Chapter 39 (Patreon)

Flame could not tell whether Kushina had said it deliberately or simply let it slip.

There was nothing to gain from saying something like that in front of the troops. It would only damage morale.

If the shinobi fighting on the front lines learned that the bounties on their heads were the result of something done by one of Konoha’s own leaders, their reaction would not be hard to predict.

That was why Flame had cut her off, even though she outranked him.

In truth, Kushina had done it on purpose.

Her goal was to damage Danzō’s standing in the village.

Once the shinobi on the front lines learned the truth behind the bounties, their anger toward him would only grow. Their comrades and family members were being hunted because of Danzō’s actions, and many of them had already been pushed to their limit.

There would never be a better time to turn them against him.

Of course, Kushina understood the risk.

Just as Flame feared, the news could shake the troops and weaken morale. Kumogakure might even notice the disturbance and use it to launch an attack.

But if the Raikage and Kumogakure’s jinchūriki tried to take advantage of that opening, Kushina could strike back while they were unprepared.

She also trusted Shikaku’s ability to keep the army under control.

Even if the truth spread through the ranks, he should be able to prevent the situation from falling apart.

Once that happened, Kushina could step forward as the Fourth Hokage’s widow and promise the troops that Danzō would answer for his actions after the war.

It would weaken Danzō while strengthening her own position.

Flame’s interruption had also been part of her expectations.

Her goal had already been achieved.

Incomplete information often spread faster than the full truth. When people were only given part of the story, they would fill in the rest themselves.

Even if Flame had not stopped her, Kushina never intended to explain everything. She would have paused on her own and acted as though she had suddenly realised she had said too much.

Roy had not understood what Kushina was doing at first.

Once he did, he could only admire how carefully she had planned it.

Just as Kushina expected, the expressions of the shinobi around them quickly began to change.

Those stationed on the front lines knew nothing about what Danzō had been doing at the command base.

Until now, they had wondered why so many bounty hunters had suddenly appeared on the battlefield.

They finally had their answer.

Shinobi from every village had prices placed on their heads, but attacking someone from one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages usually carried far more risk than it was worth.

Most bounty hunters stayed away from such targets.

For so many of them to gather here, the rewards must have been enormous.

That alone showed just how badly Danzō had angered the nobles behind the bounties.

He was one of the Hokage’s advisers and among the highest-ranking men in the village.

It was bad enough that he had contributed nothing to the fighting. Now his actions were putting Konoha’s own shinobi in even greater danger.

What kind of village leader treated his own people that way?

Many of the shinobi present belonged to clans, but most of them were only regular members.

If anyone was going to challenge the village leadership, it would have to be their clan heads.

Their anger continued to rise, but none of them were ready to openly turn against Konoha’s leaders.

The situation Flame had feared did not occur.

He quietly breathed a sigh of relief, then gave Kushina a resentful look without saying anything else.

On Kumogakure’s side, the Raikage moved as soon as he received word that another powerful shinobi had appeared at Konoha’s defensive line.

He brought the Eight-Tails’ jinchūriki, Killer B, with him and headed straight to the front.

After hearing the full report, A turned toward Dodai.

“Do we know anything about the bounty hunter who used that combined ninjutsu?”

Rather than asking about Konoha’s mysterious shinobi, he first focused on Kakuzu.

“It may have been Kakuzu,” Dodai answered. “He’s well known among bounty hunters. He came from Takigakure, but he turned against the village’s leaders years ago and became a missing-nin.”

Dodai paused before continuing.

“His strength is said to be far above that of an ordinary shinobi, and he rarely fails a bounty. However, he normally works alone. We don’t have much more information on him.”

A nodded.

“What about the one from Konoha?”

Dodai shook his head.

Konoha’s famous shinobi were known throughout the world.

The problem was that the village had always been skilled at hiding those it did not want others to know about.

No one could say how many powerful shinobi Konoha had kept out of sight.

Ever since the time of the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, the other villages had watched Konoha with both envy and caution.

Sometimes, it seemed as though every generation produced another gifted shinobi within the village.

Standing nearby, Killer B raised his hands and opened his mouth.

Before he could say anything, A shot him a glare.

B immediately closed his mouth.

The Raikage had no intention of listening to one of his brother’s off-beat raps in the middle of a military discussion.

Killer B was famous throughout Kumogakure for two things: his strength as the Eight-Tails’ jinchūriki and his habit of rapping whenever the mood struck him.

He could start at any time and in any place.

A had struck him more times than anyone could count because of it, but B had never stopped.

Fortunately, B respected his elder brother more than anyone else.

Without A there to keep him under control, the people of Kumogakure did not even want to imagine how often they would be forced to listen to him.

“That Konoha shinobi should still be at the defensive line,” A said. “I’ll go find out how strong he is.”

With that, the Raikage started walking out of Kumogakure’s position.

Dodai’s expression tightened.

He quickly raised a hand to stop him.

“Lord Raikage, send Yugito Nii instead.”

Dodai knew exactly how eager A was to fight.

Once the Raikage became excited, he had a habit of charging ahead without considering anything else.

Uchiha Shisui’s appearance on Konoha’s front line had already created enough trouble.

Now another unknown shinobi had appeared.

Dodai could not ignore the possibility that Konoha had placed them there specifically to deal with A and Killer B.

If either the Raikage or the Eight-Tails’ jinchūriki were defeated—or worse, captured—the entire invasion would become a humiliation for Kumogakure.

They would gain none of the resources they wanted from Konoha to cover the losses of the Third Great Ninja War.

Instead, they might be forced to pay Konoha compensation.

Sending Yugito would be safer.

She was also a jinchūriki, and she was strong enough to test the unknown Konoha shinobi.

Even if she lost, the damage to Kumogakure’s morale would remain manageable.

They could learn what the enemy was capable of without risking either the Raikage or Killer B.

A was quick-tempered and loved fighting, but he was not a man who ignored good advice.

When one of his subordinates gave him a sound reason, he was willing to listen.

Not long afterward, Yugito Nii arrived at the defensive line.

Once she had been told everything they knew, she nodded and disappeared from the group.

A moment later, she emerged beyond Kumogakure’s defensive position and headed toward Konoha’s line.

She opened with Fire Style, the nature transformation she handled best.

The instant Yugito passed beyond Kumogakure’s chakra-concealing barrier, Tokuma Hyūga and the ANBU shinobi Fuya detected her.

The Nine-Tails also warned Kushina, allowing her to lock onto Yugito’s position at once.

“Is that the Two-Tails’ jinchūriki?”

Kushina looked down at the blonde kunoichi with clear interest.

Roy had previously told her that Yugito was most likely a perfect jinchūriki.

She had earned the Two-Tails’ cooperation without anyone else’s help.

As another female jinchūriki, Kushina found it difficult to imagine what Yugito must have gone through.

She would have needed to overcome her fear of the tailed beast sealed inside her and make contact with it on her own.

When it came to patience and self-control, Kushina felt that Yugito might be far ahead of her.

“They sent out a jinchūriki immediately.”

Roy’s voice became serious.

“Kushina, they may already know you’re here.”

Kushina froze.

“Why? I haven’t even shown my real face.”

“Tailed beasts can sense one another. The Nine-Tails noticed the Two-Tails, which means the Two-Tails should be able to sense the Nine-Tails as well.”

Kushina’s expression stiffened.

Once again, she realised how unrealistic their plan to hide her identity had been.

There had never been any chance of concealing her presence from another jinchūriki.

Roy had overlooked the same problem.

He had been focused on hiding Kushina’s identity so they could lure Kumogakure into a trap.

With his help, he had believed no ordinary shinobi would be able to see through her Transformation Jutsu.

It was only when the Nine-Tails spoke that he remembered the tailed beasts could sense each other.

“Hmph. Don’t compare me to the others.”

The Nine-Tails’ proud voice echoed within Kushina’s inner world.

“The Two-Tails doesn’t know I’m here.”

Kushina immediately repeated his words to Roy.

Roy looked surprised.

The Nine-Tails was stronger than the other tailed beasts, but strength alone should not have allowed him to hide from their senses.

The truth was that the Nine-Tails could not conceal his presence through his own abilities.

He had simply learned another method.

Ever since watching Roy use Hadō #31: Shakkahō, the Nine-Tails had become interested in Kidō.

The spells did not require hand seals, which made them completely different from ordinary ninjutsu.

Whenever Roy practised Kidō inside Kushina’s inner world, the Nine-Tails watched him closely and copied what he could.

One of the techniques he learned was Hakufuku.

It was an unusual Kidō spell that carried traits of both Hadō and Bakudō. It could place a target in a brief state of unconsciousness while causing their spiritual pressure to disappear.

Roy had later adjusted the spell so the unconsciousness could be controlled.

By removing that part of the effect and keeping only the suppression of spiritual pressure, Hakufuku could be used to conceal someone’s presence.

That was the version the Nine-Tails had learned.

He had used it to hide the flow of his own chakra.

The Two-Tails had no reason to carefully search for a hidden tailed beast nearby.

Because of that, it had failed to notice the Nine-Tails’ presence.