This puppeteer is a bit... well...

Chapter 236 Strike First

"What did you say?!"

The Third Hokage jumped up from his chair, staring at Orochimaru with a look of utter shock.

The First Hokage and the Second Hokage also realized the seriousness of the situation, and their expressions became serious.

The Impure World Reincarnation is a technique that summons and manipulates the dead. This technique is not powerful enough to restrain a powerhouse like Hashirama... Such an important matter could not possibly be omitted from the research report.

Unless, of course, the other party did it on purpose.

But why would Jue do this on purpose?

Do you want the army of resurrected beings to get out of control?

However, the Edo Tensei technique has a very real binding effect on ninjas below Hashirama's level.

Moreover, this battle is for the Allied Shinobi Forces, and only the best ninja from each village will be summoned. Even if it cannot be controlled, it will not go out of control.

Suddenly, Tobirama seemed to remember something and asked, "Was it Zetsu who suggested you summon Uchiha Madara?"

"No." Orochimaru shook his head slightly. "After perfecting the Impure World Reincarnation technique, I naturally thought of using it to help the Allied Forces win this war. When choosing who to summon, I naturally thought of the First Hokage and Madara Uchiha, after all, your deeds are simply too unbelievable. However, considering Madara Uchiha's hatred for Konoha, I planned to summon and control them after the war started, but I didn't expect..."

"It wasn't him..."

Tobirama crossed his arms and lowered his head, lost in thought.

Hiruzen Sarutobi also lit his pipe and started puffing away, the smoke rising and reflecting in his thoughtful, cloudy eyes.

"It might be a coincidence!" Hashirama laughed. "This time it's for the Allied Shinobi Forces. They probably never thought Orochimaru was considering whether to summon Madara Uchiha to fight. Usually, don't they just summon their own people?"

Moreover, someone who can produce the blueprints for Sky Castle to unite the ninja world against Sunagakure, intending to restore the balance of the ninja world and achieve long-term peace... such a person could never have any ill intentions.

"Brother, things aren't that simple."

Despite his suspicious nature, Tobirama did not abandon his doubts about Zetsu.

However, he admired Hashirama's actions in dealing with Zetsu.

Distributing the blueprints of Sky City to various ninja villages and uniting them to fight against Sunagakure, which is disrupting the balance of the ninja world... How similar is this behavior to his earlier act of distributing tailed beasts to achieve a balance of power and realize peace.

How could someone like that be a bad person?

Even if he did it on purpose, it must have been for the peace of the ninja world.

Therefore, he immediately retorted, "Then tell me, why would he deliberately do that?"

Tobirama was speechless.

If he knew what Jue's motives were, he wouldn't be so confused.

He didn't respond to Hashirama, but turned to Orochimaru. "Orochimaru, tell me how you and Zetsu met, and how you worked together to perfect the Impure World Reincarnation jutsu?"

"Hmm!" Orochimaru nodded, opening the book to recount the process of how he and Black Zetsu met and perfected their ninjutsu together...

In fact, Orochimaru was interested in the Impure World Reincarnation technique only because it involved the soul level. He wanted to study it to master soul transfer and thus achieve the purpose of the reincarnation technique.

However, the research process has not been very smooth.

Until he met Jue.

His encounter with Black Zetsu was by chance.

At that time, Black Zetsu came to Konoha to discuss the Allied Shinobi Forces with the Third Hokage.

After discussing the important matters, Orochimaru was ordered to escort him out of the village.

As a result, a gust of wind blew by and took away a document from Jue's hand.

Orochimaru reacted swiftly, using his Hidden Shadow Snake Hands to catch the scroll that had scattered into the air.

However, due to the strong wind, the scroll had already unfurled in the air, allowing Orochimaru to see the information on it.

That was a document about the study of the soul.

According to Zetsu, it was a secret passed down from when the Ninja Clan, founded by the Sage of Six Paths, was still alive.

Orochimaru glanced at it and felt that this information could make up for the shortcomings of the Impure World Reincarnation technique, so he wanted to ask Zetsu for the technique.

Black Zetsu said he could give it to him, and even help him perfect the Impure World Reincarnation technique, but after it was completed, he would need to teach him the perfected ninjutsu.

Orochimaru agreed.

"That's how it is," Orochimaru said. "We agreed to his request because we knew the Impure World Reincarnation technique was too difficult for him to master."

"Foolish! How could you teach such a dangerous technique to an outsider?" Hiruzen Sarutobi scolded.

"How could I possibly teach him?" Orochimaru chuckled softly. "Although it's a technique we researched and perfected together, my research was the main focus. The technique I give him is obviously fake; he can't possibly learn it."

Hashirama said, "Even so, it still results in breaking my promise!"

Orochimaru shrugged and remained silent.

Seeing this, Hashirama didn't say anything more, but looked at Tobirama.

Tobirama shook his head slightly. "I can't tell anything."

"I told you you were just being too suspicious."

Tobirama snorted and turned his head away.

"It's best to be cautious." Hiruzen Sarutobi said with a solemn expression. "He has information passed down from the era of the Hidden Village and the Ninja Clan, so his background must be extraordinary. However, Konoha's intelligence agency has been investigating for five years but has found nothing."

"Will Madara Uchiha confess or not?"

"Prepare first, then decide based on the situation!"

"Um!"

……

The Land of Wind.

At an altitude of over 4,000 meters, there were many clouds.

A falcon broke through the clouds, about to take flight, when suddenly a black object appeared, startling it so much that it quickly turned around and narrowly missed it.

It looked back, trying to see what had almost bumped into it.

As a result, a massive steel city came into view.

The entire structure is black, encased in massive copper and iron walls, upon which are placed countless instruments gleaming with a cold light.

Inside the iron wall are rows of tall, round towers, each taller than the last, connected by sky bridges, iron plates, gears, and bearings, ultimately forming a whole that protects the central tower, which is nearly a thousand meters high.

On the complex yet not narrow streets, people come and go.

The black object that nearly collided with the falcon was the spire of the central tower.

Upon seeing this, the falcon widened its eyes in a remarkably human-like manner, as if to say: "Are you kidding me? Why is there such a large city at an altitude of 4,000 meters?"

However, out of fear of humans, the falcon had no intention of investigating further and quickly spread its wings and flew away.

……

Shinsago Village.

The Wind Shadow Building... no, it should be called the Central Government Building.

It has 150 floors and is 980 meters high.

Such a huge floor... even though Sunagakure has expanded a lot in recent years, it is still enough to accommodate all military, political and civilian offices, making it a veritable central government.

The roundtable meeting... as the highest authority in Sunagakure, was naturally placed at the top level.

At this moment, the expanded roundtable meeting was fully attended by all the members of parliament.

"Everyone, please give your opinions!" The Third Kazekage sat in the middle, leaning slightly forward with his hands crossed in front of him, his increasingly composed eyes scanning the crowd.

All the ninjas from various villages boarded the Sky City and flew away... Such a large-scale operation could not possibly be kept secret from Sunagakure.

In these five years, everything that Ryuji deduced from the unusual ceasefire between Iwagakure and Konoha, except for the joint attack on Sunagakure, has been proven true.

Now that the military forces of all the major ninja villages have mobilized, they have to be careful and on edge.

"Is that even a question?" Kohinata Mukai said, "These past few years, the various ninja villages have been constantly making underhanded moves against Sunagakure, their hostility is clearly visible. Now, all the military forces from all the ninja villages are out on the move at the same time; it's no surprise they've been planning this all along!"

"Our Sand Village is developing too fast; they feel threatened and are preparing for a fight to the death!"

"Instead of discussing facts that are obvious at a glance, we should discuss the situation of the enemy's attack."

You say something to everyone, and I say something.

The meeting room quickly became noisy.

"quiet!"

The Third Kazekage slapped the table, and only after everyone quieted down did he look at the red-haired youth sitting silently in the corner.

"Ryuji, do you have any objections?"

Long Er spread his hands and pouted, saying, "I share the same opinion as everyone else."

"Yes, that's what I think too." The Third Kazekage took a deep breath and continued, "So, do you have any solutions?"

"A response?" Long Er paused, then asked, "Why should we respond?"

"?"

Everyone stared at Long Er in bewilderment, not understanding what he meant.

"They're the ones we should be dealing with, not us." Ryuji looked at them incredulously. "Do you really think they'd be stronger than us if they joined forces?"

"..."

Everyone remained silent.

They thought Long Er was too arrogant.

Even though Sunagakure now possesses the power to fight the entire ninja world on its own, the true strength of each side can only be determined after the battle.

but.

The person who said this was Long Er, and they felt it was perfectly reasonable.

Because he was the one who created this miraculous phenomenon in Sunagakure.

"Even if we need to deal with them, we can't just eat and drink as usual. After all, this is war, and this is too childish."

"How is this possible?"

Ryuji's words brought a sigh of relief to everyone.

"Of course, we should attack first before they attack us!"

(End of this chapter)