Chapter 84: A Huge Uproar
[Experimental Log: The Fourth Raikage A appears to be alive. Conventional thermobaric rounds cannot pierce the defensive barrier. Consider adding armor piercing penetrators.]
"Kenichi, are we leaving already?" Sasori asked, his curiosity obvious.
He still remembered what Kenichi had said earlier. The main purpose of coming here was to make money, and while they were at it, find the burial site of Kinkaku and Ginkaku.
Leaving aside the fact that they still had not found those two, there was another problem. Even if they did complete a bounty mission, Konoha required proof. You could not just claim it with empty words.
"Relax. Everything else is secondary." Kenichi waved a hand. "This time, the real goal was testing the power of my new weapon."
He had no intention of going down there to become famous.
After that thermobaric explosion, Kumogakure would be furious. Descending now would be no different from volunteering for a suicide mission. The Fourth Raikage was probably already shaking the village apart with his temper, and Kenichi had no desire to personally test how hard that man's fists were.
More importantly, this live test was incredibly valuable.
If he ever threw one of these into the Kamui dimension, the feeling would be…
Tch.
He could only hope Obito would not die too early, otherwise the story would collapse into chaos. But whether Obito would die was hard to predict.
A thermobaric weapon was lethal, but its lethality was limited in open areas. In a confined space, the killing power could spike by fifty percent or even more.
"What a shame." Sasori glanced back at the Hidden Cloud Village shrinking behind them, then at the hot air balloon beneath his feet. His tone carried real regret. "This was the perfect chance to make a name for ourselves in the ninja world."
"Do not worry." Kenichi was calm. "The spies from other villages will spread today's news for us."
He was not concerned about imitation either. Only he knew the method and the proportions. Even if someone tried to copy it, they would not know where the true line was between a weapon and a failed experiment.
If a perfect counterfeit really appeared, then he would have to ask a simple question.
Are you a Reincarnator or not?
The cost of this first test was astronomical, at least for him. For the second test, he could try weaving chakra threads into the structure and see if it could increase the explosive output.
Kenichi continued writing down observations in the hot air balloon as it drifted steadily toward the Land of Rain.
He also understood something clearly. What he had done today would shake the ninja world. He just did not yet know whether that impact would be good or bad.
To Sasori, the hot air balloon itself already felt like a mysterious weapon in this era. Watching Kenichi destroy it without hesitation was painful.
Kenichi felt no regret at all.
The hot air balloon was simple. Cheap. If he needed it again, he could make it again.
If he truly wanted to, he could even assemble a ready made paratrooper assault unit and airdrop large numbers of ninja straight onto a target.
He did not plan to do that.
Maintaining ninja was too expensive. Only the Five Great Nations could afford that kind of long term consumption.
Akatsuki followed an elite route for a reason. Fewer people meant less attention, and fewer mouths meant the organization's funds lasted longer.
Before long, Kenichi and Sasori began their parachute jump above the Land of Whirlpools.
The hot air balloon had already been destroyed by Kenichi. Something like that could not be allowed to fall into anyone else's hands. If it did, it could easily trigger unpredictable changes.
Fortunately, there was no accident. The lines opened properly, and they completed the first parachute jump the ninja world had ever seen.
If this were a game, an achievement would have appeared.
As Kenichi and Sasori descended through the sky and rushed onward, the news of Kumogakure being attacked by an unknown force spread like wildfire.
It could not be hidden. It could not be buried.
Spies had seen the massive mushroom cloud with their own eyes. They had witnessed the devastated state of the village.
"Oh?" In the Hokage Building, Hiruzen smoked calmly, then laughed. "An unknown force that destroyed a quarter of Kumogakure in a single strike?"
He had been prepared for a long war, and he had expected Konoha to pay for it. He never imagined the situation would twist this way.
Kumogakure's headquarters had been hit. Casualties were heavy. In the short term, the Hidden Cloud would likely have no interest in continuing the war.
A request for peace from the Fourth Raikage might arrive very soon.
"Heh." Danzo stood to the side, expression cold. "Have you considered that this might be a smokescreen from Kumogakure?"
His gaze flicked toward Hiruzen's restored left hand, and a trace of regret surfaced.
Orochimaru had moved quickly. Too quickly. Hiruzen's arm had been healed cleanly, without complications.
It was almost impressive.
And incredibly annoying.
"This intelligence came at the cost of a spy who had been buried in Kumogakure for many years." Hiruzen narrowed his eyes at his old friend. "Konoha paid for this."
"Hmph." Danzo snorted, but his mood improved when he thought of Yakushi Kabuto, the pawn he had already sent out.
He wondered how that fool would feel, if he ever learned the truth about who he had killed.
Still, those disobedient scum would have to be handled too.
"Release the information," Hiruzen decided. "And exaggerate the losses. Say that half of Kumogakure has been destroyed and their strength has been severely crippled."
Danzo did not object.
Konoha had made sacrifices, yes, but Kumogakure was the one bleeding now. Exaggerating the damage could lure other villages into targeting the Hidden Cloud, and if that happened, the profit would be immense.
Besides, with the scale of the incident, spies from every village would move. Announcing it now would display Konoha's intelligence network and warn others against underestimating them.
The other villages clearly had similar thoughts.
The rumor spread wider and wider, mutating with every mouth that repeated it, until it was being reported as this.
Uchiha Madara had destroyed Kumogakure in a single blow, and the Hidden Cloud Village was on the verge of extinction.
A was so furious he could not even find the attackers, and he slammed his fist into another table.
Meanwhile, the owner of a furniture shop in Kumogakure felt heartbroken about his bombed out home, yet could not help being secretly delighted.
The Fourth Raikage truly was their most loyal customer.
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