No one knew about the secret contact between Uchiha Setsuna and Zetsu. Uchiha Kagami and Fūmori Masaki only thought he was lucky to have survived that ambush. Uchiha Setsuna followed Zetsu's orders and did not make any suspicious moves; instead, he observed from the shadows, looking for an opportunity.
At this time, the war was still continuing. Due to the destruction of their logistics, even after emergency repairs, it had caused a significant impact on the army. The Second Kazekage, after discussing with the leader of the Samurai Corps, decided to launch a strong offensive, aiming to establish a stable situation in the Land of Rivers before their logistical supplies were completely cut off.
Consequently, in the following days, the Samurai Corps of the Land of Wind launched attacks on important towns within the Land of Rivers. The offensive was exceptionally fierce, while the Sunagakure Ninja Force, in the form of multiple small squads, dispersed within the Samurai Corps, looking for opportunities to disrupt the deployment of the Land of Fire's army and create openings for the samurai.
After Tobirama personally arrived in the Land of Rivers, he changed the defensive measures that Uchiha Kagami had adopted and launched a massive counterattack. This time, he did not choose to retreat. Although the clashes between Konoha Ninja and Sunagakure Ninja were mostly local and small-scale, the intrigue involved was even more intense than that of the large-scale Samurai Corps.
And what Fūmori Masaki had been worried about finally happened. At this critical juncture where victory was urgently needed, the Sunagakure Ninja Village adopted even more cruel methods. The poison developed by Chiyo became the key, used in increasingly insidious ways, resulting in a large number of samurai and some Konoha Ninja accidentally being poisoned.
As a rare master of poisons in the Ninja World, Chiyo's poison was terrifying. Once poisoned, the severe cases would die immediately, while the mild cases would lose their combat ability and die after suffering great pain. Moreover, this time Chiyo used a newly developed poison, which was completely different from what she had used in the past, so past experience was of no use.
A war could never be won by a single Ninja Village alone. A Ninja Village was an elite force, but it also needed the foundational strength of the Samurai Corps. Unlike Ninjas, the Samurai Corps usually operated in groups of hundreds or thousands, and they had no resistance against Chiyo's poison.
Facing this situation, Tobirama had no choice but to retreat, using the towns in the Land of Rivers as strongholds to adopt defensive measures. He no longer let the Konoha Ninja take the initiative to attack, but instead had them wait in full battle array within the cities.
Even with Chiyo's poison, in this situation, there was little that could be done. However, the Sunagakure Ninja Village obviously would not give up just like that. The Second Kazekage sent out Sunagakure Ninja to infiltrate the cities and cause destruction. For these Sunagakure Ninja who were adept at stealth operations, Tobirama was not without countermeasures.
During the Sengoku era, apart from large-scale battles between clans, Ninjas who carried out assassinations usually worked alone. After the establishment of the Ninja Village, with the changes in the living environment, the training of Ninjas was not like before, and such Ninjas who operated in the shadows had greatly decreased.
The Anbu that Tobirama established had the very purpose of restoring such Ninjas, and it had been quite effective over the years. Therefore, to deal with these infiltrating Sunagakure Ninja, they relied on these ANBU Ninja, and the person responsible for this mopping-up mission was Danzo Shimura.
Although it was not like the original history, Danzo Shimura still ended up doing the special operations work that belonged to him, and he indeed had a unique talent in this regard, which was likely inseparable from his somewhat sinister personality.
Although the Sunagakure Ninja were all elite, and these infiltrating Ninjas were likewise the elite of the elite, they all hit a wall in front of Danzo Shimura. No matter what methods they adopted, they were severely beaten by the ANBU Ninja led by Danzo Shimura. The lucky ones could run away, while the unfortunate ones couldn't even run and would just choose to commit suicide to prevent being captured.
The Second Kazekage seemed not to have expected to encounter such setbacks, but he did not give up completely. He only became more cautious in his actions, and the deployment of personnel became more complex; therefore, Danzo Shimura needed to expend more energy.
To deal with these infiltrators, Danzo Shimura placed great importance on intelligence. Except for when he was in the process of pursuit operations, he was almost always immersed in the intelligence analysis room, looking at a large number of intelligence scrolls, trying to find the enemy's possible direction of action and suspicious places within the city.
Fūmori Masaki would also come here to look through some intelligence. He was not there to fight for Danzo Shimura's job; he was just worried about the matter of the Third Kazekage. Chiyo's behavior had been anticipated, but the Third Kazekage, who had never shown his face, brought him a trace of pressure.
The original manga did not state the age of the Third Kazekage, but logically inferring, he should have already been born and reached adulthood. Fūmori Masaki would not indulge in the fantasy of hoping that the Third Kazekage was actually very young.
Masaki, what exactly do you want to know? You run here every day, don't you have other things to do? Danzo Shimura looked up and asked.
Fūmori Masaki could not directly talk about the Third Kazekage. Without any reason, he would only be suspected by others, especially the current Danzo Shimura. Perhaps because he was too immersed in his work, he now looked at everyone with suspicion. It was evident that the saying one takes on the attributes of those one associates with was very reasonable.
If Danzo Shimura could walk in the sunlight more, perhaps he would not appear so paranoid in the future. This kind of work in the shadows really had a great impact on one's psyche.
I am more worried about whether the Sunagakure Ninja Village has any conspiracy. Fūmori Masaki mulled over his words and said.
Conspiracy? Aren't they doing exactly that right now? Danzo Shimura tapped the intelligence scroll in front of him. I only discovered a Sunagakure Ninja yesterday, but it's a pity I couldn't catch one alive.
Such Ninjas usually knew quite a few secrets. Although there would be restrictions placed in their minds to prevent information leaks, the restrictions could not be flawless. Letting the Yamanaka clan members who were skilled in mental Secret Techniques try their best to crack them might still yield some information.
I'm talking about on the main battlefield. Fūmori Masaki said, Although Chiyo's poison has caused quite a bit of trouble for the war, falling into this stalemate is definitely unfavorable for the Land of Wind. They will definitely find a way to break the deadlock. Since you have already proven that the method of sending spies to sabotage from within is unworkable, they should be thinking of other methods.
Hearing this, Danzo Shimura smiled slightly. He was very confident in his work results, but Fūmori Masaki's worries also had some merit. Although the Sunagakure Ninja Village might just be stubborn and want to open a breakthrough from within, perhaps there really were other methods.
If they really have some secret weapon, that would be troublesome. Have you found anything suspicious these days? Danzo Shimura had been focusing on internal situations and was not as knowledgeable about the outside.
No. Fūmori Masaki shook his head. Up until now, no trace of the suspected Third Kazekage had been found in the war. Keeping him hidden so deeply, what kind of combat method did they intend to use?
Then what do you think should be done? We can't just sit and wait for death, right? Of course, we could also gamble that they don't have any secret weapon at all. Danzo Shimura said.
Are you willing to do that kind of gambling?
Naturally not. Danzo Shimura said without hesitation. He was very suspicious now. After Fūmori Masaki said this, he really felt that the Sunagakure Ninja Village might have some backup plan. Recalling it now, the espionage operations of the Sunagakure Ninja might just be to paralyze their side.
Perhaps we should take the initiative to attack and test them. Rather than waiting for when the other side launches an attack, it would be better to preemptively raid them. What do you think? Fūmori Masaki asked.
Maybe it's possible, but that woman's poison must be solved first, otherwise the teacher might not necessarily agree to this action. Danzo Shimura said.
Chiyo's poison was very strong, and making an antidote was also a difficult task. The complex ingredients had to undergo a large number of clinical trials. Even for the current Konoha Medical Ninja, it was not an easy task to solve it.
Fūmori Masaki had no talent in medicine. He could only package the medical experience from another world with knowledge from the Ninja World, which might give the Medical Ninja some inspiration, but how to produce the antidote still depended on the efforts of the Medical Ninja. At least for now, the Medical Ninja had still not been able to fully produce the antidote; although there were some drugs that could alleviate it, they obviously could not solve the problem.
Yeah, if we don't solve the poison problem, we can't act rashly. Fūmori Masaki sighed, regretting that he hadn't been able to take out Chiyo in the last battle.