Chapter 353: 353.Becoming a Target

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Honestly, these actions didn’t cause significant harm to Konoha—they were just irritating.

Yet, the Sand Village ninjas seemed to enjoy pulling these stunts.

To borrow a phrase from Kazuki’s past life on the internet: even a passing dog would get kicked.

Since the Sand Village loved causing trouble, Kazuki would “reluctantly” play along.

He decided to turn their own tactics against them, letting them experience the same disgust—doubled.

If regular warnings and reminders didn’t work, then he’d give them a taste of their own medicine.

He only hoped the Sand Village wouldn’t cry when they got a dose of their own antics.

In a foul mood, Ōnoki returned to the Rock Village.

Back in the village, he summoned the high-ranking officials and informed them of the terms agreed upon with Konoha.

“…”

Upon hearing their Tsuchikage’s words, the Rock Village’s leadership was utterly stunned.

Kazuki’s condition hit them right where it hurt, leaving them feeling like they’d smashed their own feet with a rock.

“Konoha’s gone too far! How could they propose such terms? The Grass Ninja Village’s representatives are still in our village, and now we’re supposed to ruin our relationship with them?”

“Not only are we supposed to ruin our relationship with the Grass Ninja Village, but we’re also expected to purge their leadership. Once we do this, the news will definitely leak. What small village will trust us after that?”

“Kazuki’s plan is vicious.”

Deidara and Kurotsuchi were vital to the village, not to mention their special statuses—one as the Tsuchikage’s disciple, the other as his granddaughter.

No one dared blame Ōnoki, so they cursed Konoha for being heartless and Kazuki for being despicable, using such a ruthless tactic against them.

“Enough, stop it,” Ōnoki said, rubbing his temples.

What was the point of all this cursing?

It wouldn’t hurt Konoha one bit.

At Ōnoki’s command, the room fell silent.

He furrowed his brow. “Think about how to handle the Grass Ninja Village. Since the terms have been set, failing to follow through will damage the village’s reputation significantly.”

Here, “reputation” referred to their standing among the five great ninja villages, not the broader ninja world.

If you agreed to another village’s terms and didn’t follow through, they’d never trust you again.

Worse, your village would be labeled as untrustworthy.

Such a label would do far more damage than a tarnished reputation in the ninja world.

“We wanted to use the Grass Ninja Village to target Konoha. Now Konoha’s turning the tables on us. It’s just a matter of each side using their own methods. Right now, the priority is dealing with the Grass Ninja Village.”

Kazuki only demanded that the Rock Village target the Grass Ninja Village, without specifying how.

That left a lot of room to maneuver.

The Rock Village could take the moral high ground, condemning the Grass Ninja Village before acting.

This would minimize the damage to their reputation. Even if smaller villages grew wary, it was better than their name being completely ruined.

“We could distance ourselves from this. The Grass Ninja Village was wrong to target Konoha in the first place. The fault lies with them, and we can use that.”

“Right, we can also make a fuss about Kazuki’s threat to intercept their envoys. The Grass Ninja Village went too far, disrupting ninja world unity, which angered Konoha. We can start there.”

One after another, the group quickly hashed out a plan.

Blame it all on the Grass Ninja Village. None of this was the Rock Village’s fault.

The Rock Village had no choice but to step up and condemn the Grass Ninja Village’s actions.

This way, they could claim the moral high ground, denouncing the Grass Ninja Village while distancing themselves. As for the covert actions…

All they needed was a plausible excuse. For instance, Rock Village ninjas on a mission in the Land of Grass were attacked. After investigation, the culprits were Grass Ninja Village shinobi.

Angry at being called out, the Grass Ninja Village lashed out at the Rock Village’s ninjas.

There was their reasonable excuse.

Whether the Grass Ninja Village actually did something so outrageous didn’t matter.

It wasn’t important because the Rock Village said they did, and they’d have to bear the blame.

“Hmm, that makes sense. Go ahead and do it,” Ōnoki agreed.

Though taking the moral high ground to condemn the Grass Ninja Village and using a fabricated excuse to act against them would still affect the Rock Village’s reputation, making smaller villages wary, it was better than their name being utterly ruined.

And so, the ninja world’s dynamics suddenly shifted.

The Rock Village publicly condemned the Grass Ninja Village, accusing them of holding a grudge against Konoha for not offering compensation and trying to rope the Rock Village into targeting Konoha.

They claimed the Grass Ninja Village wanted to use the Rock Village to tarnish Konoha’s reputation.

Citing the Grass Ninja Village’s actions as detrimental to ninja world peace and a threat to the good relationship between the Rock Village and Konoha, the Rock Village firmly rejected their proposal and publicly denounced them, exposing their scheme.

In an instant, the ninja world’s attention turned to the Rock and Grass Ninja Villages.

Those unaware of the situation cursed the Grass Ninja Village, some even gloating.

The Grass Ninja Village must have eaten a bear’s heart and a leopard’s courage to provoke both the Rock Village and Konoha.

How much fake courage did they drink to pull off something so brazen?

Those in the know were confused by the Rock Village’s move.

Weren’t they on good terms before? How did their friendship fall apart so quickly?

And now they’re accusing the Grass Ninja Village of disrupting ninja world peace and ruining their relationship with Konoha? What’s going on here?

A heavy black pot landed on the Grass Ninja Village’s head, nearly knocking their leadership out cold.

They never dreamed the Rock Village would sell them out like this.

Kazuki had threatened to intercept their envoys, and they were still discussing how to cling to the Rock Village’s coattails to prevent Konoha from lashing out and actually attacking them.

Konoha wants to intercept our envoys? Go ahead—it won’t hurt us much.

It’s your reputation that’ll take the hit, Konoha.

As long as Konoha didn’t attack the Grass Ninja Village directly, they were fine.

If things escalated, other villages wouldn’t just stand by.

But instead, before Konoha even acted, the Rock Village—their supposed ally—kicked them to the curb.

Then they started condemning them, piling on baseless accusations.

What caught the Grass Ninja Village even more off guard was that, shortly after, the Rock Village fired another shot.

They lambasted the Grass Ninja Village for holding a grudge over the earlier incident and attacking a Rock Village ninja team on a mission, brutally killing them.

“???”

*****

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