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Chapter 699: Speculations...

However, the eyes of a few ninjas widened. Mabui muttered, "Around a year ago, there were reports of a massive attack inside Konoha. The attack was so strong that several in Konoha feared that the Nine Tails had been set loose once again. And, that attack was a Lightning jutsu as well!"

Everyone\'s eyes widened. Inazuma nodded and said, "Yes. And, from my calculations, that attack was made on the Root, a disgusting special force led by the Shinobi of Darkness. This attack makes me suspect that the one who attacked Root was none other than Akuro."

Nanako questioned, "But why would he attack the Root and now attack us? What is his motivation?"

Mabui asked, "Do you think Konoha is involved in this?"

Mabui thought, \'Konoha lured Raikage-sama away and targeted our military bases. If Akuro is also affiliated with Konoha, it would explain a lot of things. However, why would Konoha employ someone who attacked them?\'

Inazuma answered, "I can\'t be sure. Seeing his strength, there would have been a big fight if they found him. So, there is a chance that they don\'t know anything about him. Or perhaps, they reached a deal with him and are using him to humiliate and weaken us. There\'s no way to tell for sure unless we can capture him."

Everyone thought carefully about Inazuma\'s words. However, one guy lost his cool and shouted, "What does that have to do with the current situation? We just lost 16 Jounins! What should we be doing now? If he can bypass the barrier and attack with that jutsu again, our losses would be incomprehensible!"

Inazuma didn\'t lose his cool and calmly replied, "Considering who our opponent is, our losses are still quite small because I had the foresight to erect this barrier and send only a few ninjas inside."

Everyone around cursed internally at Inazuma\'s damage control attempt. Before anyone could explode again, Inazuma continued, "The fact that he resorted to such an attack shows that he didn\'t have any other way to deal with our attack. An attack of this scale would have also eaten into his chakra reserves considerably. However, you\'re right. It is too risky to continue attacking.

We don\'t know how many times he can use that attack. Even if he can use it just once more, the losses we suffer would be unacceptable. As demoralizing as it may be, we have no other choice but to wait for Lord Fourth. We can just take solace in the fact that we forced him to consume so much of his chakra."

Everyone around nodded. Being unable to do anything when the most important building was taken over by an enemy was too insulting. However, there was nothing they could do but wait. Of course, there were a few who sneered internally. After decades of advising two Raikage, Inazuma had made an error and they didn\'t intend to let him off easily. Unfortunately, none of them knew how big the issue had truly gotten!

While others were feeling helpless, Inazuma said another shocking thing, "There is another odd thing. According to Darui, Akuro claimed that he was from an ancient era. I have never heard of anyone living for centuries, but there is a jutsu that can summon dead people back to life. It\'s the Edo Tensei jutsu which was created by the Second Hokage. However, the ones revived by that technique don\'t have the combat strength they had when they were alive.

So, it is possible that Konoha was experimenting to remove that weakness of the jutsu and something went wrong, causing him to attack Konoha after being revived. Perhaps Akuro broke free from their control and is now roaming free. Or, they managed to get him under control and are using him now. Regardless, if he is an Edo Tensei summon, it could explain why he was unfazed even after getting hit by Yugito and how he can keep using jutsus with such high chakra requirements."

Despite being in the council for several years, all of them were shocked by Inazuma\'s speculation. At the same time, they felt fear towards Konoha. If Konoha could revive rank S ninjas and send them on suicide missions, how could any village resist them? Needless to say, the one who felt the most fear was Mabui.

She wondered, \'Could Konoha have sent revived ninjas to attack the bases? Only that could explain how so many bases were neutralized in so little time. However, if they could do that, why didn\'t they trap Raikage-sama? Since Konoha successfully lured him there, why didn\'t they use revived ninjas to eliminate Raikage-sama and Bee? That would be far more advantageous to them than eliminating our bases and destroying the Raikage Building.\'

As she analyzed, Mabui\'s fear decreased and she glanced at Inazuma while thinking, \'His analysis is wrong. Or rather, if he\'s right about Akuro being an Edo Tensei, then Akuro is no longer under Konoha\'s control. Otherwise, our losses would be far more severe.\'

Others didn\'t have the same information that Mabui had and felt that Inazuma\'s speculations were true. Nanako muttered, "If that is right, then we can\'t kill Akuro. We\'ll have to seal him."

Inazuma nodded and said, "Yes. However, that\'ll be the least of our concerns... I truly hope that I am just overthinking this. Otherwise, the world will be a mess. Even if all of us unite against Konoha, we wouldn\'t stand a chance."

Everyone had solemn expressions and hoped the same. While the Kumogakure ninjas waited, Fujin returned to the base he had created in the Land of Frost. He had already collected the scroll containing the Chakra Transmission Communication device before returning here.

Fujin continued analyzing, \'I need a few new summons so that I can use summons with Akuro and Shiden identities. Luckily, I know just the ones that would suit me perfectly. Unfortunately…\'

A frown appeared on Fujin\'s face as he changed back to his original appearance. He thought, \'Even though those monsters in the ocean would be perfect, I\'m not sure if I can tame them. Defeating, or even killing them, shouldn\'t be much of an issue for me.

However, I\'m not sure if that\'ll be enough to make them accept a contract. After all, they have lived for a long time and might prefer death instead of being forced. Talking could help, but I\'m not sure if any of them will be open to a discussion…\'

Fujin chuckled. It was a weird problem to have. He decided, \'Leave it, I can\'t control that. After Orochimaru is dealt with, I\'ll make a trip to that ocean. Considering the number of monsters, I can afford to experiment. Even if I end up killing a few, it won\'t be a loss.

That said, perhaps I should also sign a contract with another summoning clan. Ryu said that I can\'t sign a contract with a clan that knows how to harness nature energy, but others are fair game. I can pass that contract to Phantom Haven members and raise their strength by ensuring that everyone has a summon.

Alternatively, I could just make them raise animal companions like the Inuzuka clan though that might be a bit complicated. It\'ll need a lot of resources and I\'ll need to steal information from the clans who have such companions…\'

As he was thinking, Fujin destroyed the underground base along with all the corpses. He only kept Dodai\'s corpse with him as he found his abilities interesting and felt that he might be useful if Fujin got his hands on the Edo Tensei jutsu.

Fujin teleported to the nearest Flying Thunder God mark and wondered, \'I still have around half a day before I should be back in the village. What do I do in the meantime?\'

Several ideas flashed in his mind. The first was visiting Phantom Haven Society, but he dropped it since it hadn\'t been a long time since his previous visit. After thinking for a bit, a mischievous smile appeared on Fujin\'s face as he decided, \'Since I\'m here, I might as well mark the entire Land of Frost and the Land of Hot Water.\'

A couple of hours later, Ay and Bee could finally see Kumogakure! Both their breathing was rough. Ay muttered, "Just in time."

[A/N: Next chapter: Walking into the Trap!]

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