was gratified that the younger generation of the village had grown up, but bewildered because his once clear mind had turned into mush again. The key point was that the analysis from the alt account of Nara the Big-Headed was actually quite reasonable. This jungle strategy was actually pioneered by Hozuki Gengetsu. Although Kirigakure was closed off from the outside world, it couldn't be guaranteed that they wouldn't take the opportunity to do the same. Back then, didn't Hozuki Gengetsu almost steal the Land of Earth's crystal when the Iwa ninja were at war with them?

Therefore, it is indeed possible that Kirigakure would do this.