Chapter 69: The Abnormal Village

Hearing Ōnoki's words, Shoudu stroked his chin thoughtfully.

This is really the best option.

If they launch a full-scale attack, Konoha will definitely have a massive force to fight them, but even if they don't make any moves, Konoha won't dare to send this part of the force to fight Sunagakure.

At the moment, due to the failure of the advance force, they were at a disadvantage, and given the probability of Kumogakure's action, watching from the sidelines is the best option.

"The invasion of the land of fire should be called off, furthermore, no information about the Hatake Yeruashi ninja should be distributed, let Sunagakure start a war with Konoha without worry."

Ōnoki gave the order.

The news of his defeat must not be allowed to affect Sunagakure's actions.

If Sunagakure decides that the situation is not very favorable and decides to retreat, Konoha will most likely not pursue them, so there would be no benefit to be gained.

Shoudu said in a solemn voice, "But according to the information, White Fang's son is only ten years old, so much strength at such a young age may make him a big problem in the future."

"He relied on the forbidden technique to obtain such power."

Ōnoki folded his arms and rose into the air, saying, "There's no reason to worry, a powerful forbidden technique isn't something I can use at will.... You wouldn't be in this state if you weren't too focused on those forbidden arts back then."

According to the judgment of the surviving members of the advanced group, Yeruashi's skills he showed on the battlefield are very different from the White Fang's skills of the past, he was definitely in an abnormal state, most likely some forbidden technique was used.

There will inevitably be a price to pay for using forbidden techniques.

In his youth, Shoudu relied too much on the forbidden technique, which caused great damage to his life force, and his chakra can barely maintain its current state, unable to improve or progress.

There are many examples in the ninja world about ninja who have relied too much on the forbidden arts to gain a certain level of strength.

Although using such a powerful forbidden technique at such a young age seemed unbelievable, but Ōnoki considered it nothing more than a foolish act, the smart choice is to use forbidden techniques when it becomes too difficult to continue progressing.

At first glance, it seemed that White Fang's son was a great threat, but in reality this is nothing more than a superficial phenomenon.

Even if it turns out that there are no side effects, there is always a weak point, you just need to find it and think of a way to counter it.... There is no such thing as a forbidden technique without a weak point or side effect.

Shoudu shook his head, "But this is a problem anyway, and the weaknesses of forbidden techniques are not so easy to find..."

Ōnoki floated in the air with his hands folded on his chest and said, "If we don't act, Konoha might send the White Fang's son to the battlefield with Sunagakure, so let's let Sunagakure find his weakness for us, after that we can deal with him..."

"...Right."

Shoudu rubbed his chin and said, "I hope everything goes as we hope."

...

Konoha's front line camp.

Inside the central tent.

It has been almost half a month since the last battle and no movement or action has been seen from Iwagakure.

"It seems that Iwagakure will not act in the near future."

Orochimaru listened to the results of the recent exploration conducted in the depths of the Grass Country, as well as the information provided by Konoha, and said with a sigh, "The third Tsuchikage must want to observe how our war against Sunagakure will unfold and only then will he decide how to proceed."

Yeruashi looked at the map and said slowly, "If Iwagakure and Kumogakure form an Alliance and launch a joint attack against us, Kirigakure will most likely break the previous agreement as well, and the situation may become dangerous..."

"Yes."

Orochimaru nodded and said with a slight mockery, "But old Ōnoki won't do it, he will first try to save energy and won't dare to start a full-scale war so easily, even if he really makes an alliance with Kumogakure, there will be no trust between them"

"Due to the inability to trust each other, the Great Ninja Peoples cannot form a strong Alliance and take our resource-rich lands of the Fire Country..."

Hearing Orochimaru's words, Yeruashi nodded slightly.

That was true.

Although the current Konoha is strong, but what if the other Great Villages launch a joint attack? Even considering their existence as a "variable", it would be very difficult to handle.

But the four Great Peoples cannot trust each other, so in case of an invasion to the land of Fire, they always reserve a significant part of their forces, distrustful of other peoples, this is one of the most important reasons why Konoha can successfully resist the attack of the other Great Peoples.

Yeruashi looked at Orochimaru and said, "Since there was no movement from Iwagakure, I want to leave the camp and go after the Kusanagi sword.... Even if they decide to make a move, I will probably return in time."

Since there was no movement from Iwagakure, now was the best time to go after the Kusanagi sword, otherwise, there was no guarantee that it would not fall into other hands during this chaotic period of war.

"You can go."

"Given your strength, I don't think there won't be any problem.... ke-ke-ke"

Orochimaru said with his usual laugh.

This is really a good time to pick up the Kusanagi Sword, in his estimation, there shouldn't be any movement from Iwagakure in the short term, besides, the location of the sword is not far from the Grass Country.

And last but not least, Orochimaru felt that in the next few days, Hiruzen would send Yeruashi to the battlefield against Sunagakure.

Since Iwagakure is in no hurry to make a big move, he and Might Duy are enough to handle most unforeseen situations, and there was no need for Yeruashi to stay here as well.

The best option would be to send him to the battlefield against Sunagakure, and most likely Hiruzen should think the same way.

Yeruashi nodded and left the tent.

....

According to the information provided by Orochimaru, the Kusanagi sword is located at the crossroads of the Grass Country and the Rain Country. There is a group consisting of renegade ninjas and independent ninjas, disguised as a small ordinary people who made their living from various obscure tasks in the underworld.

This group is small and extremely secretive, plus it is located on the border, so it did not draw much attention from Amegakure and Kusagakure.

While gathering information about Kusanagi swords, Orochimaru accidentally discovered that the leader of this group has a Kusanagi sword, so he made a note of it.

A few days later.

Yeruashi arrived at the village.

The town looked a bit desolate, with few pedestrians on the streets and all the doors of the houses closed, looking like an ordinary town experiencing the fear of war.

Yeruashi, dressed in a trench coat and rice hat, entered the village and soon felt that he was being secretly watched.

There was a distinct feeling that this was no ordinary person.

"....Really there is something wrong here."