radicalducati Chapter 191 A Qualified Mastermind
Chapter 191 A Qualified Mastermind
Chapter 191 A Qualified Mastermind
Orochimaru did not stay in the Land of Grass for long afterward, and left in a hurry early the next morning.
As a Kage-level powerhouse and frontline commander, his every move is being watched by countless intelligence agents. If he exposes his whereabouts and stays in a dangerous place for too long, he could be ambushed at any time.
Orochimaru doesn't have the same convenient ability to come and go as the Flying Thunder God Technique.
Therefore, his meeting with the Akatsuki organization was destined to be a brief encounter.
As for what agreement he ultimately reached with Shiba Kiyokawa that day, that was a secret between the two of them, and no intelligence personnel had the ability to find out.
All the outside world knows is that Orochimaru made new moves soon after leaving the north and returning to his own war zone.
On the surface, it seems that Orochimaru has ended his long period of inaction and has started to put pressure on Sunagakure again after many days.
Only a handful of Orochimaru's most loyal followers truly know how contradictory Orochimaru's current actions are.
"Lord Orochimaru, are you really planning to abandon your ambush plan at Mount Kikyo?"
After hearing Orochimaru's recent plans, a Konoha Jonin named Tomoe looked up in shock and asked a question.
Mount Kikyo is a mountain range located within the Land of Fire.
Since Orochimaru has chosen that location as the decisive battleground, he naturally needs to first allow the main force of Sunagakure into the Land of Fire.
So as early as the second half of last year, Orochimaru had already devised a grand plan to lure Sunagakure deeper into the region step by step, gradually lull the enemy into a false sense of security, and finally decide the outcome in one decisive battle!
If it weren't for Yekura's interference, which made the situation in Sunagakure unpredictable, Orochimaru's plan to annihilate Kikyo Mountain would have already entered its final countdown.
Even so, this ambitious plan, which had been going on for more than a year, had already steadily entered the final stage.
Regardless of how things develop in the original story, at least up to the current point in time, Orochimaru is undoubtedly Konoha's fang!
He perfectly inherited the ruthlessness and decisiveness of the previous commander of this war zone, Sakumo Hatake.
If no one interfered, he should have shattered Sunagakure's backbone with a perfect annihilation battle soon after, completely kicking this opponent off the stage of the Fourth Shinobi World War.
But now, since Orochimaru returned from the north, he has strangely abandoned the strategy of feigning weakness and luring the enemy deep into his territory that he had been doing for months. Instead, he seems to have lost his mind and started planning an offensive!
Jonin Tomoe couldn't understand this abrupt change, which is why he asked such a question.
But after looking at the map for a while, Orochimaru simply spoke up.
"It's not time yet. The planned decisive battle will be postponed until next year. Let's organize some attacks first to avoid alerting Sunagakure."
Orochimaru offered no explanation for the delay in the plan.
Despite having a bellyful of questions, Ba could only lower his head and reply with a "Yes."
He then vanished in a flash, relaying Orochimaru's decision to the various squads below.
With a command style as gentle, democratic, and warm as Minato Namikaze's, Orochimaru was the sole ruler in the Southwest Theater!
He never consulted with the ninja clan representatives about war, nor did he need any advisors.
Every one of his orders is absolute; those who disobey will mysteriously disappear within the next few days, and then reappear intermittently in Orochimaru's secret laboratory shortly afterward.
This is why many ninjas fear him and are unwilling to support him, but Orochimaru never cares.
His only desire was for eternal life and for victory.
As for the approval of others? He didn't even want the position of Hokage, so how could he possibly care about such a thing?
In the past, Orochimaru would have been more mindful of the consequences in order to win, and he would have treated everyone fairly in order to gain the support of all the ninja clans.
But now that he has returned from the north, people have quickly noticed that this cold-blooded commander seems to have changed.
"Why are all the squads assigned to this mission from our Sarutobi clan? Tomoe-senpai, are you sure this is Orochimaru's order?"
One of the Sarutobi clan Jonin who received the order shouted indignantly.
However, he was only met with indifferent questions from Tomoe and a few messenger ninjas.
"These are Lord Orochimaru's orders. What, do you intend to abandon the mission?"
The Jonin of the Sarutobi clan seemed stung by Ba Lengli's piercing gaze, and unconsciously took a half step back, ultimately not daring to raise any further questions.
This isn't the North, and Orochimaru isn't Minato Namikaze; he doesn't give face to anyone here!
Otherwise, Orochimaru wouldn't have been blacklisted as a successor by the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, so early on.
But this time, for some reason, he suddenly became exceptionally excessive!
Soon after, the battle report came back—Konoha's reckless advance had caught Sunagakure completely off guard!
The elite troops, led by the acting Kazekage Yoko, lay in ambush and wiped out more than a dozen Sarutobi clan squads that had launched an attack!
The morale of the Konoha army was shaken and panic ensued.
But very quickly, just a few days later, before any discordant voices of doubt could rise, Orochimaru swiftly achieved a brilliant breakthrough in another direction!
He personally led the team to launch a surprise attack on the weak points of Sunagakure's defenses, ruthlessly breaking through the defensive loopholes. They advanced dozens of kilometers in one go, killing dozens of Sunagakure's main force members and more than 300 ninja who filled in the gaps.
In the blink of an eye, Orochimaru personally cleared his name of being a poor commander, achieved a very impressive victory, and restored the morale of the Konoha army in this direction.
But in the back and forth between them, something seemed to be quietly brewing.
If a careful intelligence officer had thoroughly investigated the battlefield, they would have discovered that the breach in the defensive line that Orochimaru personally led his team to break through was almost entirely guarded by the faction of Sunagakure ninja who opposed the acting Kazekage!
Many of them were loyal subordinates of the former Kazekage, Rasa!
However, this is the first time such a thing has happened, and most people haven't paid attention. The few who noticed something amiss simply dismissed it as a coincidence.
Only those at the eye of the storm know that this is no coincidence!
Not long after, Orochimaru, who had just returned from the battle, once again received a mysterious letter secretly delivered by a ninja cat at night.
Looking at the coded markings above, highlighting the weak points of the Sand Village's defenses and the key information about the defending ninjas, Orochimaru couldn't help but laugh self-deprecatingly.
"I never imagined that after fighting a war for so many years, we would one day become puppets of the same person. This is truly..."
He couldn't find the words to describe his current state of mind.
He never imagined that one day the Ninja World War would turn into such a silent drama!
He believed that the acting Kazekage, Yosuke, who was far away on the front lines in Sunagakure, must be feeling similarly to him.
Only Shiba Kiyokawa, who was far away in the north with the Akatsuki organization, smiled slightly after receiving intelligence about the battle situation in the south, keeping his merits and fame hidden.
He had heard in his previous life that if an arms dealer does not sell weapons to both sides in a war, he is not worthy of being called an international arms dealer.
Now, he has put similar theories into practice!
If he cannot simultaneously control both warring ninja villages, then he is not worthy of being called a qualified mastermind behind the ninja world!
Black Zetsu's actions were just for fun. The real chaos in the ninja world will come from Shiba Kiyokawa!
After the battle at Kannabi Bridge thoroughly established the Akatsuki organization's reputation and created the mysterious persona of Shiba Kiyokawa, who seemed to have a near-predictive ability, he has now finally begun to extend his evil claws to the entire ninja world!
(End of this chapter)