"One hundred Asuma Sarutobis?!"
Hearing Samui's report, the Fourth Raikage and the others were dumbfounded.
What did "one hundred Asuma Sarutobis" even mean?
Asuma was the son of the Third Hokage,
and there was only one Asuma Sarutobi—
where were they going to get a hundred of him?
As everyone struggled to comprehend,
Samui's companion, Mabui, suddenly had a realization.
She hurriedly spoke up:
"Raikage-sama, I might understand what Konoha's condition actually means~"
All eyes immediately turned to her.
Mabui, her expression serious, pulled out several documents from her folder,
searched through them, and finally found the one she wanted,
placing it in front of everyone.
It was a bounty notice from the underground black market:
Bounty Notice: Asuma Sarutobi
Affiliation: Konoha
Reward: 35,000,000 ryo
Seeing the bounty on the table,
all the Cloud ninja fell into stunned silence.
Especially when they saw Asuma's portrait and the glaring reward amount,
the Fourth Raikage nearly lost composure.
Good grief,
Konoha really knew how to play!
The son of the Third Hokage,
one of the Twelve Guardian Ninja,
Konoha Jonin Asuma Sarutobi… was now being used as a unit of measurement?
And to think the one proposing this condition was the Third Hokage's grandson…
considering Sarutobi Hakuto's abnormal strength and utterly ridiculous personality,
the Fourth Raikage just wanted to scream in despair.
To be used as a unit by your own nephew…
One hundred Asumas meant 3.5 billion ryo!
Seeing that number,
cold sweat broke out on the Fourth Raikage's forehead.
Wars already consumed enormous manpower, resources, and supplies.
Now the war hadn't even been won,
the Tailed Beast hosts were captured,
and on top of that, it would cost 3.5 billion ryo to ransom them.
Even if the Fourth Raikage wanted to pay,
the Daimyo certainly wouldn't agree to such a sum lightly.
"Raikage-sama, if you want, I can communicate with the Daimyo!"
Seeing Mabui volunteer,
the Fourth Raikage waved his hand.
After dealing with the Daimyo for so many years,
asking for such a large sum now was basically a pipe dream.
After a moment of thought,
the Fourth Raikage suddenly realized a crucial point:
"Are you sure this information was passed by our own people?"
Although Mabui was curious why he asked,
she nodded seriously.
Satisfied with her answer,
the Fourth Raikage continued to ponder,
then turned to Nozomi.
"Have the other shinobi villages taken any action?"
Nozomi shook her head without hesitation.
Seeing this,
the Fourth Raikage finally understood:
"Damn it! We've been used as a pawn!"
"This was deliberately leaked information!"
With no movement from the other major villages,
even the slow-witted Raikage realized that the Cloud Village had been played.
Otherwise, why hadn't Iwa or Suna, both close to Konoha, acted?
"Hmph, trying to use Cloud Village as a pawn~"
"Fine, then you'll pay this sum yourselves!"
"Issue the orders! Break camp! Head straight to the Land of Earth!"
With Sarutobi Hakuto and that monster in Konoha,
the Cloud Village stood no chance.
Both Tailed Beast hosts were captured, and a ransom was required.
To the Fourth Raikage, the army was already mobilized—it couldn't be wasted.
Since the other villages were using them as a pawn,
they had to recover the money themselves.
Suna was too far to be a concern,
and Kiri had been isolated for years, so no one knew the situation there.
Only Iwa remained nearby,
and conveniently, in the last shinobi war, the Third Raikage had been delayed and exhausted by Iwa's forces.
Now, old grudges and new debts could be settled together.
With the Fourth Raikage's order,
the Cloud army set off,
marching in full force straight toward the Land of Earth border,
leaving the stunned Konoha army behind.
"What's going on?"
"They're retreating already?"
"Don't they want the Tailed Beast hosts?"
"That direction doesn't even seem to point back to the Cloud Village…"
No one knew what the Cloud army intended.
After sending someone to understand Konoha's conditions,
they simply chose to break camp and withdraw completely.
From the direction of their retreat, Sarutobi Hakuto guessed what the Cloud Village would likely do next.
Seeing this,
Sarutobi Hakuto immediately ordered his forces to mobilize.
"Entire army, head to the Land of Earth border!"
"Let's go watch a big show!"
To Sarutobi Hakuto's army, he was a god.
At his command,
the forces began their movement.
Before heading to the Land of Earth,
Sarutobi Hakuto sent a small team to return Chōrabi and Yugito to the village.
Once that was done,
he led the main force in a grand march toward the Land of Earth border.
As both Konoha and Cloud forces withdrew,
nearby, on a tree,
space twisted, and
Obito emerged slowly from Kamui's dimension.
The only visible Sharingan was filled with shock.
Beside a tree trunk,
a massive pitcher plant suddenly sprouted.
"Sarutobi Hakuto… what a terrifying child!"
"How does he possess such power?"
Watching the battlefield with Obito,
Zetsu couldn't help but exclaim in awe.
The other half, Black Zetsu, remained silent but internally horrified.
Such power was simply too frightening.
At this stage, provoking him would be suicidal,
or the plan to rescue his mother would be destroyed.
As Black Zetsu pondered,
Obito silently returned to Kamui's dimension.
Though he hadn't yet engaged with Uchiha Itachi,
what he had witnessed filled him with intense dread.
That Sarutobi Hakuto Sarutobi…
if he jumped out to stop Obito,
there was no way he could win.
Thinking this,
Obito's eyes turned bloodshot, veins visible in crimson.
"Not enough!! Not enough!!"
"I must become stronger!"
"Only then can I create a perfect world!"
"One hundred… Asuma Sarutobis?!"
Read 100+ Chapters On My Patreon
patreon.com/soloverse