The Land of Rivers.
A certain wooded area west of Kikyo Pass. Beneath layers of camouflage, a Konoha ninja hiding spot was concealed within the dense forest.
"The Kazekage was taken care of just like that? Honestly, I don't really feel it. It seems… things weren't that difficult?" Tenzo said. After accomplishing such a major feat, Tenzo's feelings weren't excitement, elation, or lingering fear, but confusion.
Because the hiding spot had been well concealed, and traps had been set in the outer perimeter, and because news from Sunagakure wouldn't reach the front lines so quickly, the three of them were relatively relaxed at this moment… They couldn't stay tense any longer; regardless, they needed to ease their emotions.
"Relax, there's nothing unbelievable about it. You have to remember that you're a Wood Release ninja, possessing the power of the 'God of Shinobi.' Therefore, you need to have a broader perspective… In the face of Wood Release, the Fourth Kazekage was just an ordinary ninja," Habara said with a smile.
His words weren't entirely a joke. It was precisely because the initial "Deep Forest Emergence" divided the battlefield and created a combat environment favorable to a small number of people that their subsequent battle proceeded so smoothly.
Hearing the words "Wood Release ninja," Kakashi's gaze towards Tenzo also became curious. Wood Release ninjutsu had reappeared in the world. It should be said that no Konoha ninja could remain indifferent to this.
In fact, after the battle in Sunagakure began, Habara was already very confident of successfully assassinating the Kazekage, because he discovered that his "attraction technique" completely countered the Fourth Kazekage's Magnet Release. In front of him, the Fourth Kazekage's powerful offensive and defensive capabilities ceased to exist. So the Kazekage was just an ordinary jonin. Since the enemy was an ordinary jonin, Habara naturally had a great chance of defeating him.
However, Habara hadn't expected this victory to be even smoother than he had imagined.
He also hadn't expected that the person who delivered the decisive blow in this operation would actually be Kakashi Hatake, and because Kakashi had used such a move, the Fourth Kazekage's end was… tragic.
Have you ever seen deep-fried prawns? Slow-fried over low heat, until they're burnt.
So when did Kakashi learn such a ruthless move as "Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags"?
Habara was full of doubts. He turned his gaze to Kakashi. "So, Kakashi, why did you use such a suicidal technique?"
"Just call me Kakashi. Don't call me 'senior.' I always feel like you're mocking me…"
"Okay then, Senior Kakashi."
It wasn't surprising that Kakashi felt this way. Although Habara wasn't mocking Kakashi, he was at least teasing him. On the one hand, he was treating Kakashi like a child, and on the other hand, he was calling Kakashi "senior." This was actually a mild form of provocation.
"…Before, when I was asking the Third Hokage to join this mission, I felt that my strength was insufficient, so I requested that the Third Hokage teach me a sufficiently powerful ninjutsu. The Third Hokage then gave me a list of ninjutsu, and I chose this one, because it was powerful enough and seemed to be quick to master."
Kakashi briefly explained the origin of his explosive tag ninjutsu.
"As for that technique, as you saw, it's just explosive tags summoning explosive tags, leading to a chain reaction of explosions. The power of the technique actually depends on the number of explosive tags."
This showed that you get what you pay for. Habara had sought instruction for many years, and no one had proactively taught him any ninjutsu. But Kakashi could choose freely, and even choosing a forbidden technique was allowed.
"Wait a minute," Habara then discovered a blind spot. "You mean to say that in just these past two or three days, you mastered this forbidden technique?"
Then he saw Kakashi nod.
Although the limited-explosion Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags wasn't a particularly difficult forbidden technique, it was still fundamentally developed by the Second Hokage. For Kakashi to master this ninjutsu in such a short time… One could only say that a genius was indeed a genius. Habara definitely couldn't do such a thing.
But it was precisely because Kakashi had such talent that made people feel irritated… Someone with such exceptional talent, after growing up, shouldn't he be able to cut down enemies one by one, like slicing through melons and vegetables? But why did Kakashi evolve into a fifty-fifty fighter?
Kakashi's starting point and overall qualities were definitely superior to his father, Sakumo Hatake, yet he never displayed the kind of overwhelming presence of the "White Fang of Konoha"… So, Kakashi's illness still needed treatment. He needed a course of treatment first.
"Habara, I always feel that assassinating the Kazekage isn't a justifiable act. I feel like it will cause extremely negative consequences," Kakashi then said.
And at this time, Habara completely stopped mentioning that assassinating the Kazekage was his backup plan. He said, "We were forced to act out of necessity. Senior Kakashi, you could also see that Sunagakure had absolutely no sincerity for negotiation. They were even emboldened, attempting to eliminate us… With our lives threatened, we had no choice but to fight back."
Kakashi nodded. Habara was right. That was the process, that was the logic, that was how events unfolded at the time. Faced with Sunagakure's oppression, the three of them had no choice but to fight back and then escape… However, Kakashi always felt that something was wrong.
Forced to fight back, and then conveniently eliminated the Kazekage? Was Habara really "forced"?
The awkwardness Kakashi felt actually stemmed from the fact that Habara already had a plan for "violence" beforehand. As a result, because the other party made the first move, Habara then claimed that he was acting entirely in self-defense and bore no responsibility.
"Under normal circumstances, assassinating the military leader of a nation is certainly not a good thing. But we are ninjas… Senior Kakashi, you will definitely become famous after this."
"Me? Wait, me? Shouldn't it be us?"
At this moment, Kakashi seemed to have become Danzo.
"Originally, the Kazekage was taken down by you. And since there won't be a grand welcoming ceremony, people like Tenzo and I shouldn't be in the limelight. Moreover… after the Fourth Hokage's unexpected death, wouldn't it be a good topic for his disciple's name to immediately resound throughout the ninja world? As the saying goes, a famous teacher produces excellent disciples. This is also restoring the Fourth Hokage's reputation," Habara said.
After the Fourth Hokage's death, there were definitely some doubts circulating about his strength, as well as some even less reputable claims… If he was really so strong, why did he die? Similar sarcastic remarks, made by people who didn't understand the situation, were definitely countless. So now Kakashi needed to come out and slap them in the face.
This kind of one-sided publicity was certainly not what Kakashi wanted to see, because it had the suspicion of taking credit, and the possibility of taking the blame. However, after Habara mentioned it briefly, he skipped over the topic, not giving Kakashi a chance to refute at all.
"The Fourth Kazekage, Ebizo… It's a pity Chiyo dodged my Rasenshuriken. Otherwise, Sunagakure would have fallen into complete chaos," Habara felt that they hadn't fully achieved their goal. But in fact, because they had destroyed the Kazekage's office building, the subsequent chaos in Sunagakure would definitely be sufficient.
Sunagakure's command center was destroyed, the Kazekage and one advisor were dead, and there were a large number of confidential documents that needed to be salvaged. What more did he want?
"Next, we'll take turns keeping watch and resting. After we've recovered our chakra, we'll return to the Konoha frontline camp… We need to quickly and safely bring back the information," Habara said finally.
So they began to take turns, one keeping watch while the other two rested. By the time they had all rested, it was already the second half of the night.
At some point, it had started to rain lightly.
The ambient sound of a rainy night was more complex, which was beneficial to Habara and his team's retreat.
Because they no longer intended to attack, Sunagakure's defensive line in the Land of Rivers was very long, stretching almost across the entire Land of Rivers, but it had little depth. This was mainly to monitor Konoha for large-scale military actions. Therefore, it wasn't difficult for a small force like Habara's to infiltrate.
There were many ways to penetrate Sunagakure's defense line. Habara and his team could sneak past, or they could directly "fly" over. However, before Habara could even suggest the possibility of flying, Kakashi and Tenzo, out of ingrained habit, had already begun to sneak past sentries and pick off patrols.
A Sunagakure ninja was squatting on a large tree, listlessly watching the due east direction, occasionally yawning… It wasn't surprising that he was so lax. News that Konoha's envoys had arrived in Sunagakure, and that Konoha wanted to sign a peace treaty with Sunagakure, had long since spread.
Whether or not the news of the Kazekage's assassination had reached the front lines at this time, such confidential information was temporarily beyond the reach of ordinary ninjas.
Then, just as this ninja was yawning, the branches on the tree trunk suddenly turned into vines. These vines instantly bound him tightly. His mouth was covered, his neck was constricted, and in a short time, this ninja died silently.
Just by using Tenzo's ability, Habara's team quietly passed through Sunagakure's defense line. After crossing the Kikyo Pass line, they began to run towards the Konoha frontline camp.
At dawn, they arrived at the frontline camp. After reporting and verifying their identities, the three of them soon met the commander here, Orochimaru.
"You appearing in this place at this time means that the negotiations between Konoha and Sunagakure have broken down… I didn't expect you to be able to escape." Inside the command tent, Orochimaru looked at Habara and his two companions with a slightly strange expression.
With Orochimaru's intelligence, he could of course deduce that the mission had failed. Otherwise, Habara and his two companions would have been escorted out of Sunagakure with great fanfare, and they would have returned directly to Konoha, not stopping at the frontline camp. Therefore, this wasn't the reason for his strange expression.
Orochimaru just felt that life was full of coincidences. Habara and Tenzo, a year ago, were still his test subjects, and now they had become Konoha envoys.
"Lord Orochimaru, as you said, the mission indeed failed… Sunagakure had no sincerity for negotiations," Habara said.
"Yes, I had anticipated this beforehand. Sunagakure is just that kind of style," Orochimaru said. Suddenly, he noticed that Habara looked like he wanted to say something but hesitated, so he asked, "Is there anything else? The failure of the negotiations isn't your responsibility. Don't worry about punishment from the village."
"There is a small problem. Lord Orochimaru, during our escape from Sunagakure, we also conveniently assassinated the Fourth Kazekage… That's not our responsibility either, is it?" Habara said.
Now that he was back on Konoha's territory, he was actually a little worried about whether he would be held responsible for assassinating the Kazekage, after all, this was definitely not the task the Third Hokage had assigned.
Then Habara saw Orochimaru's vertical pupils staring intently at him.
"The three of you assassinated the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa? Are you sure?"
"Certain. Rasa is completely dead… Oh, and also Sunagakure's advisor, Ebizo. He's also pretty broken." Habara said.
As for the small fry who perished in the "forest," Habara didn't bother to count them, because they couldn't be counted.
Orochimaru certainly wasn't blaming Habara and his companions for assassinating the Kazekage. But at this moment, Habara couldn't guess what the other party was thinking. He didn't know that his crow's beak always came true, even if it was a crow's beak for Sunagakure. Nor did he know that compared to the three young men, Orochimaru was the truly ruthless one.
Orochimaru stood silently in place for a full minute. Then he clapped his hands and summoned his adjutant. Then he said to the adjutant, "Immediately organize ten elite squads. We set out at daybreak."
"Set out? Lord Orochimaru, is there a combat mission?" The adjutant was somewhat puzzled.
Orochimaru's expression relaxed, and he looked straight ahead, making his eyes appear even more slender.
"There wasn't one before, but there is now. The name of the mission is…
Surprise Attack on Sunagakure."
Explanation:
"Crow's beak": This is a Chinese idiom for someone who jinxes things by saying them. It's used here to highlight the irony of Habara's words.
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