Reiko and Hisato collapsed to the ground. They were knocked out cold! Even though they possessed the strength of a real Jounin, they were completely outmatched by Hoka. Not only did they fall short in speed and abilities, but they were also under heavy pressure and had to act constrained to avoid attracting any attention.

    These factors made the battle even more unfair. To make matters even worse, Hoka wasn''t arrogant due to his various advantages and hid a Shadow Clone underground even before the duo reached that area. So, the poor souls stood no chance.

    A few ninjas appeared behind Hoka, looked at the two unconscious ninjas and exclaimed, "You already got them, General?"

    Hoka nodded and ordered, "I have sealed their chakra points, but add proper seals on their bodies and bring them to the commander."

    Hoka''s subordinates immediately got to work. Before they could leave, a squad led by Konomi appeared as well. She looked at the unconscious bodies and said with a smile, "Good work, Hoka."

    Hoka smiled and replied, "It''s all thanks to your and Illumi-san''s divisions establishing a perimeter."

    The two interacted cordially while the captured rebels were brought to Fujin. However, Hoka overlooked one thing, though it could be attributed to how good Konomi was at controlling her expressions. Even though Konomi interacted cordially, she successfully hid her jealousy from Hoka.

    She sighed internally while thinking, ''No matter at what level we are, people in power always prefer to give control and credit to their friends and family. Even though I couldn''t kill Kagero, I could have captured these two with ease and improved my reputation. Yet, this task was also given to him. I can''t even say anything as they take 3 spots from the 5 leaders and even have a good relationship with Illumi.

    Sigh, I hope that Fujin has some plans for me other than just supporting these two. Otherwise, I''ll have to work hard by myself once again...''

    Since Konomi was a ninja from a civilian background, she hoped that she would finally receive more opportunities from Fujin, who was the council member representing all civilian ninjas. Unfortunately, she was only disappointed so far.

    "What is the current status?" Ashigaka Hiroshi asked grimly. Due to the sudden disappearance of several ninjas, Kusagakure was on high alert. They immediately convened a council meeting.

    An elderly man answered, "Currently, 41 ninjas are missing. All were patrol groups operating to the South of the village. I suspect that this is Kagero''s scheme. He might be planning an attack from this direction."

    Another countered, "We can''t be sure. This could also be a diversion. Perhaps he wants us to focus on the South while he ambushes us from the North. Even though we won the last clash, we must not underestimate him!"

    The elderly man replied, "It doesn''t matter what his plan is. Don''t forget that we have asked Konoha to eliminate them. We only need to maintain our defensive position and we will win. However, we need to take steps to check what happened to our ninjas and also ask for Konoha''s help for the same. Hiroshi-sama, did Konoha accept the proposal?"

    Hiroshi frowned and said, "I still haven''t heard from them."

    The mood in the council became solemn. If Konoha didn''t accept the proposal, this troublesome situation would be the least of their worries as it would signify that Konoha had weakened and Iwagakure could drastically increase their support to the rebels!

    Suddenly, three knocks were heard. Everyone gazed towards the door as Hiroshi said, "Come in."

    An Anbu ninja walked in, handed Hiroshi a scroll and reported, "Hiroshi-sama, we have received a message from Konoha. They have accepted the proposal."

    Everyone nodded solemnly. Hiroshi looked at the Anbu ninja and asked, "Anything else they reported?"

    The Anbu ninja replied, "Yes. They said that they''d soon be marching into Kagetani and were predicting that Kagero and Tsuchiro''s forces would come together. They have advised us to deploy our forces to the East and South of Midorino to ensure that the rebels don''t scatter into our country and create a hidden danger."

    Frowns appeared on several faces as they quickly began analyzing this particular information.

    Not far away from the destroyed rebel camp, Fujin and others had set up their camps. Fujin and other leaders sat in the main tent while others rested.

    Yamanaka Shin reported, "Commander, Reiko sent four messenger birds to Kagero from the time we attacked till General Hoka captured her, each message providing greater detail. The fourth bird was intercepted by ninjas on our perimeter and I have confirmed that the message in it was the same as her memories.

    So, the enemy should know that this camp was attacked by one division of Konoha. Since they wouldn''t receive any more communications, they should be aware that their forces were eliminated or captured."

    Hoka sighed, "They were able to send a message despite all our preparations..."

    Fujin casually replied, "That''s to be expected. They wouldn''t have survived so long if they couldn''t do even this. Regardless, our tactic was quite successful. To eliminate a force of 350 ninjas and capture their two leaders without a single casualty is an excellent start to our campaign."

    He turned his gaze to Shin and asked, "I suppose the fourth message stated that there are three and not just one division."

    Shin nodded. He was about to speak when Hoka asked, "Why don''t we fool them by pretending to write messages? After all, we have their memories."

    ————

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