Chapter 84: A Stirring Storm

"The Fourth Raikage A doesn't appear to be dead. A conventional thermobaric bomb couldn't penetrate the defensive barrier. Maybe I should try adding armor-piercing warheads next time," Kenichi thoughtfully recorded in his experiment log.

"Kenichi, are we leaving already?" Sasori asked curiously, looking at Kenichi. He recalled his friend mentioning that their main purpose for coming here was to make some money while also searching for the burial sites of the Gold and Silver Brothers.

But now that they hadn't found the brothers, that wasn't even the biggest issue. The key problem was that they couldn't claim the mission's bounty—Konoha's bounty required proof. They couldn't just say they did it without evidence, right?

"Yeah, everything else is secondary. My main goal this time was to test the power of my newly developed weapon," Kenichi waved his hand dismissively. He had no intention of going down there to make a name for himself.

The thermobaric explosion had definitely offended the Hidden Cloud Village, and going down there now would be a death sentence. The Fourth Raikage A was probably furious, and Kenichi didn't feel like testing how strong he really was.

Besides, this field test alone had been extremely valuable for Kenichi. If he could drop this thing into the Kamui dimension... just imagine the results.

Tsk tsk.

He only hoped Obito wouldn't die immediately. Otherwise, the entire storyline might collapse.

But it was hard to say whether Obito would survive.

After all, the killing power of a thermobaric bomb in an open space was limited, but in a confined area, its lethality could increase by fifty percent, or even more.

"What a missed opportunity to make a name for ourselves in the ninja world," Sasori said regretfully, glancing back at the gradually disappearing Hidden Cloud Village. He then looked at the hot air balloon they were sitting in, feeling a bit sorry.

"Don't worry, the spies from other villages will spread the news about what happened today," Kenichi wasn't concerned about this. After all, he was the only one who knew how to make thermobaric bombs, and the formula was in his hands. He wasn't worried about copycats.

And if someone did try to copy it, well, he'd just have to ask if they were from the same hometown.

"After Test No. 1, the money spent was astronomical, at least for me. For Test No. 2, I might try integrating chakra threads to see if it boosts the explosion's power," Kenichi continued to jot down his experiment notes as the hot air balloon slowly floated toward the Land of Rain.

He knew that his test would definitely have a huge impact on the ninja world, though whether that impact would be good or bad remained to be seen.

As for the hot air balloon, which was a mystery weapon to the ninja world, Kenichi destroyed it without hesitation. Sasori felt a bit sorry about it, but Kenichi didn't think it was a big deal.

After all, the steps to make a hot air balloon were simple and cheap. It wasn't expensive, and if they needed one later, they could just make another.

In fact, if necessary, Kenichi could even form a paratrooper unit, air-dropping a bunch of ninjas into a target area. But he wasn't planning to do that yet—maintaining ninjas was costly, something only the five great nations could afford.

The Akatsuki organization operated on an elite basis. Partly because fewer members drew less attention, but also because having too many ninjas would bankrupt the organization.

Kenichi and Sasori then parachuted over the Land of Whirlpools. Kenichi had destroyed the hot air balloon since it couldn't fall into the hands of other factions—too many variables could arise from that.

Fortunately, the parachutes opened without a hitch, and Kenichi and Sasori successfully completed the first parachute jump in the ninja world.

If this were a video game, there would probably be an achievement notification by now.

As Kenichi and Sasori descended from the sky, intelligence about the attack on Hidden Cloud Village by an unknown ninja force spread rapidly to the other villages.

There was no way to hide such a major event. The massive mushroom cloud and the devastated Hidden Cloud Village had been witnessed by spies.

"Oh? An unknown ninja force, and they destroyed a quarter of Hidden Cloud Village in one strike?" In Konoha's Hokage office, the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi was smoking and grinning.

He had been thinking that the conflict with the Hidden Cloud might drag on, perhaps even forcing Konoha to make some sacrifices. But now, things had taken an unexpected turn.

Hidden Cloud's headquarters had been attacked, with heavy casualties. It seemed unlikely that they would have the energy to continue waging war anytime soon. The Fourth Raikage A would probably come requesting peace talks soon enough.

"Heh, Hiruzen, have you considered that this might just be a smokescreen from Hidden Cloud?" Danzo, standing beside him, expressed a different opinion. Looking at Hiruzen's fully healed left arm, Danzo felt a bit bitter.

He hadn't expected Orochimaru to work so quickly, fully restoring Hiruzen's arm without any signs of complications. It was just another obstacle for him.

"This intelligence was passed on by a deep-cover agent we've cultivated for years," Hiruzen squinted at his old friend. Konoha had invested a lot of resources to get this information.

"Hmph," Danzo snorted, but he was somewhat appeased by the thought of Kabuto, whom he had sent on a mission. He was curious how Kabuto would feel once he realized he had killed the person he respected the most. But the disobedient trash had to be dealt with anyway.

"Leak the information and exaggerate the damage—say that Hidden Cloud Village was half-destroyed and severely weakened," Hiruzen decided, and Danzo didn't object.

Although Konoha had suffered significant losses, Hidden Cloud's situation was far worse. By exaggerating their weakness, they could sow discord among the other villages. If things went well, it could be a massive windfall for Konoha.

Besides, this was such a major event that the spies from other villages would definitely take action. By releasing the information now, Konoha could show off its superior intelligence network, intimidating the other villages.

However, it seemed the other villages had the same idea. Soon, rumors spread that Hidden Cloud had been attacked by Uchiha Madara and was on the verge of being wiped out.

This left the Fourth Raikage A fuming. After losing track of the attackers, he slammed his fist on yet another table. Meanwhile, the owner of the Hidden Cloud's furniture store was both mourning his ruined shop and secretly thrilled—Raikage-sama was certainly his best customer!