vstars Chapter 779 Composure
Chapter 779 Composure
“In that case…” Kazekage’s voice carried a hint of helplessness, yet sounded unusually calm, “Then, the heavy responsibility of attacking Konoha will be entrusted to Rasa.”
Upon hearing this, Rasa immediately straightened his chest, his eyes gleaming with determination. He patted his chest vigorously and loudly assured, "Rest assured, Lord Kazekage! I, Rasa, will never betray your trust! I will definitely complete this strategic mission!"
With the issue of the Kazekage's participation resolved, the next part of the meeting moved into the substantive war planning phase. However, the question of the number of ninjas to be deployed became a major problem.
“Our village doesn’t have many ninjas to begin with. If too many are sent out, the village will become vulnerable. If other villages take advantage of this, the consequences will be unimaginable!” an elder said worriedly.
“However, if we send too few people, not only will we be unable to pose a real threat to Konoha, but Konoha will also be able to see through our current strength, and it may even make Iwagakure doubt our strength!” Another high-ranking official also expressed his concerns.
The meeting room erupted into another heated discussion. The senior executives chimed in, each with their own reasons and concerns. Due to a severe shortage of personnel, the issue had become exceptionally thorny, and after much deliberation, they still couldn't reach a consensus.
Ultimately, as the discussions among the higher-ups reached a stalemate, everyone instinctively turned their pleading gaze to the Kazekage, who sat in the main seat. They believed that only the Kazekage could make the right decision at such a crucial moment.
After the meeting room quieted down, Zhang Hai, controlling the Wind Shadow Puppet, slowly spoke. His voice was deep and powerful, carrying an undeniable decisiveness.
"In that case, I have made my decision. In this 'Hurricane Operation,' our Sand Village will deploy two thousand ninjas to attack Konoha!"
No sooner had Feng Ying finished speaking than an elder immediately raised an objection.
"Lord Kazekage, forgive my bluntness, but two thousand men... isn't that far too few?!" The elder's tone was filled with confusion and worry. "Iwagakure is said to be mobilizing at least ten thousand men! If Sunagakure only sends one-fifth of their forces, even if it's just a feint, it will arouse suspicion in Iwagakure. More importantly, with such a small force, Konoha's intelligence agencies can easily see through our current weakness, which would backfire!"
The elders' concerns were not without merit, and the other high-ranking members echoed their sentiments. Two thousand ninjas were indeed insignificant in the face of a large-scale ninja war.
Feng Ying looked at the elder who had raised the question, a confident smile appearing on his face. He waved his hand, interrupting the elder, and said in a gentle tone, "I completely understand the elder's concerns. However, please let me finish."
His gaze shifted to the scorpion, a hint of something deeper in his eyes.
"Although we actually deployed two thousand ninjas, we can claim to the outside world that we deployed five thousand."
Upon hearing this, the elder frowned again: "But Lord Kazekage, Konoha's intelligence agencies are not to be trifled with. They will soon see through our lies!"
Feng Ying smiled slightly and said unhurriedly, "With Scorpion around, nothing is impossible."
Upon hearing Fengying call his name, Scorpion took a step forward in understanding. His gaze swept over every high-ranking official present, a mysterious smile playing on his lips.
"Elders and colleagues, I have obtained a large amount of puppet-making technology and special materials sufficient to create puppets from the Loulan ruins."
Sasori paused, a hint of arrogance in his voice: "I can completely transform these puppets into a puppet army indistinguishable from real people. Then, as long as these puppets are dressed in ninja attire, even Konoha's intelligence agencies will be completely unable to distinguish them from the real thing!"
After receiving Sasori's explanation, the tense expressions on the faces of the elders and high-ranking officials in the conference room finally relaxed completely. Their eyes gleamed with surprise and sudden realization. A puppet army—this idea was brilliant! It could both deceive Konoha and Iwagakure, and protect Sunagakure's own ninja power; it was a win-win situation.
Seeing the renewed hope among the higher-ups, Feng Ying waved his hand and issued the final order.
"Very good! In that case, all ninjas, immediately cooperate with Sasori to modify and deploy the puppets! Ten days later, according to the 'Operation Hurricane' plan, launch the attack on Konoha on time!"
"Yes!"
Confident responses echoed in the conference room. Every high-ranking member had a determined look in their eyes, as if they could already see Sunagakure, under the leadership of the Kazekage, heading towards a glorious future once again.
Seeing this, Granny Chiyo's wrinkled face broke into a relieved smile. Leaning on her cane, she stood silently to the side, her heart filled with emotion. With the Kazekage as their pillar of strength, and with Sasori's power skyrocketing, Sunagakure would no longer be a weakling to be bullied!
The meeting ended quickly. Just as Zhang Hai had predicted, as the Kazekage left the meeting room and headed towards his residence, a large number of Anbu ninjas appeared silently around him under the guise of protection, surrounding him completely.
Through his spiritual perception, Zhang Hai knew that the higher-ups were worried about the Kazekage disappearing again, which was why they had sent ANBU to protect him closely. He understood their feelings and knew the enormous blow the Kazekage's sudden disappearance would deal to Sunagakure, especially for these loyal ANBU ninjas, who would find it unbearable. Therefore, he didn't make things difficult for the ANBU; he simply impersonated the Kazekage and calmly accepted their "protection."
The Kazekage stopped at the door of his residence, patted the shoulder of an ANBU ninja beside him, and spoke with a hint of gratitude.
"Thank you for your hard work. You all stay outside and keep watch; I need some time to rest."
The ANBU ninja respectfully replied "Yes," and then watched the Kazekage enter the room.
As the door slowly closed and the Kazekage's figure completely disappeared from the ANBU ninja's sight, Zhang Hai immediately acted. The Kazekage puppet slowly closed its eyes, its body falling into a silent state. Almost simultaneously, the soul that Zhang Hai had created also silently returned to his original body.
It turned out that Zhang Hai's main body had already infiltrated Sunagakure silently through a secret passage. The reason he had the Kazekage puppet enter the room was to cover his tracks and facilitate his main body's actions.
"Now, it's time to see Scorpion," Zhang Hai thought to himself. He needed to discuss countermeasures with Scorpion to see how to get the Wind Shadow Puppet to leave the village in a legitimate way. Although his splitting technique was powerful, it had distance limitations. Once the split soul was too far from the original body, he might lose control of the soul, and it might even form an independent second consciousness, which would have very serious consequences.