Chapter 703: Sacrifice

Chapter 703: Sacrifice

Inazuma's voice quivered as he questioned Ay. Others in the room could feel the pain he was feeling due to the losses Kumogakure had just suffered. Everyone else was feeling the same. As the leaders of Kumogakure, most were well-connected and had someone close to them in the camps. Even if they didn't, the loss was just too painful for Kumogakure.

Ay didn't reply and just stayed quiet. The opportunity had come suddenly when he least expected it. He didn't have the time to consult others as any opposition would have resulted in the opportunity slipping away. In addition, the manner in which the military camps were cleared by Fujin meant that even if he had involved others, it wouldn't have made much of a difference.

In fact, had Shikaku and Hiruzen known about Fujin's Fuin Battlefield, they would have changed their plans drastically. There was no need to lure Ay and Bee out. Fujin could have silently eliminated all 10 bases over a couple of days before Kumogakure realized what was happening because they wouldn't have been nearly as alert as they were. Their losses would have been even higher in that case.

Of course, no one knew how the camps were eliminated. Even if they did, it didn't take the blame away from Ay. After all, he was the leader of Kumogakure. He was the one responsible for the village's protection. And, he had failed miserably at his job.

One of the council members muttered, "This will cause a great upheaval in the village. The family members of the dead will grieve. The family members of the missing ninjas will be troubled until we can find them. And..."

She paused for a moment before continuing grimly, "And, if we can't find them, then this would be one of the greatest tragedies that the village has suffered since the foundation! The longer we go without finding them, the more unstable the village will become."

Everyone stared at Ay as the council member shared her thoughts. Even though she painted a solemn picture, there was another hidden message in her words which was caught by everyone. Bee's expression became serious and Mabui barely managed to restrain herself. She asked as calmly as she could, "What are you implying?"

An underlying threat could be perceived from her words. It made the council members nervous, but all of them stood their ground. Suddenly, Ay said, "Mabui, calm down. As the Raikage, I have to accept responsibility for this matter."

The loss of close to a thousand elite ninjas was something that threatened Ay's seat! The fact that he carelessly left to hunt Fujin without consulting anyone made it even worse. Needless to say, this was one of Shikaku's goals as well.

While he didn't believe Ay would lose his seat, any instability in Kumogakure was good news for Konoha. The more Ay would be caught up in internal politics, the less energy he would have to create trouble for Konoha. What Shikaku didn't anticipate was how thorough Fujin would be and that he would amplify the matter several times with Akuro's identity.

Despite being as strong as he was, Ay was feeling the heat at that instant. Both he and Bee were out of the village when they needed them the most. Even Darui and Yugito suffered a defeat at the hands of Akuro while Mabui sent several Anbu squads to their deaths. As such, all the top leaders in his faction had messed up. Political instability inside Kumogakure was inevitable.

Luckily, the few rank S ninjas in Kumogakure were all loyal to him and all shared the blame to a certain degree. So, there wasn't anyone to replace him. Everyone in the council understood that and hence no one openly dared to tell him to resign.

To everyone's surprise, Inazuma suddenly asked, "Accept responsibility? What are you going to do? Retire?"

Still, to think that Konoha would make such a deadly scheme. To cause us such heavy losses and even threaten my chair. And, Darui just happens to run into someone as strong as Akuro at the same time, who, for some reason, goes all out to humiliate us. Was all this just a coincidence, or is Konoha behind everything? In any case, I now understand why Father was so wary of Konoha. From the start to the end, I had no control of the situation!'

Ay felt a great hatred towards Konoha. However, he knew that his options against Konoha were very limited. More importantly, he'd have to devote all his energy to stabilizing Kumogakure. If he made another reckless move and Kumogakure suffered once again, the opportunity he got due to Inazuma's sacrifice would be wasted and he wouldn't be able to control the internal situation.

Ay, the council members and some senior ninjas discussed how they should deal with the situation throughout the night. Darui and his army returned to the village during this time. He quickly met up with Ay and the rest and informed them about his experiences.

Of course, the spies also took advantage of the darkness. With the barrier no longer covering the village, they sent messenger birds to their respective villages. As luck would have it, a couple of ninjas from Darui's army were spies as well, one from Konoha and one from Iwa. As soon as they got an opportunity, they did the same. Even though Kumogakure was alert, they couldn't track this as they mixed among the messenger birds continuously sent from the Raikage's office.

As the first rays of the Sun fell on Konoha, Fujin returned to Hiruzen's office. Hiruzen and Shikaku were already waiting for him and cleared the room immediately. Both had smiles on their faces. Hiruzen asked, "How many did you get?"

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