Inside the Iwagakure's camp, Onoki slammed the secret letter delivered from Konoha heavily onto the table, causing the water in the teacup to splash out.
"Ridiculous!" Onoki snorted coldly. "What monster that absorbs fear? Does Chiaki Setsuna think I'm a three-year-old child?"
An Iwagakure's Jonin frowned: "But what is the purpose of them sending this secret letter?"
"What else could it be? To confuse us, of course." Onoki sneered. "They must be single-mindedly thinking about a counterattack, but they know we'll be on guard. So they deliberately send this secret letter to lower our vigilance and make us slack off in our defense."
Another Iwagakure's Jonin clapped his hands: "Why don't we use this opportunity to set up an ambush for Konoha instead? We stay in the camp during the day, secretly transfer at night, leaving only an empty camp behind, and fill it with explosive tags. When they launch a night raid, we'll catch them off guard."
Onoki nodded repeatedly: "Well said. But be careful to have the sensory unit conduct counter-reconnaissance. We can't let Konoha and Sunagakure's people discover our preparations."
Kitsuchi stood to the side, his brow tightly furrowed: "Father, you didn't bring many sensory troops this time. If they're all deployed near the front-line camp, what if the rear camp is ambushed by that monster?"
Onoki shook his head: "You actually believe Konoha's nonsense?"
Kitsuchi's expression was grave: "When I was imprisoned, I did hear some Konoha's Ninjas talking about a black monster..."
"That was Konoha's ploy, deliberately said for you to hear." Onoki waved his hand impatiently. "Even if there really is some monster, my Dust Release will blast it into oblivion."
...
Night gradually fell. In Han's tent, the Five-Tails' Jinchuriki was resting with his eyes closed.
The battle with Pakura and that giant serpent a few days ago had left him severely injured, and he could only slowly recuperate.
Whoosh-
Han keenly heard some faint sound and abruptly opened his eyes. To his horror, he discovered a monster with four fangs gently lifting the tent flap and poking its ferocious head inside.
'What is this?' Han was inwardly terrified. Without thinking, he tried to break out of the tent and escape.
But his movement trajectory was completely predicted by the monster. Coupled with his own injuries not yet healed, half his body was bitten off by the monster in one bite.
"Ahhh!!" A piercing scream cut through the night sky.
Amidst the crisp sound of shattering bones, Han's lower body was torn apart like rags.
Before the agony could reach his brain, the Tailed Beast's Chakra within his body instinctively erupted.
But the red Chakra had barely emerged before being greedily inhaled through the monster's nostrils.
"Delicious, so delicious." Satori's throat squeezed out a hoarse, human-like voice.
"Enemy attack!" Alert whistles echoed through the camp.
However, most of those left in the rear were injured personnel and Medical-Nin. There weren't many combat-capable Ninjas.
When the guard troops arrived, Satori was already cheerfully chewing on Han's body.
"Damn it, what kind of monster is this?"
"Han-sama is being eaten! Request reinforcements from the Tsuchikage-sama immediately!"
A group of Iwagakure's Ninjas suppressed the fear in their hearts and launched an attack.
Kunai and shuriken rained down on Satori. The monster didn't even bother to lift its eyelids, casually swiping with its claws. Three Chunin were torn apart like paper.
…
In the dense forest at the front line, Onoki's patience was gradually wearing thin.
He had waited for several hours, but there was no movement from Konoha's side.
'Could this be Konoha's plan to tire our troops? Did Chiaki Setsuna anticipate our anticipation, deliberately luring us into setting up an ambush to drain our energy?'
Onoki's expression was serious: 'To use such a tactic... I really underestimated him!'
Just as Onoki was wits-fighting thin air, an Iwagakure's Jonin ran over in a panic to report: "Tsuchikage-sama, it's bad! Our rear camp has been attacked."
Onoki's expression changed drastically: "We've been tricked! Konoha's people deliberately lured us away just to recapture the people we rescued!"
"It's not Konoha." The reporting Jonin hurriedly said. "It's a huge black monster! Han-sama has already been eaten by the monster!"
"What? Han!" Onoki's eyes blazed with fury. Han was Iwagakure's strongest combatant after himself.
'Roshi was captured, and now Han was dead. Did god intend to destroy Iwagakure?'
An Iwagakure's Jonin cautioned: "Could this also be Konoha's scheme? Deliberately using false information to throw us into disarray?"
Onoki forced himself to calm down, 'Indeed, could it be that Konoha had learned their communication methods and deliberately inserted false intelligence?'
The reporting Iwagakure's Jonin grew anxious: "Kitsuchi-sama has already gone to assist. If we don't act quickly, I'm afraid he'll..."
"What?" Onoki finally became truly alarmed. He hastily ordered: "Withdraw! Rush to the rear camp for support immediately!"
When Onoki arrived, what he saw was a scene from hell.
Satori hovered in mid-air, its black body smeared with the blood of Iwagakure's Ninjas. The Five-Tails' Chakra flowed within it, causing its body to swell another size larger.
What enraged Onoki even more was that the monster had an unfinished arm in its mouth. While it didn't have any obvious distinguishing features, he recognized at a glance that the arm belonged to Kitsuchi.
Unprecedented rage shattered all reason. Onoki's Chakra erupted like a mountain flood bursting its banks.
"Damned beast! Dust Release: Detachment of the Primitive World Technique!" Onoki attacked in fury. A pure white cube shot forth from his palm at an astonishing speed.
The white light of Dust Release was no longer elegant and restrained, but transformed into a torrent of destruction.
Satori was still immersed in the pleasure of the hunt and never expected such a swift and fierce attack.
By the time it reacted, it was too late to dodge.
Satori could only try to tilt its body. White light flashed, and half its body vanished into nothingness.
"Aaaaaah-" Satori let out a piercing shriek. It was horrified to discover that the short old man also harbored no fear in his heart.
'Damn it, another person without fear? No, he's forgotten fear in his extreme rage?'
Satori gritted its teeth. Its vital ability to predict attacks was completely useless at this moment.
Satori didn't dare to stay, frantically flapping its remaining half-wing as it fled in panic.
Onoki was about to give chase when he heard a subordinate shout: "Tsuchikage-sama! Survivors have been found to the east! It's Captain Kitsuchi!"
"What? Kitsuchi is still alive?" Onoki hurried to the east. The scene before him brought tears to his eyes.
Kitsuchi knelt on one knee, his sole remaining right arm propped firmly against the ground.
A massive earthen wall surrounded over a hundred wounded, its surface covered in cracks and claw marks.
One side of his body was a bloody mess, yet he remained standing unyielding.
"Father." Kitsuchi lifted his deathly pale face. "This time... I haven't disappointed you, have I?"
Before he finished speaking, his body pitched forward and collapsed.
Onoki rushed forward to catch his son, only then discovering a deep claw wound on Kitsuchi's back. He had used his own body to block the final attack before the Earth Release Ninjutsu was completed.
"Medical team, hurry!" Onoki roared, his hands holding his son trembling uncontrollably.
He suddenly remembered the letter Konoha had sent, thought of his own arrogant assumptions, and his heart filled with bitterness and regret.