Hattori , Puppet Tyrant in Sand

Seeing that Hattori was being cryptic, Ebizo didn't press for more details.

Or rather, he simply didn't take Hattori's words seriously.

After all, in his mind, no matter how much of a genius Hattori was, taking on a tailed beast—especially the fierce and powerful Nine-Tails—was nothing short of fantasy.

Still, though he didn't believe him, he didn't show it. Instead, he chuckled and nodded along.

"Hehe, I'll look forward to it, then. Now, you must be tired after treating so many people. Let me arrange a place for you to rest."

"Alright, that works."

Hattori was indeed tired, so he nodded right away, then grabbed Pakura's hand beside him.

"Sister Pakura, come with me."

"This…"

Pakura hesitated, and seeing this, Ebizo laughed.

"Hehe, you're here to protect this kid at my sister's request, right? So just come along, or he might start holding a grudge against me!"

"Um… yes, Lord Ebizo!"

With Ebizo's approval, Pakura nodded and followed alongside Hattori.

Soon, the three reached their destination—a dark cave entrance.

Seeing this, Hattori froze. "Uh… what's this? A wild boar's den?"

"Ahem, ahem…"

Hearing that, Ebizo couldn't help but cough and reached over to give Hattori's head a quick knock.

"What wild boar's den? Nonsense. I had this dug out to prevent the Leaf Village from using tailed beasts again; it's a place to hide and rest!"

With that, he led the way into the cave, motioning for Hattori to follow.

"Come on down. I had Rasa reinforce it, so it's safe."

"Tsk…"

Hearing Ebizo's reassurance, Hattori sighed and, with Pakura, followed him into the cave.

Perhaps because it was a temporary excavation, the tunnel wasn't very deep, sloping downward for a few steps before they reached the end.

At the end of the passage was a small, makeshift wooden door. When Ebizo pushed it open, a small room about twenty square meters appeared before Hattori.

The room held many sealing scrolls, likely Sand Village's supplies.

On one wall was a map of Kikyo Mountain with several marked spots.

"This must be Ebizo's battle map!"

Thinking this, Hattori turned to Ebizo.

"Old Ebizo, the Leaf Village has come to us. We can't fight them head-on, and hiding won't work either. Do you have any strategies?"

"Well…"

Ebizo hesitated before shaking his head with a bitter smile.

"There's not much we can do. The Leaf came too quickly, and I'm not even sure how they found us. All we can do now is delay. If we can stall for a day, we will."

"Um… that's it?" Hearing Ebizo's response, Hattori looked stunned.

Seeing Hattori's expression, Ebizo felt even more embarrassed, but he nodded anyway.

"That's all we can do now. I think if we can hold them off for half a month, our chances will be much better."

"Heh…"

As soon as Ebizo finished, Hattori let out a cold chuckle and poured a bucket of cold water over him.

"Impossible. It can't be done. Don't even dream about it!"

Ebizo: "(╬￣皿￣)"

Are you here just to make things worse?

Hearing Hattori's words, Ebizo nearly choked, his face turning red.

"You… you… then tell me, what's your plan?"

"Heh… of course, I have a plan!"

Hattori smiled, rubbing his chin.

"I've spent years studying warfare and devised thirty-six strategies for defeating enemies. I've divided them into six categories: Strategies of Victory, Strategies of Confrontation, Strategies of Assault, Strategies of Confusion, Strategies of Cooperation, and Strategies of Defeat!"

Chiyo: "(Д*)"

Even if she didn't fully understand, it sounded impressive!

Seeing Hattori's confident manner, Ebizo couldn't help but ask, "So, which strategy do you think we should use against the Leaf?"

"The enemy is strong, and we are weak, so we'll use the Defeat Strategy, which has six sub-strategies!"

With that, Hattori found a place to sit and held up six fingers to Ebizo.

"These six strategies are the Beauty Strategy, the Empty City Strategy, the Counter-Spy Strategy, the Suffering Strategy, the Linked Strategy, and… the Fleeing Strategy!"

"Um…"

Though Ebizo didn't understand the first five, he recognized "Fleeing Strategy," so he shook his head immediately.

"Leaving isn't an option. Why don't you tell me about the first five?"

"Alright, then!"

Hattori nodded and raised one finger.

"First, there's the Beauty Strategy. As they say, heroes fall for beauties. We could send a beautiful woman to seduce the Leaf's Hokage or leadership, and when they let their guard down, we carry out a decapitation strike. Simple, right?"

"Hmm, that does sound simple!"

Ebizo nodded, then spread his hands.

"But we don't have any beauties in the Sand Village who could seduce the Hokage. The prettiest we have is this young lady beside you. If she's willing, she can give it a try!"

"Uh… let's skip that!"

Hearing this, Hattori quickly waved his hands.

"I just realized this strategy only works on heroes like me. It might not work with the Leaf. Let's move on to the next one—the Empty City Strategy!"

"Hm, nice name for a strategy."

Ebizo nodded, then spread his hands again.

"But we don't have a city here!"

Hattori: "╭(°A°`)╮"

No city? How am I supposed to work with this?

No beauties, no city—how am I supposed to fight a war here? This isn't a strategy; it's an impossible mission for Genius Hattori! Surrender is our best bet!

After silently grumbling to himself, Hattori took a deep breath and spread his hands to Ebizo.

"Alright, maybe I overlooked something. After rethinking, there's only one strategy left that fits our situation."

Ebizo quickly asked, "Which one?"

"The Suffering Strategy!"

This time, Hattori didn't keep him guessing and revealed the answer directly.

"The Suffering Strategy is simple. You bring Rasa in, let me beat him up until he's crying, and then send him to the Leaf to say he's willing to surrender and become their guide to help them fight us!"

"Um…"

Hearing this, Ebizo was stunned for a moment, then caught on.

"You mean a fake surrender? Would the Leaf even buy it? What if they don't, and Rasa just ends up beaten for nothing?"

"Well, then he's just beaten for nothing. We don't really lose anything!"

Hattori spread his hands again.

"It might even fire up Rasa, making him fight harder when facing the Leaf!"

Ebizo: "…"

(End of Chapter)