The Village's Fate Has Nothing to Do with Me!

Rock Town Village.

It lay on the border of the Land of Earth.

Thanks to its well-connected transportation routes and its proximity to the Heavenly White Mountains, many travelers and merchants entering or leaving the mountains would stop here to rest and resupply, making it one of the more prosperous commercial villages in the Land of Earth.

After the war broke out, Rock Town Village was immediately taken over by Hidden Stone and turned into a logistics supply center for the various battlefronts.

After the main Hidden Cloud force was surrounded in the Heavenly White Mountains, this place became the command and coordination hub for all of Hidden Stone, personally guarded by Kitsuchi, the son of the Third Tsuchikage, Onoki.

"Chakra refined ore, soldier pills, shuriken, explosive tags..."

"Good, good, good! As expected of a logistics supply center. Excellent!"

Sora burst into laughter as he looked at the warehouse packed to the brim with supplies.

"Samui, take inventory of the supplies."

"Pack up every valuable thing. Take as much as we can carry, and burn whatever we can't!"

"Yes, Lord Sora!"

Samui was equally excited.

As the saying went, provisions had to move before the army did. Large-scale warfare had never been as simple as ninjas fighting and killing one another.

It was not enough to simply have superior overall strength to guarantee victory in a war.

Supplies, intelligence, strategy.

None of these could be lacking if one wanted to win a war.

Even with a rough visual estimate, the supplies before them could support a force of roughly a thousand men. It was clear just how much Hidden Stone had prepared in order to surround their main force.

Samui took out the storage scrolls she had prepared beforehand, stuffing explosive tags, soldier pills, chakra ore, and other items inside before selecting from the remaining less valuable goods.

Once she had packed nearly as much as she could, she took out several explosive tags and arranged them throughout every corner of the warehouse.

Meanwhile, Sora dragged the unconscious Kitsuchi straight into the large command tent within Rock Town Village.

The tent was not spacious. Aside from a simulated sand-table map of the Heavenly White Mountains placed in the center, there was only a desk.

Scroll after scroll of intelligence reports lay upon it.

[Deployment Order for Jonin Akatsuchi]

[Deployment Order for Jonin Hunt]

[Complete Ninja Roster]

[Resource Supply Allocation Roster]

[An elite Hidden Cloud squad discovered in the eastern region. Their chakra signature rivals that of a tailed beast...]

"Chakra comparable to a tailed beast?"

A teasing smile appeared on Sora's lips as he looked over the classified intelligence on the scroll.

There was no doubt that the one comparable to a tailed beast was the Third Raikage. What truly surprised Sora, however, was that Hidden Stone had been patient enough to go this far just to catch this big fish.

According to the intelligence provided by Dodai, the main Hidden Cloud force trapped within the Heavenly White Mountains numbered roughly three thousand.

Yet the Hidden Stone ninja listed in the roster had already exceeded eight thousand.

And that number was still increasing. In the end, nearly ten thousand ninja would likely gather in these mountains.

This was not some minor advantage like eight hundred thousand against six hundred thousand. This was a full threefold difference in troop numbers!

To put it bluntly, for those ten thousand Hidden Stone ninja to wipe out three thousand Hidden Cloud ninja who had neither a tailed beast nor a Kage was as easy as taking something from their own pocket.

Yet Onoki had held back.

Not only had he held back, but to ensure the plan's success, he was continuously reinforcing his forces.

Mobilizing so many ninja from the border would inevitably weaken the border defenses.

And what was the situation in the Lands of Wind and Fire right now?

To the west, Hidden Sand had just defeated Hidden Cloud. The Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, was at the height of his momentum and burning with fighting spirit, ready to send troops into the Lands of Fire and Earth.

To the south, Konoha was stirring restlessly, prepared at any moment to display its power as the dominant force amid this chaos, defending and counterattacking to seize the greatest possible gains!

Yet for the sake of making that big fish take the bait, Onoki had actually dared to gamble at such a critical moment that the Lands of Wind and Fire would not dare make any reckless moves against them.

Even Sora had to admit that Onoki was a true warlord!

"Cough, cough... So what if you know about our plans? This is an open scheme!"

Kitsuchi, whom Sora had thrown into a corner, had somehow awakened. Coughing up blood, he gave Sora a weak, somewhat savage smile.

"Three thousand Hidden Cloud ninja are in the Heavenly White Mountains. If you truly have the resolve to cut off your own arm, then neither you nor the Raikage can appear on the battlefield."

"Hidden Stone has already won this war. The only difference is how large a harvest we will reap."

Perhaps declaring victory before the strong man who had defeated him felt rather satisfying. After coughing a few times, Kitsuchi's originally pale face flushed red. He spat out a mouthful of bloody phlegm and growled, "But since you've already set foot here, the Raikage is as good as dead! And you, Yotsuki Sora—you'll die here too!"

"These Heavenly White Mountains will be the burial ground of you and your father, the Yotsuki!"

"...First, that guy doesn't really count as my father. At most, he's one in name only." Sora flipped through the scroll in his hands without looking up. "Second, whether you win this war has nothing to do with me, and I don't care whether Hidden Cloud loses."

"W-What?"

Kitsuchi froze, then sneered. "At a time like this, you're still pretending with me?"

Sora merely glanced at Kitsuchi, too lazy to respond.

That attitude left Kitsuchi somewhat uncertain.

W-What kind of attitude was that?

Originally, Kitsuchi had assumed that Yotsuki Sora was a war weapon secretly cultivated by Hidden Cloud, brought out only because their main force was trapped and they had no choice but to use him to break the deadlock.

But judging from Yotsuki Sora's current behavior, it seemed that Hidden Cloud did not matter to him at all.

That was completely different from Hidden Cloud's ideals of loyalty, brotherhood, and unity!

Could it be...

A bold thought arose in Kitsuchi's heart, but he quickly dismissed it.

Whether or not this guy truly cared about Hidden Cloud Village, there was no doubt that he was a Hidden Cloud ninja.

Even if he did harbor some minor thoughts, the odds of him actually putting them into action were practically zero.

As Sora leafed through the scroll, Samui entered the tent shortly afterward.

"Lord Sora, the supplies have basically been dealt with. The remaining provisions, equipment, and so on have all been fitted with explosive tags. They can be destroyed at any time."

"Good."

"Also..." Samui lightly pressed her red lips together and said in a low voice, "A large number of Hidden Stone ninja have appeared outside. Should we make some arrangements...?"

"Arrange what?"

Sora set down the scroll in his hand. Looking at the somewhat nervous Samui before him, he revealed an amused smile.

"Do you know why I left that guy alive? Because his presence can draw more Hidden Stone ninja here."

"If we had merely broken into Rock Town Village, it would only be a minor inconvenience to Hidden Stone, like an insignificant stumbling block. But with the Earth Shadow's son here, everything changes."

"Before long, this place will be completely surrounded by Hidden Stone ninja."

"Picture it: dozens of jonin, hundreds of chunin. Once fighting begins, the entire village will be covered by ninjutsu. What do you think you could set up that would make any difference?"

"I..."

Samui's pretty face turned a little pale.

The sight of Sora facing dozens of ninja in battle earlier was still vivid in her mind.

Overwhelming ninjutsu had descended like thunder from the heavens and fire from the earth—and that level of intensity would multiply several times over in the future!

"You look a little afraid, but if you're already feeling fear now, it may be too soon."

"Don't forget—the mission we're carrying out was meant to make us targets meant to draw enemy fire from the start!"