One Piece: I am Imu

Chapter 335 - 335: From Negotiation to Detonation

Tengen didn't waste any time visiting Queen Sara.

Instead, he went straight to the top of the city walls, sweeping his gaze over the vast number of Kumogakure shinobi gathered outside.

Judging from their eager stances, it wouldn't be long before they launched an attack.

With the wind and sand swirling in the sky, and the boundless sea of desert stretching to the horizon, the whole scene gave off a stifling, almost suffocating, atmosphere of imminent bloodshed.

"Defense... looks like it won't hold."

Tengen calmly rubbed his chin, muttering to himself, "Then we'll have to go on the offensive. The question is... how?"

After a few seconds, a plan began to form in his mind.

He took a deep breath, puffing out his chest, and then shouted toward the direction of the Raikage's command tent.

"I am Uzui Tengen, a jōnin from Umigakure! May I request the presence of the Third Raikage of Kumogakure for a conversation? Let's talk about the survival of this country—Rōran—and the fate of your prisoners!"

His voice boomed across the land like thunder.

Whether it was the shinobi of Umigakure within the city or the Kumogakure forces outside, anyone within range grimaced in pain and clutched their ears tightly.

At such a deafening volume, the Third Raikage naturally heard Tengen loud and clear.

As someone with a notoriously short fuse, his expression immediately twisted into a scowl.

"Umigakure?"

"What kind of place is that? I've never even heard of it! Some no-name village dares to act so brazenly in front of me?"

Without another word, he stomped out of the tent.

Dodai, following behind with a puzzled expression, racked his brain trying to recall anything about Umigakure.

"Raikage-sama, I'm certain—there's no such village in the shinobi world called Umigakure."

"Then how do you explain that group of shinobi on the wall?"

The Third Raikage didn't even look back as he strode toward Rōran's outer gates, his voice low and cold.

He wasn't a sensory-type ninja, but his sharp eyesight was enough. A single glance at the top of the wall revealed dozens of black-clad shinobi.

That alone suggested there were nearly a hundred inside.

Such numbers clearly pointed to a proper hidden village.

Dodai frowned and cautiously offered a guess. "Could they be shinobi from another village in disguise?"

"Hm?"

The Third Raikage paused in his tracks. Spotting Tengen clearly now, he nodded slowly. "That's certainly possible. But would they really go to such lengths?"

Not waiting for a reply, he took a few more steps forward, then came to a halt, raising his head to shout: "Don't try to fool me with this 'Umigakure' nonsense. Tell us your true identity—right now!"

"Otherwise, I'll come up there and kill you myself!"

"Eh?"

Upon hearing the Third Raikage's words, Tengen raised an eyebrow and muttered inwardly, So, he thinks we're impersonating another village?

Hmm... Not a bad assumption. Why not run with it?

"Hahaha! As expected of the Third Raikage! A cheap trick like that may have fooled Sunagakure and the people of Rōran—but not you!"

Tengen let out a hearty laugh.

Down below, the Third Raikage gave a grim nod, as if everything now made sense. He growled: "Oh? Then who are you really?"

"We're shinobi of Konohagakure, from the Land of Fire," Tengen shouted. "Acting under orders from the Hokage, we are here to protect the Kingdom of Rōran. So if I may, we'd like to ask you to withdraw."

"Konohagakure..."

A flicker of caution passed through the Third Raikage's eyes.

The Third Raikage instinctively grew cautious upon hearing Uzui Tengen claim he was a ninja from Konoha.

Still, caution was one thing—he wasn't about to retreat just because someone said 'Konoha shinobi'.

"Hmph."

The Third Raikage narrowed his eyes and sneered, "You might really be from Konoha... but to say the Hokage sent you? That's another story."

"Oh?"

Uzui Tengen raised an eyebrow, slightly intrigued by what the other man was getting at.

The Raikage's voice carried through the wind: "If the Hokage had sent you, there'd be no need for such sneaky behavior. No disguises, no hiding behind this ridiculous cover of 'Umigakure.'"

At that, Uzui Tengen began to understand where this was going.

"Black clothing, heh... you're one of Danzo's people, aren't you? You're here for that Queen of Rōran. Am I right?"

With arms crossed, the Third Raikage looked up toward the city wall, sneering at the now-silent Uzui Tengen.

The Root of Konoha—

To most in the ninja world, this organization was obscure and little-known. But to the Raikage, it was no secret.

After all, in Kumogakure—no, in all the Great Villages—there were similar forces.

Though none were as large as Root, and they operated more as ANBU units or spies.

Mainly, no other village had someone quite like Shimura Danzo.

And even if they did, the Third Raikage would never have tolerated such a person's existence.

To this day, he couldn't understand what the Third Hokage had been thinking—allowing a ninja force within the village that even the Hokage himself couldn't directly command?

If it were up to him, he'd have cut off Danzo's head!

"Hmm—hahaha! Truly worthy of the name 'Third Raikage'! Impressive! Absolutely right—we are indeed Root, under Danzo-sama's command!"

A loud laugh rang out from the top of the wall.

Uzui Tengen hadn't expected the Raikage to unwittingly hand them such a perfect excuse with just a few probing words.

"But Root shinobi are still Konoha shinobi, aren't they?" Uzui added with a grin. "Surely you could show us a little courtesy. In return, we can have the Queen provide your men with ample food and water."

If they could get the Kumo shinobi to leave without a fight, all the better.

After all, they truly weren't ready for a full-scale battle.

"Heh... a pack of sewer rats thinks they're worthy of my courtesy? Laughable. Even if Danzo himself were here, unless he got on his knees, he wouldn't be qualified to speak to me!"

The Third Raikage had already concluded—from Uzui Tengen's eagerness to get them to leave—that there weren't many Root agents inside the city.

And if these shadowy rats were all to die here, not a single voice would rise to defend them.

Even their leader, Shimura Danzo.

"...Huh? Something's not right."

Uzui Tengen frowned as he noticed the Third Raikage's increasingly hostile attitude.

Could it be that their identity as Konoha shinobi and members of the Root held no weight here?

"Dodai, pass down the order: the First Unit must take Rōran within thirty minutes. Kill every black-clad ninja inside on sight—except for the one on top. I want to capture that one personally!"

At the same time—

The Third Raikage turned away and issued his command to Dodai without another word.

"Yes, sir!"

Atop the walls of Rōran, Uzui Tengen, who had heard everything thanks to his Observation Haki, wore an awkward expression.

He had initially hoped that a bit of diplomacy might sway the Third Raikage... but it seemed it had only backfired?

No—wait.

If he hadn't initiated conversation, the enemy might've launched an attack much earlier. So really, his smooth talk had bought them some time.

"Pass on the order: fight while retreating. Our bottom line is to defend the area within a 500-meter radius of the underground palace!"

Facing the approaching force of nearly a thousand Kumo shinobi, Uzui Tengen drew the two dusky gold Nichirin Blades from his back. At the same time, he gave instructions to the Genin behind him.

"Yes, sir!"

The Genin quickly pulled out Den-Den Mushi to relay the orders to the Jonin stationed in the other defensive zones.

[Swish-Swish-Swish-Swish—]

The so-called First Unit mentioned by the Third Raikage was, in fact, the vanguard—the main assault force.

They were divided into squads of four, split into four groups, and simultaneously launched a fierce assault on all sides of Rōran. Clearly, they intended to let no 'Konoha' ninja escape.

But just then, a loud, attention-grabbing cawing echoed overhead.

The sound was both thunderous and dense, impossible to ignore.

Many Kumo shinobi instinctively looked up—only to be stunned by the sight of countless crows circling in the sky.

"What is that?!"

Some sharp-eyed shinobi noticed that small black dots were dropping from above. A few seconds later, they realized what they were:

Tiny black spheres, about the size of pills.

"Watch out above! Scatter!"

Though they didn't know exactly what the objects were, one thing was clear—if the enemy was using them now, they definitely weren't candy.

The warning came in time—but the small black bombs, dropped by the crows, were so numerous and widespread that many still landed within groups of Kumo shinobi.

The next moment—

A thunderous roar erupted alongside waves of fiery explosions. Flames and powerful shockwaves swept across the battlefield, engulfing the surrounding shinobi one after another.

[BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!]

From atop the walls of Rōran, the desert below looked like it was being pounded by relentless artillery fire—an unending blaze of flame and smoke surging outward in all directions.

But it wasn't over yet.

To the stunned disbelief of the Kumo shinobi who had nearly reached the enemy lines, many Umigakure ninja suddenly pulled long black polearms from their backs—sleek, unfamiliar firearms.

"...Huh?!"

One of the Chunin from Kumogakure was left completely dumbfounded.

---

I will post some extra Chapters in Patreon, you can check it out. >> /TitoVillar

---