chapter 73 part 3
However, these dissenting opinions were only dared to be whispered privately by a few individuals, such as Danzo arguing with the Third Hokage, but they would absolutely never raise them with Mito Uzumaki directly.
Another half a month passed. After confirming that there would be no Hidden Stone Village enemy incursions from the Land of Hot Water, the troops began to return in batches.
Nominally, it was a victory, but the expressions of the people were incredibly complex, completely devoid of joy.
Iroha, as one of the first Ninja to return to the Village, immediately began his own actions.
The villagers were immersed in yet another victory, anticipating that the main forces led by Orochimaru would defeat Hidden Stone Village as soon as possible.
They had no access to the details of the war's progression, and the Village would not publicize them so specifically. In any case, they had won; the enemy's Jinchuriki had been incapacitated by the incredible Kato Dan, and Konoha had once again weakened Hidden Stone Village's effective power.
"Lord Kato Dan, is he an Elite Jonin? Has he already mastered the ability to deal with Tailed Beasts?"
"Hmm, Lord Kato Dan's Secret Technique doesn't seem to be a secret. I heard it's called the Spirit Transformation Secret Technique, but I don't know what its specific effects are. Can that Jutsu deal with a Jinchuriki?"
"Truly amazing! The Village has gained another powerful Ninja! Konoha is the strongest in the Shinobi World!"
"Lord Hokage hasn't even personally intervened yet, and he's already able to lead us to win the Great Ninja War!"
Kaedemilar remarks were everywhere, praising Kato Dan and also the wise Third Hokage.
"How disgusting."
Danzo stood in the laboratory, his face expressionless as he looked at the numerous corpse remains soaking in Formalin. He detested the Third Hokage's actions.
Listening to the ignorant villagers' comments, which grew increasingly outrageous, Danzo even suspected that if this boasting continued for a few more years, the Third Hokage might be hailed as the strongest Hokage of all time.
Just like the Third Kazekage, who was claimed to be the strongest Kazekage ever? However, the speed at which this localized war ended truly surprised Danzo, and the process also caught him off guard.
"If the intel from Nonō Yakushi is correct, there are too many questionable points in Kato Dan's report. Hmph, Hiruzen probably suspects something too, but he won't deliberately press the issue."
Danzo snorted coldly.
What kind of person was Kato Dan? How could he not know? How could the Third Hokage not know? While the Spirit Transformation Secret Technique was powerful, once activated, the body had to remain motionless, essentially becoming a fixed target.
"If the drawback of an immobile body was compensated by Tsukasa Kaede using Space-Time Ninjutsu... using Space-Time Ninjutsu to move the body's position is already a more drastic movement, rapidly changing the distance and orientation between the body and the Spirit Body. The impact must be significant."
Moreover, could mere Spirit Body attacks force the Four-Tails Jinchuriki into Complete Tailed Beast Transformation and ultimately a coma? While this could also be explained by Roshi altering the Land of Hot Water's Ley Lines beforehand and overusing his Chakra.
But constantly having to add extra possibilities to supplement the battle situation already indicated a problem. Battles between Ninja naturally involved intel warfare. Could the entire battle process be explained purely by unexpected events? "Did Tsukasa Kaede use the Living Corpse Reincarnation Jutsu on Kato Dan? With Tsunade's assistance, a combined effort of the three might have severely wounded the Four-Tails."
Danzo's face darkened. He didn't want more people to know about Tsukasa Kaede's Forbidden Jutsu; it gave him a greater sense of unease—he always loathed things he couldn't control.
This also solidified his resolve: he had to end this meaningless war as quickly as possible and get Orochimaru back!
The Human Experimentation project had to be accelerated, and Tsukasa Kaede had to be brought under control as soon as possible, no more delays! If news of the Living Corpse Reincarnation Jutsu reached the Third Hokage's ears, Danzo would be spitting blood.
"If I were Hokage, why would I fight these meaningless defensive wars? I'd rather invade enemy countries directly, kill more Ninja, control more Civilians, and train more Ninja from those Civilians!"
Don't misunderstand; he wasn't plundering enemy Civilians to replenish the Land of Fire's population; the Land of Fire didn't lack those people. He purely wanted to use the enemy's Civilians as consumables, harvest more Ninja, and once they all became corpses, hand them over to Tsukasa Kaede for his Jutsu.
The more frequent the wars, the more enemies killed, the more corpses there would be. The more Life Force Tsukasa Kaede could extract and transfer, the stronger the Hidden Leaf Village Ninja would become, and their Lifespan would be incredibly long!
All of this only required constant warfare, achievable only through wars of aggression! "Even if Hiruzen obtained the Living Corpse Reincarnation Jutsu and Corpse Release Secret Technique, he would absolutely never do such a thing." Danzo snorted, removed the bandage from his head, revealing his Three-Tomoe Sharingan, and continued to meticulously research the Izanagi Forbidden Jutsu.
At the same time, the Third Tsuchikage, upon receiving the news, nearly died of anger.
"A top-notch plan of action, how did it end up like this? Not only did we fail to kill a large number of Konoha Shinobi, but why were our losses so great in the end!"
Out of a thousand Ninja, only about a hundred survived; the rest were all obliterated by the Four-Tails' Tailed Beast Bombs, and Roshi himself was in a coma. The Third Tsuchikage was truly at his wit's end.
"Kato Dan? How could such a nobody force Roshi into this predicament? I can imagine how those Konoha guys will spin this story!"
The Third Tsuchikage fumed, flying back and forth in mid-air.
Kato Dan? Who was Kato Dan? Could he take down a Jinchuriki with an enhanced Mind Transfer Jutsu? Bah, Kato Dan wasn't worthy!
If Tsunade were added... he hadn't heard of Tsunade possessing powerful means. Even if she summoned a Slug, it shouldn't have been enough to push Roshi to such a state.
Something special must have happened, but the Third Tsuchikage couldn't ascertain it. He could only patiently wait for Roshi to awaken for the truth to be revealed.
"Originally, I planned to use Roshi's power to break the stalemate in the Land of Hot Water and weaken Hidden Leaf Village's strength, but it turned out the opposite... This war will probably..."
The Third Tsuchikage didn't want to admit his failure. He had repelled Hidden Sand Village and could now focus his forces on Hidden Leaf Village, but the result was this.
Orochimaru, the Leaf Forces' commander, was also a person who never showed any weaknesses. His occasional strange surprise attacks were specifically to hunt down the Explosion Corps. Over the past few years, he had killed about ten Explosion Release Bloodline Limit Ninja and stolen several corpses.
The Third Tsuchikage knew Orochimaru was seizing the opportunity to study the Explosion Release Bloodline Limit, which wasn't hard to accept, because the Third Tsuchikage would do the same if he had the chance—he also wanted to capture some Senju, Uchiha, and Hyuga.
But he couldn't.
"Hold on a little longer. If not, then retreat. Hidden Cloud Village is stirring; what a bunch of damn bastards!" the Third Tsuchikage cursed.
Hidden Cloud Village's main energy was focused on Hidden Stone Village, constantly sending out elite squads to raid and disrupt, endlessly bothering Hidden Stone Village.
The Third Tsuchikage made up his mind: after this retreat, he would further squeeze the Land of Earth's national power to enhance its military strength. After a few years of recuperation, he would launch a full-scale assault on Hidden Cloud Village!
He vowed to make those bastards pay a heavy price.
(end of chapter)