Chapter 66: Taking the Bait
Following Ōnoki's orders, Ishiro expanded his sensing range to three kilometers. However, three kilometers was already Ishiro's maximum limit, making his perception somewhat vague. Moreover, the circumference of a three-kilometer radius covered nearly 20 kilometers, with an area approaching 30 square kilometers—searching such a vast area thoroughly was extremely challenging.
Adding to the difficulty, the enemy might be concealed underground or atop trees, exponentially complicating matters. Ishiro searched painstakingly for more than three hours but found nothing.
After briefly resting his senses, Ishiro decided to try a different approach. He wasn't sure how the Aburame Clan's insects communicated with their masters, but there were essentially two possibilities: either the insects returned physically, or they transmitted information remotely using chakra. For higher-level creatures, remote communication might be straightforward, but for insects, it would certainly involve chakra transmissions.
Thus, instead of blindly searching for the enemy's location, Ishiro decided to track the insects' chakra signals back to their source.
With this new method, Ishiro carefully observed the insects he had previously sensed.
To increase accuracy, Ishiro monitored four insects simultaneously. About half an hour later, he noticed a subtle chakra fluctuation emanating in a certain direction every so often.
Ishiro smiled slightly. Clearly, this fluctuation indicated the direction of their master—transmitting intelligence. However, four insects alone weren't enough to accurately pinpoint the enemy's location.
Ishiro shifted his attention to another area, quickly locating more insects and confirming their chakra transmission directions. After repeating this several times, he narrowed down the enemy's location.
"Tsuchikage-sama," Ishiro reported, "I haven't precisely located them, but I can confirm the enemy is in the northeast."
"Northeast?" The Land of Fire lay southeast of the Land of Bears, while the northeast was toward the Land of Earth—precisely where Ishiro's group had arrived from. Ōnoki snorted coldly; clearly, Konoha intended to block their escape route.
"Can you confirm the distance?" asked Ōnoki.
Ishiro shook his head. "I can't determine their exact distance, but they're likely around six to eight kilometers away," he answered based on chakra transmission directions.
"Check toward Sunagakure's side as well," Ōnoki instructed.
Ishiro nodded, understanding Ōnoki's intent. Since Konoha was blocking Iwa's retreat, Sunagakure was likely being monitored as well, perhaps even more intensely, given Konoha's probable goal was Sasori himself.
However, since Suna's forces hadn't arrived yet, Konoha wouldn't have set traps in their direction prematurely. Unsurprisingly, Ishiro's further sensing attempts yielded no results.
The next day passed without further incident. Even the number of Aburame insects decreased, implying Konoha had gathered sufficient intelligence and was now lying low.
Everything now depended on Suna's arrival and how the three sides would act.
Around noon the following day, a large force approached from the direction of the Land of Wind. Unlike Ōnoki's covert approach, Sunagakure brazenly brought over a dozen Anbu squads, led personally by Elder Chiyo.
It was unclear if Chiyo intended to violate the agreement and take Sasori by force, but upon arrival, she immediately ordered her Anbu to encircle several kilometers around the exchange location.
Iwa, by contrast, had only two Anbu squads visible—one openly guarding Sasori and another hidden nearby for backup. Now both squads, along with Ōnoki's hidden group underground, found themselves encircled by Suna Anbu.
Despite this, Ishiro wasn't worried. These Anbu alone couldn't threaten their well-prepared group, especially with Ōnoki present.
Ishiro continuously monitored the surface, updating Ōnoki and the others about Suna's positions. The tension rose among the Iwa shinobi as they awaited Ōnoki's decision—whether to intervene or wait.
After a moment, Chiyo approached the openly visible Iwa Anbu. Clearly informed beforehand by Ōnoki, the Anbu calmly exchanged Sasori for the agreed resources, despite Suna's intimidating show of force.
Once the exchange was complete, both Iwa Anbu squads departed promptly toward the Land of Earth, Ishiro's hidden group's location.
One of Chiyo's Anbu spoke quietly, "Elder Chiyo, are we letting these Iwa shinobi go?"
Chiyo gazed toward the retreating Iwa Anbu. "Two Anbu squads won't affect the overall situation."
"But the resources they took aren't insignificant," protested the Anbu.
Chiyo sighed wearily. "Ōnoki already threatened us. If we broke the agreement, he would share the information extracted from Sasori with Konoha. We don't know how much critical intel Sasori has leaked about our puppet techniques. Fortunately, Iwa isn't our primary enemy, but if Konoha gets hold of that information, we'll be severely disadvantaged in future conflicts."
Chiyo's assessment was accurate. In reality, this exchange was a tremendous loss for Suna. Although Sasori was a prodigy, a captured genius would never again be fully trusted by the village. Even if Sasori eventually reached Kage-level strength, this blemish would forever deny him any chance of becoming Kazekage.
Trading scarce village resources for a compromised genius generated significant opposition within Suna's leadership. Ultimately, Chiyo traded her political power for the silent support of the Third Kazekage, making this mission her last as an Elder. Thus, she lacked the authority and confidence to openly antagonize Iwa. Ōnoki, aware of this internal turmoil, had chosen patience over confrontation.
Moreover, Chiyo suspected Ōnoki had additional forces hidden nearby, wary of any sudden moves from Iwa.
Soon, a Suna Anbu brought Sasori to Chiyo. Seeing his missing arms, pain flashed briefly in Chiyo's eyes, but for a master puppeteer like her, such injuries were easily remedied with puppet prosthetics.
Chiyo motioned her specialists to remove Sasori's seals. Several top-tier Suna sealing experts struggled, unable to immediately undo Ishiro's complex sealing techniques.
Chiyo narrowed her eyes thoughtfully. "Iwa's sealing techniques have improved greatly these past few years," she murmured. "Indeed, it seems the incident in Uzushio involved Ōnoki's schemes. Though Uzumaki seals appeared self-destructed, certain traces implied someone else reached their archives before us. Ōnoki, you've grown quite cunning."
"Withdraw to the village," Chiyo ordered decisively.
"Yes!" The surrounding Anbu quickly converged toward her.
Meanwhile, approximately five kilometers from the exchange site, behind a gentle slope, Konoha Anbu and Root members had assembled. A Hyūga shinobi scanned the exchange area, then reported, "White Fang-sama, the transaction between Suna and Iwa has concluded without conflict."
White Fang frowned. Despite Suna's numerical advantage, Chiyo had inexplicably allowed Iwa to leave unchallenged, contrary to Konoha's expectations.
Konoha lacked information about Suna's recent internal changes, unlike Ōnoki, and thus miscalculated Chiyo's motivations.
However, regardless of Suna's inaction, White Fang had orders to execute. Giving the signal to his subordinates, the order rapidly spread using the Yamanaka Clan's Mind Transfer technique, reaching another hidden Konoha unit over ten kilometers away.
Both Konoha units advanced swiftly toward the exchange point, simultaneously casting multiple jutsu.
A combined volley of elemental ninjutsu blasted toward the center of the exchange zone.
Suna's sensors immediately detected the massive chakra fluctuations, reporting urgently to Chiyo.
Unperturbed, Chiyo calmly stated, "So Ōnoki prepared after all."
Indeed, Suna had already anticipated the possibility of Ōnoki leaking intelligence to Konoha, explaining their large deployment.
Chiyo ordered, "Execute defensive plans."
Immediately, numerous Suna shinobi retaliated, unleashing coordinated Wind Release techniques against Konoha's combined fire and wind attacks.
While individually powerful, wind-enhanced fire jutsu gave Konoha a significant elemental advantage, gradually overpowering Suna's defensive counterattack.
Chiyo's expression tightened. "These coordinated wind-fire techniques... definitely Konoha's handiwork. Ōnoki calculated perfectly—knowing we would never retreat against Konoha, forcing us into battle, while he safely watches from the shadows."
Ōnoki had accurately predicted Suna's desperation to secure their puppet techniques and Konoha's determination to seize them, placing himself comfortably in a position to benefit from their inevitable clash.
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