chapter 99 part 2
Tsukasa Kaede brainstormed, his mind rapidly calculating various details.
While Tsukasa Kaede's attention was no longer on the war, other Hidden Villages in the Shinobi World were closely watching.
Hidan's killing of the Four-Tails Jinchuriki, which resulted in Iwagakure losing its Four-Tails, quickly spread from the Hidden Leaf Village throughout the entire Shinobi World. Everyone was utterly horrified by this unbelievable achievement.
That was a Tailed Beast! a Jinchuriki dying wasn't such a big deal; Burubi and Mito Uzumaki were already dead.
What was truly rare was that the Tailed Beast also died! "Hahahahaha, that old geezer Onoki must be furious now! Under his brilliant leadership, Iwagakure lost a Tailed Beast, and its military potential has been greatly weakened."
"But this is truly astonishing. Iwagakure actually suffered such heavy losses, and the one who caused it was Tsukasa Kaede's disciple, a Konoha Ninja named Hidan, who is only 12 years old!"
"Absolutely impossible. Something else we don't know must have happened in that battle, like the Four-Tails Jinchuriki already being on the verge of death, and Hidan delivering the final blow, successfully killing Roshi, which is why such rumors exist."
12 years old? Killing a Four-Tails? Such an achievement would immediately be deemed false Intel.
But as time went on, more and more Intel arrived, perplexing the various Hidden Villages even further. No matter how they investigated, the only thing they could confirm was that Iwagakure had indeed lost its Four-Tails. And according to the Hidden Leaf Village's propaganda, Hidan, accompanied by Minato, was responsible for killing the Four-Tails.
Alright, the Intel became a bit richer, adding Minato Namikaze's name. But what did that prove? A 12-year-old Hidan, teamed with a 15-year-old Minato, rounded up, killed a Tailed Beast? Crucially, Iwagakure maintained a deathly silence, offering no response whatsoever! Given the Third Tsuchikage Onoki's terrible temper, if the news were false, he would have long since furiously debunked the rumors and immediately led his troops to strike a heavy blow against the Hidden Leaf Village, further proving the falsity of the rumors.
But Onoki didn't do that. Iwagakure's terrifying silence in terms of public opinion already spoke volumes.
"What is Hidan's background? What Kekkei Genkai does he possess? What Jutsu does he use? How was he taken as Tsukasa Kaede's disciple?"
"Find a way to figure it out! Tsukasa Kaede himself might not even have the ability to kill a Four-Tails Jinchuriki. How did his disciple do it? There must be something wrong here. If we don't figure it out, we might be the ones who die next time we face Hidan!"
Spies constantly infiltrated the bustling Hidden Leaf Village; they were endless, simply too many to catch. Even a powerful Village like Konoha couldn't distinguish which of the daily merchants and tourists were spies.
Intel regarding Hidan was continuously leaked, appearing on the desks of various Hidden Village leaders.
"What? He's not a Hidden Leaf Village resident, not even a citizen of the Land of Fire, but a person from the Land of Hot Water?"
"Tsukasa Kaede only taught Hidan for a few months? That's absolutely impossible! He must have secretly taught Hidan for many years outside the Village and is only now revealing him!"
"We can't get any Intel on his Jutsu Formula; we only know Hidan likes to use Taijutsu. But how could Taijutsu kill a Four-Tails? Even the Third Raikage couldn't do that, and besides, the Third Raikage's Lightning Release Chakra Mode is Nintaijutsu, not pure Taijutsu!"
In common perception, pure Taijutsu? It has no future at all. Relying on it to fight a Tailed Beast must be a Genjutsu. Only Ninjutsu and Genjutsu can counter Tailed Beasts.
The world still couldn't fathom how Hidan had taken down the Four-Tails.
The more Intel was gathered, the more mysteries surrounded Hidan. The only inference was that he must have learned Tsukasa Kaede's Corpse Release Secret Technique, becoming the second Corpse Release Ninja. Otherwise, why would Tsukasa Kaede specifically take Hidan as a disciple if not to teach him the Corpse Release Secret Technique?
Various Hidden Villages immediately issued bounties for Hidan, quickly reaching a bounty of thirty-nine million Ryo, and this number was certainly not the limit; it would only continue to rise in the future—the world still suspected Hidan had used some trick to kill the Four-Tails.
As a background element, Iwagakure became the laughingstock of the entire Shinobi World, suffering the most devastating losses by effectively serving as a stepping stone for Hidan with one of its Tailed Beasts.
"What an utter disgrace! Kaedence the Hidden Villages were established, let alone Iwagakure, even the entire Shinobi World has never seen such a thing!!"
Onoki paced furiously in his office, his old face flushed with anger, and his eye twitched uncontrollably.
He had wanted to lead Iwagakure to a new peak, but instead, it had become a new joke. For many years to come, it would be dragged out and criticized; whenever Tailed Beasts were mentioned or studied, people would point to "Iwagakure losing its Four-Tails" as a negative example.
Just thinking about it made Onoki's head spin with rage.
"Han! Why didn't you intervene to save Roshi when he was about to be killed?! You clearly had the ability at the time. Even if you went into Full Tailed Beast Transformation and caused destruction everywhere, you could have created an opportunity for Roshi to escape."
Onoki, his chest burning with unvented fury, stood with his hands behind his back, staring directly at the tall Han.
"...I already told you Roshi's cause of death, didn't I? It wasn't that I didn't want to rescue him, but that there was no way to rescue him at all."
Han's temper flared too, and he said in a deep voice, "That Hidan is extremely bizarre. He simply cannot die; no matter how injured he gets, he stays alive and healthy! Roshi, in dealing with such a guy, had to spend extra time and effort just to gather Intel."
"So he was gathering Intel, but was Roshi instantly killed by Hidan or something?"
"Hmph, in a sense, yes. That Hidan used a strange Jutsu Formula to synchronize his own injuries onto Roshi, and at the last moment, he chopped off his own head. That was Roshi's cause of death. Even a Jinchuriki dies if their head is removed! What could I do? What could I have done in that situation?"
"You're fast! You can enter Tailed Beast Transformation! You could have taken Roshi and escaped!"
"You stubborn old fool! I'll emphasize it again: I was facing attacks from Tsukasa Kaede, Jiraiya, and Toka Senju at the time; I couldn't free my hands! Those three weren't easy to deal with, and Tsukasa Kaede was even commanding three Elite Jonin and a whole bunch of corpses to gang up on me!!"
Dealing with one Kage Level opponent, multiple Elite Jonin, and a whole horde of fearless corpse fodder, Han felt he had performed exceptionally well just to withstand them all by himself! At that time, he had already entered Partial Tailed Beast Transformation, teetering on the dangerous edge of losing control, and had given his absolute best. How could he have possibly looked out for Roshi?
"Roshi was facing a bunch of youngsters at the time, and even the most famous Minato Namikaze couldn't harm him in the slightest. Who would have thought he'd die so carelessly?" Han retorted.
Onoki flew into a rage: "Bastard, how can you criticize a fallen comrade, even if his death truly was too humiliating?"
"And what about you, you rigid, arrogant idiot, Lord Tsuchikage? It was you who ordered the two of us to invade the Land of Fire as a team. You said the Hidden Leaf Village couldn't deploy its Tailed Beasts, and those powerful Konoha Ninja couldn't do anything against us. We followed your orders strictly, and this is the result? It's better than you blaming the living!"
Han cursed unceremoniously, truly thinking that he, Han the Steam Ninja, was some easily manipulated pushover? Onoki was enraged, a dangerous glint appearing in his eyes. His hands twitched, looking as though he was about to gather Dust Release: "You dare to defy the Tsuchikage, an act of grave insubordination! Do you know what you're doing?"