Although the battle was extremely intense, and the clash of schemes was thrilling, in terms of time, it only lasted half a day.
It began when the morning sun rose.
By noon—no, the sun hadn't even reached its peak—it was already over.
It could only be said: as expected of a ninja battle. A war of one-hit kills ends fast.
Of course, that might also be because both sides only had a few thousand people.
The battle ended in the morning, and by the afternoon, the news had already spread across the ninja world.
The information released by Konoha was:
Konoha forcefully repelled the Cloud Village. One of the four major battlefields has already secured victory.
Meanwhile, the Cloud Village released this:
The Cloud Village heavily damaged Konoha, then strategically withdrew, waiting for the next opportunity to launch war.
Although the statements differed, the sharp minds of the ninja world all understood one thing:
The Cloud Village had fought Konoha—and for now, it could no longer launch an attack.
The Third Tsuchikage of the Stone Village, Ōnoki, directly cursed them as useless.
No wonder we didn't team up with you to crush Konoha. With how you perform, would the Stone Village even dare? We're fighting just fine on our side, and then you suddenly withdraw—who can stand that?
Sometimes you don't have to contribute, but you absolutely can't drag others down.
Like certain countries stabbing others in the back again and again—real professionals at it.
But right now, the Stone Village had no time to worry about others.
They were facing a very troublesome problem.
Even though they had an army of eight thousand ninja stationed here, in theory, they could push through any battlefield.
But they didn't dare.
That Aburame on the other side couldn't even be called a ninja.
Despicable, shameless, vile, sinister—none of these words could fully describe him.
Konoha's ninjas had already completely withdrawn from the Land of Grass battlefield.
But that bastard Aburame Shiken had laid down a vast minefield stretching from the former Konoha position all the way to the Land of Fire.
No… calling it a minefield wasn't accurate.
It should be called a bug field.
A swarm of parasitic insects that could explode and burn.
No one knew how they were created.
Even large-scale Earth Style techniques couldn't clear them.
These bugs could fly—like flies. Impossible to kill and extremely disgusting to deal with.
"Kitsuchi-sama, Aburame's insect clone has been sent over again."
"Where's the Explosion Release unit? Have them deal with it."
"Yes."
Five minutes later—
"This is bad, Kitsuchi-sama! Among those insect clones was one from an Aburame poison insect user. The Explosion Release squad reacted too late—they've all been wiped out!"
"What?!"
Kitsuchi crushed the scroll in his hand in anger.
Damn the Aburame clan.
He hurried out of the tent to check.
At the first defensive line, far from the Stone Village camp, ten Explosion Release ninja lay on the ground, their bodies an unnatural deep purple.
"Damn it."
"Order the Fire Style ninja to immediately destroy those… cough… heroic bodies."
Kitsuchi gritted his teeth as he gave the order.
"Yes."
The surrounding ninja raised no objections.
Because the last jonin who opposed—who insisted on bringing the heroes' bodies back to the village—had already died while transporting a corpse.
Never doubt the humanity of the Aburame.
Because they simply don't have it.
And never doubt the danger of their insects. Some kill you instantly. Others make sure you don't die so easily. Either way, once you come into contact with them, there's no good ending.
Aburame Shiken had been on the battlefield for two days.
And in those two days, Kitsuchi hadn't seen a single Konoha ninja.
Only bugs. Bugs. And more bugs.
And yet, just these bugs had already cost the Stone ninja nearly two hundred casualties.
Compared to an army of eight thousand, it wasn't much.
But it was suffocating.
They hadn't even seen a single enemy, yet so many had died or been injured for no reason.
"Don't recommend anything today. I'm going to invite the Third Tsuchikage-sama to personally oversee this."
Kitsuchi said.
"Yes."
The surrounding ninja all responded.
Once the Third Tsuchikage-sama arrived, Konoha would definitely lose.
...
On Konoha's side—
More than four hundred Aburame ninja each held a bug-rearing gourd, pouring chakra into cultivating their parasitic insects.
As for the original three thousand Konoha ninja?
They were carrying out the greatest mission in the ninja world.
We don't produce goods.
We are merely carriers of goods.
"Squad One hunting team, hurry to Squad Three of the Aburame—they're short on meat cultivation materials!"
"Aburame Squad Three requests a batch of fresh greenery!"
"Aburame Squad Four needs three batches of gunpowder!"
...
"Aburame Squad Forty-Six requires a batch of enemy ninja."
"Bastard! I'm a Grass ninja, not a Stone ninja! You caught the wrong person! Look at my forehead protector!"
The captain of Capture Squad Twenty-Seven glanced at him.
"Despicable Stone ninja, actually disguising yourself as a Grass ninja. Do you think you can fool us? Take him in."
The captured Grass ninja: damn it.
Some members of the squad still had a bit of conscience and bravely asked:
"Captain… isn't this kind of wrong?"
"There's nothing wrong with it. As Shiken-sama said, we've already retreated to the Land of Fire, and they're still following us. If they're not Stone spies, then what are they? Besides, Shikuro-sama needs ninja corpses. Aren't they delivering themselves right to us?"
The captain explained.
Come on—do you think Stone ninja corpses are that easy to get? Eight thousand of them huddle together like turtles. Even going to the bathroom, they move in groups.
If we don't grab these Grass ninja who come to us, should I go deliver myself to the Stone camp?
At present, across the entire Konoha camp, the original three thousand-plus Konoha ninja had all become laborers for the Aburame clan.
At first, many were dissatisfied.
We're all combat ninja. Your positions aren't higher than ours. Why should we serve you? Just because you're from a ninja clan and we're civilians? We refuse. We want equality. We want respect.
"Do you want to go to the frontlines, or stay in the rear and carry supplies?"
After Aburame Shiken's words spread—
"Shiken-sama, what would you like to eat today? I'll go get it for you."
"Shiken-sama, just tell me if you need anything. I'll bring it over immediately."
In any case, with a single sentence, Aburame Shiken transformed the Aburame clan from public enemy number one into the center of admiration—everyone scrambling to serve them.
Equality? Respect? Forget all that.
Someone willing to fight in your place on the battlefield.
Later, when everyone saw the parasitic insects controlled by the Aburame launching attacks on the Stone camp, they became even happier.
The Aburame had no intention of playing a long war of attrition.
The moment the insects reached the Stone camp, they self-destructed.
Crackle, pop—
Although the effect wasn't great—only about a hundred casualties per day—
One hundred a day, two hundred in two days.
How many Stone ninja were there?
Only eight thousand.
In just over eighty days—less than three months—the Stone Village would be annihilated. Konoha would achieve a great victory with zero casualties.
And they would all return to the village as heroes.
Most importantly, they wouldn't even have to step onto the battlefield.
Where else could you find such a good deal?
Hiruzen Sarutobi: Ahem, I don't even need to go to the battlefield—or even leave Konoha—and my reputation across the ninja world keeps rising. Ah, how troublesome.