bookbashuk Chapter 339 Giving You a Way Out
Chapter 339 Giving You a Way Out
Chapter 339 Giving You a Way Out
"The village itself is not large, the houses are densely packed, there are many wooden beams, storage rooms and cellars, and the distance between the courtyard walls is also close. To carry out a large-scale chain explosion, it is not suitable to use the small chain explosive talismans that are still being tested. Those things are more suitable for intersections and point kills, not for destroying the whole village at once."
Shikamaru smirked. "You make it sound so easy to say 'village-shattering'."
Chi Quan ignored this and continued, "What I want is not to completely flatten the village, but to make the advance troops stumble and fall. Blow up houses..."
Blow up the courtyard, blow up the alleyway, blow up the well—try to put the impact on the first group of people who went in.
Kakashi looked at the diagram and slowly said, "It's not for inflicting serious damage."
"No," Chi Quan said, "it's to dampen their spirits."
Tsunade's eyes flickered slightly.
Chi Quan's voice remained steady.
"When they come back in a month, they won't just want to make a safer move; they'll also want to get their revenge. So I'll make sure they stumble and fall in a deserted village the moment they step into the Land of Fire."
Jingyin whispered, "But what about the villagers? There are so many people; it's impossible for them to be evacuated overnight without a word."
"There will be rumors," Chi Quan said, "but that's not important."
Why?
"Because they'll find out sooner or later that the village is empty." Chi Quan looked at her. "I wouldn't even mind if they knew beforehand."
Shikamaru couldn't help but chuckle: "This is even more like an open conspiracy."
Tsunade was silent for a moment before finally speaking: "Now?"
"Now."
Are you alone?
"Take men, but not too many," Chi Quan said. "Kakashi, Tenzo, a few Anbu, and some ninja tool specialists who know how to apply medicine and plant threads. Also, take two sealing squad members. Fast horses, depart tonight, and arrive at Osmanthus Village before dawn tomorrow."
Jingyin frowned: "How can you convince the villagers to go with you in such a short time?"
Chi Quan said calmly, "Give me the money."
The people in the room were all stunned for a moment.
"Give me money?" Jingyin repeated, as if she thought she had misheard.
"Yes," Chi Quan said. "Give it to each household. Give more. Cash, ninja tool compensation, subsequent resettlement food, and temporary accommodation, all in full."
Shikamaru looked at him: "Are you planning to buy up the entire village?"
"almost."
Tsunade snorted, "You certainly know how to think."
Chi Quan said, "The villagers aren't ninjas; they don't owe Konoha a debt to stay and fight alongside them. If you want them to move overnight, you have to give them enough."
Tsunade looked at him, her gaze deepening, and after a moment she spoke: "Shizune, go open the vault."
Shizune was taken aback: "Now?"
"Now," Tsunade said, "take everything you can: cash, spare tickets, temporary resettlement documents, food coupons. Also, notify the border logistics that once the villagers of Osmanthus Village are evacuated, the two nearby rendezvous points should immediately prepare to receive them."
Mute immediately replied, "Yes."
She turned and left, her steps so fast they almost carried the wind.
Shikamaru stood up from the chair, his lazy expression completely gone.
"Then I'll go too."
Chi Quan glanced at him: "You're not suited to bury medicine in the village."
"I know," Shikamaru said. "I'll go check the positions. I can spot the village alleys and people's movements faster than anyone else."
Kakashi put the book away: "I'll go too."
Tsunade didn't stop her, but only looked at the pond.
"I'll give you one day and one night. Take them away before dawn, and set up the trap by tomorrow night. After that, you decide for yourself, and don't let your people be buried with you."
Chi Quan nodded: "I know."
"And one more thing," Tsunade's voice turned serious, "Don't make a show of frightening them during the evacuation. Those are villagers from the Land of Fire, not ragtag soldiers from the Allied Forces camp."
Chi Quan looked at her and said, "I know."
Tsunade stared at him for half a second, then added, "This time you really know."
Chi Quan paused for a moment, then said, "Mm."
Shikamaru, who was listening nearby, thought to himself that Tsunade's words sounded like they were specifically designed to cut him off.
Before long, the entire Hokage Building came to a complete stop.
Lights were turned on and the locks were opened in the warehouse. Shizune personally supervised the process. Several heavy wooden crates were carried out, containing cash, small-denomination coupons, and compensation vouchers that could be directly distributed to ordinary people. The Anbu were quietly transferred out, and two people each from the Ninja Tool Squad and the Sealing Squad were dragged out of bed. When they arrived downstairs that night, they were still in a daze.
"To the border?"
"Guihua Village?"
"Now?"
"Don't ask, let's go." Kakashi patted one of them on the shoulder. "You can hear it on the way."
Tenzang led a few men to first procure the transport reels and large explosives for deployment. Unlike detonating tags that could be easily stuffed into a sleeve, these items had to be sealed in layers within the reels, and couldn't be shaken too much. The middle-aged man from the ninja tool squad counted them, his face turning pale: "What if these get knocked over on the way?"
The ANBU member beside him said expressionlessly, "Then let's all ascend to heaven together."
The man's face turned even paler.
As the night wind swept across the rooftops of the village, this hastily assembled squad had already silently left the village through the west gate.
The forests of the Land of Fire are much deeper at night than during the day. The shadows of the trees overlap, and the paths are almost entirely dark, with only occasional slivers of moonlight filtering through the leaves. The column avoids the main roads, instead darting along familiar border paths and forest trails, their feet constantly brushing past damp, cold grass and clumps of earth.
Shizune wasn't originally on the travel list, but she insisted on coming along. Her reason was simple: she was most familiar with money and compensation documents, and someone needed to make the on-the-spot decisions regarding the villagers' temporary resettlement. Tsunade initially wanted to stop her, but after thinking it over, she only allowed her to bring two more medical ninjas.
After running for a while, Jingyin finally caught up with Chiquan and asked in a low voice, "Do you really think they would still enter the village even if they knew it was a trap?"
"meeting."
"But if we only send two or three people to investigate..."
"That's enough," Chi Quan said. "I never intended to cripple them in one go. A few go in, I'll blow them up; a team goes in, I'll blow up the team. As long as it's within the Land of Fire, in an empty village, in a place where they know there might be ghosts but still go in, they've already lost half their face."
Jingyin looked at his profile. The wind made the hair on his forehead flutter slightly, but his expression was as calm as if he were talking about something very ordinary.
She paused for a moment, then whispered, "Did you never intend to just fight them head-on from the beginning?"
Chi Quan didn't answer immediately. After leaping over a fallen log, he said calmly, "Why should we do things the way they want?"
There was silence for a moment.
Shikamaru heard it clearly from behind and couldn't help but sigh softly.
"To be honest, I'm starting to worry about what Osmanthus Village will be called in the future."
Kiba didn't come this time, but another young ANBU couldn't help but ask, "Why?"
Shikamaru said lazily, "Because once this gets out, that place will probably be seen as a ghost town by the Allied Forces."
Tianzang whispered from the side, "The premise is that we can really set up a plan that they can't see through."
"Yes." Chi Quan said.
Tianzang glanced at him but didn't ask any more questions.
The night road was long, but this group of people traveled extremely fast.
As we approached the outskirts of Guihua Village, a faint gray-white tinge appeared on the horizon. It wasn't light, but rather the deepest layer of night slowly fading away. From a distance, Guihua Village appeared smaller than I had imagined, with dozens, perhaps a hundred houses crammed into a low-lying area and gentle slopes. The roofs rose and fell, some enclosed by tight walls, others by simple wooden fences. An old wooden sign hung at the village entrance, its edges worn white by wind and rain.
There are indeed several old osmanthus trees outside the village. At night, they look like a dark mass, with a faint, dried fragrance lingering among their branches and leaves.
The village is not fully awake yet.
Only a few houses had lights on, probably occupied by women making breakfast or elderly people who got up early.
Jingyin looked at the quiet village houses and unconsciously slowed her pace.
"—Just like that, we go in?"
Chi Quan nodded: "Let's go straight in."
"Won't that scare people?"
"So I knocked on the village chief's door first."
They didn't alert the whole village; they went to see the village chief first.
It was a small courtyard located in the northern part of the village. The walls were low, and two strings of dried herbs hung at the entrance. After a knock, there was a moment of silence inside, followed by approaching footsteps. An elderly man asked through the door, "Who is it?"
Before Shizune could speak, Izumi said, "People from Konoha."
There was a sudden freeze behind the door.
A moment later, the door was carefully opened a crack. An elderly man in his fifties stood inside, wearing an overcoat, his eyes filled with vigilance and unease. When he saw so many people standing outside, his expression changed again.
"Konoha—why now?"
Jingyin quickly stepped forward, trying to keep her voice down: "Don't be afraid, we have an emergency."
The old man was clearly still nervous, his eyes constantly scanning the dark areas and the scroll behind him.
"What...what happened?"
Chi Quan didn't mince words: "The Allied Forces might prioritize entering Guihua Village."
The old man paused, as if he hadn't understood for a moment.
"W-what?"
"They've got their eyes on your village's location." Chi Quan looked at him. "At the latest, within a few days; at the earliest, within the next two or three days, their advance scouts might reach the outskirts of the village."
The old man's face gradually lost its color.
"This—how could this be—"
Jingyin immediately said, "So the reason we're here now is to send the villagers away first."
The old man opened his mouth, but couldn't utter a complete sound for a long time.
"Send them all away?"
"Yes," Chi Quan said, "immediately."
The old man subconsciously took half a step back: "But...but the village's things, grain, herbs, livestock..."
Chi Quan raised his hand, and two secret agents behind him carried a wooden box up and placed it directly at the courtyard gate. When the lid was opened, the neatly stacked silver notes and cash inside dazzled the eyes in the morning light.
The old man was completely stunned.
Chi Quan's voice was calm: "We'll compensate each household. We'll provide compensation for the losses in houses, grain, medicine, and land in one round. Later, Mu Ye will provide further compensation and resettlement. What you need to do now is to wake up everyone in the village and, within half an hour, gather the necessary clothing, medicine, grain, and livestock, and come with us."
The old man looked at the box of money, then at the pond, and for a moment seemed even more incredulous.
"Are you... are you serious?"
"I don't have time to joke with you."
Footsteps sounded again from inside the door. An old woman and two younger villagers peeked out. Upon hearing the words "Allied Forces," "The whole village is leaving," and "Konoha is giving money," their faces turned paler than the last.
Knowing that further delay would only make things more chaotic, Shizune immediately took out the prepared documents and Konoha seal.
"This is the temporary resettlement document. All evacuated villagers from Osmanthus Village will be registered, and Konoha will be responsible for their resettlement and compensation. Trust me for now, trust the Hokage, don't hesitate, okay?"
The old woman's voice trembled: "Then...then what about our house?"
Chi Quan looked at her and said, "People should stay alive first; we can talk about the house later."
That sentence was spoken very plainly, without any attempt to appease, yet it was far more sobering than a bunch of nice words.
The old man gritted his teeth, then turned around abruptly: "Third son! Go ring the bell! Wake everyone up!"
Soon after, the dull sound of a bronze bell came from behind the village chief's house.
The sounds echoed through the village, which was not yet fully lit.
The first person to open the door thought there was a fire or robbery, but as soon as he ran out dressed, he saw Konoha people parked in front of the village chief's house, along with a box of money displayed prominently.
Shock, panic, doubt, and shouting all came rushing out at once.
"What happened?"
"Why are you suddenly letting us leave?"
"The coalition forces are coming? What are they doing here?"
"Is this money real or fake?"
"What should I do with my chickens!"
"I still have a batch of medicinal herb roots lying around in my field!"
"My mother has bad legs, how can she walk!"
The area in front of the courtyard immediately descended into chaos.
Shizune and the two medical ninjas were busy calming things down, while the village chief yelled at the top of his lungs until his voice was almost hoarse, "Don't push! Don't make noise! Listen to what Konoha has to say! Listen first!"
But in a situation like this, who can remain calm?
A man in his thirties rushed to the front, his face flushed: "Konoha wants us to move just because they say so? By what right? We've lived here for generations, why should we just leave!"
Others chimed in, "Yeah! You think the coalition will just come whenever they want? Do you have any proof?"
Just as Shizune was about to explain, Chi Quan had already taken a step forward.
His voice wasn't loud, but strangely it instantly drowned out the surrounding chatter.
"If you don't leave now, you'll be the first to die when the Allied forces' vanguard arrives here."
The area in front of the courtyard suddenly fell silent.
The man's face stiffened: "You—"
Chi Quan looked at him, her tone completely flat.
"You can stay. You can also leave with your whole family. I won't stop you." He lightly tapped the box of money by the courtyard gate with his finger. "But those who stay will not receive any money, and Konoha will no longer be responsible for taking you away."
The man was speechless for a moment.
Chi Quan swept his gaze across the faces before him, some filled with fear, others with defiance.
"I'm here not to ask for your cooperation, but to give you a way to survive."
"Starting now, the elderly, children, and the sick should pack up first. Take the medicine and food you can carry, but don't leave anything heavy behind. Livestock should follow the group; those that can't walk should be released. Anyone with mobility issues should speak up immediately. Each household can collect their allowance and paperwork at the village head's door, according to the roster. The first group will leave the village in half an hour, and within one hour at most, the entire village must be empty."
No one spoke in front of the courtyard.
The wind rustled through the old osmanthus tree, making its branches and leaves whisper.
Jingyin looked at the expressions on those people's faces and felt a little uneasy. She knew Chi Quan was right, but that tone sounded too harsh to ordinary people.
Strangely enough, those who were shouting stopped making a fuss after he actually hit them with a hammer.
It wasn't because I was convinced, but because the feeling that "this person isn't just trying to scare you, he really will leave you here unattended" overwhelmed all my wishful thinking.