Chapter 56: Hanzō's Underhanded Tactics

"The fetus is developing nicely."

Tsunade led Natsuki out of the bedroom.

"That's a relief. Thanks for your help."

Natsuki stroked her belly, and the maternal love had already begun to take shape.

"You don't have to be so polite with me, sister-in-law."

"Haha, we'll be family from now on."

Natsuki's straightforward words made Tsunade blush.

"Let's go. Kawaki is waiting for us."

Tsunade pulled Natsuki back to the living room.

"Don't worry. Your sister-in-law and the fetus are both fine."

"Stay for dinner tonight. It's been a long time since we drank sake together."

Kawaki nodded and invited Tsunade to have sake, with ill intentions.

"Sure."

Tsunade agreed without thinking twice.

That night, the two of them drank to their hearts' content, and Natsuki was also in a relaxed mood. It had been a long time since the house had been so lively.

As expected, both Kawaki and Tsunade got drunk.

With his ill intentions, Kawaki lost the ability to carry out his evil plan. Natsuki was very sensible and arranged for someone to drag the two drunks to Kawaki's room.

The next day, Tsunade woke up in Kawaki's arms.

She was already used to it. This had happened several times.

She calmly pushed away the big hand on her body.

Kawaki's hand seemed to have a navigation system, quickly finding its way back accurately.

Tsunade began to suspect if he was awake.

She turned around, leaned closer to Kawaki's face, and blew on it.

Kawaki frowned, turned over, and turned his back to Tsunade.

"What a lecher!"

Tsunade quietly got up and walked to the bathroom with a smile on her face.

When Kawaki finally woke up, he thought he had slept alone.

After breakfast, he accompanied Tsunade to the hospital and chatted with her while she was doing research.

As for professional matters, Kawaki was helpless.

As days went by, Orochimaru led a large troop and waited anxiously in the town.

Kawaki followed Tsunade around in the laboratory every day, being lovey-dovey with her.

This led to a significant setback in Tsunade's experiment progress.

At this time, Shimen had also arrived in the Land of Wind and found Hanzō of the Salamander.

"Lord Hanzō, Lord Yamaru has sacrificed himself."

"We suffered a crushing defeat when we tried to block Konoha's large troop."

"Lord Yamaru gathered some remaining troops. Then, with a large number of Explosive Tags tied to them, they rushed into Konoha's camp."

"The purpose was to blow up their supplies."

"Now Konoha's troops haven't entered the hinterland of our country, which proves that Lord Yamaru's plan was successful."

"What should we do next?"

Shimen had taken off his gas mask at this time and knelt on one knee in front of Hanzō.

He told Hanzō the ins and outs of the battlefield, and his face was already wet with tears.

"Yamaru is a good man. I have my own way to deal with Konoha. You can leave."

Hanzō didn't arrange for Shimen to go back. With a slight wave of his hand, someone appeared in front of him from the dark.

"Inform our intelligence agents in the Land of Fire. Whether through bribery or obtaining their compromising materials, take down the minister in charge of supplies in the Land of Fire."

"Ask him to delay Konoha's supplies. Come and tell me if you really can't delay it."

The Land of Rain, though small, is good at assassination and gathering intelligence. Maybe Konoha never thought that Hanzō had even arranged intelligence agents in the Fire Daimyō's mansion.

After the ninja left upon receiving the order, Hanzō finally unclenched his tightly - fisted hand. His mood was far from as calm as his tone suggested.

One - third of the Rain ninjas had died on the battlefield. His heart was wrenched with pain.

Could it be that creating peace through force was just a figment of his imagination?

"It seems I have to speed up the process of the battle against the Sand ninjas," he murmured to himself. Then Hanzō immediately issued a series of new combat orders.

Given the current situation, the battle between the Rain ninjas and the Sand ninjas grew even more intense. Many ninjas died in the great battle every day.

Chiyo grew more and more disgusted with Hanzō's poison. She could only devote herself even more to researching the antidote, neglecting sleep and meals.

Every time Chiyo and Hanzō clashed, no one could intervene.

Apart from Hanzō himself, no one could solve his poison, and no one could get close to Chiyo's [Chikamatsu Collection].

The so - called Demigod in the Ninja World couldn't gain any advantage over a woman, which was one of the reasons that made Hanzō increasingly irritable.

Even with the help of his summoned beasts, Hanzō only managed to gain a slight upper hand. Not to mention killing Chiyo, it was still a bit difficult to even hurt her.

Hanzō had no choice but to turn to deal with other Sand ninjas, but then Chiyo would go and kill the Rain ninjas.

When comparing the numbers of ninjas, Hanzō had to admit that he was at an absolute disadvantage. If it weren't for his large - scale poison, the Rain ninjas would probably have been completely wiped out long ago.

The war between the two sides had reached a stalemate. Fighting to the end would only lead to a lose - lose situation. At this moment, Hanzō already had the idea of retreating in his heart.

But he just couldn't swallow this humiliation, so he could only bite the bullet and keep fighting.

When the Anbu of Konoha arrived at the Daimyō's mansion, they explained the situation to the Daimyō.

With the support of the hawks, the Daimyō quickly agreed to the request for transporting supplies.

However, the minister in charge of supplies always found various excuses to delay. When the Anbu ninjas reported the matter to the Daimyō, it was like a stone sinking into the sea.

The matter of rations was thus postponed.

After the Third Hokage learned about it, he was also helpless. He could only tell Orochimaru to wait patiently.

The Konoha ninjas were having a great time in the town and didn't want to leave. Not having to fight or take risks wasn't so bad.

The two young ones continued their training under the guidance of Sakumo and Dai, as well as Orochimaru.

After coming back from the battlefield, both of them had made rapid progress.

It's believed they'll become Jonin in a few years.

"Orochimaru - kun, it's been several months already."

"Is there still no news about the supplies?"

Sakumo and Orochimaru were drinking tea in a quiet room.

In the yard, Nawaki and Minato were sparring with each other, giving as good as they got.

Dai was still there, seriously guiding them, correcting the redundant body movements in their force - exertion and attacks.

"Teacher told me to wait for the news quietly. I guess there's a problem at the Daimyō's mansion."

"I can't even guess whether it's the Rain ninjas' doing."

Orochimaru was highly intelligent. He knew that there were also conservatives and hawks at the Daimyō's mansion.

There was no other explanation for the fact that the supplies couldn't be delivered. He never thought that Hanzō's hand could reach this far.

"So if we keep waiting like this, when will it end?"

Sakumo was an impatient person by nature. Months of waiting had almost exhausted his patience.

If it weren't for this being a mission, he would have turned back to Konoha long ago.

"Our teacher has really gone soft lately. The Daimyō's mansion isn't sending supplies, and the Third Hokage isn't putting any pressure on them."

Orochimaru could also tell that the Third Hokage was far less assertive than he used to be in his youth.

Orochimaru wouldn't have said this if he hadn't gotten close to Sakumo.

"The Third Hokage might have his own difficulties. Why don't you discuss it with him again?"

Sakumo put it mildly. His impression of the Third Hokage was starting to sour, and he even thought that if Tsunade were in the position of the Third Hokage.

The supplies might have arrived long ago. She's not known for having a good temper.

"Well, I guess I have to. I'll talk to the teacher again."

"It seems that Kawaki-kun had a great time at home this time."

Orochimaru shook his head with a smile, finished the cup of tea in front of him, and stood up.

"Yeah, that little rascal."

"After a while, Dai and I will go back home."

"My wife is going to give birth soon."

When Sakumo shared this news, Orochimaru congratulated him and readily agreed.

<><><><><><><><>

~ 80+ Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon!

p-atreon.com/Tansnovel

(Just remove the hyphen to access Patreon normally.)

~ Every 50 Powerstones = 4 Bonus Chapters on the weekend!