The Ninja leader was looking at Yasu in disbelief.
He had clearly thrown the kunai accurately at him and it had indeed hit, but Yasu's body had become illusory and appeared on the other side.
All indications showed that he had fallen into a genjutsu.
But... when did he fall into this genjutsu?
The body of the Ninja leader trembled, and he thought of the moment when Yasu used his final move on him to finish the fight; he had clearly seen him rotating Sharingan.
The Ninja leader said with a grim expression: "I see, so I fell into the Sharingan's genjutsu at that time."
Yasu admitted: "Ah, that's right. It seems you realized when you fell into my genjutsu. I said I couldn't kill you, so naturally, I had to leave myself a way out."
"However, I don't really like using genjutsu. I prefer direct combat between both sides. To be honest, this is the first time I've used genjutsu on someone."
The Ninja leader said with a gloomy face: "You are truly amazing. If it weren't for your lack of chakra, I might really have fallen into your hands. It's just that you don't have much chakra left either, so the effect of your genjutsu is greatly reduced."
"And you know dōjutsu-type genjutsu can only be broken by disrupting the flow of chakra through others, but now there is another way to break it!"
The Ninja leader produced a kunai in his hand and stabbed it hard into his own thigh.
The pain allowed him to break free from the genjutsu.
He then pulled out the kunai from his thigh, looking at Yasu with icy eyes: "Now, you should be out of options, right?"
The smile on Yasu's face became even brighter as he looked at the Ninja leader and said: "Out of options? You're the one who's out of options."
A voice came from behind the Ninja leader: "Kuroyama Tatsuji, you have already lost to my disciple."
Appearing behind the Ninja leader was Orochimaru.
The Ninja leader, Kuroyama Tatsuji, did not attack Orochimaru, but only sighed heavily. With Orochimaru's appearance, he no longer had any room to resist.
Kuroyama smiled bitterly and said: "The foundation of the great ninja villages is truly profound. Konoha's Sannin, Konoha's White Fang, and various powerful individuals with bloodlines and secret jutsus. Now, even the new sprouts have grown to this point..."
"Since you didn't kill me, it seems that this kid didn't lie to me. In your plan, I have to live, but I can't help you with anything. Small ninja villages like ours have no say at all."
Orochimaru said calmly: "We don't need you to do anything that would be difficult for you. In fact, as long as you do as I say, even if Konoha and the Hidden Cloud Village go to war, the flames of war won't reach your Hot Spring Village."
A glint suddenly flashed in Kuroyama's eyes: "What do you want our Hot Spring Village to do?"
Orochimaru replied: "We will retreat immediately. After we retreat, you will let the Cloud Ninja withdraw from the Hot Spring Village and allow yourselves to restore its neutrality."
Kuroyama frowned: "I just said that our small ninja village has no say. The Cloud Ninja have already stationed themselves in the Hot Spring Village, and it will be difficult for me to get them to withdraw."
Orochimaru said coldly: "Our Konoha came specifically to attack the Cloud Ninja this time. Your Hot Spring Village is just a side issue. This reason should be enough to get the Cloud Ninja to withdraw from the Village, right? If there are still Cloud Ninja in the Hot Spring Village afterward, even if there is only one, our Konoha ninja will continue to attack your Village."
Kuroyama understood his meaning.
This time, the Konoha ninja's attack on the Hot Spring Village caused so much damage to it, so they can completely use this reason that they can no longer afford the losses and restore its neutral state as a reason to let the Cloud Ninja withdraw from the Village.
After all, the Cloud Ninja did not do what they initially promised, protecting the ninja and villagers of the Hot Spring Village.
But Kuroyama's heart was still filled with grief and indignation, because he had already understood Konoha's plan.
The purpose of Konoha's plan this time was not the Cloud Ninja at all, but their Hot Spring Village.
Only because their Village stood on the side of the Hidden Cloud Village would the Konoha ninja attack the Hot Spring Village.
Seeing his expression, Orochimaru guessed that he must have misunderstood the purpose of the Konoha ninja attacking the Hot Spring Village.
However, he was too lazy to explain, because the goal had already been achieved.
For the sake of the village, Kuroyama would definitely restore neutrality and let the Cloud Ninja withdraw from the Hot Spring Village.
And he, Orochimaru, had already come to the Land of Hot Water to support and would soon let all the Cloud Ninja in the Land of Hot Water know.
After returning, he could immediately start pushing the front line.
Having just attacked the Hot Spring Village, and now immediately pushing the front line, those Cloud Ninja would definitely think that this time Konoha was led by him, and supported many ninjas to come to the Land of Hot Water, and would not act rashly.
Orochimaru then said to the toad on his shoulder: "Notify everyone to gather at the entrance of the Hot Spring Village. The plan has succeeded, and we are ready to retreat."
From a distance, Minato, who had been standing still, looked deeply at Yasu with a complicated expression before going to support the other ninja.
Orochimaru walked up to his disciple and extended his hand.
Yasu grasped Orochimaru's hand, using the leverage to stand up again.
"Can you still move?"
He shook his head: "My body is a bit too exhausted. It's still difficult to move."
Orochimaru turned his back and squatted down in front of him: "Get on, I'll carry you."
Yasu looked at his back in surprise, not expecting that his teacher would take the initiative to carry him.
But he didn't act coy and directly climbed onto Orochimaru's back.
After Orochimaru got up, he praised as he walked: "You performed very well in this operation, especially in the battle against Kuroyama Tatsuji. Although he is only the leader of this small Hidden Hot Spring Village, he is at least an elite jōnin."
"If it weren't for your lack of chakra, you might have been able to win this battle, but it's already very good. The battlefield is the best place to improve your strength. Everyone's battles are death matches. This is only your first serious battle, and you have already made great progress."
"Mm. Teacher Orochimaru, that Kuroyama Tatsuji, he should be one of the weaker ones among the elite jōnin, right?" Yasu asked.
Orochimaru nodded: "That's right. The main reason is that the Hot Spring Village doesn't have much foundation. Elite jōnin like me and Jiraiya are completely incomparable to him."
"After reaching our level, the difference in strength is actually not that big. What widens the gap between us are powerful ninjutsu, taijutsu, genjutsu, secret techniques, and bloodline limits."
"And the ninjutsu that Kuroyama Tatsuji knows are just some relatively common justus circulating in the ninja world, which are easy to deal with, so you were able to fight him evenly."
Yasu sighed: "I see. But that old man is indeed worthy of being an elite jōnin. His combat experience is really sufficient. I'm very confident that my Flaming Lightning God can kill even a jōnin, but I didn't expect him to think of that kind of method to avoid it."
Orochimaru warned: "Yasu, you must remember that in the ninja world, no one is simple, so you must treat every battle with caution!"
"Yes, I know, Teacher Orochimaru!"
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