The Kumogakure Ninja, unaware that their plan had been seen through, had already entered the Konoha Ninja's ambush.
When the Kumogakure Ninja reached the designated location, the Konoha Ninja immediately took action.
Explosive tags, shurikens, Kunai, traps, and Ninjutsu hidden beneath the ground all poured down on the Kumogakure Ninja.
In an instant, Firelight shot out, and screams rose and fell.
The Kumogakure Ninja were all stunned; they had come to raid the Konoha Garrison, but unexpectedly, they were ambushed by the Konoha Ninja.
Under the baptism of the first fierce wave of attacks, a large number of Kumogakure Ninja died instantly.
Now, less than a fifth of the Kumogakure Ninja on the field were still alive.
That is, over a hundred Kumogakure Ninja suffered massive casualties in an instant, with only about 20 remaining.
"Retreat! Retreat quickly!"
The Kumogakure Ninja shouted, wanting to retreat.
However, Orochimaru had given orders to annihilate all the Kumogakure Ninja here.
Now there were only about 20 Kumogakure Ninja, and they were scattered; these Kumogakure Ninja posed no threat, so the Konoha Ninja immediately pursued them.
Time passed by second by second.
For the Konoha Ninja, the speed of time didn't matter, because they were the hunters, and the Kumogakure Ninja were the prey.
For the Kumogakure Ninja, every second felt like a year; the time spent being hunted was truly unbearable.
The sky was about to brighten.
The pursuing Konoha Ninja regrouped and returned to Jiraiya and Orochimaru, who were waiting.
A Ninja reported: "In this battle, 92 Kumogakure Ninja were killed, and 9 Kumogakure Ninja were confirmed to have escaped; it's possible some other Kumogakure Ninja we didn't notice also escaped."
Orochimaru frowned slightly: "Even with the advantage of surprise, and letting them go deep enough, 9 people still managed to escape?"
Facing Orochimaru's question, the Konoha Ninja dared not speak.
Jiraiya said with a smile: "It's already very good; only 9 escaped. It's still very difficult to annihilate them all. Perhaps there were Kumogakure Ninja among them who are good at escaping. This battle is a great victory for our Konoha."
Orochimaru had no intention of pursuing the matter further; it was purely a question, not an accusation. He then commanded: "Gather the bodies of those Kumogakure Ninja, collect all usable supplies and equipment from them, and then dump them in the wilderness 30 li away."
"Yes."
The Konoha Ninja immediately acted according to Orochimaru's orders... Two days later.
Inside the Hidden Cloud Village Garrison in the Land of Hot Springs.
The future Fourth Raikage, currently a Hidden Cloud Village Jonin and the son of the Third Raikage, A, angrily slammed his hand on the table.
The table instantly shattered into pieces under A's heavy blow.
"Those despicable Konoha Ninja, how dare they!"
A was panting heavily, clearly enraged.
The commander in the Land of Hot Springs was Yugito Nii, the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki of Hidden Cloud Village.
Yugito Nii's expression was also very grim; nearly a hundred Kumogakure Ninja dying at once would be unbearable for anyone.
A's face was distorted with anger as he said to Yugito Nii: "Let me lead a team to attack the Konoha Garrison!"
Yugito Nii said in a deep voice: "Don't be impulsive, A. Minato Namikaze is currently in our vicinity, constantly attacking our Kumogakure Ninja. We need to prioritize solving the Minato Namikaze problem; being constantly harassed by him is not a solution."
A angrily retorted: "So we're just going to let it go?"
Yugito Nii said with a somber expression: "For now, we can only exercise restraint. The Sandaime said that the entire Ninja World is on the brink of a full-scale war, just needing a catalyst. We cannot be that catalyst; otherwise, we might become targets for other Ninja Villages.
Let's put this debt aside for now. When the full-scale war begins, we will settle this score with the Konoha Ninja!"
...At this time in Hidden Sand Village.
The Third Kazekage had already received a reply from'Shindai'.
Seeing the content of the letter, the Third Kazekage was somewhat surprised: "Oh? He has already gained Minato Namikaze's trust and is now trying to gain Jiraiya's trust? I didn't expect Shindai's undercover talent to be so good; he truly makes me look at him in a new light."
Just as the Third Kazekage was happy about the smooth progress of Shindai's undercover operation, someone had already begun to resent him.
In Sasori's basement.
Sasori was manipulating a corpse, blood splattering on his face.
This corpse was a Ninja Sasori had killed.
Sasori was now modifying this corpse, preparing to turn it into a Human Puppet.
This was not Sasori's first time creating a Human Puppet; he had experimented several times before.
However, all previous attempts to create Human Puppets had failed, but this time, Sasori was very confident in succeeding, or rather, he had already succeeded.
Because he had overcome the most difficult part of creating a Human Puppet.
That was the Chakra core.
The most important Chakra core for a Human Puppet had been successfully created, and now Sasori was modifying the mechanisms of this Human Puppet.
Sasori had already chosen a name for this first Human Puppet, which was about to be successfully created.
Hiruko.
"Father, Mother, don't worry. Once I finish creating Hiruko, I will go and kill that guy who was the Kazekage yet neglected his duties, leading to your deaths. I will also turn him into a Human Puppet..."
Behind Sasori stood two puppets, one male and one female, as if watching Sasori.
These two puppets were the first pair Sasori made, crafted in the likeness of Sasori's parents... Konoha Village.
Hiruzen Sarutobi, in his office in the Hokage Building, now had a splitting headache.
The consequences of intercepting Shindai had already appeared.
Ōnoki, the Tsuchikage of Iwagakure, had written a letter condemning Konoha for stealing their Magnet Release Bloodline Limit Ninja, stating that if Konoha did not hand him over, Iwagakure would declare war on Konoha.
Hand over Shindai?
Konoha had no Magnet Release Bloodline Limit Ninja; Shindai was the first. If he were handed over, what would happen to Konoha's future Magnet Release Ninja?
But if he wasn't handed over, Iwagakure would declare war on Konoha.
Then the catalyst for a full-scale war would appear: if Iwagakure declared war on Konoha, Hidden Sand Village would certainly follow Iwagakure and attack Konoha as well.
At that time, Konoha would have to face simultaneous attacks from three major Ninja Villages.
Hidden Mist Village... The Third Mizukage's blood mist policy had turned the Hidden Mist Ninja into battle maniacs; it was possible they would also get involved.
Konoha could not withstand being targeted by four major Ninja Villages simultaneously; even if Konoha was strong, it couldn't endure that.
Did he really have to hand over Shindai?
Hiruzen Sarutobi was somewhat unwilling; he had still hoped to use Shindai to create a Magnet Release Ninja unit for Konoha in the future.
Hiruzen Sarutobi smoked a cigarette, depressed, pondering countermeasures.
Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck Hiruzen Sarutobi's mind.
Hiruzen Sarutobi thought of a feasible method, and immediately his face bloomed into a smile like a chrysanthemum.