chapter 118 part 1
Chapter 118: The Hidden Sand Village is Just a Dilapidated House; One Kick is All it Takes...
The people of the Hidden Sand Village were keenly aware of how perilous the current situation was.
It could be said that, under the wise leadership of the Third Kazekage, the Hidden Sand Village was weaker than ever before—they had lost their Tailed Beast, and powerful ninja had been lost one after another.
Now, on the surface, there were only two Kage-level powerhouses: the Third Kazekage and Chiyo.
Such strength could give some small ninja villages an opportunity. To put it bluntly, if someone like Hanzo suddenly went mad and attacked the Hidden Sand Village, the Third Kazekage and Chiyo, aside from mobilizing their forces to wear down Hanzo, whether they could win against Hanzo relying solely on the two of them, was still an unknown.
Hmm, it was only slightly better than Konoha Village on the original timeline before the Konoha Crush. At that time, Konoha Village was barely holding on with only the Third Hokage remaining.
"We can't get the One-Tail back."
The Third Kazekage's face was exceptionally grim, and he felt a strong sense of defeat—he was supposedly the strongest Kazekage in history, having led the Hidden Sand Village through the Second Great Ninja War without major losses. He should have led the Hidden Sand Village to new heights, so why had things turned out this way?
The Tailed Beast was gone, and Ebizō was dead...
"Even without a Tailed Beast, the Hidden Sand Village can still mobilize ninja from across the Land of Wind. At the very least, we have over ten thousand people. We are still one of the top Great Ninja Villages in the Shinobi World!" Chiyo had recovered, her expression stern.
The Third Kazekage gazed at Chiyo, who appeared normal but was actually close to hysteria, and sighed inwardly. Yes, Chiyo was right—but only to a certain extent.
If any other hidden village found itself in such a passive situation, like Konoha Village, even if only one Kage-level powerhouse remained (let alone two), they could still mobilize tens of thousands of ninja from the Land of Fire, suffocating other nations.
But for the Hidden Sand Village? Would the Land of Wind give the Hidden Sand Village so many opportunities? The Third Kazekage could already imagine how those nobles would panic and speak sarcastically.
They were already unwilling to allocate funds to the Hidden Sand Village. Now, it was even worse; the nobles would likely be unwilling to let the ninja stationed in numerous towns and outposts be commanded by the Hidden Sand Village.
"First, let's think of a solution. As long as we can recover the One-Tail, all our current difficulties will be resolved. If we can't find it... either Konoha Village has taken it for themselves, or the One-Tail is dead, but we're not without options."
The Third Kazekage's face was cold: "Either we wait a few years for the One-Tail and Four-Tails to be resurrected, and then we seize them! Or, we go and snatch the existing Tailed Beasts!"
"You mean... the Seven-Tails of the Hidden Waterfall Village?" Chiyo understood.
She didn't think attempting to seize a Tailed Beast from a Great Shinobi Village was a good idea right now; they couldn't win. Only the Hidden Waterfall Village was easy to bully. With their two Kage-level individuals and a sufficiently sized ninja force, defeating the Hidden Waterfall Village and taking the Seven-Tails was entirely possible.
"First, let's gather the fleeing ninja. Gather as many as we can; it's better than nothing. Every able-bodied person is incredibly valuable," the Third Kazekage said.
His will was still being carried out. Hidden Sand ninja were appearing in various towns, searching for and bringing in the startled ninja.
Some individuals, even if they weren't affiliated ninja of the Hidden Sand Village or hadn't truly participated in the war, were forcibly conscripted into the Hidden Sand Village. The Hidden Sand Village, having suffered immense losses, couldn't afford to be picky; they forcefully brought in anyone they saw with talent.
"What, you disagree? The Hidden Sand Village is the highest military authority in the Land of Wind, with supreme command over all armed units. It's a great honor to switch from a town ninja or a noble's private soldier to an affiliated ninja of the Hidden Sand Village. How dare you refuse? Refuse, and you die."
As a result, in terms of numbers alone, the Hidden Sand Village's military force did not decrease; instead, it increased by several thousand people, forcefully siphoning power from various parts of the Land of Wind to the Hidden Sand Village through desperate means.
Financial pressure also grew, and they had to face the anger and dissatisfaction of the nobles whose forces had been diminished. They couldn't worry about that too much; who knew when the next Ninja World war would break out?!
According to the Third Kazekage's logic, as long as the Hidden Sand Village existed, the Land of Wind would remain the Land of Wind. If the Hidden Sand Village disappeared, the Land of Wind would be nothing; it wouldn't be able to protect its territory and would be dismembered into a bunch of small countries!
"Rasa, you'll have a tough task ahead. Your Magnet Release is extremely important for the village's development. You'll need to continuously pan for gold in the desert to replenish our finances." The Third Kazekage looked at the young man before him.
It was truly good to have such a Magnet Release ninja, who could even use gold as a weapon... The endless desert was Rasa's stage.
"Yes, Lord Kazekage, but I need some time to rest first and remove the effects of the Corpse Release Secret Technique on me..."
Rasa was also a bit helpless. He knew the Hidden Sand Village's current situation and that the relationship between the village and the Land of Wind was strained. If they needed money, he would have to work harder.
However, panning for gold was at least better than going to the battlefield and fighting Tsukasa Kaede to the death, right? Whenever Rasa recalled that great rout, he felt it was unbearable to look back on and absolutely didn't want to experience it a second time.
"Lord Kazekage, there's one more thing..."
Rasa carefully chose his words, stammering, "The intel regarding Advisor Chiyo and the Living Corpse Reincarnation Jutsu has been leaked. So many people heard about it at the time..."
"Let it be leaked; it was bound to happen eventually. That Tsukasa Kaede, using my Forbidden Jutsu, has become a pivotal ninja in Konoha. If I could do it again, I would fight with my life to stop him from getting that Jutsu."
This was Chiyo's greatest regret. If Tsukasa Kaede hadn't obtained the Living Corpse Reincarnation Jutsu, he probably wouldn't have been able to solve his low Chakra problem, and wouldn't even be able to use Space-Time Ninjutsu more than a few times, right? He might have run out of Chakra and died in some battle!
Alas, there are no "ifs."
But at least the world should know that the Living Corpse Reincarnation Jutsu is not some complementary Secret Technique to Corpse Release, nor was it developed by Tsukasa Kaede; at most, he improved it!
Chiyo left in anger, her back stooped. At this point, she could only try to salvage her almost completely lost pride through this angle.
"Lord Kazekage, if this intel spreads widely, it might cause even more trouble... We are not the dominant party," Rasa said.
"It's too late to dwell on it now. If Tsukasa Kaede had been killed, none of this would be an issue. Kaedence we failed to kill him, every oversight becomes a vulnerability." The Third Kazekage also found it troublesome, but there was nothing he could do now.
Who would have thought it would turn out this way? Tsukasa Kaede had utterly humiliated the Hidden Sand Village!
As Rasa had worried, Tsukasa Kaede's feat of defeating thousands of Hidden Sand Village troops and repelling the Third Kazekage and other masters certainly caused an uproar, but it also led some discerning individuals to notice the intel about the Living Corpse Reincarnation Jutsu.
advance ch on my p@treon up to 200ch [email protected]/c/mr_ceruoo