Tsunade, who initially planned to have a proper conversation, suddenly had her expression darken.
So he wanted something for nothing?
And without giving anything in return!
Tsunade couldn't help but think of the past few years, how her medicines and potions had also been taken by the village for free.
The Third Hokage's excuse was always that it was for the village.
Alright then, they've gotten so used to taking things for free that they are now openly doing it in the name of the village.
Fine, you have fun by yourself. I'm done here.
Tsunade lost all interest in continuing the discussion with the Third Hokage and simply stood up to leave.
Bang!!!
Watching the door slam heavily shut, the Third Hokage fell into silence.
It seemed that Tsunade wasn't as agreeable as she used to be. Trying to take things for free under the guise of the village no longer worked.
So how could they get hold of those puppets now?
The Third Hokage had never considered offering payment or other forms of compensation.
He hoped that Takashi would understand the bigger picture, contribute his puppets to the village, and ideally, share the secrets of their creation as well.
After all, everything was for the village.
Upon leaving the Hokage's office, Tsunade, uncertain about the communication range of the puppets, had no choice but to use a puppet to relay the scroll to Takashi.
---
In Iwagakure, inside the Tsuchikage's office, Onoki stared at the intelligence scroll in his hand, remaining speechless for a long time.
"What kind of dumb luck did Konoha run into?"
After a while, Onoki cursed under his breath.
Unlike Sunagakure, which actively wanted to start a war, Konoha, which had responded defensively, and Amegakure, which had been dragged into the conflict, Iwagakure had never intended to go to war with the other villages.
At least, not now—because their neighbor next door had been keeping a close watch on them.
After being dragged into this chaotic war, Onoki had come up with this genius eradication plan.
Who could have predicted that the originally well-executed plan would fail because of someone completely unexpected?
Even though they had wiped out an elite team from Konoha, Onoki couldn't feel happy.
Because the geniuses he wanted to kill had all made it out safely.
Not to mention, Iwagakure had taken a blow as well, losing quite a few people to exploding puppets.
Puppets that didn't need chakra strings for control, puppets that seemed almost alive?
And the puppets were strong—even after being dismembered, they would still explode. What kind of nonsensical tricks were these?
It was a good thing that this scroll had been brought back by his son, Kitsuchi. If it had been anyone else, Onoki might have scolded them on the spot.
Could you have made this any more absurd?
Look at this nonsense you've written.
If Sunagakure had developed some special kind of puppet, Onoki wouldn't have been surprised. After all, Sunagakure was well-versed in puppet techniques. But Konoha? Puppet ninjas from Konoha were rarer than pandas.
Out of nowhere, someone appears, controlling many special puppets—puppets even more terrifying than those from Sunagakure. Who could believe that?
Now that the genius eradication plan had failed, Konoha would undoubtedly be on guard against Iwa Village, making it very difficult to strike again.
The thought of his perfect plan being ruined made Onoki's chest hurt with frustration.
Why?!
Is Konoha some kind of breeding ground for geniuses?
They already had Sakumo Hatake, Jiraiya, Tsunade, and these new generation powerhouses. Isn't that enough?
When he thought of his village's lackluster talents, compared to the geniuses of Konoha, Onoki felt envious of the Third Hokage's luck all over again.
---
Land of Rain, Sunagakure Camp.
Chiyo frowned and asked, "Are you sure the battlefield was completely cleaned up?"
Iwagakure had launched an attack, giving Konoha a significant blow, wiping out their elite team. News like this couldn't be hidden.
Chiyo had immediately sent people to gather intelligence.
Unfortunately, Iwa Village had thoroughly cleaned the battlefield, even taking away the bodies of Konoha's ninjas, leaving behind only some useless dismembered limbs.
"Yes, Lady Chiyo, but we found a lot of large craters left from explosions at another part of the battlefield. These don't seem to have been caused by Iwa Village."
Every puppet that exploded had power far beyond what paper bombs could achieve. After the explosion, each left behind a large crater that soon filled with rainwater, creating large pools.
Oddly, there were no remnants of paper bombs around the craters.
Because of this, the intelligence team concluded that these craters were not caused by paper bombs.
"Aside from the craters, our team found these around the area."
Iwagakure had cleaned up the battlefield, but it was too large, and with careful searching, they still found some valuable clues and items.
The intelligence ninja pulled out a cloth bag.
Chiyo took the bag with a puzzled expression and opened it.
The bag contained pieces of severely deformed metal scraps as well as parts made from other materials.
As one of the experts in puppet manipulation and creation in Sunagakure, Chiyo immediately understood what they were. "These are parts from a puppet?"
"Yes."
The intelligence ninja replied, "Lady Chiyo, based on our analysis, these are puppet parts, but they're different from the ones we mass-produce in our village."
Well, this had suddenly become interesting.
Chiyo picked up one of the parts, rubbing it between her thumb and index finger until it regained its original sheen.
Konoha's puppet users were as rare as national treasures, and the same applied to Iwagakure.
Apart from Sunagakure, there were few villages in the Shinobi World with ninjas skilled in making and using puppets.
So where did these parts come from?
And how did the large craters form on the battlefield?
Could they have been caused by exploding puppets?
Chiyo tried to picture the scene, but as soon as the image came to mind, she shook her head firmly, dismissing the thought.
Konoha and Iwagakure using puppets? It sounded like an international joke.
"Continue to increase personnel for the investigation."
Despite all the mysteries, this was actually good news for Sunagakure.
"Onoki, you truly are despicable!!"
Looking in the direction of Iwagakure, Chiyo let out a cold smile.
Previously, Iwagakure had rejected her proposal for cooperation, only to turn around and give Konoha a 'gift.'
Chiyo couldn't help but admire Onoki's decisiveness and ruthlessness.
While others were busy fighting, only Iwagakure targeted Konoha's young powerhouses, attempting to wipe them all out in one go.
So, did Iwagakure succeed?
"Pass on my orders, advance towards Konoha's positions! We need to put enough pressure on the enemy."
Sunagakure's situation had been somewhat passive, but now that Iwagakure had delivered a major blow to Konoha, Chiyo wouldn't hesitate to take advantage of the opportunity.
With their elite team lost, Konoha's offensive would surely falter and retreat.