Chapter 131: The Pledge of Allegiance and Konoha's Shortage
"Kenichi… I remember you were originally a ninja from Konoha, right?"
Inside the hot air balloon's basket, Sasori glanced at Kenichi. Kenichi was crouched beside a sealing scroll, adjusting its bindings and checking the contents like he was doing inventory instead of preparing to bomb a battlefield. Sasori hesitated for a moment before finally asking.
"Yes." Kenichi nodded without looking up. "I'm a missing nin from Konoha."
That much was true. He had left Konoha with his teacher and become a ninja without a village.
Kenichi tied off the scroll, then turned to look at Sasori. He already knew what his friend meant. After all, they were flying toward the Land of Grass, the battlefield where Iwagakure and Konoha were currently clashing.
"I know what you're thinking," Kenichi said with a faint smile. "Don't worry. I don't feel guilty."
If anything, his only concern was whether Anko was down there.
And whether Kakashi was down there too.
But as long as they were not unlucky enough to be standing right next to the detonation point, it would not be a big problem. Besides, so much time had passed. Kenichi did not believe the great villages would still be helpless against him without developing some kind of countermeasure.
War was the greatest engine for military development. In the beginning, before anyone had flying tools, nobody even thought about air defense. The moment a reconnaissance hot air balloon appeared, air defense methods started evolving immediately.
Then, when aircraft appeared, those methods evolved again.
Human ingenuity always burned hottest when war forced it to. If you brought out a new weapon, someone would find a way to counter it, then build something even nastier in response.
The shinobi world was no different. The shinobi were not idiots. After learning how Kenichi attacked, they would absolutely be on guard.
The only question was what solution they had found.
"Besides," Kenichi added, his tone turning lightly teasing, "do you really think the leader offered a higher price this time because of the Tsuchikage?"
Sasori fell silent.
He was an artist, but he was also a shinobi. A shinobi strong enough to stand at Sasori's level rarely lacked brainpower.
He understood why the leader accepted Iwagakure's request.
Konoha had already tasted the benefits of hiring Akatsuki once. Even if they did not hire them this time, they would still try to contact Akatsuki, if only to prevent Akatsuki from standing with Iwagakure.
Yet Nagato still led them to Iwagakure without mentioning Konoha at all.
Naturally, it was to cut off any remaining ties between Kenichi and Konoha.
If Kenichi attacked Konoha this time, then whatever connection remained would be severed completely.
Even if Kenichi never revealed his identity, and even if nobody knew that Heavenly Demon was actually an A rank missing nin from Konoha, caution was still caution.
This was a pledge of allegiance, in its own way.
As for Sasori, the fact that he killed the Third Kazekage and turned him into a human puppet was enough to make him a dead man in Sunagakure. There was no going back for him either.
"The leader is smart," Kenichi said, lowering his gaze. Far below, dark shapes were beginning to appear, scattered like ink stains across the landscape. "He does not want Akatsuki to be labeled as Konoha's."
Those shadows ahead were likely the Land of Grass battlefield itself, the place where Iwagakure and Konoha were grinding each other down.
Kenichi's eyes narrowed.
Something flashed with a cold gleam and streaked up toward them.
It missed.
Kenichi's brows knit together as he activated his Sharingan.
"An arrow?" he muttered, genuinely surprised. "They found me already?"
He knew they would guard against him. He simply did not expect them to locate him this quickly.
Down below, in Konoha's command area, a shinobi strode in and dropped to one knee.
"Lord Shikaku," he reported urgently. "The reconnaissance team has spotted an unidentified object high in the sky above the Land of Earth."
Shikaku pinched the bridge of his nose, already feeling a headache brewing.
"So they really came," he said quietly. "Akatsuki. Insatiable wolves."
Beside him, Homura stared at the intelligence map spread across the table, his frown deepening.
Ever since Sarutobi told them Akatsuki had not responded to Konoha's messages, they had been preparing for this possibility. Even so, seeing the enemy actually arrive was a different kind of pressure.
Shikaku felt it most of all, because he never wanted this position in the first place.
Commander in chief sounded glorious, overseeing the whole battlefield.
In reality, it meant scapegoat.
If anything went wrong, he would be the first one blamed. A man like Shikaku did not need a crystal ball to see that risk.
But Konoha did not have many choices.
The village was in a transitional period. All three of the Legendary Sannin were gone. In the past, Orochimaru and Tsunade had commanded wars, and Jiraiya could also play an important role.
Now all three had left Konoha, and the Fourth Hokage had sacrificed himself.
It was not easy for the Third Hokage to find someone suitable.
Sarutobi could not come personally. The Tsuchikage himself had not appeared either, and it was not suitable for Sarutobi to walk onto the battlefield, or it would be too easy for the conflict to escalate.
As for Danzo, Sarutobi kept him tightly controlled, giving him no chance to "contribute."
Frankly, Shikaku did not think Danzo was fit to command anyway. With that personality, the casualty rate would probably soar.
So who was left?
The Uchiha were even less likely to be included.
After looking around, Sarutobi had a sudden inspiration and arranged for Shikaku to come, along with Homura from the elders' council.
Shikaku was commander in chief.
Homura was deputy commander.
Deputy commander, in name only. In practice, he had plenty of authority, enough to supervise Shikaku whenever he pleased.
Homura spoke up, calm and measured. "Let the Lightning Release shinobi handle it. That thing is far too high. Ordinary arrows and kunai cannot reach."
Shikaku stepped out, squinting up at the tiny black dot hanging in the sky like an omen.
"Send thirty shinobi," he ordered. "They must be proficient in Wind Release and Fire Release. Also send five Lightning Release shinobi."
The altitude was too high. They could only rely on ninjutsu.
Homura looked like he wanted to say something, but he held his tongue. Let Shikaku try. If it worked, Shikaku would get the credit. If it failed, Shikaku would take the blame.
Shikaku glanced sideways at him and curled his lip.
That old man.
But now was not the time to argue about politics.
If they allowed the enemy to launch an attack from above, everything would spiral out of control.
No matter what it took, they had to stop the Heavenly Demon.
<><><><><>
[Check Out My Patreon For +40 Advance Chapters On All My Fanfics!]
[[email protected]/FanficLord03]
[Join Our Discord Community For Updates & Events]
[https://discord.gg/MntqcdpRZ9]