Killer B strode over and looked at the body on the ground. His face instantly turned to stone.
The other Kumo shinobi quickly gathered around, some puzzled, some horrified, some grieving, some enraged, some afraid.
"How could this happen?"
"The enemy seems to be using a highly advanced puppet technique."
Indeed, Shōten no Jutsu was far more sophisticated than ordinary puppet arts.
"Damn it, the plan failed. It'll be hard to lure the enemy again."
"So cautious. He's a nightmare to deal with."
"Yeah."
Caution was only part of it. The main reason was that Kageyama Kokugetsu wanted to take it easy.
If his true body had come, with his Black Eye and Byakugan insight, an octopus tentacle clone would never have fooled him.
Nor could it have fooled him if Killer B's true body with the Eight Tails inside were present.
If Kageyama Kokugetsu himself had come, he would never have fallen for this. No matter how carefully the trap was laid, hacks beat plans.
"Tsk, so this is where you were waiting for me. Too bad. One move short, game over."
"Ah hahahaha…"
A wildly arrogant laugh rang out. Everyone looked up to see Kageyama Kokugetsu circling in midair on a golden eagle.
Being ulted at point-blank range, every Kumo shinobi seethed.
Killer B snapped a few shuriken laced with Lightning Release toward the sky at high speed.
The golden eagle dodged easily. Kageyama Kokugetsu stood steady, not moving an inch.
"Parlor tricks. Your chakra nature change can't fool my Byakugan."
"Hmph. Then try my parlor tricks again."
With a snort, a flood of tailed-beast chakra surged out of Killer B. His body turned dark red, eight tails sprouted, and his human form was gone.
Black-red yin chakra and deep-blue yang chakra flared, condensing in his mouth at a two-to-eight ratio into a purple-black sphere the size of a fist that shot forth.
The Tailed Beast Bomb exploded midair like a small sun. A savage shockwave erased the storm and blasted the falling snow far away.
Knife-like winds knifed across the ground. Mules screamed. Supplies on the wagons were flung everywhere. The Kumo shinobi hit the dirt with hands over their heads to withstand the gale.
When it finally calmed, they looked up.
"Got him?"
"We must have. Who could live through that?"
"Yes, he's done."
While they whispered, Kageyama Kokugetsu reappeared atop the golden eagle and came gliding in from afar.
"Whew, terrifying. Shame the blast radius is still too small."
His tone held no fear at all, only mockery.
Killer B threw back his head and roared.
"Come down and fight?"
"You think I'm stupid? Bye now."
Seeing Kageyama Kokugetsu leave without hesitation, Killer B helplessly returned to human form.
The convoy took some time to gather their things and set off again.
Near nightfall, they reached the Kumo front-line camp.
Killer B entered first to see Dodai. The others went through the gate procedures.
During the process, a faintly glowing figure skimmed along the dark surface layers of the earth.
It moved as fast as a shooting star across the sky, and finally slipped into the body of the rearmost Kumo shinobi in the convoy.
That shinobi froze for a heartbeat, stiffened, then returned to normal.
The entry formalities finished quickly. Once inside, the caravan headed straight for the storage grounds.
When they arrived, everyone began unloading.
That shinobi touched every single wagon, and while no one was looking, he quietly pasted one explosive tag on each.
"Heh heh… You trapped me, and you think I'd let it go so easily?
"And this is my mission. A hundred percent success rate doesn't break that easily."
Revealed in spirit form by the Spirit Transformation Technique, Kageyama Kokugetsu's thoughts surged, a twisted smile at the corner of his mouth.
"Art is an explosion. Hah!"
He made the Kumo shinobi shout and shaped hand signs through him.
Before anyone could react, the tags were lit by the strands of chakra he had left on them.
Bang bang bang…
Small explosions went off nearly at once. The flames ignited the rest of the tags. Little blasts turned into big ones.
The thunder kept rolling, swallowing the surrounding supplies and blasting many Kumo shinobi into the air. Only a handful weren't killed on the spot.
At the instant of detonation, Kageyama Kokugetsu left the puppet body and sped away through the ground.
The enormous blast roused the rest of the camp and the Kumo mid and high command, who rushed over.
Those who arrived first needed no orders. They threw themselves into firefighting and rescue, busy to the point of misery.
Soon Dodai, Killer B, and the others arrived, faces dark, blood boiling, seething with rage.
"Who can tell me what in the world happened?" Dodai growled through a scowl.
A deputy in charge of the depot ran up at once.
The depot's chief and another deputy had been unlucky and died in the blast.
"Lord Dodai, I'm not entirely sure.
"I confirmed with the survivors.
"Everyone heard a single line, and then the big explosion happened," the deputy said, face full of shame.
"What line?" Dodai said, expressionless.
"Art is an explosion. Hah."
Dodai: "…"
"Who said it?"
"Unknown. The speaker was blown up too."
A front-line senior behind Dodai spoke. "Could it be a Konoha Root deep agent?"
To be fair, a Root shinobi could have done this.
Dodai fell silent, thinking hard, then let out a long breath.
"It could also be Kageyama Kokugetsu.
"With B present he couldn't complete his mission, so he tailed the convoy, then slipped in after B left and finished it.
"I favor this. Last time he even infiltrated the center of our camp."
The senior who had spoken paused, then nodded. "That is more likely."
"Sigh… Our targeted plan failed. At this rate, how are we supposed to fight this war?"
The other Kumo commanders all wore troubled looks.
"I have a proposal," Killer B said gravely.
"B, go on," Dodai said, hopeful.
He might clown around, but once serious, B was formidable.
"We can't keep using conventional shinobi warfare. Small-unit ops give Kageyama Kokugetsu too many chances.
"I propose a full-scale offensive, a large frontal melee.
"In a mass battle his impact drops to the minimum. With luck we might even kill him.
"I judge Konoha will probably accept the challenge.
"If not, we advance step by step and push the fire to Konoha's border."
Dodai's eyes lit up. It was indeed a fine idea. When he put his mind to it, B was reliable.
He was confident he would have thought of it sooner or later, but thinking of it sooner meant fewer Kumo losses.
The best plan, aside from killing Kageyama Kokugetsu, was to make Konoha's high command reassign him. They just had no lead on how.
"B's plan is good. What do you all think?"
The other Kumo leaders voiced agreement.
"I will stay for the clash to steady the field and prevent mishaps," Killer B said. "But only once. Otherwise Konoha will send matching strength and the war could easily escalate."
"That's enough. Thank you, B," Dodai said, clapping his shoulder.
"It's nothing. For Big Bro, for the village," Killer B said with a grin.
"Leave one man here. The rest, back to council."
With that, Dodai turned and left.
<><><><><><>
Read Advanced Chapters on : patreon.com/Kaizo247
~ Every 150 PS = Bonus Chapter!
~ Push the Story forward with your [Power Stones]