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

Chapter 60 Zhuge Danzo

Seeing Hanzo's intense reaction, Danzo smiled slightly, picked up his teacup, and leisurely took a sip.

Why does Lord Hanzo have that expression?

Why do you think I have that expression?

Hanzo glared at Danzo, then took a deep breath, and it took him a while to calm his shock.

He looked up and saw Danzo leisurely sipping his tea. After a few moments of thought, he couldn't help but ask, "Danzo, you weren't joking when you said you wanted Amegakure to attack the Land of Iron?"

"Why does Lord Hanzo think I'm joking?" Danzo looked at him with a half-smile. "Is it because the Land of Iron is a permanently neutral country, and no ninja village has ever attacked them since its inception, so you think this option is impossible? Or do you think Amegakure can't defeat those samurai?"

"Neither." Hanzo shook his head slightly and continued, "The Land of Iron is several countries away from the Land of Rain. Even if we attack them, we can't take their land. But they don't have any ninja villages either. Even if we kill all the samurai, we won't have any commissions to fight for. So what's the point of the Rain Village attacking them?"

"Chakra metal ore!"

Danzo uttered a single word, causing Hanzo's expression to change instantly.

Chakra metal is a type of metal with excellent chakra conductivity. Ninjas can attach chakra to it to enhance its power and impart special properties.

Of course, ordinary metals are also acceptable.

However, metals generally have poor chakra conductivity, and will experience metal fatigue after five or six uses.

Chakra metal is very rare, and ninjas' weapons are mostly made of ordinary metals, so they generally don't have chakra in their weapons.

Only a few wealthy people or those with exceptional skills in imbuing weapons with chakra would specially craft a chakra metal weapon.

The Land of Iron has a chakra metal mine.

If they can win the attack on the Land of Iron, then taking over this mine will make Amegakure rich.

Whether forging weapons to sell to various countries or keeping them for their own military purposes, it can greatly enhance the strength of Amegakure.

To be honest, Hanzo was tempted.

However, we still need to consider the gains and losses.

The samurai of the Land of Iron are not to be trifled with; even if Amegakure manages to take them down, they will suffer heavy losses.

Furthermore, there are no ninja villages in the Land of Iron.

If I were to attack the Land of Iron, it would no longer be a war between ninja villages, but a war between nations.

The Land of Iron could hire other ninja villages to participate during the war.

Although the nearby major ninja villages were all engaged in war and unable to spare any resources, there was still Kirigakure overseas and Sunagakure far away in the desert.

If these two ninja villages were to be hired to participate in the war, could Amegakure still win?

Obviously not.

Hanzo expressed his worries.

Danzo laughed heartily, "Lord Hanzo has quite the appetite, actually thinking of seizing the entire metal mine."

"What do you mean?" Hanzo frowned, feeling somewhat displeased.

"What I mean is, Amegakure should just seize the chakra metal mines that the Land of Iron has been storing up over the years, and then retreat before the ninja villages that the Land of Iron employs attack."

"Wouldn't that turn Amegakure into a bandit village?"

"Huh!" Danzo looked at the man in front of him with surprise, as if he were seeing him for the first time. "Isn't your plan to unite and attack Konoha just an act of banditry?"

"How can that be called robbery?" Hanzo glared at him unhappily and corrected him, "That's called business competition."

"..."

Looking at the righteous and eloquent demigod of the ninja world, Danzo opened his mouth, but in the end, he obediently shut it.

He lived in the shadows of Konoha, investigating the dark side of everyone in the village, and gained an extreme understanding of human nature.

But at this moment, he couldn't tell whether Hanzo was pretending to be innocent or was truly that naive.

Or perhaps neither, just a fool brainwashed by certain ideologies?

Because he was unsure, Danzo hesitated for a long time before finding something that would definitely not upset the other party.

"Lord Hanzo, as the leader of Amegakure, do you not even have the resolve to sacrifice your reputation for the sake of the village?"

Or is it that the plan to invade the Land of Iron is more difficult than uniting a group of disloyal individuals to invade Konoha?

Upon hearing this, Hanzo fell silent.

Whether one is more difficult depends on the specific circumstances.

If the Allied forces do not develop as Danzo said, then it would undoubtedly be simpler to join the Allied Forces and send troops to Konoha.

Moreover, the benefits are even greater.

Danzo was well aware of this, so he was in no hurry and said slowly, "Lord Hanzo still has time to think before the Allied Forces decide to send troops, so I will take my leave now."

Hanzo looked up at him, nodded, and said, "I will think about it carefully."

Then Hanzo got up and left.

"Whoosh!"

The paper door opened, letting in sunlight that made Danzo squint.

He raised his hand to shield himself, glanced up at the sun in the rain, a slight smile appeared on his lips, and turned to walk towards his guest room.

Outside, in a large tree, the Iwagakure ninja who had been chasing the suspicious figure happened to witness this scene.

His pupils contracted slightly, and then he immediately turned back along the road.

He returned to Onoki's room and reported what he had just witnessed to the Tsuchikage.

Upon hearing this, Onoki was startled and hurriedly asked, "Are you sure you didn't see wrong? Danzo of Konoha came out of Hanzo's room?"

"I've seen Danzo's picture on the Anbu's target list. That person is definitely Danzo," the Iwagakure ninja said with certainty.

Upon hearing this, Onoki's expression turned serious. "This is too much of a coincidence."

During an internal meeting, I noticed that someone was eavesdropping outside.

Just as they were about to make their move to arrest the person, the eavesdropper realized he had been exposed and ran away first.

Then, he dispatched this subordinate who was skilled in counter-surveillance.

But what I saw was this scene.

"Does Your Excellency mean that someone deliberately let us discover Danzo's secret visit to Hanzo?"

"Otherwise, how could it be such a coincidence?"

Onoki replied irritably.

He would believe it was a coincidence if he happened to witness this scene while taking a walk.

But when you're chasing someone, you stumble upon their secrets. He'd never believe it if someone hadn't deliberately guided him.

Moreover, he probably guessed who it was.

"Just wait, that guy will come to me tomorrow."

……

Ohnoki was absolutely right.

A new day, a new meeting, and then another pointless wrangling session, ending with no progress on the plan.

Then, Danzo quietly visited as a collaborator.

In the spacious and bright room, Onoki met with Danzo alone and got straight to the point: "Danzo, you've come to visit me because you want Iwagakure to withdraw from this coalition operation, right? That's not impossible, but offer me something that will tempt me."

"As expected of the Tsuchikage, you guessed my purpose right away," Danzo replied neither humbly nor arrogantly.

"Don't give me that. Yesterday, you deliberately had my men spot you leaving Hanzo's room, just to sow discord between us, didn't you?"

"If the allied forces of the four ninja villages—Kumo, Iwa, Ameonna, and Kusanagi—truly trust each other, then even if they are sown discord, it won't make a difference, right? But..."

At this point, Danzo chuckled softly, "The fact that the Tsuchikage openly told the enemy about his plan to betray his allies shows that he himself didn't want to participate in this joint operation, doesn't it?"

Onoki frowned slightly, and said impatiently, "We're all smart people, so let's not waste time. Just tell me what you want!"

"Since the Tsuchikage is impatient, I'll just state my purpose directly." Danzo paused, then continued, "I'm here on behalf of Konoha and Iwagakure to unite against Kumogakure."

"Pfft!" The Tsuchikage couldn't help but chuckle. "I thought you were going to say something else, but this is all you've got?"

"Does Lord Tsuchikage find anything wrong with what he said?"

"Iwagakure and Kumogakure are allies now, yet you're suggesting that Iwagakure and Konoha join forces against Kumogakure. Do you think that's appropriate?"

"Agreements are meant to be torn up; alliances only exist when everyone wants to maintain them."

"You're right, but right now Iwagakure prefers to maintain its alliance with Kumogakure."

"Even if Kumogakure used Iwagakure as cannon fodder and pawns last time?"

"Bang!"

Danzo's sarcastic words broke Onoki's guard, and he accidentally lost control of his chakra, causing the tata he was sitting on to collapse.

The actions of the Hidden Cloud Village last time were infuriating, but Onoki had to suppress his anger for the sake of the bigger picture.

At this moment, Danzo directly exposed the attack, so it would be strange if Danzo didn't break through the defense.

He stood up, glaring angrily at Danzo. "If you came here to anger me, you've succeeded. But if you can't quell my anger, I guarantee you won't leave this room alive."

"I had no such intention. Please calm down, Lord Tsuchikage." Danzo didn't take it to heart, but he sincerely bowed to Onoki to express his apology.

At this, Onoki's anger subsided slightly, and he found another seat to sit down. "Then let's continue. Let's see if the cards you have can sway me."

"The reason why the Tsuchikage is willing to maintain the alliance with Kumogakure is that he believes the alliance of the four ninja villages has an absolute advantage over Konoha and can obtain the greatest benefits at the lowest cost."

"That's right, but if Konoha is willing to give us the share of benefits that belong to Iwagakure, then I can guarantee that Iwagakure will not get involved in this matter."

Danzo shook his head slightly. "The Tsuchikage is probably overestimating himself!"

"oh!"

"First of all, the Four Ninja Villages Alliance will become the Three Ninja Villages Alliance."

"Are you trying to say that Amegakure has already withdrawn?" Onoki looked at him with amusement.

"Lord Hanzo isn't that foolish; he won't give up the benefits he's about to gain."

"Oh, so Kusagakure is withdrawing?" Onoki said with a half-smile, "If he wants to withdraw, so be it. It doesn't matter. It's good that there's one less party to share the benefits."

No, are you suggesting that Cloud Village is withdrawing?

Don't make me laugh, this alliance operation was officially proposed by Kumogakure.

"Of course not." Danzo shook his head slightly. "I reached an agreement with Lord Hanzo. If the war breaks out and Sunagakure and Konoha send troops together to fight against the Four Ninja Villages' allied forces, then he will withdraw to find other prey."

Upon hearing this, Onoki's expression changed drastically.

Yes, Onoki doesn't think that Konoha and Amegakure will reach any agreement just because Danzo visited Hanzo once.

Because Hanzo isn't stupid, he would never give up the benefits he's about to gain.

But what if these benefits aren't so easy to obtain?

If Sunagakure chooses to join the war to help Konoha, the allied forces will still have the advantage, but they will have no guarantee of victory.

Under these circumstances, Amegakure would inevitably withdraw in order to preserve its strength.

Because it is sandwiched between three major powers, it could easily be completely destroyed if it loses too much strength.

The question is, will Sunagakure really send troops?

"Sunagakure is an ally of Konoha, and you recently attacked Sunagakure, almost breaching its gates and annihilating it."

While I was in the Land of Rain negotiating, the Hokage also sent people to the Sand Village, preparing to offer benefits to invite them to fight together.

Although there's no news yet, I believe the Sand Village will definitely send troops, after all, their enemy, who almost wiped them out, is right here.

Danzo's next words made it difficult for Onoki to make a judgment.

He put himself in Konoha's shoes; although he could have taken advantage of the Allied Forces' attack on Konoha to loot and plunder.

However, if Konoha offers enough benefits and the enemy is someone he has just sworn an enmity with, he will choose to stand with Konoha and fight the enemy together.

Seeing Onoki's extremely pale face, Danzo understood and continued speaking calmly, "It seems that the Tsuchikage has also figured it out."

"Putting aside whether what you said is true or not, even if it were all true, with Sunagakure sending troops and Amegakure withdrawing, our forces were evenly matched. So what makes you think Iwagakure would choose Konoha?"

"Character."

"ha?"

Onoki was stunned. He really didn't expect that this man, who had always used interests as his bargaining chip, would suddenly use the village's character as his bargaining chip.

Onoki's reaction was expected, and Danzo didn't care. He said calmly, "Since the founding of Konoha, we have upheld the concept of peace and developed peacefully with other villages in the ninja world. The ninjas who go out on missions are also humble and polite."

In contrast, the Cloud Village relentlessly expanded its military power, even at the cost of financial burden.

As their power grew, their behavior became increasingly aggressive, and their desire to attack intensified.

If Konoha were to be destroyed in this war, do you think Kumogakure and Iwagakure would coexist peacefully?

Onoki pondered for a moment and said, "Kumogakure has a stronger military than Iwagakure, and given their assertive nature, I'm afraid it's impossible."

"Conversely, what if Kumogakure is destroyed? Can Konoha and Iwagakure coexist peacefully?"

"Although I think it's impossible, Konoha has never launched an attack on other villages since its founding."

"Does Lord Tsuchikage know what to do?"

"Are you teaching me how to do things?" Onoki glared at Danzo with displeasure.

He knows in his heart how to choose.

His previous words were merely rhetoric to gain leverage for himself; Danzo's attitude of having everything under control made him very unhappy.

"I wouldn't dare. I was only offering this suggestion for the benefit and friendship of Konoha and Iwagakure."

"Anyone can say nice things," Onoki sneered. "I don't believe Sunagakure will send troops, nor will I doubt Amegakure because of your words. You can leave now, and don't come looking for me again."

Is it really?

Danzo's lips curled slightly inwardly, but he stood up calmly and bowed to the Tsuchikage. "I believe Lord Tsuchikage will understand."

After saying that, he took his leave.

And this scene was "coincidentally" witnessed by Hanzo's subordinates.

Ohnoki, however, fell into deep thought and remained lost in thought for a long time.

……

The following day, the Allied forces' operational meeting proceeded as scheduled, but the content remained the same, consisting of endless wrangling, and it seemed that nothing had changed.

However, there were many tests being conducted in secret.

(End of this chapter)