Chapter 30: Negotiation? What Negotiation! [Please Give Flowers]
"Keep up the pace!"
With the Fourth Raikage charging ahead,
his bodyguards Darui and Cee naturally followed closely.
As his secretary, Mabui of course didn't lag behind either.
The four of them formed a small squad, rushing toward the frontline camp.
As for the main army,
it was entrusted to Tōdai,
who immediately began accelerating the march under his command.
For a moment,
the Cloud Village army, which had planned to reach the frontline tomorrow,
was forced to speed up,
rushing toward the forward positions.
"Faster, faster!!!"
"Move quickly!!"
"Logistics, keep up! Don't let the supplies fail!"
"Let's go, let's go!"
Soon,
the army charged forward and reached the frontline.
But looking at the empty border,
they were momentarily confused.
"The camp?"
"The forward camp?"
"I'm asking you, where's the huge forward camp?!"
Faced with these questioning gazes,
the Cloud Village ninja who had fled back were at a loss.
When they had retreated, they could still see the camp.
How could it disappear now, leaving only bare ground?
However, it didn't take long before the Fourth Raikage returned to the army.
"Fine, rebuild the camp!"
"It's none of their business~"
With the Fourth Raikage's words,
the army quickly set to work establishing a new camp.
Yet no one noticed the heavy expression on the Raikage's face.
When the Raikage and his team had first reached the frontline,
they had already observed the condition of the ground.
Others might not know,
but the Raikage was very clear—
this was the work of the Eight-Tails,
the destruction caused by the Tailed Beast's Eight-Tails Spin.
But the problem was,
with the Eight-Tails' power, the Raikage couldn't fathom
who in Konoha could decisively defeat it.
Moreover, with Chōrabi's current abilities,
even if he couldn't win, with the Eight-Tails' assistance,
he should have been able to escape without issue.
Yet now, the frontline unit was defeated, and Chōrabi and Yugito were missing.
If they had escaped,
they should have rejoined the main army.
Since they hadn't, the Raikage had no choice but to consider the worst-case scenario—
that the two had been captured by Konoha.
Earlier, the Raikage and his group had even scouted the Konoha camp.
Considering that Konoha might have dispatched members of the Uchiha clan to the frontline,
the Raikage naturally wouldn't recklessly charge in with just four people.
Better a reckless fool than a scheming one.
After weighing the pros and cons,
the Fourth Raikage had no choice but to return with his group,
waiting until tomorrow's main battle
to get the information they wanted from Konoha directly.
The next day,
the Cloud Village army was fully prepared.
Without the Raikage's orders,
the army simply kept their eyes fixed on Konoha's camp.
Inside the Konoha camp,
Sarutobi Hakuto emerged from the tent feeling refreshed.
Although he hadn't "entered the bed" the previous night,
he had experienced plenty of new things.
The body of a Jinchūriki was truly different.
Seeing Sarutobi Hakuto's satisfied expression,
Izumi shot him a look of mild exasperation
before entering the tent.
Inside, the Yugito still lay slumped on the bed, asleep.
It was obvious how long Sarutobi Hakuto had been at it the night before.
As Izumi began tidying up,
Fugaku and the others came to Sarutobi Hakuto.
"Master Sarutobi Hakuto, the Cloud Village army has arrived!"
"However, it seems they don't intend to attack immediately~"
"They probably want to negotiate first~"
At this,
Sarutobi Hakuto raised an eyebrow,
gazing through the camp toward the Cloud Village's direction.
In a single glance,
he saw the Fourth Raikage frowning before his army.
As a reckless brute, the Raikage should have charged straight in,
but instead, he was trying… negotiation.
This amused Sarutobi Hakuto greatly.
"Fine, let them talk if they want~"
With Sarutobi Hakuto's word,
Fugaku and the others knew exactly what to do,
quickly taking action.
The army was swiftly assembled,
and the two sides confronted each other on the battlefield.
The Fourth Raikage only needed a glance
to notice the Uchiha clan within the army.
Their clan crest was larger than even the Konoha emblem—
impossible to miss.
"Just as I thought! Konoha sent the Uchiha clan!"
Seeing this,
the Raikage confirmed his suspicion from yesterday:
with the Uchiha clan present,
Chōrabi and Yugito's defeat seemed plausible.
As the Raikage scrutinized the Konoha army,
he saw the Uchiha leaders and the heads of the Inuzuka and Nara clans
all respectfully gathered around a child,
approaching the army in the eyes of all the Konoha ninja with admiration.
Yes, admiration.
Even the Fourth Raikage was stunned.
"Am I under some genjutsu?!"
Feeling the steady flow of chakra within,
with no disturbance at all,
the Raikage questioned his own senses.
He wasn't the only one.
Tōdai, Mabui, and the others were equally dumbfounded.
What was Konoha up to?
However, Mabui, acting as secretary, suddenly realized something,
quickly retrieving the intel she had acquired earlier.
"Raikage-sama! Look!"
"Isn't that… the grandson of Sarutobi Hiruzen?!"
Upon hearing this,
the Fourth Raikage hurriedly examined the intel,
comparing the portrait to Sarutobi Hakuto's figure in the distance.
Sure enough, it matched perfectly.
Well, that was unexpected.
He had planned to force Konoha to hand over Sarutobi Sarutobi Hakuto,
but Sarutobi Hakuto had shown up on the battlefield on his own.
"Alright, alright, alright!!!"
"As long as we capture Sarutobi Sarutobi Hakuto!"
"There's no need to worry about Chōrabi and the others!"
Originally planning to negotiate,
now that the target was right in front of him,
what negotiation was there to speak of?
"Attack!!!"
At the Raikage's command,
the Cloud Village army, already itching for battle, charged toward Konoha.
The Raikage himself activated Lightning Release chakra,
his body bathing in electricity as he charged straight for Sarutobi Hakuto.
"Kill them!!!"
"Destroy Konoha!!"
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