Konoha: Offer your heart to the Hokage!

Shen Er snapped out of his daze and added, "In Sunagakure, the high-end puppets are all humanoid. We should also take that as our goal when researching puppets. Root needs the remains of ninjas as research materials. The stronger the remains were in life, the better, and the heart should be kept as intact as possible."

"I can participate in the deciphering and creation of puppets, but I will never use the remains of ninjas from my village. That is my bottom line."

They would never do a losing business.

By offering the puppet to the village, one naturally expects a corresponding return.

By establishing a research department with the support of Konoha, under the guise of research, and leveraging the resources of the entire village, the efficiency of collecting high-quality ninja hearts will be greatly improved. Through feeding with a large number of hearts, the Earth Grudge Fear technique may also undergo another iteration and evolution.

Another point is that the research on puppetry is conducted in secret, and all researchers in the Root will be exterminated by the Torture of Tongues.

Only he and Tobirama knew the list of researchers and the progress of the research.

This means that if the research and development progress is "appropriately" controlled, once Tobirama dies, no one will know the extent of the Konoha puppet research. The fate of these researchers will all depend on his decision.

It was like an undercover operation. In the end, all of Konoha's research findings on puppets belonged to him alone.

If he were selfish, he could keep these technologies for himself; if he were selfless, he could use the results to strengthen Konoha.

The choice is entirely his, and he has a lot of room for maneuver.

"No problem." Tobirama nodded.

"Next, in the name of the Hokage, I will issue relevant missions to all frontline combat units. Collect enemy ninja corpses with all our might, and if conditions permit, ensure that their hearts remain intact."

"I entrust the research on the puppets to you. I hope to see the Ebizo puppets as soon as possible."

"..."

The discussion of Konoha's future development strategy has come to a temporary halt. Tobirama, considerate of his good friend, granted Jinji leave during these times of fierce battle and surrounded by powerful enemies, allowing him to go home and rest.

After seeing Shen off, Tobirama arrived at a basement that even the Byakugan couldn't see through. He ordered the Anbu to bring in a death row ninja as a sacrifice and skillfully activated the Impure World Reincarnation.

Edo Tensei Ebizo makes his grand entrance!

Tobirama did not seal the other's consciousness, giving him the opportunity to speak.

Ebizo, resurrected through the Impure World Reincarnation, regained his clarity of vision and immediately noticed the abnormality within himself.

Looking around and recognizing the person before him, his expression turned grim: "Tobirama Senju from Konoha..."

The worst-case scenario still occurred: the puppet was stolen, the puppeteer was killed, and his soul was resurrected by the inherently evil Tobirama Senju, becoming this hideous form.

"Ebizo of Sunagakure".

Ignoring his hostility, Tobirama directly offered his deal: "You've already recognized your situation, so I don't need to explain anymore. Hand over Sunagakure's puppetry techniques, and after the war, I can agree not to make excessive demands on Sunagakure in the peace treaty."

Chapter 145 The Possible Marriage Between Sunagakure and Konoha

"Heh heh, who doesn't know who you, Tobirama Senju, are?!"

Even after being imprisoned, Ebizo showed no mercy to Tobirama, immediately launching into a tirade: "You like using such unscrupulous and ninja-degrading methods? Do you think I would teach you puppetry?"

"Keep dreaming!"

"I believe Sunagakure will win this war. When that happens, I'll be waiting for you in hell!"

Just as Jin had initially predicted, Tobirama Senju's reputation was notorious in the four great nations.

This is how people in the ninja world think.

In the eyes of a traditional ninja like Ebizo, the Sunagakure puppets also rely on the dead to fight, but they do not imprison souls. Even using poison and controlling puppets are considered conventional ninja tactics.

But the Impure World Reincarnation is different; it forcibly imprisons the souls of the dead in the world of the living, forcing the dead to fight—it's too despicable.

Even though Tobirama was very strong, he did not earn the respect of his enemies.

Respect from the enemy? Tobirama Senju didn't care at all, and snorted coldly: "Stubborn fool, you will regret your choice today."

"Even if you refuse to hand over the puppet technique, Konoha can still decipher it from the First Kazekage's puppet. Since you are unwilling to cooperate, your remains will be turned into a human puppet."

Ebizo's face darkened; Tobirama's words had precisely struck at his most vulnerable spot.

His death is not important; what is important is that the puppet has fallen into Konoha's hands. If Konoha truly obtains the puppet technique from it, he will be a sinner of Sunagakure, forever nailed to the pillar of shame.

'Sister...quickly, think of a way to stop Konoha!'

This was Ebizo's final thought.

As Tobirama formed a hand seal with one hand, his consciousness was stripped away and remained frozen in that moment.

Tobirama Senju was a decisive ninja. Since he had said he would give Sunagakure a little shock of death, he would never delay until the next day.

He immediately took control of Edo Tensei Ebizo and headed to the Sunagakure battlefield.

...

One after another, devastating battle reports were sent to the Wind Shadow Building.

The oppressive atmosphere was suffocating.

Chiyo sat opposite the Kazekage Shamon and the other elders, like a prisoner about to be tried.

Shamon put down the battle report in his hand and spoke in an icy tone: "Chiyo."

"The night before last, you ordered a night attack on Konoha, resulting in the loss of more than 500 ninjas in Sunagakure; the trust we had painstakingly built with the Three-Tails also collapsed for unknown reasons, and everything returned to square one."

"And the assassination mission you were in charge of, there's still no news."

"How do you intend to explain this?"

Chiyo's heart ached when she heard the number of her own casualties; this was all the wealth her late husband had saved up!

The numbers may not seem like much on their own, but Sunagakure only had five or six thousand ninjas in total, and nearly a tenth of them were lost in this battle. Not to mention the many ninjas who were maimed by the explosive tags. Behind these ninjas were hundreds of families.

From any perspective, this was an extremely heavy blow to Sunagakure.

In the past, during the Warring States period, the responsibility for the deaths and injuries of ninjas rested with their respective clans. But now, in the era of ninja villages, the rules have changed. For a village to continue operating, compensation for casualties and medical expenses for the wounded are indispensable.

These expenses add up to an astronomical figure.

The war has only been going on for a little over a month, and before any gains have been made from Konoha, Sunagakure is already suffering such huge losses.

Someone needs to step forward and take responsibility for all of this.

Chiyo looked bitter, but still held onto a sliver of hope, insisting, "I believe Ebizo and the others have completed the assassination of Zenji, but the news hasn't come back yet."

"Once Zen-in-Sen-er dies, the medical scrolls he created will eventually be exhausted."

"These sacrifices were all worthwhile."

Just then, a member of the Sunagakure ANBU rushed in and handed a piece of intelligence to Shamon.

After reading the contents, Shamon's breathing became rapid. Without any mercy, he threw the information directly in front of Chiyo: "See for yourself!"

Chiyo glanced down at it, her heart sinking to the bottom.

The intelligence report stated: "[Zen Temple's Shen'er has safely returned to Konoha]."

His safe return means the assassination mission failed.

As for Ebizo and his group, who were assassins, their fate is obvious.

Misfortune never comes singly.

Another ANBU rushed in, bringing the latest intelligence: "Iwagakure's Onoki has sent word that his clone has been killed."

Rock clones are a type of physical clone, and specially made rock clones have a certain connection with the original body and can sense certain emotions and states, but memories cannot be shared. This is a patent of shadow clones.

Upon receiving this news, the Fengying Building fell into a deathly silence.

It's confirmed.

The assassination plan, meticulously prepared before the war began, failed completely.

No one questioned why this team, comprised of two near-Kage and an elite Jonin, had failed. Defeat was a fait accompli, and now everyone could only face the consequences.

At this moment, Elder Xihai reminded him, "Ebizo, he took the first generation puppet away to carry out a mission."

Everyone present came to their senses.

With Ebizo's death in battle, the whereabouts of the first puppeteer became the biggest hidden danger.

Was it destroyed in battle, or did it fall into the hands of Zen Monastery?

If it is the latter, the consequences will be unimaginable.

All eyes turned to Chiyo.

Each ninja village's Kage will protect the village in their own way.

Hashirama left the Nine-Tails to Konoha; Retsuto willingly sacrificed himself to become a puppet, allowing his widow to transform his body into a puppet.

Therefore, only Chiyo knew the secret about the human puppet.

Chiyo closed her eyes in anguish: "The first puppet had a built-in self-destruct mechanism. Ebizo was a competent Sand Ninja; even if he was defeated and killed, he would have destroyed the puppet before he died."

Of all those present, she was the most heartbroken.

Others may only lament the loss of a powerful puppet and a puppeteer, but Chiyo lost not only the puppet that held her memories of her deceased husband, but also her own younger brother.

pain!It hurts so much!

All I see is ruin, and my beloved is gone forever. Having paid such a heavy price, yet gained nothing, Sunagakure has lost everything.

Upon hearing this...

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief; the worst outcome had not occurred.

Shamon slowly spoke: "The hidden danger has been temporarily eliminated, but we cannot let our guard down. Have the spies lurking in Konoha investigate and confirm this matter. If the puppet has indeed fallen into Konoha's hands, we must destroy or retrieve it at all costs."

"At the same time, we will dispatch our secret agents to investigate in the land of rivers."

"As for you," Shamon looked at Chiyo and announced the punishment:

"From this day forward, Chiyo is relieved of her position as elder, and the position of frontline commander will be taken over by Xihai."

"Second Hokage, should we continue this war?" an elder asked. "We have already suffered too many losses. It might not be too late to stop now and seek peace with Konoha. We might even be able to re-establish an alliance with them and use official channels to confirm the whereabouts of the First Kazekage's puppet."

A lot of discussion broke out in the conference room.

Ultimately, it was Shamon, with his absolute authority, who confirmed Sunagakure's next strategic policy: "If we stop now, all the previous sacrifices will have been meaningless."

"After the war ends, Sunagakure will have no prestige or credibility left in the ninja world."

Tobirama's guess was correct.