Chapter 345: Don't Move. Move, and You Die!

“Elder Sister, you mean…”

Ebizō was startled by Chiyo’s words as he thought of a certain possibility.

Chiyo nodded.

“The civilians of Sunagakure have already taken shelter in the evacuation shelters, haven’t they? Then let them stay there a little longer.”

“We’ll evacuate every remaining shinobi in Sunagakure. We’ll leave only Bunpuku behind. Once the Konoha shinobi arrive, we’ll release the One-Tail, Shukaku.”

“At that point, we’ll leave Konoha and Shukaku to fight over an empty village and tear the place apart.”

“Although Shukaku’s attitude toward Sunagakure is terrible, it doesn’t exactly have a favorable opinion of Konoha either.”

“They’ll definitely fight!”

A sharp gleam flashed through Chiyo’s eyes. The more she spoke, the more confident and resolute she became.

Chiyo continued:

“Judging from Konoha’s movements so far, their strategic objective this time isn’t actually to occupy Sunagakure or completely destroy our village. They’re trying to plunder as many resources as possible from Sunagakure and even the entire Land of Wind and take them back with them.”

“For Sunagakure and the Land of Wind, our losses are already unavoidable. The only thing we can do is prevent Konoha from taking too much of the spoils back with them.”

“With Shukaku acting as a distraction, Konoha’s operation to plunder resources from Sunagakure will inevitably be hindered.”

“Then, once we rendezvous with our reinforcements, we can adapt to the situation. We may even have a chance to completely wipe out this enemy force and make Konoha pay a price as well.”

Ebizō nodded repeatedly. However, he hesitated before asking:

“But what about the civilians in the shelters? What if…”

“There is no ‘what if’!”

Chiyo firmly cut him off.

“Konoha absolutely will not—and dare not—attack the civilians inside Sunagakure!”

“When we wage war in another country’s territory, we do everything possible to avoid involving civilians. Konoha would never dare violate this unspoken rule and attack civilians.”

“If Konoha dares to break that taboo, the entire shinobi world will turn against them!”

After a pause, Chiyo added disdainfully:

“And there’s even less reason to worry about Shukaku. The shelters throughout the village were built to be extremely sturdy. Unless Shukaku repeatedly targets them with Tailed Beast Bombs, they won’t be destroyed.”

“And with Shukaku’s intelligence, forget deliberately targeting specific locations—it probably won’t even be able to find them!”

Chiyo wasn’t deliberately insulting Shukaku.

Sunagakure was simply very familiar with Shukaku’s behavior.

Shukaku had gone on rampages in Sunagakure several times in the past. On some occasions, the village had even deliberately provoked Bunpuku in order to test his compatibility as a Renchūriki and induce Shukaku’s emergence.

Judging from Shukaku’s behavior whenever it emerged, it simply rampaged and destroyed things wherever it pleased. It was also extremely easy to lure into traps that Sunagakure had prepared in advance.

Its intelligence was, to put it mildly, not particularly impressive.

Therefore, Chiyo was quite confident that the civilians in the shelters would remain safe.

But at that moment, Bunpuku, who had remained silent all this time, suddenly spoke.

His single sentence caused Chiyo’s expression to change dramatically.

“Er… Elder Chiyo, I’m sorry to interrupt you, but everything you just said was heard by Shukaku.”

“What?!”

Chiyo stared at Bunpuku in disbelief.

Her expression was almost as though she were looking at a traitor who had betrayed her.

Bunpuku explained:

“I am already a man who should have died. After helping Sunagakure overcome this crisis, I never intended to continue living.”

“I have been together with Shukaku for so many years, and I rarely had the opportunity to go outside. So, during these final moments of my life, I decided to remove all restrictions and let Shukaku see the outside world as well.”

Ever since Bunpuku had become a Renchūriki of Sunagakure, his life had inevitably undergone tremendous changes.

He had shed blood for Sunagakure and rendered great service to the village, but beneath the shadow of Shukaku, the villagers treated him like a plague-ridden outcast, constantly subjecting him to cold words and abuse.

Shashan Temple was supposedly a place where he could cultivate, but in reality, it was nothing more than a prison where he was confined.

Such a life had been nothing but shackles to Bunpuku.

Although Chiyo had extended his life with One’s Own Life Reincarnation, Bunpuku’s heart had already died.

Moreover, after learning that the continuation of his life had been purchased with another person’s life, Bunpuku had grown even more disgusted with his own existence.

Therefore, Bunpuku had already reached an agreement with Chiyo.

Once Sunagakure’s current crisis was over, he would learn One’s Own Life Reincarnation from Chiyo and return the life he had been given.

Bunpuku had already resolved to die.

Chiyo’s expression became extremely grim upon hearing this.

However, she knew that this was not the time to assign blame.

“What was its reaction?”

Bunpuku shook his head.

“Shukaku’s emotions aren’t very stable right now. It’s shouting that once it gets out, it’s going to find you and make you pay.”

Chiyo fell silent for a moment before speaking.

“Forget it. It doesn’t matter whether it knows or not. We’ll proceed according to the original plan.”

As she spoke, Chiyo turned toward Ebizō.

“You immediately take all the remaining shinobi out through the village’s underground passage. I’ll go and reinforce Rasa. We’ll rendezvous at the oasis fifty kilometers from the village.”

Chiyo understood that Shukaku’s current behavior had little to do with the village’s plans.

Once it emerged, there was no way Konoha’s shinobi could simply ignore its presence.

As for Shukaku wanting revenge against her…

Once this crisis was over, she would have plenty of ways to deal with it.

Ebizō nodded.

“Understood. Be careful, Elder Sister.”

After a pause, Chiyo turned toward Bunpuku.

“Bunpuku, choose the right moment yourself.”

Bunpuku nodded, pressed his palms together, and bowed respectfully to Chiyo.

“Thank you, Elder, for granting me this opportunity. I will not betray your expectations.”

“I still have some influence over Shukaku. I may not be able to stop it from killing people, but I can at least make sure it kills a few more.”

Bunpuku had already sealed off Shukaku’s perception.

With that, he gave Chiyo his assurance. It was also his final contribution to Sunagakure—a way of repaying the bond between them.

Chiyo nodded and said nothing more.

Meanwhile, at the Shashan Temple defensive position—

BOOM!

Rasa’s body, wrapped in a massive mass of Gold Dust, fell from the sky and slammed heavily into the ground.

The area surrounding Shashan Temple had now been transformed into a hellscape of intertwined flames and molten earth.

The former desert landscape of endless yellow sand was nowhere to be seen.

Rasa planted both hands against the ground and struggled to push himself up from the Gold Dust.

He opened his mouth and immediately coughed up a mouthful of blood.

Just as Rasa was about to make another move, a sharp blade was suddenly pressed against his neck.

“Don’t move. Move, and you die.”

Uchiha Ren looked down at Rasa from above.

His scarlet three-tomoe Sharingan contained not the slightest trace of emotion.