"What? You're saying the Stone Village has withdrawn?!"
Akimichi Torifu said with delight.
But almost immediately, something felt off. I endured so much hardship, even risked taking the blame… and now you're telling me they just withdrew?
"What? You're saying the Stone Village has withdrawn?!"
Just moments ago he was thrilled—now he was furious.
The exact same sentence, yet two completely different emotions. The art of language was truly fascinating.
"Y-yes, the Stone Village… they've retreated, and very quickly at that."
The intelligence ninja who brought the report was so startled he could barely speak.
Isn't their withdrawal good news?
And why did Torifu-sama go from happy to angry?
"That's enough. You may leave. Torifu-sama needs to arrange the next steps."
Aburame Shiken said.
"Yes, Shiken-sama."
After the messenger left, Aburame Shiken tried to comfort Akimichi Torifu.
"Torifu-sama, the Stone Village's retreat is a good thing. Now we can push the battlefield forward instead, and the pressure the village puts on you will lessen. You should be happy."
Torifu thought to himself:
If you'd said that a week ago, before the Stone Village even stepped into the Land of Fire, I would've been overjoyed.
But now, when a much bigger gain was within reach—after everything I suffered, after all the risks I took—it's all gone. How am I supposed to be happy?
It's like someone gives you 100,000, and you're thrilled. Then they say if you take a beating, you'll get 1,000,000. You happily agree. But halfway through the beating, they walk away. The million is gone. Sure, you still get the 100,000—but can you really be happy about it? You could've had a million.
"Shiken… what do we do next?"
"If we're talking about Konoha's strategic objective—repelling the enemy beyond our borders—we've already achieved it. Unless something major changes, the Stone Village likely won't leave the Land of Earth again."
"And what if we want to push into the Land of Earth?"
Akimichi Torifu still wanted to get that "million" back—no, to contribute to Konoha and the Land of Fire by striking the enemy hard.
"It's simple, Torifu-sama. You hold off Ōnoki, wipe out 8,000 Stone ninja in three days, and take the Stone Village within half a month."
"Ahem… the ninja world is turbulent right now. We should proceed steadily."
What a joke—fight the Third Tsuchikage?
With that, Akimichi Torifu left. Finally, he could catch up on some sleep. Thank goodness.
Aburame Shiken watched his departing figure and shook his head helplessly.
What he said earlier was just meant to scare Torifu.
Eliminating 8,000 ninja? Easy.
Taking the Stone Village?
Those two tailed beasts alone would be troublesome. He, Aburame Shiken, wasn't from the Senju clan—he didn't have those kinds of advantages.
Fighting tailed beasts? Don't be ridiculous.
Still, another war in the Second Shinobi World War had come to an end.
Another glorious achievement added to his record.
As for the insects? Just tools. They weren't counted among casualties.
Come to think of it… will I end up earning a title like "the undefeated warrior"?
Heh… that actually sounds pretty cool.
...
Konoha.
High-level meeting room.
"We must replace him! Torifu doesn't have the leadership ability. Send me instead! In just a few days, without even a single battle, the Stone Village advanced over 150 km into the Land of Fire. What, are they planning to let the enemy reach Konoha before fighting?!"
Utatane Koharu said angrily.
Too incompetent. Look at the Land of Lightning front—Nara Shikaku, that kid, had the resolve to fight to the bitter end against the Cloud Village.
In comparison, Torifu's performance was terrible.
"Koharu, calm down. This isn't Torifu's fault. Hiruzen… Aburame Shiken must be eliminated. Letting the Stone ninja advance was definitely his idea. He likely used some scheme to deceive Torifu and may have already reached an agreement with the Stone Village. Right now, the entire Aburame clan is on the front lines, leaving only the old and weak in the village. The clan wouldn't fight to the death for Konoha because of them."
Mitokado Homura analyzed.
As expected, ninja clans were unreliable.
Hiruzen Sarutobi continued reviewing the intelligence in his hands.
Has the Aburame clan really decided to betray them?
It must be so.
Otherwise, why would they hand over 80% of their clan's funds before the Rain Country war?
And why deploy their entire clan this time?
If the Aburame clan already harbors rebellious intent…
Then what about the Inuzuka, Uchiha, Hyūga?
Damn it—he had been misled by the performance of the Ino–Shika–Chō trio on the Lightning front.
They may be ninja clans, but they're part of our faction. Not to mention Senju Hideki, the future head of the Senju clan, is on the main battlefield.
They would never betray Konoha.
But the Aburame, Inuzuka, Hyūga, and Uchiha… that's not certain.
Especially the Uchiha.
Uchiha: What does this have to do with us? We only sent 800 Uchiha to the battlefield, and they're fighting hard! There are still over a thousand of us in the clan compound. And you think we'd rebel like this? Hiruzen Sarutobi, maybe check your bias.
After pondering for a while longer, Hiruzen grew more convinced.
"The Aburame clan…"
"Report! Hokage-sama, the Stone Village has withdrawn. They are currently retreating from the Land of Fire at great speed."
"As a part of Konoha, the Aburame clan has always been loyal. The ninja on the front lines are fighting with their lives. Koharu, Homura—you cannot doubt Konoha's ninja just because of a temporary setback."
Hiruzen spoke earnestly.
Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura were so angry they nearly crushed their teeth.
You only said a few words at first, but do you think we don't know what you were thinking? Who are you trying to fool with that act?
The three of them picked up the report and read it together.
It was extremely concise. After reading it, all they really knew was that the Stone Village had retreated.
"Send word to Torifu. I want to know why the Stone Village withdrew."
...
On the Stone Village's side—
After a full day of rushing, over 7,000 Stone ninja finally returned to the borders of the Land of Earth.
Looking at their familiar land, many elite Stone ninja were filled with indignation.
They had already captured so much fertile territory in the Land of Fire—only to return to this barren, rocky place.
They refused to accept it.
The Tsuchikage had to give them an explanation.
They would obey his orders unconditionally—but they also had the right to know why.
So they gathered and went together to see Ōnoki.
Seeing them arrive as a group, Ōnoki understood their purpose.
Without wasting time, he explained what Aburame Shiken had done in the Land of Rain.
He also analyzed from multiple angles that Konoha must be plotting something major.
At the same time, he used the battle between the Cloud Village and Konoha as supporting evidence.
And so, the night passed.
...
At the Konoha camp, which had already pushed its front line into the Land of Grass—
Aburame Shiken looked at the underground network of insect swarms that had taken shape. Among them were several white corpses, tightly wrapped.
"The ninja world truly has no simple characters. But where exactly did things go wrong, allowing the Stone Village to uncover my plan?"
He paused, then continued:
"But it's fine. If you don't fight, I can focus on raising my insects. Either way, I don't lose."
Gazing at the dim sky, his low voice echoed:
"War is a game where everyone loses."
"And I am a player who only develops."
"Development… never loses."
----------------
Pls Drop some Power Stones
+100 chapters and support me on Patreon(.)com/Jixo