Starting with Naruto, I'll become stronger through my own efforts.

Chapter 100 None of us are qualified

Xia Zuo lay back down on the recliner and closed his eyes, pretending to sleep.

He said with a sneer, "If every time Konoha encounters a problem, it's something the Third Hokage can't solve, but I can, then power will automatically be in my hands."

"Shisui, power doesn't just disappear on its own if I refuse it. When it reaches a certain point, the Konoha ninjas will drape the Fifth Hokage's haori over my clothes while I'm sleeping to keep warm."

Uchiha Shisui scratched his head: "—No, no way—"

Xia Zuo chuckled and said, "Foolish Shisui."

"Think carefully, why did you come to me when you were in trouble in Konoha?"

Uchiha Shisui replied matter-of-factly, "Because Lord Xia Zuo will definitely be able to solve the problem."

Xia Zuo pressed further, "Why are you so sure I can solve the problem?"

Uchiha Shisui scratched his head: "Because Lord Xia Zuo prevented the Uchiha clan from being wiped out, and also killed the Cloud Village envoy group, thus resolving the threat of the last war in Cloud Village."

Xia Zuo opened his eyes and said with a smile, "Just as I thought. After I resolved the Uchiha clan massacre and the threat from Kumogakure, you believed I could solve the new crisis, so it was only natural that you came to ask me for help."

"Haven't you noticed the problem yet?"

Uchiha Shisui looked completely bewildered and shook his head, saying, "There's no problem."

Xia Zuo was almost driven to tears by Uchiha Shisui's stupidity. He gave an example, half-laughing and half-crying: "If I said, 'Shisui, come with me to defeat the Cloud Village ninja,' you would follow me without hesitation, right?"

Uchiha Shisui immediately stood up and loudly replied, "Of course, I will follow in Lord Natsume's footsteps and obey your orders."

Xia Zuo laughed loudly: "Zhi Shui, you know, you carried out my orders without hesitation, and you still think I don't have any power."

Uchiha Shisui: "————"

Xia Zuo asked again, "If it were any other Konoha ninja, how many do you think would be willing to fight alongside me?"

Uchiha Shisui licked his lips and said with difficulty, "—Many Konoha ninjas will be willing to follow Lord Natsume in battle."

Seeing that he finally understood the seriousness of the problem, Xia Zuo no longer concealed his intentions and said, "If they are willing to obey my orders, then how much power do I wield? Isn't it no less than that of the Third Hokage?"

"The Third Hokage sees things much better than you do. In the past two years, whenever I've been on a mission, Hiruzen Sarutobi has imposed many restrictions on me and has been acting very anxious."

"On the contrary, when I'm lying at home, he not only doesn't scold me for it, but he also finds reasons to send me money so that I can continue to lie in bed in peace."

"Only when I lie down can the Third Hokage feel at ease."

"He would also become very happy and relaxed because of this, and even have the leisure to go to the ninja academy to instill that twisted will of fire in the children."

Xia Zuo retorted with a cold laugh, "Why should I take the initiative to solve the problem?"

"Is it really a good thing for Konoha if I solve this problem before the Third Hokage does it again?"

Uchiha Shisui was speechless. After a long silence, he finally asked, "Are we just going to watch the Fourth Raikage swagger around? Watch him seize the Land of Fire's land? Watch him cause harm to Konoha?"

Xia Zuo chuckled: "Shisui, you are just a ninja of Konoha Village, not the master of Konoha Village."

"Konoha Village now belongs to Hiruzen Sarutobi and his classmates, to their three clans, not to you, me, Hyuga, Aburame, Nara, Yamanaka, Akimichi, Inu-kai, or any other Konoha ninja."

"None of us are qualified to worry about Konoha Village. We're not qualified! Do you understand?"

"More importantly, you don't understand what it means to have an improper name and words. Without resolving the issue of identity, no matter what I do or what problems I solve, it will only cause more serious harm to the village in the end."

Uchiha Shisui seemed to have been hit on the head, and his anger was completely extinguished.

The Fourth Raikage was a familiar face. In 47, when the Third Shinobi World War had not yet completely ended in Konoha, he began to constantly provoke and test them.

The Fourth Raikage's first attempt was defeated by Minato Namikaze, who had not yet ascended to the Hokage throne.

He and his brother Killer Bee were completely overwhelmed by Minato Namikaze, and his inability to break through his defenses was his last act of stubbornness.

After Minato died on the night of the Nine-Tails' death, the Fourth Raikage became restless, but was then ambushed by Orochimaru and Jiraiya, suffering another defeat. Orochimaru even stole one of the Eight-Tails' horns.

Once Orochimaru became an S-rank rogue ninja, the four Raikage sent a delegation to probe Konoha Village, and incidentally, they also stole the Hyuga clan's daughter, wanting to get her Byakugan for fun.

Driven by her protective instincts, Hyuga Higeri killed the Cloud Village ninja.

Because no one in Konoha could forcefully dissuade the Fourth Raikage from resigning, the Third Hokage could only force Hyuga Hizashi to commit suicide to give Kumogakure an explanation. The Fourth Raikage finally won a small victory.

Then came the Uchiha clan massacre. The Fourth Raikage directly dispatched a large army of ninjas to threaten them. The Third Hokage was forced into a corner by Natsume and had no choice but to grit his teeth and resist. Fortunately, he managed to force back the Raikage, whose strength was unclear.

However, three years have passed, and the Hidden Cloud Village has reached its limit in terms of development. It needs to expand its territory in the Land of Lightning through war to raise the upper limit of its own ninja village.

Moreover, the three years also made the Fourth Raikage realize that Uchiha Shisui and the mysterious Wood Release ninja were simply incompatible with the Third Hokage.

The Third Hokage was far more wary of these two Konoha ninja than of himself as an enemy.

Since there are so many internal conflicts in Konoha Village, why bother with formalities? Let's go!

Thus, a war crisis that did not exist in history broke out. The Fourth Raikage even led the Cloud Village ninja across the Land of Hot Water and set up camp directly on the land of the Land of Fire.

This time, he did not choose to hide his whereabouts. He made a public appearance and demanded that the Third Hokage come to the border of the Land of Fire to meet him.

The Fourth Raikage will discuss new peace terms with the Third Hokage on the land of the Land of Fire.

The Third Hokage still did not leave Konoha Village this time. He simply kept sending people to meet with the Fourth Raikage, hoping that he could clearly state the new conditions.

However, the Fourth Raikage did not meet with any of the envoys from Konoha.

He refused to see anyone, whether they were Konoha ninjas, famous merchants, or even nobles from the Land of Fire who came from the Land of Fire.

Keeping his promise, the Fourth Raikage led the Cloud Village ninja army forward several kilometers every day, then re-established camp, putting increasing pressure on Konoha Village.

He was determined to talk to the Third Hokage outside Konoha Village, or else he would bring the Cloud Village ninjas to block the village gates before they could talk.

The Third Hokage was very troubled by this.

However, in his frantic state of mind, he failed to notice the change in the mindset of the Konoha ninja.

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