Chapter 87: Who?!
Chapter 87: Who?!
Chiyo's expression turned grim as she asked, "Are they the backup forces sent by Konoha? But we didn't receive any intelligence about this either."
"Impossible," Ebizo shook his head. "A force of over three hundred ninjas could not have hidden their tracks and arrived in the Land of Rain unnoticed, heading straight for the Leaf's battalion in the Hidden Leaf Village's storage unit."
It was difficult for the Sand Village's spies to infiltrate Konoha and relay information, but a movement of over three hundred ninjas wouldn't go unnoticed. Even if the Konoha scouts were unaware and failed to send back information, there were many of their scouts along the way.
Just like their side, when they dispatched a hundred-man unit, they had to take a long detour through the Land of Rain to ensure that Konoha wouldn't notice. It would be even more challenging for a force three times that size to go undetected.
"Could it be that the Rain Ninjas are collaborating with Konoha?" the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, asked in a deep voice.
Since the incident occurred within the Land of Rain, it was possible if the Rain Ninja Village had joined forces with Konoha.
"No," Ebizo shook his head. "While the Hidden Rain Village does have the strength to annihilate the Leaf Village's unit, it would require almost their entire force to do so, and they wouldn't be able to act covertly. Additionally, the cautious nature of Salamander Hanzo makes it highly unlikely that he would mobilize his entire force so readily."
If all their speculations were incorrect, the possibilities were slim. Firstly, Konoha hadn't deployed a large number of ninjas, and secondly, the incident had occurred within the Land of Rain.
"An ambush, perhaps..." Chiyo slowly spoke.
This was the only plausible explanation. Leaf Squad and his team had walked into an ambush, overwhelmed by a smaller force that had blocked their escape routes.
Ebizo had already come to this conclusion, but he didn't want to voice it. Being ambushed and overwhelmed by the enemy with superior numbers were two very different things.
Falling into an enemy ambush and being defeated with fewer numbers were matters of great responsibility. Kakashi Hatake, as the leading Jonin, would bear significant responsibility, and the person who specifically requested Kakashi to lead this unit was him!
"It seems this is the only possibility," Rasa said in a low voice, his gaze fixed on Ebizo with a strange glint in his eyes. "Losing so many elites... Elder Ebizo, you will have to take responsibility for this attack."
The atmosphere in the tent turned oppressive.
Many of the elite Jonin from the Sand Village wore somber expressions.
Just as Rasa was preparing to shift the blame and strip Ebizo of his authority to weaken Chiyo's influence, a Sand Ninja rushed into the tent.
"Report to the Kazekage! We've found new clues in the Land of Rain!"
"Hmm?" Rasa frowned.
The Sand Ninja kept his head lowered as he quickly reported, "We found more traces at the battlefield and information about Jonin Leaf's route. We discovered..."
He swiftly relayed the gathered intelligence.
There were two main pieces of information: First, the incident site was not along Team Leaf's original route but had taken a slight detour. Not far from where they veered off course was a small town, which they searched thoroughly. They found that ninjas had once occupied this town, and on the same day Team Leaf encountered trouble, unfamiliar ninjas had arrived in the town.
The second piece of information was deduced through secret techniques that analyzed the remaining traces at the severely damaged site. They concluded that almost everyone's cause of death was related to Lightning Style jutsu, and a ninja had used a summoning technique to leave behind a small amount of information before dying.
One person... Kusanagi sword... Lightning... Speed...
Based on this scant information and the findings from thoroughly searching the town, they reached a somewhat unbelievable conclusion.
A ninja had visited the town and taken a Kusanagi sword from a hidden ninja there. Afterward, they encountered Team Konoha's unit!
As for what happened after the encounter, it was difficult to reconstruct.
"This is impossible!" Chiyo immediately denied this conclusion.
If Ye Cang and the others had walked into an ambush, it would be understandable, but for a single ninja to wipe out their entire unit was simply preposterous! Even if that ninja truly possessed terrifying strength and managed to defeat Ye Cang's unit, it was inconceivable that not a single person escaped, and they all perished!
"This conclusion is drawn from combining all the available intelligence..." The ninja with the scar replied, sweat dripping from his forehead.
He knew that this conclusion seemed far-fetched, but it was indeed the only scenario that fit all the information and clues they had. Other speculations fell short of explaining the situation.
"Impossible," Rasa shook his head.
For someone to single-handedly destroy Ye Cang's unit was absurd, unless the opponent was the legendary God of Shinobi, Hashirama Senju, who ended the Warring States period.
But he was long dead. If he were still alive, the Leaf Village wouldn't keep it a secret, and no one in the ninja world would dare challenge the Leaf or start a war.
However, the problem remained.
Even if Ye Cang's unit wasn't wiped out solely by that ninja, he undoubtedly played a pivotal role and might even have been the one to defeat Ye Cang!
Ye Cang's abilities were recognized by many in the Sand Village, and he possessed a bloodline limit, which was why he was chosen to lead the ambush unit.
So, the question remained...
Who was that ninja?!
Who was this ninja, who single-handedly destroyed the entire elite unit led by Ye Cang and very likely defeated Ye Cang himself? Was he a ninja from the Leaf Village?!
The only certainty about this ninja at the moment was that he could use Lightning Release ninjutsu and possessed a Kusanagi sword; beyond that, they had absolutely no information!
"Regardless, that ninja is definitely an enemy, no matter which village he's from..." Ebizo took a breath, his gaze turning gloomy.
The annihilation of the ambush unit was already a terrible blow, and now there was an unknown ninja standing against them, making the situation on the battlefield extremely grim.
However, they couldn't retreat now. If they did, the Leaf Village would surely pursue them. Having committed such a large force to fight the Leaf, they couldn't afford to surrender and be forced into an unequal agreement.
"The war is at hand, and the situation is indeed dire. Elder Ebizo, we will leave your responsibility to be dealt with after the war... Do you have any battle plans at this point?" Rasa narrowed his eyes as he looked at Ebizo.
While this incident was a severe blow to the Sand Village as a whole, it was a boon for him personally, greatly damaging Ebizo's reputation and removing his concerns about the Kazekage position being reduced to a figurehead.
The only thing he needed to be cautious about was the unknown ninja with the Kusanagi sword. At the moment, they had no information about this individual, and if he appeared on the battlefield, he could be a troublesome variable.
Skilled in Lightning Release...
Could he be a ninja from the Cloud Hidden Village...?
If the Cloud Village had joined forces with the Leaf, the situation would be extremely unfavorable. However, it didn't make sense for the Cloud ninja to bypass the Earth Country and collaborate with the Leaf to attack their forces in the Rain Country.
"I don't know who you are, but you've done me a great favor." A glint appeared in Rasa's eyes.
All he needed to do now was put up a symbolic fight, let some of the ninja who opposed his ascension to power die, and then surrender to the Leaf. As long as he could secure the position of Kazekage, he would consider this war a victory.
The only thing he wanted to know was the identity of the ninja who had single-handedly destroyed Ye Cang's ambush unit.
(End of Chapter)
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