Chapter 83: Four Months Later—Heavenly Windfall or Unsolvable Conspiracy?
Time slipped through fingers like sand. Four months passed in the blink of an eye.
Aside from the chaotic opening night—when Wind and Earth Countries tried exploiting Fire Country's disabled 'signal tower' to invade, only to encounter Konoha's resistance, with numerous ninja from all three nations dying to 'first encounter kills' without intelligence advantage—these four months saw no large-scale warfare among the four participating nations.
This precisely proved that all four countries' command teams were exceptionally competent.
Ninja warfare was actually quite simple to understand.
Just like the names of various combat divisions: reconnaissance, infiltration, surprise attack, luring, support, interception, and so forth...
All of these could be summarized as probing and assassination.
Even combining the Five Great Nations and numerous small countries, total ninja forces didn't reach a hundred thousand.
If the shinobi world wars were straightforward confrontations like in the pirate world, ninja would soon become a scarce resource.
Before finding the right moment, confirming no traps or ambushes, and possessing absolute certainty, the four great nations wouldn't deploy massive forces in one decisive strike to eliminate opponents.
Otherwise, if something went wrong, the losses would be severe enough to basically declare withdrawal.
So during this period, the four great nations divided their forces into countless four-man squads executing various missions.
Fire Country had it slightly better—they had no territorial expansion plans, only 'passive' defense.
In contrast, the other three nations constantly conducted reconnaissance, set traps, launched surprise attacks and luring operations... Once their intentions were discovered, they'd switch to different tactics.
Some elite ninja specifically infiltrated Fire Country or frontline encampments, either seeking assassination opportunities on certain figures or gathering intelligence about supply route information.
The four nations could endure several months without large-scale warfare because their current supplies remained abundant, and the national power gap hadn't manifested yet.
Once any nation couldn't provide timely supplies to combat forces, this 'balance' would shatter, and war would be forced into its next phase.
During this probing period, reconnaissance squads and tokubetsu jonin with special abilities were the busiest.
As for other ninja—putting it seriously, they were conserving strength and energy. Actually, they had nothing to do because they couldn't help with this aspect.
Confirming that large-scale warfare couldn't erupt in the short term, rotating support forces and some jonin could even return to Konoha from the border for a while, or attend meetings before returning.
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Southwestern Fire Country, along a forest road.
A merchant caravan of twelve people moved slowly forward.
Three horse-drawn carts traveled beside them, hauling three loads of canvas-covered goods. Unclear whether they were preparing for international trade or returning from failed Fire Country business, pulling cargo while planning to avoid the four-nation conflict in Rain Country by entering or passing through River Country.
Whoosh—
A violent wind suddenly struck, raising massive dust clouds that engulfed the entire caravan.
People and horses tumbled chaotically within the dust.
Then a series of 'bang bang bang' sounds rang out—like bursting balloons.
The ordinary-dressed merchants were each shrouded in white smoke before transforming into youths and adults of obviously different ages and heights.
Moreover, they all shared one characteristic—Konoha headbands on their foreheads yet no vests on their bodies, seemingly just ordinary genin.
The canvas covering the carts also blew away in the wind, revealing large crates and numerous super-large sealed storage scrolls.
"Enemy attack!"
With their disguises exposed, the twelve ninja immediately drew kunai and formed a defensive circle, alert to all sides.
Several who'd probably just graduated and hadn't seen blood yet had trembling hands gripping kunai, cold sweat beading on their faces.
The other adults moved rapidly.
Two closed their eyes while forming seals, using sensory techniques.
Another used Summoning Technique, summoning a yellow-furred ninja dog to try capturing scent trails and locate enemies hidden somewhere in the forest.
Yet both sensory techniques and the dog's sense of smell yielded nothing.
Now even the adults' faces showed cold sweat.
"Request reinforcements quickly. The enemy might exceed the level we can handle."
The ninja who'd summoned the dog immediately retrieved a palm-sized scroll and instructed his partner: "Pumpkin, after you return, deliver this scroll to those handling intelligence transmission..."
Whoosh—
Before the ninja could finish, a sharp whistling sound reached everyone's ears.
A massive wind blade howled toward them.
"This enemy isn't something we can handle—scatter and escape, then notify the village!"
With shouted warnings, the twelve ninja transformed into afterimages and vanished.
The wind blade's target seemingly wasn't the ninja requesting support or his dog, but rather the carts containing the large crates.
Slash!
The wind blade easily severed both carts and crates.
Massive quantities of supplies and numerous small scrolls spilled from the crates.
Then a puppet with blue chakra threads connected to its back flew from the forest, its toy-like arms extending blade segments that slashed toward the storage scrolls on the ground and kunai among the supplies.
The storage scrolls that even the wind blade couldn't destroy withstood the blade attacks. The kunai produced metallic 'clang' collision sounds.
This confirmed these supplies were genuine.
Yet none of the twelve fleeing ninja returned to protect these supplies.
So much so that the puppet paused midair, as though representing its puppeteer's bewilderment.
Shortly after, four vest-wearing ninja with Sand Village headbands appeared via Body Flicker.
As though unconcerned about traps, they rapidly examined the supplies, checking authenticity and whether traps existed.
Soon, one voiced disbelief: "All genuine, without any traps. Is this... too smooth?"
"Those twelve all fled. Were they really all genin?"
"I feel something's wrong, but... aside from those twelve, there's no chakra fluctuation nearby. Unless they knew we were lying in ambush here and set up sensory-blocking barriers in advance like we did."
"And our operation was completely improvised. They weren't even our target. Could this really be an unexpected windfall?"
Looking at the supplies scattered everywhere plus storage scrolls whose contents remained unknown, the Sand ninja who seemed to be team leader gritted his teeth: "Trap or not, we can't abandon these supplies. At worst, we'll be cautious. Move quickly!"
"Yes!"
So the four Sand ninja grabbed four super-large scrolls and vanished via Body Flicker.
Then figures flew from the forest one after another, carrying the remaining large scrolls and undamaged crates away.
Finally came the scattered supplies on the ground.
These figures all looked identical to the four Sand ninja—clearly shadow clones.
The shadow clones scattered in all directions.
After traveling who knows how many miles, the shadow clones' chakra suddenly depleted, dispersing into smoke as supplies dropped to the ground.
After a long while, Sand ninja identical to the earlier clones appeared from nowhere, grabbed supplies, and continued fleeing via Body Flicker.
After traveling who knows how many more miles, this Sand ninja also transformed into white smoke—still a shadow clone.
This time an even longer interval passed before the Sand ninja appeared again.
Grabbing supplies and departing via Body Flicker, the Sand ninja's face finally showed unconcealed delight.
Until nightfall, having nearly exhausted all chakra, numerous Sand ninja—unclear whether real bodies or shadow clones—successfully escaped Fire Country and entered River Country, the buffer zone between nations.
River Country was quite special.
Most towns and villages were built on mountains or foothills, with the vast majority of national territory maintaining undeveloped natural features.
Dense vegetation and complex terrain plus endless mountain ranges formed natural concealment.
The manga explicitly pointed out these environmental characteristics were ideal for establishing secret bases.
And this place indeed contained numerous secret bases.
Not just Fire and Wind Countries', but neighboring Rain Country's, even other nations'.
Even the canon Akatsuki organization chose to establish a secret base in this country for extracting the One-Tail Shukaku from Gaara.
These Sand ninja carried supplies, transforming into afterimages scattered throughout mountains and forests.
Viewing them from a god's-eye perspective would reveal they no longer traveled straight but moved in circles within a certain area.
Ultimately, they entered a mist-shrouded mountain region from different locations, their figures and chakra completely vanishing.
'Bang bang bang...'
Within a cave bearing not only sensory-blocking barriers but also defensive and trapping barrier formulas, a series of balloon-popping sounds rang out.
White smoke engulfed the entire cave.
Long afterward, the smoke naturally dispersed, revealing supplies covering the ground.
After another hour, the boulder blocking the cave entrance suddenly manifested numerous tadpole-shaped curse marks before opening automatically like elevator doors.
Four vest-wearing Sand ninja walked in from outside, then performed techniques again to move the boulder, sealing the cave entrance.
The four each carried lamps and walked before the scattered supplies.
Looking at the supplies under lamplight, the four Sand ninja suddenly exchanged glances.
Then one's lips twitched slightly, as though breaking the atmosphere.
"Hahaha..."
Unrestrained laughter immediately echoed throughout the cave, producing reverberations.
They laughed so freely, so wildly that tears squeezed from their eyes.
"So this is the strongest ninja village's magnanimity? Hilarious!"
"Making twelve genin escort such massive supplies without powerful protection behind them—when encountering danger, they just flee directly. Don't know whether to call them overconfident or stupidly rich."
"Maybe they thought their disguise was perfect. Probably not the first time, and these months went smoothly, so they got careless."
"Thanks to their arrogance for cheaply benefiting us."
After this mocking commentary concluded, the four Sand ninja finally stopped laughing.
One, as though remembering something, suddenly grew serious: "Though we successfully transferred these supplies from Fire Country to the secret base and confirmed no chakra fluctuations within several kilometers—no Hyuga Byakugan monitoring along the route—we still need caution."
"Konoha has the Black Flash wielding Flying Thunder God Technique. According to intelligence, he can sense Flying Thunder God seals and appear from nowhere, ignoring barriers."
"If not for the massive chakra required to transfer objects, these supplies could teleport directly from Konoha to border bases or other frontline camps."
"We must carefully inspect every supply item. Even kunai, shuriken, explosive tags, or military rations pills... ensure none bear Flying Thunder God seals."
"Yes!"
The other three Sand ninja nodded seriously.
So the four consumed military rations pills again, set traps beside the supplies, then created shadow clones to inspect the materials.
After who knows how long, they finally completed inspection.
As shadow clones dispelled, the four Sand ninja felt exhausted yet their faces showed delighted smiles again.
"No problems whatsoever!"
"Report to Chiyo-sama immediately. Request support."
This time, the Sand ninja didn't hesitate, quickly summoning a messenger creature to transmit intelligence to the border base.
Soon, Chiyo received the message.
"Three carts of supplies, ten super-large scrolls, one hundred twenty small scrolls, fifteen crates of strategic materials... Real or fake?" Chiyo widened her eyes incredulously. "Such massive supplies, and Konoha only assigned twelve genin as escorts? Are they insane?"
After speaking, Chiyo looked toward her brother: "Could this be a trap?"
"Even you think they're insane, Sister, so it's definitely a trap. How could such a massive windfall fall from the sky?" Ebizo calmly analyzed. "However, no Hyuga Byakugan monitoring, no ninja interception en route, no Flying Thunder God seals attached to supplies—these are facts confirmed through multiple inspections."
"That four-man squad consists of tokubetsu jonin with special abilities. I trust their competence and thoroughness."
"But with their chakra, even mastering Konoha's Shadow Clone Technique, they couldn't bring these supplies from Fire Country back to the border base. Transferring to the nearest secret base is already their limit."
"If heading toward the nearest frontline, they'd definitely not escape reconnaissance squad monitoring. Once White Fang and others receive word, they'll certainly intercept, triggering large-scale warfare on that front. Our side, needing to escort supplies, would fall into disadvantage."
"Moreover, regardless of whether Konoha can track this batch's current location, to avoid accidents, we can't send ordinary genin for transport, or if something happens, we'll sacrifice a batch of the village's future."
"Can't deploy frontline combat forces either, or this might be a luring trap. Konoha might ambush combat forces in River Country's concealment-suitable terrain, or take the opportunity to attack frontline camps!"
Hearing this, Chiyo's expression grew ugly: "Must we abandon this batch? Or can we send another squad mastering Shadow Clone Technique to assist gradual transfer to the border base?"
"Naturally no problem, provided it's not Konoha's trap." Ebizo stated coldly. "If it's a trap, both squads might perish in River Country. From the moment that squad chose to move the supplies, we've already fallen into Konoha's scheme."
"Then what should we do?" Chiyo hurriedly asked. "Is there a solution?"
"Yes, and more than one method." Ebizo's gaze grew profound. "First, frontline combat forces can't be moved, nor can they learn this news, or it might leak."
"Transporting that batch requires deploying forces from the border base or village—specifically multiple ninja squads with powerful combat ability and coordination, plus a strong commander capable of handling enemy elite forces."
"The best method is requesting Kazekage-sama personally deploy, leading ANBU or several jonin squads for transport."
Hearing this, Chiyo immediately rejected it: "Unacceptable. Can't let the Kazekage enter enemy traps."
"Then only you, Sister, myself, or Bunpuku can personally lead." Ebizo gazed at Chiyo.
"Bunpuku can't deploy either. Jinchuriki are strategic deterrents. Deploying this early might affect other frontlines' situations, even make us a target for all." Chiyo's eyes grew resolute. "Let me make this trip personally."
"What if Konoha leaks the information, drawing in Hanzo?" Ebizo suddenly spoke. "Besides you, Sister, we have no one capable of handling Hanzo."
Chiyo's expression instantly stiffened, realizing Konoha's open conspiracy seemed unsolvable.
Ebizo finally laughed: "From the start, only I could complete this mission!"
"Won't it be too risky?" Chiyo looked worried. "If necessary, abandon that batch, or wait until later when there's time for transport while observing whether it's Konoha's trap."
"Can't abandon them, or that squad will die for certain. We'll equally lose four tokubetsu jonin. Konoha might even continue using such open conspiracies, luring other infiltration squads into traps." Ebizo first firmly refused, then smiled. "Besides, these speculations are merely suspicions arising from our cautious nature after obtaining massive benefits. What if things really are that simple—Konoha just assigned twelve genin to escort those supplies?"
Chiyo also realized they couldn't abandon those four tokubetsu jonin, and could only state seriously: "You can go, but must bring several jonin squads plus ANBU escorts. I'll request this from the Kazekage."
"My thoughts exactly." Ebizo didn't refuse, voicing his plan: "The only perfect solution is using a sledgehammer to crack a nut—deploying massive powerful forces for support. This both preserves that squad's lives and retrieves those supplies."
"But the premise is not deploying obvious high-level forces."
"So no one is more suited for this mission than me, with my intelligence and espionage work hiding numerous covert operatives."
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