CHAPTER 346: KAZEKAGE NINJA-CHAPTER 135: KAKUZU’S BIG BREAK

"Hmph! Who would’ve thought that thick-browed, honest-looking Yagura Karatachi could turn so cunning and ruthless!"

Jinghang’s face was dark as he slammed Maki’s telegram onto the desk.

Sasori picked up the telegram, and halfway through reading, his brow furrowed.

"What?! Kirigakure detained Commander Maki? This... oh... I see now."

Sasori quickly grasped the situation.

"Damn, Kirigakure wants to have their cake and eat it too!"

"Yeah, objectively speaking, as a mature leader, doing this is understandable. But..."

Jinghang stood up, a flash of killing intent crossing his face.

"Subjectively speaking, this pisses me off!"

Originally, the conditions I offered Kirigakure were generous enough, and my demands weren’t high—just don’t cause trouble, or cause trouble later. But what does that baby-face do? He takes my subordinate hostage! Damn it, trying to pull a double-cross on me? Looks like having too good a reputation isn’t always a good thing. Have I not killed anyone for so long that people think I’m some pushover? Please—I’m very difficult to deal with.

"After this war’s over, we absolutely must build a powerful navy. If we ever really need to beat up Kirigakure, we can’t let the ocean become their shield!"

Jinghang suddenly looked at Sasori.

"How about it? Interested in taking this on?"

Sasori shook his head. "Godfather, you can’t build a navy in a day or two. Our ninja village doesn’t have many ninja skilled in Water Release—we’re naturally disadvantaged in naval warfare. Plus there’s warship construction, personnel training, tactical development... the money, manpower, and time required would be unimaginable. It’s not realistic."

"Did I say we’d build the navy in a day or two? Start by setting up the framework. If my generation can’t finish it, your generation can continue." Jinghang’s tone carried slight reproach, but inside he felt very gratified—Sasori was beginning to develop a leader’s strategic perspective.

Suddenly Jinghang recalled the plot from the Naruto movie "Bonds" (the one with the Zero-Tails Jinchuriki), where the "Sky Ninja" group sailed in with aircraft carriers and bombed Konoha directly from the air using gliders.

So Jinghang excitedly shared his ideas with Sasori. After brief consideration, Sasori replied, "Godfather, the concept’s good, but ships that large would need massive chakra for propulsion. Add the ship’s own weight plus the loaded ninja and equipment—with our current technology, eight out of ten would sink. To build the warships you’re imagining, we’d need to optimize our current chakra propulsion system’s efficiency and completely redesign the hull layout. That’s a massive project—couldn’t be done in less than ten years."

Sigh, too bad my science knowledge is barely at a high school freshman level. I can’t even draw engine schematics now, or I’d directly unlock the tech tree and enter the ninja-tech era.

"No problem, we’ll research it gradually. I’m planning to integrate several research institutions in the village, with you taking the lead. More minds make work easier."

"Alright, leave this to me." Sasori smiled happily.

"But about the Sky Ninja

you mentioned—with our village’s current technology, that might actually be achievable. Hmm, let me think..."

"No rush on this. We’ll discuss it after this battle’s over. Godfather fully supports you." Jinghang smiled.

Even if we built suitable aircraft now, there wouldn’t be time to train so many pilots. After this battle, with 100 billion ryo in hand, there’ll be plenty of time to develop.

But this opened up another line of thinking for Jinghang.

"What if we occasionally used flying puppets to bomb Konoha? What do you think?"

"Great idea! But exploding tags on the market are several times more expensive now, and we don’t have much stock left." Sasori replied.

Jinghang thought for a moment. "No problem—it’s just money! Buy them—we’re not short on cash. Later we’ll set up a bombing plan and give Konoha a real taste of hell."

"Deal!" Sasori laughed.

"By the way, Godfather, Commander Maki has served in the Yuexi Peninsula for years and knows the local defenses well. Now that he’s detained, the Yuexi Peninsula is leaderless. If Kirigakure suddenly attacks the Yuexi Peninsula, we won’t have anyone to take charge."

Jinghang smiled. "Good, you’re making progress—thinking with some depth now. But you have a bad habit that needs fixing."

"What habit?" Sasori asked, puzzled.

Jinghang picked up the telegram from the desk and handed it over. "Carelessness! You only read half the message."

Sasori took the letter again and read it carefully.

"What?! Maki recommends Kakuzu as acting chief of the Yuexi Peninsula!"

"So what?"

"But Kakuzu isn’t even from Sunagakure!"

"So what if he’s not from Sunagakure? Who made a rule that non-Sunagakure people can’t hold office in Sunagakure?"

"But Kakuzu’s a rogue ninja!"

"So what if he’s a rogue ninja? Who made a rule that rogue ninja can’t hold office in Sunagakure?"

Jinghang smiled and ruffled Sasori’s hair.

"Kid, you still have a lot to learn about leadership."

Sasori

smoothed his hair and remained silent.

"I actually think Maki’s recommendation is excellent. I’ll have Kakuzu come over, and I’ll personally assign him the job."

"Godfather, someone like Kakuzu—he could even betray the village that raised him. Would he really fight desperately for Sunagakure?"

"Of course not." Jinghang shook his head.

"Then why put him in charge of defending the Yuexi Peninsula?!" Sasori was confused.

"Because he’ll defend the Yuexi Peninsula with his life."

Jinghang smiled.

"Why?"

"Because the Yuexi Peninsula has something worth defending with his life."

"What’s that?"

"A sense of belonging, achievement, existence, and..."

Jinghang extended his right hand, rubbing his index finger and thumb together.

"His money."

Just then, the tent flap was suddenly thrown open. Jinghang and Sasori looked up—it was Third Raikage A.

"Jinghang, I’ve got good news!"

"Oh? Let’s hear it." Jinghang smiled.

"My people found that crazy girl Yugito."

"Really?! That’s fantastic! Where is she?"

This was indeed good news. With the Two-Tails Jinchuriki joining, the war’s pressure would ease considerably, and they wouldn’t need to stretch their Kage and quasi-Kage level experts so thin.

"She didn’t come."

Jinghang nearly threw out his back.

"You messing with me?"

Third Raikage shook his head helplessly. "Just go see for yourself."

...

"Brother, why’d you bring me to the medical camp? Wait, we haven’t even fought yet—where are the wounded coming from?"

Jinghang looked at the several Kumogakure jōnin before him.

Some had arms in slings, some were on crutches, some had heads wrapped like rice dumplings, and several were lying on stretchers—not a single one was uninjured.

Jinghang realized what happened.

"Yugito did all this?"

Third Raikage nodded.

"She really is a crazy girl! She’s this ruthless even to her own people!"

~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~

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