Chapter 188: The Fatal Mandarin Ducks! The Raid on Kawanin Village!
The debate among the higher-ups of Kawanin Village lasted for nearly two hours!
But it ended fruitlessly!
Facing the imminent arrival of Konoha's elite forces!
A polarization began to emerge among the Kawanin Village's higher-ups!
However, as of now, those advocating for war and continued alliance with Sunagakure still hold the upper hand!
At a stone house somewhere in Kawanin Village!
Under the cover of night, Fujiwara Tetsuya quietly hid in the shadows of the stone house!
He stood for a full half-hour!
Only when the gasps and moans from inside the house completely ceased did Fujiwara Tetsuya slip in through a gap in the second-floor window.
"Who's there!"
Fujiwara Tetsuya's sudden appearance immediately alerted the person inside!
However, before the other party could react, Fujiwara Tetsuya knocked out the fully naked, voluptuous woman!
He then steadily propped kirimaru onto the shoulder of the man, who was now utterly panicked.
"Gulp~ Who exactly are you, Your Excellency!"
"I don't know if I did anything wrong in the past to offend you!"
"If so, I am willing to offer compensation!"
"I only hope you will spare my life!"
This person before him was no ordinary individual!
In fact, he was quite high-ranking within the entire Kawanin Village!
After all, even if the other party was slow to react and too fond of women, he was still a Jonin!
Fujiwara Tetsuya had, over the past few hours, through various identities, gathered a fairly comprehensive understanding of Kawanin Village's basic situation!
However, information regarding the Kawanin Village's higher-ups, especially concerning their relationship with Sunagakure, was extremely limited.
And the man before him was one of the guards of Kawanin Village's nominal leader, Inukai Tsuda!
He must know many inside stories that ordinary people couldn't access!
"Don't be nervous! You haven't offended me!"
"I came to you simply to ask a few questions!"
"I hope you can answer truthfully!"
With the doors and windows completely closed, the stone house had good soundproofing!
At least, during Fujiwara Tetsuya's subsequent half-hour of interrogation, no one foolish enough to cause trouble came by!
After employing several Anbu interrogation techniques, Fujiwara Tetsuya obtained the intelligence he desired from the Kawanin before him!
This included the times for the changing of guards at Kawanin Village's north and south gates!
"Given your cooperation, I will grant you both a peaceful death! Don't worry!"
"Once we leave Kawanin Village, I will find a place with good Feng Shui and bury you both together!"
Without a trace of mercy, Fujiwara Tetsuya, after killing the Kawanin Jonin, reached out and crushed the throat of the woman beside him!
After sealing both bodies and disposing of all traces, he quickly left the stone house!
...Morning! The light of the rising sun pierced through the dense foliage, scattering onto the uneven streets of Kawanin Village!
After Fujiwara Tetsuya rendezvoused with Sakumo Hatake, they openly walked out of Kawanin Village with dozens of Kawanin Villagers, under the watchful eyes of the Ninja guarding the North Gate!
"Squad Leader, if what you say is true, then there are clearly divisions within Kawanin Village!"
"So, do you think we can bring the so-called conservatives, as mentioned by the Kawanin Ninja, over to our side?"
After Fujiwara Tetsuya and Sakumo Hatake shared the intelligence they had each gathered, Fujiwara Tetsuya, Sakumo Hatake, Saru, and the leaders of the other two squads began discussing their next steps!
"Recruit them?"
"Night, what do you think?"
Hearing Saru's question, Sakumo Hatake's gaze lingered on Saru for only a second before he turned to look at Fujiwara Tetsuya, who was yawning.
"What the Squad Leader just mentioned is indeed a good option!"
"If we can bring those so-called conservatives over, it would indeed save us a lot of trouble!"
"However, I don't recommend doing so! At least not now!"
"The human heart is the hardest thing to fathom!"
"The higher-ups of Kawanin Village chose to stand against Konoha!"
"Betrayal, once it happens, might happen a second, or even a third time!"
"Kawanin Village is not particularly close to Konoha! If something like this happens again in the future, we can't just run there every time, can we?"
"So… what's your suggestion, Night?"
Compared to Saru, whose expression was gradually becoming more serious, Sakumo Hatake seemed to take a keen interest in Fujiwara Tetsuya's decision.
In his opinion, Saru's way of doing things, in some sense, bore too many similarities to the Third Hokage's!
Especially that inexplicable indecisiveness and universal benevolence!
Of course, he wasn't saying these were bad things!
It's just that such soft emotions are not suitable for matters between nations and villages!
"Naturally, we strike first!"
"If we can annihilate Kawanin Village's Ninja forces in one fell swoop, that would be ideal!"
"If not, then we eliminate Kawanin Village's high-end combat power first!"
"Then we support those nominal conservatives!"
"Through them, we control Kawanin Village!"
"Making Kawanin Village a strong barrier in the western part of the Land of Fire!"
"Slaughter?"
"It seems our thoughts are aligned!"
Meeting Fujiwara Tetsuya's calm gaze, Sakumo Hatake nodded in satisfaction.
"Saru, you are still too kind!"
"Perhaps it's time for you to seriously consider what your value is as a Konoha Ninja, as an Anbu!"
"Night is right! For a fickle village like Kawanin Village, we strike first!"
"Only by engraving blood and death deep into the souls of Kawanin Ninja will they understand what reverence means!"
"Only then will they clearly know what they should do!"
"At least for the next few decades, they won't dare to harbor covetous thoughts towards the Land of Fire or Konoha again!"
After Sakumo Hatake made the final decision, the details of the surprise attack were subsequently finalized.
Late at night, after the Villagers of Kawanin Village had successively fallen asleep, Fujiwara Tetsuya, Sakumo Hatake, and others, under the cover of darkness, arrived at the nearest tree line outside Kawanin Village's North Gate.
Unlike Konoha, medium and small Ninja Villages like Kawanin Village do not have barrier-ninjutsu!
So Fujiwara Tetsuya and his team did not need to painstakingly search for a breakthrough point!
What they needed to pay attention to was speed! Enough speed!
After breaking through the peripheral areas of Kawanin Village, they had to push into the core area where the Kawanin higher-ups resided before the Kawanin could react!
"Move out!"
Under Sakumo Hatake's cold voice, several flashes of silver light streaked across, and the Ninja guarding Kawanin Village's North Gate fell to the ground!
And Fujiwara Tetsuya and his team, at this moment, all drew their Ninja tools and advanced, following Sakumo Hatake's footsteps!