Chapter 181
2-in-1-chapter
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To survive and return to Konoha—to see the children at the orphanage again—she would fight through any desperate situation. No one would stop her from finding her way home. Not even Kurotsuchi.
Her eyes changed; the warmth vanished, replaced by a glint of steel. She turned her gaze toward the surrounding Iwa shinobi, and the killing intent rising from her body became tangible.
Hearing Yakushi Nonō's words, Kurotsuchi froze, unable to speak.
Of course.
She was a shinobi of Iwagakure, and Doctor Shiso—Yakushi Nonō—was a shinobi of Konoha. Their conflict and opposition needed no further reason. The enmity between Konoha and Iwagakure made it impossible for them to ever be true friends. And she also knew that her grandfather had recently been planning to go to war with Konoha.
No—if what she had overheard between her grandfather and father was true, then by now the Iwagakure army had probably already begun its march south. Perhaps by the time her mission was complete, she would not even need to return to the village, for she would meet her grandfather and father directly on the southern border.
As Kurotsuchi fell silent, her conversation with Yakushi Nonō ended there. Bun'ya gave a small wave of his hand.
The battle began.
Because the orders prioritized capturing the target alive, the Iwa shinobi refrained from using high-powered ninjutsu for long-range attacks. Instead, they chose to close in for direct combat. Even knowing that Yakushi Nonō was a skilled poison user and that getting too close meant a high risk of being caught in her toxins, they advanced without hesitation.
For the sake of their village,
For the sake of their mission,
any sacrifice was acceptable—even if it meant their own lives.
Bun'ya remained where he stood. As the commanding officer of this operation, he did not need to enter the fight immediately. Yakushi Nonō was no weak opponent. It was better to let his subordinates wear down her chakra and force her to reveal whatever hidden techniques she possessed. When the moment was right, he would strike the final blow himself.
The strategy was simple and brutal—yet undeniably effective.
.................
.......
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A sky-darkening cloud of dust surged into the heavens, and thousands of Iwa shinobi poured along the winding mountain roads toward the south like a flood. The mountains trembled with a roar like thunder, and snakes and rodents shrank back into their caves at the scent of danger.
Shortly after Bun'ya and the others set out, the Third Tsuchikage issued an order and more than six thousand Iwa shinobi marched south.
The Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, famed as the "Two Scales," led the campaign in person at the age of seventy. The old man nevertheless showed the wear of many years; his body was no longer what it had once been and his chronic back pain had grown worse, gradually affecting his ability to sit, stand, and walk.
Sure enough, when the shinobi made camp to rest, Ōnoki lay across his cot with an expression of pain. The private medical ninja accompanying him massaged his back to relieve the chronic ache. It was an ailment accumulated over many years and difficult to cure. Because of Ōnoki's advanced age, surgery was out of the question unless his life was at stake, and strong medicines were avoided. Massage provided only temporary relief.
Kitsuchi waited patiently outside the tent until the medic stepped out, then called, "Tsuchikage-sama, I have a report."
He waited another five or six seconds at the entrance before Ōnoki's tired voice came from inside, "Is that you, Huangtu? Come in."
"Tsuchikage-sama?"
Kitsuchi entered and looked at his father lying across the cot. Concern colored his face. "Does your back still hurt?"
"It feels much better. Ah, the old ailment. Painful it may be, but it will not kill me anytime soon, so stop acting like I'm already dead. How are things outside? Logistics okay?"
"I walked the route myself. There are no problems. Supplies for logistics are sufficient."
"That's good. I should have gone myself, but this back of mine will not cooperate. What about morale? How are the troops' spirits?"
"Morale is high."
Kitsuchi could not help feeling slightly dispirited as he said this. As the village's leading antiwar voice, he had long been in the minority. For Iwa shinobi living with scarce daily supplies, the fear of poverty and hunger outweighed the dread of death. Even knowing how strong Konoha was and how their elders had been defeated again and again, the lure of the Land of Fire's abundant resources outweighed fear of dying.
"You fool. I do not know where you picked up that soft-hearted nonsense."
Seeing Huangtu's expression, Ōnoki cursed him with the impatience of a frustrated teacher. If Kitsuchi had not been so kind and weak, the village's support might have been higher and Ōnoki would not still be clinging to the Tsuchikage seat at seventy.
In truth, given Kitsuchi's background and ability, he would not be an unfit successor for the Fourth Tsuchikage. The problem was that Kitsuchi had shown dissenting views from a young age and opposed the mainstream in Iwa; he always believed war with Konoha was not a good idea. That made him unsuitable in the eyes of the village at large. No one would cause trouble for Kitsuchi out of respect for Ōnoki, but the public would never accept him as the next Tsuchikage.
"This is what you taught me when I was young, to cherish my comrades," Kitsuchi replied calmly, leaving Ōnoki momentarily speechless and purple with anger. Just before Ōnoki could erupt, Kitsuchi changed the subject. "Father, any news from Kurotsuchi's side?"
"Not yet. We have not caught up with that doctor."
Ōnoki answered stiffly.
"That's fine, that's fine."
"What do you mean 'that's fine'? You bastard, do you want that spy to escape?" Ōnoki snapped. If Kitsuchi had not been his son, someone speaking like that would already be thrown in the stocks for reflection.
"I just do not want Kurotsuchi to be harmed."
Kitsuchi did not change his expression. He could not let go of the grievance over Ōnoki's earlier agreement to let Kurotsuchi take part in the chase. He had never forgiven it.
"Even if it was to train her, it should be gradual. Sending her after a spy now, and that doctor might even be a walking shrine maiden, is nonsense. With Kurotsuchi's current skills she would only become a hindrance. If her failure led to the mission collapsing, what then?"
Ōnoki looked at his son, who worried excessively, and for a moment he was too tired even to be angry.
"If she cannot take this setback and must hide at home forever, then so be it. Do not underestimate my granddaughter. She is far stronger than you give her credit for. She is not as fragile as you imagine."
"But—"
"There is no 'but.' If you have nothing else to say, get out and do your duty. You are making my back hurt with your whining."
Kitsuchi opened his mouth but had no reply. Faced with his father's invocation of his back pain, he had no choice but to back down and suppress his worries for his beloved daughter. He bowed and left the tent.
As deputy commander of the army, with Ōnoki unable to fully direct affairs because of his back, the burden of leadership would fall to him.
As Ōnoki watched his son Kitsuchi's figure disappear into the distance, he lay back on the field cot and let out a long, weary sigh.
That foolish son of his—did he really think he was the only one who saw how troublesome Konoha was to deal with? In his mind, Ōnoki recalled his teacher, the Second Tsuchikage, who had once taken him along on a diplomatic mission to Konoha in the hope of forming an alliance. There, they had encountered Uchiha Madara. Not only had the alliance failed, but both of them had been severely injured. If his teacher had not fought desperately to get them out alive, they might have died there on the spot.
From that time onward, he had understood exactly how powerful Konoha was. Even after both the First Hokage and Uchiha Madara passed away, the outcomes of the three Great Ninja Wars had already proven how solid a foundation those two had built for Konoha. Even without them, the village remained a force that others could only look up to.
As for why, knowing full well that Konoha was not to be provoked, he still chose to wage war against them—hah! If his actions had truly been reckless, he would have been driven out of office as Tsuchikage long ago.
The war with Konoha had never been his personal decision. It was the will of the people of the Land of Earth, who longed for the fertile and prosperous lands of the Land of Fire.
Though the Land of Earth seemed vast and was rich in mineral resources, the problem was that, aside from gold and silver, most of those resources only had value if sold. Beyond those limited minerals, the country could not even produce enough food to sustain itself. The small amount of farmland along the eastern coast was nowhere near enough to feed the population.
Every year, they were forced to import large quantities of grain from the Lands of Fields, Waterfalls, and even from the Land of Fire. Yet, due to the corruption and greed of the daimyō's officials, famine still claimed many lives every year.
From the very founding of the Land of Earth, its people had longed for the fertile lands to the south. Over time, that longing had transformed into aggression. From the growing number of civilian-born shinobi trained after the establishment of the ninja academy, to the noble clans themselves, all harbored the same desire for the southern lands and their wealth.
During the decades of his rule, Ōnoki had tried more than once to change this situation.
But every reform he attempted—whether with the previous or current generation of daimyō—had failed without exception. The root of the problem lay in the country's barren soil, which could not sustain its population. Without solving that, nothing else could change.
Every ten years or so of relative peace, the people of the Land of Earth, who had a fondness for large families, would multiply beyond what the country could support. When that happened, to find a way out, Ōnoki had no choice but to wage war, whether he wished to or not.
To put it more bluntly and cruelly—
Even a failed war helped to reduce the excess population.
That was why the Iwa shinobi had gone to war again and again.
"It isn't that we seek war. It's that we have no choice but to seek it," Ōnoki murmured to himself. His aged eyes, clouded with time, were filled with sorrow and pain. Each time he sent the village's young shinobi to the battlefield, his heart ached deeply. But as Tsuchikage, he could not show weakness. He had to remain firm, for he was the rock that steadied every Iwa shinobi.
Others could falter—but he could not.
He had to be as unyielding and steadfast as stone, so that he could carry the hopes of all his people.
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