Although there were not many ninjas in the Leaf base camp, because most personnel had already been transferred away, the remaining tents were gathered close to the commander’s tent. As a result, all the ninjas were crowded close together.
After the bee swarms attack, the entire base camp had nearly turned into a field littered with corpses. Under the gaze of dozens of ninjas, Uchiha Tonan leisurely walked past the piles and piles of dead bodies and walked toward the command tent.
Leaf ninjas’ wanted to cheer in joy as they had just survived a catastrophe. But when they saw their dead companions, who were torn in pieces under the bees’ attack, a sense of loss overtook the initial relief and they burst into tears. The scene turned into that of mourning.
Soon, Tonan arrived outside the command tent where Nara Shikaku and Yamanaka Inoichi were standing in front of the passed-out Akimichi Choza. Together, they looked at Tonan approaching them and they stood obediently in the same place, not daring to even breathe heavily.
As soon as he was in front of them, Shikaku pulled Inoichi beside him and both of them knelt on the ground. “Tonan-sama, I’m sorry. All of this happened because of me.” By now, Shikaku had completely discarded any sense of self-respect or dignity. After all, according to the intelligence report, there were still a large number of enemy village ninjas eyeing them from the distance.
Now, only Tonan could defend the Kikyo Mountain. Although he was reduced to kneeling like this, it might be able to save Inoichi and Choza’s lives. Even if Tonan was angry with him and planned to look on with folded arms, there was a high probability that he wouldn’t direct his anger toward the Nara clan.
Shikaku was the western front’s commander but he was also the Nara clan’s new patriarch. In the distance, the Leaf ninjas looked at him kneeling to Tonan with confusion on their faces.
“Why is Shikaku-sama kneeling to Tonan-sama?”
“He might be thanking Tonan-sama for saving our lives.”
“I think he’s begging Tonan-sama to take action to block the following enemies.”
“Tonan-sama is a Leaf ninja, this is what he should do. There is no need to kneel. Moreover, Shikaku-sama is the commander-in-chief.”
“Shikaku-sama committed a serious sin this time making a mistake in his strategy. This resulted in insufficient personnel to defend the base camp.”
“Yes, it seems Shikaku-sama is apologizing.”
“Alas… just pretend that we didn’t see it. We shouldn’t be paying attention to such things anyway… let the higher-ups worry about it.”
………
Tonan stood in front of Shikaku and Inoichi and looked down for a long time. Then he smiled and said, “Never mind, the price has already been paid. I’m not such a petty person. You are underestimating my appetite too much.”
Shikaku’s forehead was already covered with sweat. Hearing Tonan’s words, he breathed a sigh of relief and gratefully said, “Thank you, Tonan-sama…”
The corners of Tonan’s mouth rose a little and he slowly squatted. Stretching out his hand, he said, “Hand it over. I’ll hold it for you for a while.”
Shikaku’s pupils suddenly shrank hearing Tonan’s words. There was no way out… The Nara clan had no path of retreat…
“Why? You don’t want to? If you don’t want to, then I won’t force you.” Tonan’s voice was gentle but full of misgivings and doubts. And in Shikaku’s ears, it was full of threats.
Shikaku exhaled a long breath and raised his right hand tremblingly. He reached into his ninja bag and took out an information scroll. Without delaying too much, he held it in both his hands and like a tribute, presented it to Tonan.
Seeing him behave like this, Tonan narrowed his eyes slightly but his smile grew brighter. He took the information scroll and checked it. This scroll had Sarutobi Hiruzen’s instructions to Shikaku on record. This was ironclad evidence.
After the war was over, Tonan could use this to force Hiruzen to step down. Hundreds of ninjas lost their lives in this attack. If the war was won in the end, then these lives would become nothing but trivial loss. But if it was lost, then every wrong decision could become the straw that broke the camel’s back.
More importantly, Shikaku himself handed over this scroll to Tonan in front of everyone. What would Hiruzen think when he learned that Shikaku had personally given this to Tonan? Shikaku was a smart person. He knew that doing this meant that the Nara clan was completely tied to Tonan’s pirate ship now.
And Ino-Shika-Cho always advanced and retreated together… There were only so many ninjas who carried any weight in Konoha. Now, behind Tonan, there was not only the Uchiha clan but also the three clans of the Ino-Shika-Cho combination.
Such powerful backing could not be neglected.
As far as Tonan was concerned, he wanted to rise to the top relying on a righteous front. He needed to maintain an upright character for this to happen. Only like this, he could keep harvesting crops in the fertile Konoha soil. And for this, he also needed supporters.
It was useless to rely on civilians’ support because that was too fickle and did not mean much. Tonan stood up and put away the scroll in satisfaction. He then looked at the pale Shikaku and said, “Don’t be so pessimistic. I can replace some things at any time, but the time has not come yet. With me here, no one can touch Ino-Shika-Cho. Because I have the ability to flip the table.”
Shikaku suddenly raised his head and stared at Tonan after he heard this. He saw Tonan standing with a bland look on his face. As a perceptive person, Shikaku knew that the more a person spoke, and the more confident he looked, the more he was talking big. But the truly confident people would be calm because they were merely stating facts.
These words were a great reassurance to Shikaku. He lowered his head and said in a deep voice, “Thank you, Tonan-sama.” As a reply, Tonan nodded slightly. He then raised his head and looked into the distance. Immediately afterward, he opened his eyes wide, activating his Mangekyo Sharingan.
In his vision, the pitch-black world turned red like fresh blood. Then, the scene in front of his eyes quickly zoomed in and enlarged. Suna and Iwa’s hidden ninjas were exposed completely to his eyes.
In the next moment, Shikaku and Inoichi felt a gust of wind and Tonan had already disappeared without a trace in front of them.
In the distance, Iwa and Suna were all set to fight. They had seen the huge black bird shadows hovering above the Kikyo Mountain in the distance as well, and they had also heard that strange beast’s roar.
Just then, a Stone ninja appeared in front of Onoki using the Body Flicker Technique and knelt on one knee. “Tsuchikage-sama, some powerful bird-type ninja beasts appeared in the Leaf base camp, and our bees have been wiped out.”
Onoki frowned and looked over at the burning Kikyo Mountain in the distance. He muttered, “Powerful bird-type ninja beasts… is it him…”
