Chapter 579 : Delusion

Shock could be heard in Temari’s voice. Kankuro was shocked as well. A minute ago he was wondering whether he'd be as strong as Fujin when he turned 16. However, he soon discovered that he was far inferior to a younger Fujin! Temari had similar thoughts as well considering that Fujin was just a year older than her.

To their surprise, Rasa didn't say anything and just nodded. Baki said, “Well, we only suspect it is him. We aren't entirely sure as he never used any Vacuum jutsus during the fights. However, if what the Tsuchikage said is true, then it was most likely him.”

Baki's words weren't reassuring. While they had relaxed after learning that two of Konoha's strongest ninjas weren't in the village and two more were old and past their prime, hearing about Kakashi and Fujin made Temari and Kankuro nervous.

Rasa could see it and said, “You don't need to worry about these ninjas. I'll be making arrangements to deal with them. I'm just informing you so that you three don't engage with them. There are still other names in the book. Though they aren't as strong as these six, they have the Elite Jounin rank as well. Go through them as well.”

Temari and Kankuro nodded. The three of them looked through the remaining names. There were over a dozen ninjas which included the likes of Guy, Asuma, Renjiro, Katsuhiro, the Clan Leaders and others.

Once they were done reading, Rasa said, “The success of this plan is critical for the prosperity of Suna. Keep that in mind and train seriously for the next few months. All three of you should qualify for the last round of the Chunin Exam.”

Temari and Kankuro nodded while Gaara went back to being indifferent. The three of them left Rasa's office. Once the door closed, Kankuro said, “Man, Konoha is scary! Their 13-year-olds can attack Gaara and kill Uncle Susumu!”

Temari corrected him, “It was just one ninja. Others should be ordinary. Otherwise, Konoha would have conquered the entire world by now.”

Kankuro replied, “Yes, you are right. But still, that's scary. Gaara, how did he injur…”

“Shut up!” Gaara, whose memories of that day had resurfaced, unleashed his blood lust, scaring both Temari and Kankuro. With a crazy expression on his face, Gaara exclaimed, “Next time, I'll kill him!”

The bloodlust Gaara was oozing quietened his siblings. Not wanting to provoke him, they silently went away from him.

Back in the office, Baki asked with uncertainty, “Do we really have plans to deal with all of them? Even though the Hokage is old, he should still be extremely strong. If one of the Sannins appeared, then we would lose our advantage. If both appeared, we would be at a disadvantage.

Stopping Kakashi and Fujin will be a challenge as well. I can stop one of them, but the other will likely cut through our ninjas and stop Shukaku.”

Rasa replied, “I'm aware. Don't worry. Though he didn't tell me why, Orochimaru is certain that Tsunade won't return. He is also certain that Danzo won't participate in the defense unless we attack his Root Headquarters. Jiraiya will most likely return, but we can handle him and Hiruzen as I'll have Orochimaru assisting me.

For Fujin, Orochimaru said that he has a capable subordinate from the Kaguya clan. He'll be responsible for stopping the boy. I'll be inspecting that Kaguya clan ninja before we start our plan. Orochimaru said that he'll be having one of his subordinates face Kakashi as well. Only if he fails, you'll have to ensure that Kakashi doesn't use his Sharingan on Shukaku.

Even though we will be outnumbered, we'll gain the upper hand by taking advantage of Shukaku's rampage. In addition, we will force them to disperse their forces by attacking with Orochimaru's snake summons from all directions.”

Baki calmed slightly after hearing Rasa's preparations. Unfortunately, neither of the two was aware of the fact that they hadn't considered a ninja who was on par with both Fujin and Kakashi! Not to mention, they were completely in the dark regarding Orochimaru's real intentions or the fact that Konoha had got wind of their intentions!


A couple of days later in Konoha, the leaders had assembled in the Council Room! Most leaders were slightly confused. Under normal circumstances, the Council Meeting should have been conducted around 3 months later because it had been just 3 months since their previous meeting.

While council meetings could be called impromptu in emergency situations like when the Root Headquarters was blown up or when Fujin was inducted into the Council, nothing of that sort had happened in recent times. Even though the village was tense post the explosion, nothing happened after Danzo's political power was stripped away. The village was very peaceful.

As such, everyone was curious. Only Fujin had an idea while Shikaku was aware of the real reason why this meeting was being conducted.

Hiruzen was the last one to enter the room. He took his seat and said, “Let's begin the meeting.”

Since Hiruzen didn't say anything, the meeting began normally. Everyone informed Hiruzen about their status. Reports about border patrol were shared. Any incidents that stood out were reported. The trading and agriculture statistics as well as the number of bandit attacks were discussed.

When the discussion on the routine things was finished, Aburame Shibi asked, “Is there any follow-up on the attack that took place inside our village a few months ago?”

Since the civilian council members were present as well, Shibi didn't take Root's name. The civilian council members became curious as they had been kept out of the loop.

Hiruzen shook his head and answered, “After taking the precautions and increasing surveillance, no attack has taken place inside the village.

I have kept an eye on the other villages as well. However, the ones who we were suspecting haven't made any suspicious moves. There is just one village that is acting suspiciously, a village none of us suspected.”

Hiruzen's words intrigued the room. Inoichi asked, “Which village is acting suspiciously?”

Hiruzen replied, “Sunagakure. It is also the reason why I called for an early Council Meeting.”

Hiruzen's words surprised most of the people in the room. Senju Hiromasa sighed, “Of all the people, the suspect has to be the one major village allied with us.”

Others had grim expressions as well. The alliance between Suna and Konoha was an important deterrent against Kumo and Iwa. Without it, Konoha could be attacked by 2 or 3 villages and would be stretched extremely thin. The losses they would suffer in such a situation would be horrendous. Except for Fujin, everyone in the room was worried.

Hiruzen continued, “This is related to the incident in Yamakawa town we just discussed. We discovered a part of the deep scheme that they are plotting.”

Tsume said, “The town that Sunagakure attacked? What was the reason behind their attack?”

Hiruzen replied, “That attack wasn't conducted by Sunagakure.”

The eyes of the people in the room widened. Every piece of evidence in the town pointed towards Sunagakure. In fact, Konoha had officially reported to Tanigakure that Sunagakure was the one to attack the town and slaughter the Yamakawa family! Yet, Hiruzen said the opposite.

Koharu looked at Hiruzen and asked, “Did we set them up or was it someone else?”

Hiruzen answered, “It is deeper than that. Even though Sunagakure wasn't behind the attack, it was a ninja from Sunagakure. The attack was conducted by Sasori of the Red Sand.

I'm not aware why he attacked the town or why he eliminated the Yamakawa family, but we discovered something interesting from their mansion. Underneath the mansion, a secret hideout was constructed.

The hideout contained the dead bodies of more than 20 Sunagakure ninjas. Those bodies also included an Elite Jounin and a Fuinjutsu Grandmaster. Their deaths happened at the same time as the attack.

We read the memories of the head of the Yamakawa family to understand what exactly happened. We discovered that he had entered into an agreement with Sunagakure to allow their ninjas to hide under his mansion.

We read the memories of the Sunagakure ninjas as well. Unfortunately, they didn't know much. The only important thing we discovered was that they were planning to hide several hundred ninjas inside the town.”

The entire room became silent. Everyone who wasn't already aware was shocked. There were two main reasons for the shock. The first was that a Fuinjutsu Grandmaster had died! Every village treasured them. The death of a Fuinjutsu Grandmaster was even more rare than the death of a rank S ninja!

The second reason for the shock was the location of Yamakawa town. It was located right at the border of the Land of Fire. Having several hundred ninjas so close would mean that Suna could launch a surprise attack while giving Konoha very little time to react!