In just a short moment, Tsunade's expression changed repeatedly.
My goodness, Shinki really did a lot of major things, even forcing the old man to yield.
In the scroll, the Third Hokage complained about Shinki's actions, noting that Shinki ignored the rules, took various forms of revenge, and targeted the Shimura clan. He had also dismissed many ANBU members without cause and issued death orders that made the ANBU hesitant to follow his commands.
What was even more outrageous was that Shinki refused to contribute his puppets and used them extensively. He even replaced ANBU with puppets, leaving many ANBU idle and disrupting the village's structure.
Although the scroll didn't state it outright, it strongly hinted that Tsunade should persuade Shinki to share the puppets for the village's sake.
"Ha! Still trying," Tsunade muttered. At first, she felt some sympathy for the Third Hokage, but as she read further, she threw the scroll aside decisively.
It was the same old trick: playing the emotional card and hoping she, Tsunade, would relent and convince Shinki to hand over the puppets. No benefits were mentioned—just expectations for him to surrender them for free.
It was clear Shinki wouldn't hand over the puppets easily. At the beginning, if the village had shown some willingness to pay, Shinki might have sold some puppets to them. Once the village realized the advantage, they would have sought more.
After all, Shinki profited by expanding his own inventory while others handled operations.
But instead, they refused to offer anything in return, expecting to take the whole prize without compensation. Who could tolerate that?
Even Tsunade, loyal to Konoha, found it unreasonable.
Persuade Shinki? Not a chance. Whoever had the skills could try, but she certainly wasn't doing it.
The F4 group wanted Shinki's puppets for free, just as they sought Tsunade's medicines and drugs without cost. Despite her intensive R&D efforts and the production workload, Tsunade's payment only came from Konoha Hospital.
Dividends and profits were non-existent, and last time she had already been duped!
For the village's sake, Tsunade had let it slide before. But seeing the Third Hokage and others try to take without giving again? Impossible.
Even if the puppets were vital for the village's defense.
Realistically, if the Third Hokage and others had collaborated with Shinki from the start and invested in expanding puppet production, casualties would have dropped significantly. The village could have taught the Sand Village a decisive lesson and potentially ended the war early.
Imagine the battlefield: waves of unyielding puppets charging enemy lines, fighting fiercely, unfazed by death or injury. Such a force would terrify the enemy, especially when dismembered puppets exploded with self-destructive attacks.
It wouldn't take a large number—just a thousand puppets could bring fear to the Sand Village.
But greed for free gains backfired against the unyielding Shinki.
So that was that.
Tsunade tossed the Third Hokage's scroll aside and returned to reviewing casualty reports. Soon, her frustration turned to a sigh.
"If you won't pay, then let time be wasted," she muttered.
After the First Ninja World War, Konoha had recovered swiftly and solidified its strength, giving the F4 group a dangerous sense of invincibility.
"Old man, Konoha is indeed strong, but the Sand Village is no pushover…"
Tsunade spoke only to herself. Remembering Shinki's assessments of the Sand Village, she lost the drive to think further.
On the other side of the battlefield, in the Sand Village camp…
Chiyo oversaw all camp affairs. Late at night in the command center, she stared blankly at a photo on her desk. In it, a young couple stood with a woman holding a child. Tears welled in Chiyo's weary eyes as she gazed at the image.
The young man and woman were Chiyo's son and daughter-in-law, parents of Sasori of the Red Sand. They had died in the Land of Fire, killed by Konoha's White Fang, Hatake Sakumo, with their bodies never recovered.
"Master Chiyo."
The voice brought Chiyo back, and she swiftly hid the photo, wiping away her tears.
"Enter," she said, her expression cold.
A reporting ninja placed a stack of intelligence scrolls on the desk.
"Lord Chiyo, these are from Lord Ebizo. He also said that Konoha remains highly vigilant. Should we send more people to infiltrate the Land of Fire for further intelligence?"
The Chiyo siblings—one handling war strategy and the other intelligence—were the Third Kazekage's pillars.
The Third Kazekage, renowned as the strongest, stayed within the village, appearing on the battlefield only if the war reached a dire stage.
Similarly, the Hokage rarely left Konoha unless the village faced a crisis.
Among the Five Great Ninja Villages, only the Raikage of the Cloud Village was known for fighting on the frontlines and venturing deep into enemy territory.
Chiyo scanned a scroll before replying, "Tell him to increase efforts and deploy more agents into the Land of Fire. Our spies in Konoha report that internal stability there is fragile."
"Yes, ma'am."
It was normal for villages to plant spies in each other's ranks, though most couldn't rise to significant positions. Gathering basic intelligence was difficult enough; wartime transmission was even harder.
Chiyo placed the scroll aside and glared toward Konoha's camp, slamming the table with frustration.
"Tsunade!"
Chiyo yearned to lead a strike on the Land of Fire to avenge her lost family, but Sand Village lacked the power.
The war dragged on, with Hatake Sakumo elusive on the battlefield, moving stealthily within the Land of Fire.
Despite her deep hatred for him, Chiyo kept her composure, holding the line and directing the fight.
In the early stages, Sand Village had some successes. But after Tsunade arrived at Konoha's front-line camp, the good news stopped, replaced only by mounting bad news.
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Up to Chapter 330 available on Patreon.com/c/GGFanfiction :)
Gimme power stonesssss
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