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Chapter 354 - Chapter 354: Food Supplies Are Considered War Resources Too?

Wait, what did we even do wrong? Why are we getting kicked aside *and* falsely accused? 

Faced with these accusations, Kusagakure's leader nearly coughed up blood. 

If Iwagakure was going to frame them, couldn't they at least come up with a more believable excuse? 

Iwagakure's ninjas walked around the Land of Grass like they owned the place—who would even dare mess with them? 

Since they had already decided to take action against Kusagakure, Iwagakure wasn't going to show any mercy. 

Before long, several squads infiltrated Kusagakure and wiped out half of its higher-ups, the ones who wore zodiac-themed masks as their signature. 

As word spread, everyone realized that this was Iwagakure's doing. After all, they had a reason to go after Kusagakure. 

But outright eliminating so many of their higher-ups? That was brutal. 

Suddenly, small ninja villages everywhere were on edge, afraid that other villages might follow Iwagakure's example and do the same to them. 

Luckily, Kusagakure was an exception. 

No other small villages were randomly attacked or purged by the major ninja villages. 

This made some of the more ambitious small villages settle down immediately. 

Whatever ambitions they had just started to develop were completely crushed by Kusagakure's fate. 

Among the many small villages, Kusagakure wasn't necessarily the strongest, but it was definitely one of the top-tier ones. 

And yet, they got wiped out just like that—without even a chance to resist. 

It made the power gap between the small villages and the Five Great Ninja Villages painfully clear. 

If you don't have enough strength, keep your ambitions buried deep, or you'll meet a terrible end. 

Kusagakure tried to outsmart the situation but ended up losing big. With half of its leadership gone, the rest quickly fell in line, not daring to stir up any more trouble. 

If this had been any other situation, maybe Iwagakure would have faced some criticism. 

But when a small village like Kusagakure defies a larger one and faces retaliation, the major villages all pretend not to see. 

Even Kumogakure, which has always been at odds with Iwagakure, acted as if it had no idea what was happening. 

No one spoke up to help, and no one criticized Iwagakure's actions. It was as if everything Iwagakure did was justified. 

Kusagakure had brought this on itself—it was only natural for them to be targeted and wiped out. 

In this situation, Konohagakure suffered no losses, and while Iwagakure was slightly affected, it wasn't anything serious. 

Kusagakure, on the other hand, was completely ruined. 

Yan couldn't care less about what happened to Kusagakure. 

As long as Iwagakure followed through on its promises, the rest didn't matter. 

Right now, Yan had no time to worry about such things—he had already arrived at the border outpost with his team. 

For the Hokage's advisor to suddenly appear at a border camp, something big was probably about to happen. 

The entire camp immediately became tense. 

Many shinobi whispered among themselves, wondering if Yan's arrival and his decision to stay at the camp meant a war with Sunagakure was coming. 

As usual, the Jonin meeting was held, but this time, Yan had even brought Jonin Squad Leader Nara Shikaku with him. 

The command center wasn't very large, but there weren't many people qualified to attend the meeting either. 

Only those of Jonin rank or higher had the right to be there. 

Altogether, including the people Yan brought, there were only about twenty people in the room. 

And two-thirds of them were from Konohagakure. 

Normally, a border outpost would be considered well-staffed with just four or five Jonin. 

All eyes were on Yan as he sat at the head of the table, carefully reading the intelligence reports gathered by the Anbu. 

The room was silent—everyone patiently waited. 

After going through all the reports, Yan finally looked up. 

"In a few days, a merchant caravan from the Daimyo's estate will pass through. Stop the caravan, but don't harm anyone, and don't touch the goods. Just find an excuse to detain them." 

Use the same tactics Sunagakure likes to use against them. 

Now that he was at the border, Yan needed to make Sunagakure respect him. 

Only by making them submit—by making them afraid—would they back off. 

Otherwise, warnings and reminders would be useless. 

They wouldn't take them seriously at all. 

Sunagakure was about to have a tough time. 

Everyone in the room understood that if Yan gave such an order, it meant using Sunagakure's own methods against them. 

Many of the shinobi couldn't hide their excitement, while others gritted their teeth in anticipation. 

They had put up with Sunagakure's tricks for too long—now it was their turn to fight back. 

Detaining a merchant caravan? 

If Sunagakure could do it, so could they. And they would specifically target the most important caravans. 

After all, Sunagakure sent plenty of merchant groups to the Land of Fire, buying supplies there and transporting them back. 

Let's see how they handle it when we start seizing their shipments.

The trade caravan arrived on time—actually, even earlier than expected. 

After all, the goods they were transporting were essential supplies for Sunagakure Village. The sooner they got there, the better. 

They were about to reach the border camp. 

The people in the caravan had traveled this route many times before and had never been given a hard time by Konohagakure. 

As long as they didn't pull any tricks—like secretly carrying banned items or gathering intelligence along the way—the Konohagakure ninja usually let them pass without trouble. 

At most, they would do a routine inspection of the cargo. 

"Stop!!!" 

As the caravan approached the camp, they were suddenly stopped. 

The traders weren't too surprised, though. Instead, they cheerfully stepped forward to negotiate. 

"Honorable ninja, our carts are only carrying daily necessities. We purchased these goods from the Land of Fire Daimyo's estate on behalf of Sunagakure Village…" 

"Take all the cargo! Bring it back to the camp for a thorough inspection. We need to make sure there are no banned items or military supplies hidden inside." 

The Jonin leading the team didn't bother talking things over—he just gave the order to confiscate the goods. 

"???" 

The caravan members were stunned as they watched the Konohagakure ninja move in to seize their cargo. 

This had never happened before. 

Konohagakure ninja were usually reasonable. Even the grumpier ones might give them a hard time, but nothing beyond a few stern looks. 

But confiscating everything without even checking it first? That was new. 

And taking the goods back to the camp for inspection? 

Would they even get them back after that? 

"Sir, is there some misunderstanding? We're only transporting basic supplies—there's nothing illegal, let alone military goods." 

"Food isn't considered military supplies?" 

The Jonin's sharp gaze swept over them, nearly scaring the caravan members out of their wits. 

Food counts as military supplies? 

That might make sense in the Land of Wind, but in the Land of Fire? That was just ridiculous. 

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