Shikaku genuinely considered Feng Bai's suggestion.
However, in the end, the Will of Fire in his heart triumphed over hawkish thinking. He immediately rejected Feng Bai's proposal and tossed the Grass shinobi's corpse back into the pile of bodies.
With his suggestion rejected, Feng Bai wasn't angry.
After all, Shikaku was the team captain. Still, this guy really was decisive—seeing that no useful information could be extracted, he'd had Feng Bai silence that Grass shinobi.
Tsk, tsk, tsk. People really can't be judged by appearances.
The group continued forward and soon encountered a large Grass shinobi unit cleaning up the battlefield.
"Konoha shinobi—why are you here?!"
Seeing Feng Bai and the others, someone who appeared to be a Grass shinobi higher-up stepped forward, mustering his courage to shout at them.
Nara Shikaku didn't indulge him. Though the negotiation venue wasn't a conference room, he still righteously condemned their disgraceful attempt to attack Konoha and provoke conflict.
Seeing the other party seemingly unwilling to admit anything, Shikaku directly stated that one of the attackers was currently "visiting" Konoha'sInterrogation Division, and they were welcome to go see for themselves.
Hearing that there was actually a survivor captured, this higher-up's momentum immediately faltered, but he still stubbornly claimed these were spontaneous actions by individual Grass shinobi and couldn't represent Hidden Grass Village's will.
However, such rebuttals were clearly inadequate in the face of absolute strength.
At this point, Hidden Grass Village's leadership hadn't yet realized they were now in the Fourth Hokage's era and continued using the same strategy as when Sarutobi Hiruzen was Hokage, preparing to muddle through with sophistry.
Playing this game?
Feng Bai picked at his ear, watching the Hidden Grass Village higher-up who continued chattering endlessly, insisting he knew absolutely nothing and that Hidden Grass Village remained Konoha's most steadfast ally, blah blah blah. He found the man extremely annoying.
Nara Shikaku felt the same way.
Looking at these Grass shinobi who wouldn't shed tears until they saw their coffins, Nara Shikaku decisively played the Feng Bai card, preparing to intimidate them with the "White Reaper" reputation.
After giving Feng Bai a meaningful look, and to prevent another misunderstanding like before, Nara Shikaku specifically added lip movements.
I understand.
Seeing the other's gaze and verbal cues, Feng Bai responded with his own meaningful look.
Then, in full view of everyone, Feng Bai clapped his hands and used the lightweight version of Fūrei he'd recently developed.
"Ice Release: Ice Golem Jutsu!"
As the ice golem rose from the ground, appearing before the Grass shinobi, the acting village chief who had been arguing stubbornly instantly shut his mouth.
"It's actually Ice Release—that means he's Konoha'sWhite Reaper!"
"No way, Konoha actually sent such a powerful shinobi. Are they really planning to declare war on us?"
"Damn, such a massive giant—how much chakra would it take to create that?"
Amid the chattering discussions, the Hidden Grass Village acting village chief remained expressionless, directly facing the giant before him and Feng Bai standing on its head.
"This old guy is quite brave. Well, I should still follow Captain Shikaku's intentions and get to work."
Seeing the completely unmoved Hidden Grass Village acting village chief, Feng Bai admired his courage while preparing to control the giant to eliminate all the Grass shinobi present.
"Wait, is that giant raising its fist?"
"Holy shit, no good—the Konoha shinobi really are planning to kill us!"
"Quick, run! Go seek aid from Hidden Rock Village!"
Amid the chaotic noise, only the acting village chief remained calm.
This heroic posture was quickly noticed by the Grass shinobi.
"The village chief isn't planning to run?"
The originally scattered Grass shinobi were instantly inspired, all stopping in their tracks, preparing to burn their village chief's heroic image into their eyes and pass it down through generations.
"That's right—no matter how strong the White Reaper is, he's just one person. He can't kill all of us!"
"Right, let's fight the Konoha shinobi!"
"Fight!"
As the ice golem's giant fist drew closer to the acting village chief, Shikaku, who had just been satisfied that Feng Bai finally understood his meaning, began to lose his composure.
The more he watched, the more he felt that Feng Bai wasn't trying to intimidate them, but really planned to kill all the Grass shinobi.
Realizing there was a huge miscommunication, Shikaku hurriedly tried to find an excuse to stop Feng Bai's actions, but the Hidden Grass Village acting village chief spoke up at just the right moment.
"Whatever conditions Konoha has, just state them. Oh, and someone help me up—my leg condition is acting up."
Well, he wasn't some resolute hero after all, but rather too old—his mind wanted to surrender, but his mouth was several beats too slow.
If only he'd done this earlier—Feng Bai had nearly been forced to witness such a historic event as Hidden Grass Village's destruction.
Nara Shikaku was very satisfied with the other's pragmatic attitude and immediately stated Konoha's demands.
After hearing that they wanted to take away the Uzumaki clan woman, the acting village chief visibly relaxed.
He regretfully told Shikaku that the woman had already been taken by the attackers—if Konoha wanted her, they'd have to go find those two guys.
If they didn't believe him, they were welcome to search the village.
Hearing this explanation, Nara Shikaku's expression changed. He hadn't expected the attackers to go to such lengths to assault Hidden Grass Village just for that Uzumaki clan member.
So when they attacked Konoha before, were they also targeting Kushina?
The strategist began thinking, while Feng Bai curiously asked from the side: "The adult was taken—what about her child?"
At these words, the Hidden Grass Village shinobi who had been celebrating immediately changed expressions.
Nara Shikaku also stopped thinking, shocked by Feng Bai's sudden statement.
A child? Where did a child come from? The intelligence never mentioned that.
But looking at these Grass shinobi's expressions, this didn't seem to be groundless speculation.
It appeared that even with Root being reorganized, Danzo still had unknown intelligence sources.
"Wh-what child..."
The Hidden Grass Village higher-up still wanted to deny it, but how could Shikaku give them that chance? He immediately prepared to give Feng Bai another meaningful look.
Please don't signal anymore—we surrender, isn't that enough?
Seeing Feng Bai about to clap his hands again, the Hidden Grass Village higher-ups immediately dropped to their knees, ordering subordinates to bring over a child still in swaddling clothes.
Taking the child from them, Feng Bai noted the red hair was correct, but the pupil color seemed strange.
He lifted the swaddling cloth, and after seeing the pendant on the child, Feng Bai handed the baby back.
"No, that child is clearly a girl."
They even knew the gender? This child had only just been born recently.
Seeing Feng Bai about to act again, Hidden Grass Village finally dared not play tricks and brought out the real Karin.
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