Chapter 758 : Misunderstandings can be terrifying!

Aren't you forgetting something?" The Suna Council members looked at Chiyo in confusion. In the last few hours, they had debated all possibilities. Yet, Chiyo asked such a question.

Seeing that no one had an answer, Chiyo sighed and said, "You seem to have forgotten that Orochimaru was Hiruzen's student."

Her statement caused even more confusion. Ryusa asked, "What does that have to do wi…?"

Ryusa's eyes widened in horror as he realized something terrifying! His expression became a sight to see! So were the expressions of other council members who finally realized what Chiyo was hinting at!

Tojura muttered fearfully, "You mean that?"

Sajo muttered, "How can this be? Was it all a scheme? Did we fall so badly to Konoha's ploy?"

Chiyo replied, "Who can say? Perhaps only the leaders in Konoha would know. Regardless, we can't overlook the possibility of this being a trap set for us."

Goza said thoughtfully, "You're right. We completely overlooked this. It is possible that Orochimaru never betrayed Konoha. Instead, it was all an act to lure and weaken us! Perhaps they sensed our restlessness and sent Orochimaru to bait us.

Even though our spies reported that the Third Hokage and Orochimaru were injured, they didn't see them. Both may be just faking it!"

Ryusa immediately questioned, "But, why are they doing so? Why did they need to continue acting after killing Kazekage-sama? Even if we assume that they wanted to kill more of our ninjas, why didn't they stop pretending and chase after Baki and his forces? Wouldn't that have weakened us further? And, why are they pretending to be injured right now?"

Tojuro answered in a shocked tone, "It's simple. Their target isn't just us. Recently, Kumogakure took heavy losses. Nearly a thousand of their Elite ninjas are dead or missing. If we ignore the loss of our leader, then their losses are even greater than ours.

There is no doubt that Konoha was behind those events. Kumo would be filled with rage and would want revenge. By pretending to be weak, they're giving Kumo an opening that doesn't exist. Their real target isn't us but Kumogakure!

It's incredible no matter how I think about it. As expected of Konoha scums! They first killed Kazekage-sama and weakened us. Then, they pretend to be weak and lure Kumo. Once Kumo falls into their trap, they'll go all out against them! With us weakened and hiding, Kiri busy in a civil war, and the Tsuchikage's nature, no one will be able to bail Kumo out!"

Silence engulfed the room once again. Except for Chiyo and Ebizo, everyone was in shock at how deep Konoha's plans ran! Even though it was just a speculation, everyone believed it to be the truth!

After some time, Joseki wondered aloud, "Should we warn Kumo?"

He was harshly rebuked by Tojuro, "And then what? Let Konoha deal with us while Kumo and Iwa just watch? The Raikage, though impulsive, isn't a fool. Konoha will have to attack us in order to tempt Kumo into attacking. Let them fight each other. Even if Kumo loses, they would cause a lot of harm to Konoha. That would be our chance to recuperate!"

Everyone nodded subconsciously, but Ebizo suddenly asked, "That's all well and good, but what if Kumo doesn't attack them? Are you sure our traps and ambushes would be sufficient to stop Konoha from reaching us?"

Everyone turned their eyes to Ebizo. Ryusa asked, "What do you mean? Didn't we just discuss the plans?"

Ebizo explained, "Yes, we did. But we didn't consider that Orochimaru could still be loyal to Konoha, nor did we have this additional information."

Ebizo pointed at the scrolls sent by the spies. He continued, "By now, it is rather obvious that the one who created the chaos in the West was none other than Suzuki Fujin. And, according to your speculations, the man who attacked Kumo is none other than Hatake Kakashi.

As such, Konoha already has two ninjas who are capable of acting independently. And, both of them could hunt our squads one at a time and easily cause us to lose hundreds of ninjas. Whether they do it just to increase our losses or to pave a path for their main army, we'll have a difficult time.

I didn't say anything earlier as we could have still done something to stall them, but this new information makes things far more difficult for us.

Suzuki Fujin has a summon that can fly. He can fly on it across our vast deserts and attack us at will. We won't even be able to spot his movements. He could also ferry elite units across the deserts and attack our critical defenses.

Not to mention, he sealed the Third Kazekage and Fourth Kazekage by himself. Even though he had assistance from other ninjas, there is no doubt that he's strong enough to take on the Fourth Kazekage by himself even in the desert.

This raises the difficulty of stopping him by several levels. Just that would be troublesome, but if we also add Orochimaru into the mix, then it gets worse. He has the experience of two wars and is extremely troublesome on a battlefield. So are his summons.

His snakes can attack from underground while Fujin attacks from the air. Along with what Hatake Kakashi did in Kumo, how certain are you that our ninjas would be able to stop the three of them? And, I haven't even considered the Edo Tensei jutsu."

Not a single person in the room had an answer. Chiyo sighed and muttered, "So, even the desert isn't safe anymore?"

Tojura immediately asked, "What about you, Elder Chiyo? Could you stop them?"

Chiyo smirked and teasingly asked, "You want an old lady to go to the battlefield?"

Suna's council members immediately felt awkward. Ebizo shook his head and said, "Sister won't be able to stop them either. All three of them are extremely fearsome and in their prime. Don't underestimate them."

Tojuro muttered unwillingly, "That means that we can only count on Kumo."

However, Ebizo shook his head and said, "An attack from Kumo wouldn't necessarily mean that Konoha would need to withdraw from here."

Tojuro frowned and asked, "What do you mean? Wouldn't they need rank S nin…?"

His eyes widened as he suddenly realized! Goza gasped, "That's right, even without them, Konoha still has the Third Hokage and two Sannins! They don't need them to face a wounded Kumo!"

Ebizo added, "You're forgetting one person. We still don't know what Shimura Danzo, the Shinobi of Darkness, has been up to. His hand is definitely involved in such a scheme. That is what makes the situation even more terrifying. We need to change our strategy to account for these factors."

Everyone nodded in agreement and began thinking. Sajo said, "Since they have such terrifying capability, defending important locations is rather pointless as they'll be easy pickings for them. We should only leave 1 squad in each of those places and concentrate our forces inside the village."

Ryusa added, "Our ambushes will have to change too. Until we get the news of Konoha's army entering the Land of Wind, we should keep our ambush units hidden. That way, the three of them wouldn't find anyone to attack."

Several other ideas were exchanged and new plans were made. Since they couldn't confront the enemy head-on, they decided to avoid combat until Konoha sent an army to their country. Of course, understanding how terrible their situation was, they also became more open to diplomatic solutions even if they had to make some compromises.

While the Suna Council brainstormed to create new plans, Kirigakure received messages from their spies in Konoha. The subordinates of the Fourth Mizukage were surprised by the events but didn't pay much attention to them except for one aspect. They had their hands full with the rebels.

Unlike them, the rebels paid careful attention to the news. Mei thought, 'He has a flying summon. So, that's why he was able to reach us so quickly…'

Ao said, "To think Konoha would be attacked by their former rank S ninja and an ally. Sigh, alliances are too fragile. Without an alliance between them, the situation will destabilize quickly."

Mei replied, "Not quite. Even though Konoha was backstabbed, it looks like they were very well prepared. Other than their Hokage, they barely had any losses. By comparison, Suna and Oto lost too much.

That will intimidate anyone planning to attack them. Unless Kumo, Iwa, and Suna could ally, they won't attack Konoha. However, as you just said, alliances are too fragile."

Ao replied, "That is true."

He turned his gaze towards the reports and said, "Still, this boy has grown too ferocious. To think that he could take on so many strong ninjas and eliminate over 300 elite ninjas by himself!"

Mei smirked and said, "Yeah, he has grown to be quite a man. I hope we don't have to meet on a battlefield."

Ao agreed. While several types of enemies were troublesome, the type that could cut through hundreds of elite ninjas in the blink of an eye was the most terrifying. They could take out a huge chunk of their forces and heavily restrict their movements!

Mei said, "Anyway, we have an important matter at hand. The Edo Tensei jutsu…"

Ao nodded, understanding what she was hinting at.

"Hahahahaha!" Thousands of kilometers away from the Land of Water, laughter broke out in a room!

————————————

A/N : If you can, then please support me on P@treon.

Link - www.pat reon.com/DevilHex

(No space)

Alternatively you can support me on UPI (google pay) - patilsarvesh8@oksbi

Can read up to 50 chapters ahead on P@treon.

Thank You Sergio, LazyLizard, Ashfield, Cypher and Johanna for supporting me on P@treon.