"This..."
Everyone exchanged glances, then got to work.
Each of them took a small piece of clay from Didaze, ready to begin practicing.
Boom!
Only three minutes had passed before a clay bomb exploded.
But looking at Fuku, whose hair had been blasted upright, Didaze knew it was a failure.
"This is so hard to control..."
Fuku scratched his head and said in frustration.
He had never expected clay bombs to be so difficult to make. He had thought his talent would make it a breeze.
Despite being as careful as he could, it had exploded the moment he began injecting Explosion Release chakra.
But Fuku did not stay frustrated for long before more explosions rang out, one after another.
Everyone's clay bombs had exploded. Not a single one survived.
"Didaze, your talent really is heaven-defying..."
After Gari's clay bomb failed, the way he looked at Didaze changed.
He could not even make this simplest clay bomb. He could not imagine just how much control Didaze's advanced clay bombs required.
The difficulty was no less than creating a new kekkei genkai himself, because even they, who possessed Explosion Release, could not replicate it.
"Exactly. Looks like we just don't have the talent for it."
The others sighed as well. They had thought they could throw clay bombs from the sky like Didaze, each of them a one-man army.
But now it seemed they had simply been getting ahead of themselves. They could not even handle the simplest clay bombs, yet they wanted to try the advanced ones? Dream on.
Even if they learned through diligent practice, it did not seem particularly useful. After all, the easy ones would not do much damage even if they mastered them, making them useless to ninja at their level, while the difficult ones were beyond them no matter how much time they spent.
They would be better off continuing to refine their close-range Explosion Release.
"Forget it. Let's call it a day!"
Fuku waved his hands dejectedly, frustrated that he could not learn long-range Explosion Release.
"We're heading off, then, Didaze!"
The others addressed Didaze as well.
"No need to be so formal. Just call me Ze from now on. If you master it later and want to keep learning, you're welcome to come find me anytime!"
Didaze smiled and waved to them.
"Sure!"
Everyone smiled and nodded before going their separate ways.
The Explosion Release Corps had lives of their own, too. They could not stick together every day; they only gathered for battle. Aside from the two pairs of brothers-Gari and Kari, and Shi and Fuku-who acted together, the others mostly operated alone.
After watching all the Explosion Release Corps members leave, Didaze returned to his tent, ready to research how to make his Explosion Release immune to lightning.
"Lightning Release triggers the explosion... Is there any way to replace it?"
Didaze began thinking inside his tent. Meanwhile, Shimura Danzō's letter requesting aid had reached Konoha.
Konoha.
The Hokage's office.
"Lord Hokage, this is a letter from the Iwagakure front. Please take a look!"
After passing through layer upon layer of screening, the Root member finally reached Hiruzen Sarutobi's office and met him as he smoked.
"Oh?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi's previously ordinary expression immediately turned serious.
Neither of the two men on the Iwagakure front was the sort to write asking after him, so their letter had to contain important intelligence.
As for why Hiruzen Sarutobi had thought of letters asking after him, ever since Jiraiya went to Sunagakure, he had sent a letter every two days, mostly asking about his health-or simply asking whether he had spotted any pretty young ladies through his crystal ball lately.
It had annoyed Hiruzen Sarutobi to no end. Later, he simply read them without replying. No matter how much Jiraiya wrote, he never sent a word back, and eventually Jiraiya stopped sending them.
But Shimura Danzō was different. He was nothing like Jiraiya.
Hiruzen Sarutobi opened the letter with an uneasy heart, afraid that his old friend had been injured-or had simply died.
Although he had seen no sign of mourning in this Root member, he still could not help feeling apprehensive.
"Sarutobi, Iwagakure has sent out a genius who possesses the Explosion Release kekkei genkai, and a long-range version at that. We have suffered a major defeat and need you to send reinforcements. Make sure you send them quickly, or our position on the Iwagakure front will fall."
After reading Shimura Danzō's letter, Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression slowly relaxed, and he let out a breath.
His old friend was all right, so there was no need to worry.
As for a long-range Explosion Release genius? Hiruzen Sarutobi did not take that seriously. After all, Konoha had so many kekkei genkai geniuses that he paid it no mind at all. In his view, this one was at most an ordinary elite jonin, with a ceiling no higher than an ordinary Kage-level ninja.
And once Hatake Sakumo went there, no matter how talented this genius was, he would surely fall to Hatake Sakumo's blade.
In his view, his old friend's defeat was mainly due to insufficient manpower. After all, he had only tasked his old friend with holding the line, so he had not sent many men. Most were in Sunagakure.
Even if he had Hatake Sakumo leave the battlefield, Sunagakure would have no chance of mounting a counterattack.
Even if they counterattacked, Jiraiya, Tsunade, and a large number of Konoha ninja were still there. There was no need to fear their desperate final assault.
With that thought, Hiruzen Sarutobi made up his mind, took out a scroll, and began writing a letter.
"Deliver this letter to Elder Danzo!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi quickly finished writing and handed the letter to the Root member.
"Yes, Lord Hokage!"
The Root member dropped to one knee, then swiftly flickered out of sight.
"Tei, deliver this letter to Hatake Sakumo!"
"You are my most trusted Anbu. You must see this through!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi beckoned an Anbu inside, handed him the letter, then patted his shoulder with an expression that said he was counting entirely on him.
"I swear to serve Lord Hokage unto death!"
After Hiruzen Sarutobi's string of moves, loyalty filled Anbu Tei's eyes.
Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded in satisfaction.
Then Anbu Tei left Konoha wearing an expression of someone prepared to face death.
"Which one should I watch today?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi shut the door with a snap, then activated his crystal ball, admiring the beautiful sights as he smoked.
In his view, although there was a slight threat on the Iwagakure front, it was not a major one, and certainly did not warrant his treating it with utmost vigilance.
The recent victories in Sunagakure had already gone to Hiruzen Sarutobi's head. Hatake Sakumo won every battle, nearly cutting his way through Sunagakure single-handedly.
Now, the mention of Hatake Sakumo inspired terror in Sunagakure. Wherever Hatake Sakumo entered battle, Sunagakure's ninja immediately broke and fled.
It could be said that if the fighting continued like this, Hatake Sakumo's presence alone on the Sunagakure battlefield would eventually send Sunagakure fleeing without a fight.
In Hiruzen Sarutobi's view, as long as the Third Tsuchikage did not come in person, Hatake Sakumo would be invincible on the Iwagakure battlefield as well.
He had also heard recently that Kumogakure had launched a surprise attack on Iwagakure's border. Although it had failed, it must still have greatly intimidated Ōnoki, making him afraid to take the field lightly.
"On second thought, Sakumo alone might not be a safe enough bet. I'd better find some ninja from kekkei genkai clans to send over as well."
After watching for a while, Hiruzen Sarutobi suddenly remembered proper business.
After all, if Sakumo went alone, he might not be able to deal with Iwagakure quickly. It would be better to send more people and finish Iwagakure off in one push.
Then, as long as they dealt with Sunagakure too, Konoha would achieve complete victory!
"Otsu, summon the heads of the major clans. I'm calling a clan heads' meeting!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi adjusted his expression, his previously lecherous look instantly becoming righteous and imposing, then spoke to Otsu, the other Anbu guarding the door.
"Yes, Lord Hokage!"