Chapter 348: Breaking the Rules!

"I really didn't expect this operation to go so smoothly! Sunagakure didn't put up any resistance at all!"

"You idiot. We just happened to get lucky and catch Sunagakure at its weakest moment!"

"It's not just a matter of luck. The main reason is that Ren's foresight was so sharp!"

Before long, after being notified by Hyūga Hizashi, Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Tsunade all arrived.

All three were visibly excited. The fact that they had taken Sunagakure so easily still felt somewhat unreal to them.

Once the three of them came over, Uchiha Ren spoke directly.

"Three of you, although we've successfully occupied Sunagakure, this is only the beginning of our plan. What comes next is the most crucial part!"

"I know. We take what we came for and withdraw, right?"

Jiraiya immediately picked up the conversation.

"Sunagakure's reinforcements will arrive in a few hours. At most, we can stay here for another two hours. After that, we have to withdraw, otherwise we'll be trapped here!"

According to Uchiha Ren's original plan, they were supposed to end the battle within an hour despite Sunagakure's fierce resistance, spend another hour looting supplies, and then immediately withdraw.

Although Sunagakure's reinforcements might still take three or four hours to arrive, they could not calculate their withdrawal time so precisely.

They needed a buffer period to shake off the Sand shinobi pursuing them!

Otherwise, with Konoha's forces already exhausted from fighting for days, if Sunagakure's pursuers managed to stay on their heels, there was still a risk that the entire force could be wiped out!

But now, the situation had changed!

Uchiha Ren's eyes flickered when he heard Jiraiya. He then said,

"That would indeed have been the plan originally. But circumstances have changed. I have a new plan."

"The three of you—do you dare to join me in making one enormous gamble?"

Although Uchiha Ren was the commander-in-chief of this operation, Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Tsunade were all figures at the height of their prestige and influence within Konoha.

It was impossible for Uchiha Ren to unilaterally decide a course of action that would determine the fate of everyone involved.

After all, Uchiha Ren had only risen to prominence recently. On top of that, he carried the Uchiha name, and his standing within Konoha was still not quite high enough.

Therefore, if he wanted to realize his idea, he first needed to reach an agreement with Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and Tsunade.

Orochimaru would probably be easy to convince.

But Tsunade and Jiraiya might not agree!

Their support might not necessarily guarantee success, but if all three opposed him, they would certainly ruin his plans.

"A gamble?!"

Tsunade immediately became interested.

"What are we gambling?"

Orochimaru and Jiraiya, however, both frowned slightly. They had a feeling that Uchiha Ren was about to stir up trouble again!

A sharp glint flashed through Uchiha Ren's eyes.

"We'll gamble our lives for Konoha's prosperity for generations to come."

"We'll gamble for lasting peace throughout the shinobi world—for world peace!"

Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and Tsunade were all stunned.

None of them understood what Uchiha Ren was getting at.

Uchiha Ren explained,

"Our original plan was based on the assumption that we would encounter fierce resistance from Sunagakure."

"We expected that we were an army exhausted by prolonged warfare, while Sunagakure's reinforcements were close at hand. We wouldn't have the time to accomplish anything more, nor did we have The Daimyō's capital to gamble for greater gains."

"But now, Elder Chiyo has withdrawn with a large number of Sand shinobi without putting up a fight, leaving us with an 'empty city.'"

"Sunagakure has indeed preserved its remaining fighting strength this way, but it has also given us more time and energy."

"Most importantly, Elder Chiyo and the others left all of Sunagakure's civilians behind!"

"To us, they are merely civilians of Sunagakure."

"But look at it from another perspective. They are the parents, wives, husbands, children, relatives, friends, and comrades of those Sand shinobi..."

As Uchiha Ren spoke, he exchanged meaningful looks with Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and Tsunade, filling in the parts of his argument that could not be stated openly.

At this point, Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and Tsunade finally understood exactly what Uchiha Ren intended to do!

"No!"

Tsunade immediately rejected the idea without even thinking.

"We're shinobi! According to the rules of the shinobi world, we cannot attack civilians!"

"If we actually attacked those civilians, forget the other villages—even the Fire Daimyō would hold us accountable!"

Jiraiya also spoke in agreement.

"Tsunade is right! Not attacking civilians is the most fundamental bottom line of our conduct as shinobi!"

The prohibition against shinobi attacking civilians might appear to be nothing more than a moral restriction.

But in reality, it was rooted in much deeper interests.

In this world, although shinobi were the dominant force, the people who truly possessed the power to make decisions were actually a small portion of the civilian population—namely, the nobles and wealthy merchants.

The nobles extracted wealth from the common people and then used that wealth to support the shinobi!

Take Konoha for example.

Its three primary sources of funding were village taxes, subsidies from the Daimyō's Court, and payments from shinobi missions.

Konoha's own tax revenue was almost negligible. It could barely cover the village's ordinary operating expenses.

What truly allowed Konoha to train tens of thousands of shinobi and support them was the funding provided by the Daimyō's Court and the payments for shinobi missions!

And both of those sources of revenue ultimately came from the Fire Daimyō and the Land of Fire.

The subsidies from the Daimyō's Court were easy enough to understand. They were simply direct financial allocations.

As for mission payments, one only had to think about who actually issued those missions.

Those with the means to handle matters themselves had no need to hire shinobi, while those without money could not afford to issue missions in the first place.

Therefore, the shinobi were ultimately supported by the money of these people!

That was precisely why the shinobi villages were subject to the authority of the Daimyō's Court!

Even Sunagakure, despite having an extremely poor relationship with the Wind Daimyō, did not dare to casually use its military power to overturn the existing system.

To those people, shinobi were merely tools that they funded, while the common people were their source of wealth.

Naturally, they would never allow the tools they supported to destroy their own source of wealth!

And in a certain sense, those civilians were also the shinobi's providers—their figurative "parents" who fed and clothed them.

Thus, shinobi likewise would not casually turn their blades against civilians.

All these intertwined interests had ultimately created the consensus throughout the shinobi world that shinobi must not attack civilians.

This was one of the most fundamental rules of the world.

And those who broke the rules rarely met a good end.

If Uchiha Ren truly attacked the civilians of Sunagakure, he might very well drag all of Konoha into an irreversible catastrophe!

That was why Tsunade and Jiraiya had rejected Uchiha Ren's idea so decisively.

As for Orochimaru...

He was the type who practically feared that the world would ever become too peaceful.

As long as he found something interesting, there was practically nothing he would not dare to do!