[A/N: Sorry guys, fell asleep last night. Will try to complete the next chapter before I sleep tonight.]
"I'm afraid that the stains it left behind will be very difficult to remove…"
'...' Ay stared at the ninja with a dumbfounded expression. The eyes of other Kumogakure ninjas widened as well. While they were relieved that it wasn't harmful, seeing their leader dyed pink felt extremely weird and strange. Had the circumstances been better, they'd have struggled to stifle a chuckle.
However, one person wanted to uplift the depressing mood in the room. Bee smirked, looking at Ay, and rapped, "Yo bro, you lookin' like a pink parade,
Did you join a new ninja masquerade?
Half your face and neck in a rosy hue,
Pink's your color, bro, who knew?"
Ay roared, "Shut it, Bee! What do you mean that this dye won't be easy to remove? How can I remove it?"
The Elite Jounin thought for a few seconds and answered, "I can't remove it. We'll need to check with our chemists on what we can do to remove it. However, as I said earlier, your lightning assisted the pigment to react with your skin very rapidly. Even if we have something that can clear it, it'll take a long time.
The only alternative that could get rid of it quickly is if we remove the flesh that was affected by the dye and use Mystical Palm jutsu to heal you and grow new flesh."
Ay frowned and gazed at his palm. His gaze immediately made everyone nervous. It looked like he was planning to rip off his skin on the stop!
Bee called out loudly, "Brother, you…"
Nanako loudly spoke at the same time, "Raikage-sama, I'd recommend waiting for some time. This Akuro fellow is too devious. I wouldn't be surprised if he did all this to drop our guard and make you inflict injuries on yourself. We should wait until things calm down!"
Ay snorted and replied, "Of course, I know. Inspect the building once again and inspect the Anbu headquarters as well. If everything's clear, call Inazuma's group inside and ask others to disperse. No need to maintain the barrier anymore.
Nanako, create a few squads of Sealmasters and inspect the building thoroughly. Also, order someone to look into Kiyoshi's friends and family. I want to know why he betrayed us after serving the village for over 5 decades!"
Nanako nodded and everyone other than Bee left his office. Bee asked teasingly, "Are you planning to appear like this in front of everyone, brother?"
Ay snorted and a cloud of smoke appeared. As it faded away, Ay looked to have reverted to his original appearance. He said, "It's a cheap trick just to infuriate me. As if I'll fall for it."
Needless to say, he used the Transformation jutsu to hide the embarrassment. He stopped thinking about it and instead said, "That said, I won't spare Akuro. I can ignore this prank, but the losses he caused are too high. In addition, the missing ninjas from the camps…"
Ay's expression became grim. Bee became serious as well.
Outside the building, one of the Sealmasters said, "Elder Inazuma, the seals have disappeared. Should we enter inside and tell Raikage-sama about these words?"
Inazuma shook his head and said, "No, our opponent is too devious. This could be another devious scheme. We'll wait until they return by themselves."
The Sealmaster nodded and everyone waited patiently. Half an hour later, Nanako and the four Elite Jounins appeared outside the building and passed the orders.
Inazuma asked, "Did Lord Fourth kill Akuro?"
Nanako shook her head and answered, "Unfortunately, he had already left before we entered."
Inazuma replied, "That's strange… How did he do this then?"
Nanako and others followed his gaze. Their eyes widened and their jaws dropped slightly seeing 'WEAK' written on the Raikage Building!
A few seconds later, Nanako and a few others rushed into the Raikage's office and informed him about it. Once again, Ay barely managed to resist the urge to smash a few walls! He cursed, "That bastard is very good at making our blood boil! Fix it immediately. We have been humiliated enough!"
The Elite Jounins nodded and left, leaving just the council members and Nanako inside the office. A strange silence developed in the room. It was broken by Inazuma, who asked, "Lord Fourth, I'm afraid that we need some answers. Today's events were just too bizarre. We can't make any sense of it."
He paused for a few seconds before asking, "Why were you outside the village? What was so important that you couldn't be here when the village needed you? Why was a barrier raised to protect the village? Why did Darui lead an army outside and where did he go? Does Akuro have any relation to it?"
Ay took a deep breath. It had been a long and bloody day for him and Kumogakure. The Sun had set, covering Kumogakure in darkness and further amplifying the fear in the hearts of the citizens and ninjas in Kumogakure. The building being captured by Akuro for several hours as well as his powerful Lightning jutsu was being talked about throughout the village.
As the ones who knew the truth, Bee and Mabui felt coldness in their hearts. Finally, Ay answered, "This is regarding the recent events in Konoha and the Spectral Swordsman."
Everyone in the room became serious upon hearing Fujin's title. While he was already feared, his battle against Orochimaru had made everyone weary of him. Inazuma asked, "What of that kid? How is he related to today's events?"
Ay answered, "He left Konoha openly, giving us an opportunity to eliminate him. Even though we suspected that it was a trap set by Konoha, the opportunity was too good to pass up. That's where Bee and I were."
The eyes of everyone other than Mabui and Bee widened. Nanako asked, "Did you eliminate him?"
Ay sighed and replied, "Unfortunately, we didn't even see him. It wasn't a trap set by Konoha. Instead, he was the bait to lure me and Bee there while they targeted something else."
Inazuma said, "So that's why so many security measures were taken. However, Konoha didn't attack us. Unless Akuro is affiliated with Konoha…"
Ay shook his head and said, "I don't know much about Akuro. We'll wait for Darui's return. He might have more information. As for Konoha's target. It wasn't the village. Instead, they were the military camps we set up to raise elites. As of right now, every one in six camps is missing."
Shock and horror appeared in their eyes as they heard Ay's solemn tone.
"That's impossible!"
"Everyone is missing?"
"How?"
"How can they go missing in a single day?"
"No, this can't be! My daughter was in one of the camps too! Which camps were targeted?"
Even the experienced ninjas panicked. Only Inazuma maintained his cool. He asked, "Only missing and not dead? Do we have any more information or any leads?"
Mabui answered, "Yes, they're missing. We haven't found even a single dead body, nor have any idea where they could be. However, things aren't very hopeful. Darui led an army to the base watched over by Dodai.
He didn't find anyone there and instead, the entire camp was filled with explosive seals that were hidden so ingeniously that even Elder Jin failed to sense them. They fell into the trap and suffered heavy losses. Darui believes that Suzuki Fujin might have been involved in laying the traps but we don't have any proof."
The leaders of Kumogakure hadn't recovered from the earlier shock when they received even more shocking news! Nanako muttered in disbelief, "Jin was fooled?"
Inazuma sighed tiredly and asked, "What are our losses so far? And, what were their ranks?"
Ay glanced at Mabui and everyone followed his gaze. Mabui reported, "658 ninjas are missing from the military camp. They include 3 Elite Jounins, 111 Jounins, and 544 Chunins. In the trap, Darui's army lost 67 ninjas, among which 8 were Jounins and 59 were Chunins. 52 more died when fighting against Akuro. 6 of them were Jounins while 46 were Chunins.
In addition, we have lost 5 Anbu squads and 16 Jounins. Old man Kiyoshi is missing as well, though he is suspected of betraying the village."
Silence engulfed the room once again as stunned expressions appeared on everyone's faces. Even Ay, Bee, and Mabui had ashen expressions. In the span of 24 hours, Kumogakure had lost 814 ninjas! More than a sixth were Jounins while the rest were Chunins. The loss was just too huge.
Not too long ago, the council members were shaken by the deaths of 16 ninjas. When they learnt that the real losses could be more than 50 times that number, they were too stunned to even think! Not a single person in the room even dared to assume the 658 missing ninjas as dead.
For several minutes, not a single word escaped anyone's lips. Finally, Inazuma asked softly, his voice quivering, "Ay… How could you have fallen into such a trap? Why didn't you consult me before making a move?"
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