bookbashuk Chapter 335 Puppet Structure?
Chapter 335 Puppet Structure?
Chapter 335 Puppet Structure?
"I still prefer this one."
Shikamaru yawned: "Didn't you just run away last night, saying you'd deal with them if they caught you? Now you're thinking about the village again?"
"Nonsense." Ya curled his lip. "Doing a job outside and coming home to sleep are not mutually exclusive."
"Is nothing else on your mind besides fighting and sleeping?"
"Yes, I have."
"What?"
"eat."
Shikamaru paused for a moment.
"Quite complete."
Kakashi didn't interrupt, but simply looked up at the increasingly bright sky and then at the pool in front of him.
Chi Quan barely spoke the entire way, showing no sign of the relaxation one might expect after a successful surprise attack. He walked slowly, his breathing steady, as if he had simply gone out to run an ordinary errand and was now returning to the village as usual.
But the more this was the case, the more Kakashi knew that this matter was far from over in Ikezumi's mind.
When I entered the village, the gates of Konoha had just been changed for morning guard duty.
Gangzitsu stood inside the door, still talking to Shinzuki Izumo, when he looked up and saw the returning team, and he was stunned.
"You guys one"
Izumo Shingetsu also opened his eyes wide.
"You're back already?"
Ya raised his chin sharply: "What else? Did you think we'd be playing outside until noon?"
Gangzi glanced at the group instinctively. Their clothes were scratched, stained with cigarette ash, and blood, but they were all standing and breathing steadily. Looking at Izumi and Kakashi at the front, the worry in his heart finally eased a little.
Izumo lowered his voice: "Is the news from outside true? Is it really you?"
Kakashi raised his hand and patted him on the shoulder.
"During your shift, ask as few questions as possible and say as little as possible."
Izumo Kamitsu immediately shut up.
Gangzi Tie couldn't help but add in a low voice, "Starting in the latter half of last night, the intelligence unit was in an uproar. I heard that an entire warehouse behind the Allied forces was burned down, and now everyone in the village is guessing who did it."
He scoffed.
"Is this even a guess—"
""
Shikamaru grabbed him by the back of his collar and pulled him forward.
"Let's go. Your name is on the merit list; you don't need to stand at the door and read it now."
"Stop pulling me!"
The group passed through the gate and entered the village.
Konoha wasn't fully bustling yet in the early morning, but there were already voices. Steam rose from the breakfast stalls, and wooden doors along the street opened one by one. Ninjas hurried towards the mission hall, while women carrying vegetable baskets walked along the stone path to the market.
Passersby who see this procession will more or less stop and look at it.
Some recognized Kakashi, some recognized Neji, and some immediately spotted Izumi walking at the front. Those gazes held inquiries, surprise, and suppressed restlessness, a desire to ask questions they dared not voice.
The news spread too quickly last night. Although no one in the village dared to discuss it openly, most of those who needed to know already knew some of the details.
A large grain depot behind the Allied forces' rear was bombed.
There weren't many people involved in the attack.
Someone from Konoha left the village late at night.
Once these fragments are pieced together, many things no longer need to be said.
But no one stepped forward to stop them, and no one actually asked any questions.
Because of Chi Quan's expression, people would subconsciously feel that it's best not to stop him at that moment.
After turning two streets, Shizune was already waiting on the steps outside the Hokage Building.
She had clearly not slept much all night; there were faint dark circles under her eyes, and she was holding a stack of freshly sorted papers in her arms. When she saw everyone return, she first let out a heavy sigh, then frowned.
"You finally—"
She was halfway through her sentence when her gaze fell on the blood on the cuff of her sleeve, and she immediately tensed up.
"Who's injured?"
Ya looked down and exclaimed "Ah!"
"It's not mine."
"Whose is that?"
"It's not Akamaru's either."
Akamaru obediently raised his paw.
Silent twitched on her forehead.
I'm asking—
'
Kakashi interrupted her with a smile: "They're all alive and mostly intact. The biggest loss is probably Shikamaru's sleep."
Shikamaru said listlessly, "No, my brain is more damaged."
Silent choked for a moment, then carefully scanned the area again to make sure no one had any obviously serious injuries before she relaxed slightly.
"Lady Tsunade is waiting for you."
After she finished speaking, she looked at Chi Quan and lowered her voice.
"She's been in a bad mood since late last night. When you go in, you'd better not use that — well, that overly matter-of-fact tone."
Chi Quan glanced at her.
What does it mean to speak in a tone that sounds too matter-of-fact?
Shizune opened her mouth, and finally said honestly, "It's just the tone you usually use when you talk."
I almost couldn't help but laugh.
Shikamaru turned his head to one side, his shoulders twitching slightly.
Chi Quan didn't answer, only saying calmly, "I understand."
Jingyin clearly didn't believe he would really change, but she didn't have time to say more at the moment and quickly led the people into the building.
As I went upstairs, I could already faintly hear voices coming from the office between the steps.
The moment the door was pushed open, the people inside looked up at the same time.
Tsunade was standing at the table, a large map spread out in front of her. Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu were there, along with two more members of the intelligence squad. Several urgent reports that had just arrived were piled on the corner of the table. The lights were still on, but the windows were already letting in white light, clearly indicating that everyone in the room had been up all night.
When Tsunade saw Ike Izumi enter, her first reaction was not to speak, but to look him over from head to toe.
"Are you injured?"
"no."
"Where are the others?"
"No serious injuries."
Tsunade seemed to finally exhale half of the breath that had been stuck in her throat, but her face turned cold again the next second.
"You still know how to come back."
Kiba and Shikamaru stood behind, remaining silent in perfect unison.
Chi Quan calmly replied, "The mission is complete, so I'll naturally return."
Tsunade stared at him, as if she really wanted to grab the inkstone on the table and smash it over his head.
"The way you're acting is infuriating."
Jingyin quickly put the papers in her hand aside, fearing that someone in the room might actually make a move at any moment.
Kakashi raised his hand in greeting.
Good morning, everyone.
Xiaochun immediately turned to look at him as soon as she changed dorm rooms.
"Still early? Do you know how chaotic things are outside right now?"
"I know a little bit," Kakashi said casually. "Judging from the scale of the fire, it must have been quite a mess."
Mitokado Homura asked with a grim face, "Just how many did you blow up?"
Chi Quan walked to the table, glanced at the map, and pointed to a location behind the western front.
"This entire supply depot, including the main warehouse, medicine warehouse, and ninja tool warehouse, has been destroyed."
The two people in the intelligence squad were still looking down at comparing data, but when they heard the words "total destruction," their hands visibly paused.
One of them looked up: "Confirm?"
Kakashi said, "You can cross out the words 'confirmed.' Writing 'basically can't pick it up' would be more accurate."
Tsunade crossed her arms in front of her chest.
"Where are the pursuers?"
"Yes, but we didn't catch them," Chi Quan said. "We withdrew according to the planned route. They will expand the search area later, but we won't be able to find any trace of them in the short term."
"In a short period of time?" Koharu frowned. "Are you planning to let them keep you around for a long time?"
"It's not about arresting me," Chi Quan looked up, "it's about not being able to catch me again."
The room fell silent for a moment.
Tsunade's eyes darkened.
"You're still not done yet."
Chi Quan did not deny it.
"It wasn't over to begin with."
Jingyin, listening nearby, felt a slight chill run down her spine and whispered, "You just got back—"
"So let's rest for half a day first," Chi Quan said.
"Half a day?!" Jingyin's voice rose. "You didn't come home all night, just blew up one of their warehouses, and the first thing you said when you got back was to rest for half a day?"
Ya was a little stunned: "You really don't let people get a full night's sleep?"
Shikamaru rubbed his forehead: "I knew it—"
Tsunade ignored the reactions of the others and stared only at Izumi.
"Why half a day, and not a full day?"
"Because the news has already spread." Chi Quan slowly traced several supply lines on the map with his finger. "During the day, the allied forces will be in disarray, and they will begin to reorganize tonight. By tomorrow, they will send out tracking teams further afield and double the defenses of the remaining warehouses. After that, it will be difficult to find any gaps like last night."
Mitokado Homura said in a deep voice, "You want to keep hitting me?"
"We're not going to attack the same kind of warehouses as last night," Chi Quan said. "Once is enough for those warehouses; a second time might not be worthwhile. What we need to attack next are the new supply nodes and transit lines they've hastily proposed due to their panic."
The intelligence team immediately looked down at the map, their eyes following Chi Quan's finger.
Kakashi stood to the side, his hands in his pockets, seemingly not participating much, but actually his eyes always held a slightly bright smile.
He knew very well that Chi Quan was now thinking faster than anyone else.
Last night's action wasn't just about burning grain.
Rather, it was to force the opponent to reveal their next move.
Tsunade said, "You need to have the intelligence squad follow."
"Yes." Chi Quan nodded. "From now on, every time they move an extra warehouse, shift an extra line, or replace an extra garrison, they must give it to me as soon as possible."
Mitokado Homura frowned: "The intelligence squad can cooperate, but don't forget, last night's action has completely alerted the other side. If Konoha continues to send small teams deep into the territory, once one of them gets caught—"
'
"So it doesn't depend on luck."
"What do you mean?"
Chi Quan looked away from the map.
"We need to change our tactics from now on."
Tsunade narrowed her eyes: "How will it change?"
Chi Quan didn't answer immediately, but instead turned around and glanced at Kakashi, Shikamaru, Neji, and the others.
"You all go and rest first. We'll meet at the training ground this afternoon."
Ya opened his mouth: "No, it really is once every half day."
Chi Quan looked at him: "You want to go now?"
Teeth immediately shut their mouths.
"—Half a day isn't out of the question."
Shikamaru sighed, "I knew it would have been better if you hadn't asked. Asking only made things worse."
Kakashi shrugged.
"Shall we retreat first?"
Tsunade glanced at him: "You stay."
Kakashi paused in his tracks.
"Um?"
"You listen too."
"Okay." Kakashi obediently stood back in his original position.
Seeing this, Shikamaru, Kiba, Neji, Shino, and Tenzo wisely didn't linger. Shizune opened the door, and they left one by one. As they reached the door, Kiba couldn't help but turn back to glance at Izumi.
"Is it really time to meet this afternoon?"
Chi Quan hummed in agreement.
Don't be late.
My teeth twitched at the corner of my mouth.
"I see."
The door closed again, and the office became much quieter.
Tsunade pulled out a chair and sat down, raising her chin.
"explain."
Chi Quan stood in front of the map, his voice not loud.
"The tactics used last night are only suitable for the beginning. Later on, the coalition will guard the warehouses even more tightly and shorten the communication intervals between the various nodes. It's unrealistic to expect to rely on a dozen or twenty people to sneak in and plant explosive tags."
Kakashi chimed in from the side, "Especially since they'll definitely expand the patrol area of the Sensory Squad and deploy anti-infiltration mechanisms and warning spells further back."
Mitokado Homura nodded with a stern face: "That's right."
"So we need to switch to something that saves manpower, is faster, and has a wider kill radius," Chi Quan said.
Tsunade looked at him: "What do you want to do?"
Chi Quan raised his hand, picked up a blank piece of paper from the table, and drew several intersecting lines on it with a brush.
"Ordinary explosive tags have limited power and range. They either need to be stacked up or placed close together. Last night we actually used a lot of stacking methods."
"You call this limited?" Koharu's face stiffened. "Do you think it's big only if you uproot half a mountain?"
"Against a coalition of that size, it's pointless to be too small," Chi Quan said calmly. "My next step is to link a series of explosive talismans into a single unit."
Tsunade's eyes flickered slightly: "To form a single chain?"
"Chakra threads".
With a flick of his brush, Chi Quan drew extremely fine lines connecting the small talismans on the paper.
"Like a puppeteer controlling a puppet, the explosive tags are connected together using treated chakra wires. It's not just about binding them together; when one explodes, the chakra shock travels along the wires to the next tag, and the one after that. This way, the explosions don't just scatter; they explode in a coordinated, interconnected manner."
As Kakashi listened, the laziness in his eyes finally faded a little.
"You're trying to create a delayed chain reaction?"
"It's not a delay," Chi Quan shook his head, "it's layering."
"Layered?"
"The first layer of explosion pushes the second layer, and the second layer crushes the third layer. The epicenter won't spread too far, but the impact will build up layer by layer. If arranged well, a string of twenty can achieve destructive power close to that of a Jonin-level Fire Release or Lightning Release."
Mitokado Yan's expression changed.
Why did you suddenly think of this?
Chi Quan said calmly, "When the West Warehouse exploded last night, I saw those crates of ninja tools being detonated a second time. They triggered each other, making it more effective than a single detonation."
Tsunade frowned: "Did you come up with this on the spot?"
"Um.
""
Shizune stood by the table, watching the increasingly dense lines drawn on the paper, and couldn't help but ask, "But the explosive tags are already very unstable. If we connect them with chakra threads, won't they go out of control prematurely?"
"Yes, that's why we need to create a structure."
Chi Quan added a few more nodes to the paper.
"Main detonator, secondary detonator, pilot detonator, buffer segment. Each segment must be different. You have to experiment."
Tsunade looked at the paper that was quickly filled with drawings and tapped the table lightly with her fingers.
"Who do you want to hire?"
"The sealing team, the ninja tool team, and a few more people with excellent chakra control." Chi Quan paused, "Ideally, someone who understands puppet structure as well."
Shizune paused, startled: "A puppet structure? Where would you find one in the village—"
3
Kakashi interjected, "We could ask Kankuro if he left any research papers on his old blueprints, or look for them in the Sunagakure agencies that were seized during previous missions."
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