Chapter 181: Kirigakure's Moves
It turned out that the reason Sunagakure didn't suffer heavy losses during their rout was because the One-Tail had positioned itself between the two battlefronts.
When the One-Tail was about to go berserk, Sunagakure was the first to notice something was wrong. Knowing they couldn't recover the Tailed Beast on the battlefield, Sunagakure decisively abandoned the One-Tail and chose to retreat.
Otherwise, how could Sunagakure have avoided being pursued by Konoha during their rout? One must remember that back in the Land of Grass, Konoha had left behind at least 2,000 corpses during their own panicked retreat.
In fact, Konoha did pursue Sunagakure. But just as they reached the vicinity of the One-Tail Jinchūriki, Shukaku went berserk.
The complete form of Shukaku blocked the pursuers for Sunagakure and also inflicted enormous casualties on Konoha.
Konoha had three Kage-level combatants present. Shukaku was quickly repelled, but to treat the wounded, Konoha didn't go after Shukaku. And Shukaku, very tactfully, didn't cause further trouble and retreated early upon seeing it couldn't win.
Fortunately, Shukaku retreated in time; otherwise, Konoha might have suffered a net loss in this battle. The Konoha forces, having clearly won but pointlessly losing several hundred ninjas, retreated to Kikyo Castle.
Sunagakure also fled all the way back to the Land of Wind. Suddenly, the once bustling Land of Rivers was left with only Shukaku still causing turmoil.
The intelligence personnel dispatched by Iwagakure had originally thought that either Konoha or Sunagakure would come to recover Shukaku. But until Shukaku returned to the deserts of the Land of Wind, neither side came to recover the Tailed Beast.
Only then did the intelligence personnel report Shukaku's final whereabouts to the village.
This news wasn't good for Iwagakure. The battle between Konoha and Sunagakure had gone too smoothly for Konoha. Although they lost several hundred ninjas in the end due to Shukaku's rampage, it was largely inconsequential. For the price of a few hundred ninjas to defeat a major power, Konoha considered it a bargain.
And Sunagakure, after losing its Tailed Beast, would be unable to wage war again in the near future. Recovering Shukaku and finding a new Jinchūriki were now Sunagakure's most pressing concerns.
Before a new Jinchūriki could be deployed to the battlefield, Rasa wouldn't dare to launch another war even if his life depended on it. And Konoha was even less likely to cross the desert to pursue Sunagakure; that would be too dangerous.
Therefore, although no peace treaty was signed, the war between Konoha and Sunagakure had effectively ended.
"Sigh, it seems Konoha ultimately won after all." Ōnoki was somewhat regretful. Sunagakure had been too ineffective; they should have at least inflicted a few thousand more casualties on Konoha.
Ishiro, however, smiled and said, "Lord Tsuchikage, Konoha indeed is about to win, but this isn't the end. For Konoha, victory is just beginning."
Konoha had indeed secured its victory. They had fought one against four and prevailed; who would Konoha fear next in a one-on-two situation? But no one had anticipated that just when the entire ninja world thought Konoha was about to win, another brutal and tragic war would erupt.
Except for Ishiro.
Ishiro had read the original story and knew Kirigakure would go berserk.
Ishiro didn't know Kirigakure's Third Mizukage and didn't understand why in the original story, Kirigakure would still insist on clashing head-on with Konoha when Konoha had already defeated Sunagakure and Iwagakure.
But Ishiro believed that if Kirigakure went berserk in the original story, then the possibility of them going berserk again in this lifetime was still very high. Ishiro felt it was time for him to go out and "roam" once more.
But before that, Ishiro had to visit the Intelligence Department first.
The Intelligence Department was also an agency under Ishiro's supervision, but Ishiro hadn't visited it until now.
Ishiro had visited the other three departments and caused quite a stir in each. He hadn't come to the Intelligence Department solely because he lacked the time.
After becoming an advisor, Ishiro handled one matter after another.
Medical reforms, experiments on absorbing natural energy, learning the Lightning Release stimulation method, adjusting the Jinchūriki policy. Now Ishiro also had to deeply develop Lightning Release.
Originally, Ishiro still didn't have time to go to the Intelligence Department. But now, hearing that Konoha had defeated Sunagakure, something came to Ishiro's mind, which made him want to visit the Intelligence Department.
What Ishiro thought of was the Kannabi Bridge incident.
Due to Ishiro's intervention, Iwagakure and Konoha had ceased hostilities early on, so naturally, there would be no more fighting at Kannabi Bridge.
So, would Obito, who went missing during the Kannabi Bridge mission in the original story, still go missing?
From the original story, it could be judged that Rin Nohara's Three-Tails incident later on was deliberately arranged by Madara Uchiha, the purpose naturally being to make Obito awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan and completely leave Konoha.
However, Ishiro couldn't confirm whether Obito being attacked by Iwagakure ninjas earlier was Madara Uchiha's doing.
Did Madara Uchiha orchestrate Obito's disappearance from the start, or was the location of Obito's disappearance merely near where Madara Uchiha was hiding, and Madara simply acted on a whim? Ishiro couldn't judge.
Now that the Kannabi Bridge incident was gone, Ishiro wanted to know if Obito had still gone missing.
This was very important. If Obito didn't turn to the dark side, and Nagato also didn't, Ishiro's plot advantage would completely cease to exist. How Black Zetsu's plan to save his "mother" would proceed, Ishiro would be completely in the dark.
Most importantly, if Obito didn't turn to the dark side, would someone else take Obito's place? At that time, Ishiro would face a BOSS whose abilities he knew nothing about!
This outcome was too terrifying. No one could guarantee they wouldn't capsize in an easy channel when faced with the bizarre abilities of the Mangekyō Sharingan. Moreover, if Madara's agent was ultimately no longer Obito, would the new Uchiha have both eyes, and would they still be able to use Susanoo?
A Susanoo with both offensive and defensive capabilities – Ishiro felt his small frame wasn't suited for a direct confrontation with such an opponent.
Iwagakure's Intelligence Department was very well hidden, adjacent to the Anbu. But Ishiro, despite spending so much time in the Anbu back then, didn't know the Intelligence Department was right next door.
Arriving at the Intelligence Department, Ishiro directly asked the department head for Minato Namikaze's intelligence file.
Although Minato Namikaze had only recently become Kage-level, he had an outstanding combat record even as an Elite Jōnin, so Iwagakure had established a file on him early on.
Later, after Ishiro reported to the village that Minato Namikaze had become a quasi-Kage, the village raised his intelligence level by another notch.
Now, the village not only had intelligence on Minato Namikaze's combat aspects but also on his personal life and matters related to the Will of Fire.
For example, Minato Namikaze taking an Uchiha disciple was interpreted by Iwagakure's Intelligence Department as Minato intentionally trying to curry favor with the Uchiha clan. They even speculated that Minato Namikaze hoped to become Hokage with the help of the Uchiha clan's power.
Ishiro briefly skimmed these irrelevant speculations and then found the information he wanted.
Minato Namikaze's three disciples: Ishiro was more familiar with Kakashi and Rin Nohara's information than anyone, so he read through it quickly.
Only when it came to Obito Uchiha did Ishiro read carefully.
Firstly, the intelligence did not mention Obito being missing or killed in action, nor did it mention Kakashi becoming "Sharingan Kakashi."
However, the description of Obito in the intelligence was very interesting; Iwagakure actually used the word "kind."
To be described as "kind" by an enemy – just how "chūnibyō" was this Obito?
If Iwagakure could obtain intelligence on Obito's personality, then Madara, a senior who came from the Uchiha clan, would definitely know even more details. With Zetsu's intelligence capabilities, coupled with his Uchiha clan identity, Madara certainly knew Obito.
And as a former head of the Uchiha clan, Ishiro believed that Madara knew what kind of personality was suitable for awakening the Mangekyō Sharingan. Therefore, based on this intelligence, Ishiro guessed that Obito's fate at the Kannabi Bridge was very likely orchestrated by Madara.
"Pay attention to this Obito Uchiha. See if any sparks fly between Minato Namikaze and the Uchiha clan," Ishiro said to the head of the Intelligence Department.
"Yes." The head of the Intelligence Department didn't find it strange. An advisor paying attention to an Uchiha who hadn't even awakened his Sharingan was certainly considering Konoha's high-level power struggles.
"It seems I need to gather more intelligence on the movements between Konoha's higher-ups and the Uchiha," this department head thought.
After obtaining the information he wanted, Ishiro didn't leave immediately. Instead, he spent the entire day Browse through all the intelligence reports the department considered important.
During this process, Ishiro discovered some discrepancies. This intelligence was all related to Kirigakure.
Kirigakure's battlefield with Konoha was in the territory of the former Land of Whirlpools. The war between the two sides had always been lukewarm. Due to not deploying large-scale armies and no Kage-level powerhouses participating, the conflicts between the two sides were all at the squad level.
Therefore, Konoha's Uchiha and Hyūga had always held the initiative due to their individual combat strength advantages.
But this advantage was also relatively limited because the Uchiha and Hyūga did not trust each other; even their encampments were not together. This largely led to Konoha's forces being relatively dispersed.
Kirigakure's main force confronting Konoha was the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist.
Kirigakure's seven ninja swords were not just weapons but also symbols of power. Ninjas who became part of the Swordsmen would naturally possess a certain amount of influence. And this time, the army confronting Konoha's two great clans was the force belonging to the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist.
However, Kirigakure's other major power, its numerous Kekkei Genkai families that other ninja villages envied, did not participate in the war this time.
Among these Kekkei Genkai families, only a few unlucky individuals with poor talent who had been carrying out missions outside were brought along when the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist conscripted civilian-born ninjas.
So this time, the Uchiha and Hyūga were actually fighting against Kirigakure's civilian-born ninjas. If not for the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist deterring their opponents to some extent with their bizarre techniques, Kirigakure would have been defeated long ago.
It was precisely from the recent movements of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist that Ishiro discovered something was amiss. The Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist often operated in groups of two or three to launch sneak attacks on the Uchiha and Hyūga.
Because they were very high-profile after their actions, and the characteristics of ninjas killed by the ninja swords were very obvious, even Iwagakure could promptly understand the movements of the seven.
However, Ishiro discovered: the frequency of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist appearing near the Uchiha clan's vicinity had greatly decreased recently.
If one considered Konoha's major victory against Sunagakure, then the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist acting this way would be normal.
But the problem was that the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist's activities near the Hyūga camp had not decreased; on the contrary, they had subtly become more frequent.
This made Ishiro involuntarily think of the incident in the Third Great Ninja War where the Hyūga main family lost a Byakugan.
Thinking of this, Ishiro could no longer hold back his desire to go out and "roam."
"Closely monitor the movements of the Hyūga camp on the Land of Whirlpools battlefield. Send any news to my office immediately," Ishiro said to the head of the Intelligence Department.
"Yes." Although the head of the Intelligence Department didn't understand, he replied very crisply.
♧♧♧
-> SUPPORT ME WITH POWER STONE
-> FOR EVERY 200 PS = BOUNS CHAPTER
♧♧♧
-> 30 Advanced chapters Now Available on Patreon!!
-> https://www.patreon.com/c/Segais
(Just remove the hyphen to access patreon normally)
If you like this novel please consider leaving a review that's help the story a lot Thank you