At the commotion by the doorway, Ōnoki looked over and saw Mahiru sprawled on the floor. He dropped the papers in his hands and scolded him. "How could you be so careless?
"You're a Jonin, yet you tripped over a threshold just walking through a door. Get up!"
Roshi glanced over too. Seeing that it was Mahiru, he teased, "Isn't that Mahiru, who went to the Land of Wind to look for me?
"What, did you find something so soon?"
Mahiru remained silent. He slammed his fist into the ground and broke into tears, his face streaked with tears and snot, overwhelmed with grief.
Ōnoki sensed something was wrong. He floated out from behind his desk and hovered in front of Mahiru, his expression changing drastically as he demanded, "What happened? Tell me, quickly!"
"They're dead... all of them..."
He was a Jonin. No matter how great the hardship, he couldn't cry. Mahiru wiped away the tears that had involuntarily spilled from his eyes, then recounted everything that had happened.
From being ordered to infiltrate the Land of Wind, to wiping out several Sand Shinobi outposts, to splitting up, and finally to Rasa descending like a god, his might like a prison of terror...
The more Ōnoki listened, the more alarmed he became. Thankfully, he had no heart problems, or he might have suffered a sudden heart attack.
Thirty Chunin, two Jonin, and an elite squad had been completely wiped out.
In the original story, when Higashi Shito led the Iwa forces to attack the Land of Fire, he had only two or three hundred core shinobi, and then they ran into Minato Namikaze at the peak of his power, mowing them down like grass...
But the two situations weren't the same. The Battle of Kannabi Bridge was the most crucial part of the final battle, so they'd have to commit all their forces to the surprise attack.
For this reconnaissance mission, Ōnoki had sent thirty elites with efficiency in mind. Chunin were already the backbone of a shinobi village.
And then? The entire squad had been wiped out. It was like firing an artillery cannon at mosquitoes: the mosquitoes were unharmed, and the cannon had exploded instead.
How could Ōnoki not be heartbroken by such heavy losses? Every Chunin had spent years fighting their way up from Genin.
They carried the village's hopes and were potential Jonin, part of its mid-to-high-level fighting force. And now all thirty were gone!
After all, he was a man who had once challenged Madara Uchiha and seen the world. Ōnoki suppressed his grief and anger, then asked in a low voice, "What about the bodies?
"Did you bring them back?"
Mahiru nodded, took out a Storage Scroll, and released more than twenty bodies, burned to charcoal, filling half the office.
Ōnoki and Roshi inspected them, then exchanged a glance and voiced the same suspicion at once. "There are no burn marks on their clothes. It was Lightning Release!"
The heat from fire and the heat from electricity were slightly different. The latter lasted for a much shorter time, inflicting all its damage in an instant, and was extremely powerful.
"One attack wiped out an entire special operations squad.
"The culprit's skill with Lightning Release ranks among the strongest in the entire Shinobi World.
"This person is no weaker than me!"
After analyzing the lightning's exact power, Roshi was deeply alarmed. At least his surname wasn't Nie.
Ōnoki fell silent. Such powerful Lightning Release narrowed down the list of suspects: it had to be either the Land of Lightning or Konoha!
Each of the Five Great Shinobi Villages had its own specialties. The Land of Wind, the Land of Lightning, the Land of Water, and the Land of Earth each specialized in their respective nature transformations, along with various Kekkei Genkai.
Konohagakure was the exception. It was vast and rich in resources, with talent emerging in droves. Aside from the Uchiha's Fire Release, which stood above all others in the Shinobi World, it also excelled at the other four nature transformations.
"Any other intelligence?" Ōnoki asked coldly. Knowing only that it was Lightning Release wasn't much use.
Putting his grief aside, Mahiru searched his memory and said, "The man called himself Luo Yongxin and claimed to be part of the Celestial organization, but I suspect it was just a false identity.
"I saw him use the Lightning Release Body Refining Secret Technique, and he severely injured Gari with one punch. I suspect..."
Points +1+1+1+1...
The false identity had already begun to pay dividends. As Rasa dug away at the mountain, the Starry Sky Vortex in his mind churned ceaselessly.
"Kumogakure!"
Ōnoki was furious. He slammed his fist down on the desk and, to show just how angry he was, used the Added-Weight Rock Technique, cracking the tabletop.
"It might also be someone trying to frame Kumogakure. Don't get angry yet. Let's think it through," Roshi advised.
"Lightning Release might be mistaken, but could the Lightning Release Body Refining Secret Technique be mistaken too?"
Ōnoki glared, his beard bristling. He was displeased that Roshi doubted his judgment. "Similar techniques do exist in the Shinobi World.
"But Luo Yongxin severely injured Gari with one punch. What other Nintaijutsu could be so powerful, besides the Lightning Release Body Refining Secret Technique developed by that brute, the Third Raikage?
"Go on, tell me! What other technique could do that?"
Ōnoki had a fiery temper, but Roshi did too. He didn't give Ōnoki an inch and retorted, "A shinobi's battle is a battle of chakra.
"If someone knows a similar technique and has plenty of chakra, imitating the Raikage's technique isn't impossible.
"I still think something's suspicious. How could our secret mission have anything to do with Kumogakure?"
"How could it have nothing to do with them?"
Ōnoki dropped all pretense of decorum, pointed east toward the Land of Lightning, and cursed furiously. "That brute, the Raikage, acts on impulse and nothing else.
"It's no exaggeration to say that every village in the Shinobi World has spies in the others. It's inevitable.
"That brute is definitely involved. He must have learned about our operation and, in a fit of anger, sent his son or disciple to strike at us in secret!
"And now he's made up some Celestial organization too. What a ridiculous lie! Nothing gets past me."
"Why couldn't the Raikage have acted personally?" Mahiru asked.
Ōnoki snorted and explained, "If that brute had gone himself, do you think you'd still be alive?
"He may not be the brightest, but he wouldn't forget to check the bodies.
"It could only have been his son or his disciple, Killer B. I've heard of them. They're highly talented, at least approaching Kage Level.
"Too bad. Youngsters are always careless."
The more Mahiru listened, the more wrong it sounded. He'd made it back alive, so what exactly was Ōnoki lamenting?
"I still stand by my opinion. Something's suspicious!" Roshi insisted, arguing with Ōnoki.
"Do you have to oppose me no matter what? Do you always have to disagree with whatever I say?"
Ōnoki shouted at Roshi, "If you insist on your view, then go investigate it yourself.
"Then bring back evidence and facts to prove you're right and I'm wrong.
"Until then, get out of my way. I'm going to lead a team to the Land of Lightning and find that brute myself. We can't let this go!"
It was fairly common for a village's Kage to go on missions or head to the battlefield. Konohagakure was the exception. It was a great village with many Double Flower Red Poles; its big boss had no need to risk his life.
Ōnoki shoved Roshi aside and stormed off, already making plans for the trip to the Land of Lightning. First, he'd need to bring enough subordinates.
Tobirama Senju's ambush by Kinkaku and Ginkaku was a warning from the past.
Points +1+1+1+1...
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