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Darui and his army reached the base that was under Dodai's command. En route, they were very careful and alert against a surprise ambush. To their surprise, they didn't sense any Konoha ninjas while traveling. Not a single shuriken was thrown at them.
Most of the ninjas relaxed on reaching the base. However, as they drew closer, everyone was puzzled. Under normal circumstances, the patrol units should have noticed and met them. Yet, no one did. Instead, the sensors said that they didn't sense anyone inside the base.
C frowned and asked, "Did they activate all the seals to hide the base? Hmm, Dodai might have done that to hide the base from anyone else. No wonder we didn't sense anyone."
Darui muttered, "Let's hope that is the case. Because the alternative is terrifying…"
The ones around Darui became very serious. Darui shouted and commanded everyone to be prepared for a battle! The entire army became serious. They carefully moved to the center of the base, their expressions becoming solemn as they inched closer. Even when they reached the headquarters in the center, they didn't see anyone! There wasn't even a single Kumogakure ninja inside the base! Everyone had vanished in thin air!
C activated his chakra field and said, "I can't sense anyone at all! Where is everyone? There are no signs of combat here either! I didn't even see a scratch on any building on the way here."
Darui and the rest frowned as well. Darui wondered, 'Did something happen to make Dodai take everyone here away and hide elsewhere? But what could have happened? And why didn't he inform us? Or did he try but fail as Konoha cut off our communications? Did something similar happen in the other bases as well? But wha…'
Darui's eyes widened. He immediately looked under his feet and shouted in horror, "Fuck!!!"
Instinctively, he released a large amount of Black Lightning from his feet! The Black Lightning traveled through the surface of the ground. He wasn't the only one. Samui, C and several others in the army did the same! Yugito instinctively unleashed Matatabi's chakra and covered herself and several others around her with her chakra.
Why did all the Kumogakure ninjas react so drastically? It was rather simple. Innumerable explosive seals suddenly appeared under their feet! The ninjas Darui brought along were all very experienced. They sensed it right away and acted instinctively. A second later, the entire base blew up! Soil flew up hundreds of meters in the sky due to the force of the explosion! Every structure on the base was decimated by the explosions!
Fujin, who was meditating, suddenly opened his eyes and looked at a few tags burning in front of him. He thought, 'Hmm, every tag in the Sixth base blew up? Did Kumo send an army there? I wonder if they discovered the explosions and set them off or stepped into the trap… If they stepped into it…'
Fujin shook his head. He had already inflicted heavy losses on Kumogakure. If another group blew up, he could imagine how miserable Ay would be once he returned.
Fujin couldn't help but wonder, 'My actions in the Land of Wind should have made their higher-ups hate Konoha. I doubt even Gaara would be able to change that. And now Kumo will lose close to a thousand well-trained ninjas due to me implementing Shikaku and Hiruzen's scheme. Would the Allied Shinobi Force even be formed?'
Fujin wasn't too sure. On one hand, even if his actions weren't considered, all the major villages hated each other. Nearly everyone had lost someone close to them during the Great Wars, creating a cycle of hatred that Jiraiya and later Naruto tried to stop. That cycle of hatred was far greater than the wounds inflicted by Fujin.
On the other hand, time was a crucial factor. When the Allied Shinobi Forces formed, it had been nearly 18 years since the previous Great War. A lot of the scars had faded away with time. The large period of relative peace had also made the common ninjas reluctant to start another Great War as fresh scars would appear once it began.
Fujin's action meant that new scars would appear on Kumogakure. Even if they couldn't take any action right away, they would remember these wounds. He wasn't sure whether four years was enough time for them to fade away.
Fujin thought, 'Oh well, it doesn't matter. The Allied Shinobi Force wasn't formed out of compassion. It was formed due to the threat of 'Uchiha Madara'. As long as Obito doesn't change his mind about openly announcing the start of the Fourth Great Ninja War, the alliance should still happen.
Similarly, the alliance continued post-war because Naruto was too freaking strong. He had surpassed even Hashirama and Madara. Had he and Sasuke died in their final clash, the world would have become far more chaotic as everyone would have tried to take advantage of the critical situation and come on top.
So, it doesn't matter much whether the Allied Shinobi Force is formed or not. Though it'll have an impact on the future if it isn't formed, it doesn't affect me much.'
Fujin didn't particularly care about world peace like how Naruto and Jiraiya did. He wasn't averse to wars either. Besides, even if the 5 Great Villages didn't form an alliance, a Great War was very unlikely in the future.
Fujin thought, 'Even if there isn't an alliance, I doubt anyone would dare to start a war against Konoha in the future. There would be just too many powerhouses in Konoha for anyone to try that.
The only major disadvantage would be that Kumo won't help Naruto to master Kurama's powers. However, that isn't a very big issue. With Naruto's personality, befriending Kurama is only a matter of time. Even if he fails, I could hijack that turtle island and guide Naruto if I require him to become that strong…'
Fujin finally got up and muttered, "Anyway, I'll leave those issues for the future. Now, let me see who blew up all the explosive seals…"
Fujin disappeared from the base. In the Land of Lightning, one of their 10 bases was completely destroyed. The only thing visible was a thick dust cover in the area. The wild animals and birds were escaping away from it in a hurry.
At the center of the base, a hand appeared out of the soil as a person crawled out of the loose soil covering him. He was covered by soil from head to toe! He wasn't the only one. Several other ninjas began crawling out the same way.
Darui wiped his face and sighed, "What a deadly trap. This brings back some memories…"
Next to him, C cursed, "There is no doubt about it. It's that bastard!"
Samui recalled the scene she had seen several years ago. A young Fujin, who was completely trapped by them, blew up the entire place with hundreds of explosive tags and escaped in the confusion. Their current situation was eerily similar to that, the only difference being that they didn't see any explosive tags and instead fell prey to explosive seals that were very well hidden.
She quickly said, "Be careful, there might be an ambush. C, do you sense anyone?"
C shook his head and said, "I thought so too, but there is no one anywhere around us."
Samui frowned and muttered, "Exactly what has happened here? There isn't a single person from the base here. There weren't any signs of battle either. Instead, there were thousands of explosive seals left to trap us. And the seals were hidden so well that even our SealMasters and Grandmaster didn't detect them. How did everything happen in just a few hours? Where are Dodai and the rest? And, why haven't they contacted us?"
Samui and the rest were filled with confusion. They couldn't make any sense of the situation. No matter how they analyzed, all their analysis led them to one single conclusion.
With a grim expression, Darui muttered, "Something happened to everyone in this base. Either they were forced to retreat or somehow restrained and taken away or…"
Darui didn't want to say it. He looked around and saw Yugito using Matatabi's chakra to protect several dozen ninjas. However, there were several casualties among the rest of the army.
Darui instructed, "C, take a look at our army. Heal the injured ones and check how many casualties we have."
C nodded and got to work. Several other ninjas had already started looking for their comrades even before him.
Yugito appeared next to Darui with a grim expression and said, "Our losses will be heavy. What was that explosion? Didn't Mabui talk with Dodai just a few hours ago? How did anyone plant so many explosive seals and hide them so perfectly in so little time?"
Darui replied, "No idea. However, I have a feeling that something very bad is about to happen… Not to mention, other bases might have such traps as well. I have to inform Mabui."
Samui and Yugito nodded. Darui grabbed a Chakra Transmission Communication device and contacted Mabui. While he did, a figure stealthily appeared some distance away. No one sensed him and due to the dust cover, no one was able to see him either.
Surprise appeared on Fujin's face as he thought, 'Would you look at that… Both Darui and Yugito are here. If they're here, who's in Kumogakure?'
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