"I've been speaking for quite some time, but you haven't heard a single word I've said," Tsunade observed with obvious exasperation.
"What exactly were you thinking about so intently?"
She asked with clear speechlessness in her voice, "Just now the two senior advisors suggested that we should significantly increase our ninja forces along the border regions to prevent any surprise attacks from the Cloud Village!"
"What's your opinion on this proposal?"
Shihouin Naraku frowned deeply, feeling that this reaction was somewhat excessive and unnecessary.
"That's really not necessary at all. Killer Bee's injuries are far more serious and lasting than any of you realize!"
"Compared to the rumors circulating out there claiming that Orochimaru somehow cured Killer Bee completely, I'm convinced that the Cloud Village must have found some alternative method to temporarily restore his consciousness."
"There's definitely something fundamentally wrong with the nature of Killer Bee's awakening!"
"Therefore, there's absolutely no need for us to worry excessively about this development. As long as the Cloud Village leadership isn't completely stupid, they will never dare to start another major war with us!"
Did they really think that the soul damage inflicted by Kurikara was something that could be easily recovered from?
"But the fact remains that Killer Bee is capable of assuming the role of Raikage," Mitokado Homura pointed out with obvious concern. "Perhaps this means he has truly recovered from whatever injuries you inflicted!"
Tsunade suddenly remembered something important and stared at Naraku with intense curiosity. "I completely forgot to ask you about this before, but how exactly did you manage to do it? You injured Killer Bee so severely that he remained unconscious for such an extended period and is only just now awakening."
As everyone in the shinobi world well understood, the recovery abilities possessed by Tailed Beast jinchuriki were absolutely ridiculous in their effectiveness!
For example, no matter how serious his injuries might be or how completely exhausted Uzumaki Naruto became during a mission, he could always wake up the next morning as if absolutely nothing had happened to him.
Throughout various conflicts, Uchiha Sasuke would frequently find himself bedridden for extended recovery periods, but Uzumaki Naruto consistently gave everyone the impression of being energetic and completely indestructible.
This was one of the most significant benefits that tailed beasts provided to their jinchuriki!
Even though the Nine-Tails was extraordinarily powerful, Killer Bee served as the jinchuriki of the Eight-Tails Gyuki, and he was a Perfect Jinchuriki at that, which meant his recovery abilities should have been beyond description.
However, after being pursued and attacked by Shihouin Naraku, Killer Bee had nearly died from his injuries. Even though his condition had gradually stabilized over time, he had fallen into what appeared to be a deep, unending sleep.
Therefore, Tsunade and all the others present felt genuinely curious about how Naraku had accomplished such a feat. How had he inflicted injuries so severe that even the tailed beast's legendary recovery abilities proved completely ineffective?
Naraku looked around the room and observed that everyone was displaying obvious curiosity about this matter. He had no particular intention of hiding the truth from them. After all, as he continued to eliminate more and more enemies, this secret would inevitably become known to everyone sooner or later anyway.
At the very least, Orochimaru was now completely certain that Kurikara possessed the ability to inflict damage directly upon souls, and both Uchiha Obito and the late Danzo should have developed some suspicions about its true nature.
Naraku smiled slightly and placed his right hand on his waist. A sheathed straight-bladed sword suddenly materialized and hung at his side.
CLANG!
A brilliant flash of cold light filled the room as Kurikara was drawn from its scabbard!
PING!
Naraku held the black blade of Kurikara horizontally across his field of vision and tapped it gently with his fingers, producing a crisp, resonant sound that echoed throughout the office.
"My sword possesses the power to cut souls directly!"
"Soul-cutting power?" Tsunade repeated with amazement.
"Soul-cutting?" Utatane Koharu echoed.
Tsunade and Utatane Koharu stared at Naraku in complete surprise, while both Shikaku and Mitokado Homura also fixed their gazes on the mysterious weapon that had suddenly appeared in Naraku's hand.
"Soul-cutting?" Tsunade walked around her desk and approached with obvious curiosity. "You mean this sword can actually inflict damage directly upon someone's soul?"
"That's exactly right!" Naraku confirmed.
He watched as Tsunade's slender fingers reached out toward the blade and quickly stepped backward, carefully avoiding her touch.
"Why are you being so stingy about it? Let me examine it more closely," she complained.
CLANG!
Naraku casually sheathed Kurikara and explained with a somewhat helpless expression, "Kurikara can only accept my touch and mine alone. The moment anyone else makes contact with it, they will be instantly burned to ashes by the flames of karma!"
"Are you being serious or are you just making this up?" Tsunade asked skeptically.
She watched as the straight blade hanging from Naraku's waist gradually disappeared from view, her curiosity reaching new heights.
"I'm completely serious!" Naraku assured her.
His explanation also helped everyone present understand exactly why Killer Bee had remained unconscious for such an extended period before finally awakening.
"That blade does look quite impressive. I wonder where you managed to acquire such a thing!" Tsunade remarked with interest.
She shook her head and decided not to pursue the matter further. Naraku had already been quite honest in revealing the special abilities of his weapon, so there was no need to interrogate him about every detail.
"So what Naraku is saying is that even if Killer Bee has awakened now and assumed the position of Fifth Raikage, there's still no need for us to be particularly nervous about the situation. The Cloud Village currently lacks the capability to launch any kind of surprise attack against Konoha?" Nara Shikaku summarized thoughtfully.
He spoke while pinching his chin in his characteristic analytical gesture.
Naraku nodded in confirmation. "Exactly right."
"And didn't the Eight-Tails go on a rampage during all of this? The damage inflicted upon the Cloud Village must have been absolutely enormous. Where would they possibly find the energy and resources to seek revenge against us at this particular time?"
"Konoha has extensive and unfortunately profound experience dealing with the catastrophic dangers posed by rampaging tailed beasts."
"There's really no need for us to worry excessively about this development."
Naraku's casual remark about Konoha having experience with berserk tailed beasts nearly left the other four people present completely speechless.
This wasn't exactly something positive to boast about. Why did he make it sound like Konoha was somehow gaining an advantage from these terrible experiences?
Mitokado Homura shook his head and continued the discussion. "In that case, there's genuinely no need for us to increase our military forces on a large scale. However, we absolutely must notify our border patrol units to strengthen their vigilance and maintain careful observation of any changes occurring within the Cloud Village."
Naraku also contributed his thoughts. "It would be advisable to send someone directly to the Cloud Village to conduct reconnaissance. We don't need too many operatives—just one or two ANBU members should be sufficient. If they can establish contact with our existing intelligence assets within the Cloud Village, we should be able to obtain much more detailed and reliable information."
"That's the approach we'll take," Tsunade agreed with both proposals. "I'll have our border forces exercise increased caution. As for sending operatives to the Cloud Village for direct investigation, the number of personnel really cannot be too large."
"Due to the inherent limitations of covert communication, the intelligence transmitted by our embedded operatives has been very timely, but specific details are still lacking. We should definitely send someone to make contact and determine if there's any additional intelligence available!"
"The next issue we need to address concerns Orochimaru!" Tsunade said with renewed seriousness. "Should we organize several ninja teams specifically to hunt down and eliminate Orochimaru?"
The suggestion of hunting down Orochimaru caused everyone in the room to fall into contemplative silence.
Indeed, Konoha Village still had significant unfinished business with the rogue Sannin.
Orochimaru's plan to destroy Konoha had not only resulted in the death of the Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen, but had also caused numerous casualties among other village shinobi. The total damage inflicted upon Konoha was certainly no less severe than what they had suffered during their conflict with the Cloud Village.
At the time of the attack, everyone had believed that Orochimaru had been killed by Shihouin Naraku!
Since the enemy was supposedly dead, they had considered the matter closed and felt that appropriate revenge had been achieved.
Who could have predicted that Orochimaru would somehow resurrect himself? The timing of his return had been particularly unfortunate, as all of Konoha had been extremely busy and unable to focus on dealing with this particular enemy.
After all, there had been a continuous series of urgent matters demanding attention: the restoration and rebuilding of the village following the failed invasion, Tsunade's transition to the position of Hokage, the outbreak of war with the Cloud Village, and numerous other critical issues. There simply hadn't been time to organize a dedicated pursuit of Orochimaru.
Now that the Cloud Village had issued both hunting orders and wanted notices, should Konoha follow their example?
"Of course we must hunt down Orochimaru," Mitokado Homura declared firmly. "He is not only a traitor to Konoha, but also our village's mortal enemy!"
"Only by eliminating him permanently can we restore Konoha's reputation and honor!"
"That's absolutely correct!" Utatane Koharu agreed emphatically.
Surprisingly, Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu turned out to be the ones who reached this decision most quickly.
Nara Shikaku followed up by adding his strategic perspective. "My recommendation is that we form a dedicated ninja team to hunt down and eliminate him, specifically to settle accounts for all the shinobi and civilians who died or were injured during the Konoha Crush Plan. These debts must be paid by Orochimaru."
"Among those who were present at the venue during the Chunin Exams were daimyo and nobles from various countries, as well as high-ranking officials from numerous villages. They were all terrified by the attack. Even if we consider nothing else besides Konoha's international reputation, we must provide them with a satisfactory explanation!"
"Therefore, we absolutely must hunt down Orochimaru! This action is completely imperative and cannot be delayed!"
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