Naruto: The Tavern Speech Begins to Make the Land of Rain Great

"See, I didn't kill him."

Watanabe Toru stood with his hands in his pockets, staring at Jiraiya with a helpless expression.

The moment Tsunade fell to the ground, Jiraiya attacked her like a madman.

Each ninjutsu was released as if it didn't consider the amount of chakra stored at all.

Watanabe Tetsu urged him many times before Jiraiya finally understood the situation.

Tsunade is still alive.

Jiraiya chuckled, noticing that Tsunade had only a cut on her arm and was sitting on the ground covering her face.

He scratched his head awkwardly.

Tsunade did indeed try to commit suicide just now.

Rin suddenly realized something and promptly put the kunai away.

Although Tsunade's arm was still scratched, it did not endanger her life.

only...

Tsunade suddenly lunged forward and fell to the ground, getting a big bump on her forehead.

However, none of the people present dared to laugh.

Tsunade's enormous fist is raised!

Nobody wants to experience Tsunade's rage from losing face.

Watanabe Tetsu even felt that Tsunade was stronger than before.

Does the Thousand Hands clan unleash even greater potential when humiliated and plunged into social death?

He really needs to be careful then, to prevent the Senju clan's ninjas from suddenly becoming powerful again.

It was this incident that brought Jiraiya and Watanabe Tetsu closer together.

He's not as hostile towards Watanabe Tetsuya anymore.

"I already said, you're just hostages, I'm not going to kill you."

"real?"

"Otherwise, I would have killed him just now."

Jiraiya chuckled and came up with a wicked idea.

"Then why don't you just let us go?"

"Can't."

Watanabe Toru rejected him without even thinking.

He had a purpose in wanting the three ninjas as hostages; it wasn't just about finding a few hostages to experience the fun of being a kidnapper.

Xiaoguang will need a large amount of resources to carry out sweeping reforms.

Both monetary reform and inflation correction require substantial aid.

Watanabe Toru had some knowledge of economics, and in his plan, several preconditions were needed to fix inflation.

More goods flowed into the market, separating from the previously devalued currency, and were backed by reliable institutions.

In short, it requires more food and commodities to adjust the supply and demand relationship, so that residents trust and use the new currency and cannot use the old currency.

These conditions undoubtedly require external assistance.

Looking at the external forces that can provide so many resources, besides the ninja village and the great nation, who else can do it?

As the strongest ninja village, Konoha has abundant land and ample reserves of resources.

With Konoha providing assistance, this reform will most likely proceed smoothly.

However, Watanabe Tetsu certainly didn't think that any ninja village would give him so many benefits for nothing.

Every ninja village wants to see other ninja villages decline. They would rather not kick each other when they're down than provide them with resources and assistance.

The same applies to Konoha; Watanabe Tetsu needs a way to get Konoha to send him supplies.

Extortion is one of them.

That's why Watanabe Tetsu set his sights on the Sannin.

He planned to use the three legendary Sannin to establish contact with Konoha and extort food and money from the village.

The choice between money and food also has its own profound meaning.

Money can buy supplies and solve domestic supply shortages, while food is the safety net for people's livelihoods, ensuring that everyone has enough to eat.

It wouldn't be right for the brothers who follow Watanabe Toru's reforms to starve.

That's why Watanabe Tetsu couldn't back down; he would never release all three of Konoha's legendary Sannin.

"I'm staying anyway."

Jiraiya said firmly that after what had just happened, he no longer thought Watanabe Tetsu was a bad person.

"I'll stay too."

Tsunade raised her hand, clearly unwilling.

The whole thing started when Rin caught her out.

It's perfectly reasonable for her to stay.

Jiraiya and Tsunade both stared at Orochimaru, their expressions saying, "You're free now."

They all knew their friend all too well; if we were to rank the three of them by their yearning for freedom, Orochimaru would undoubtedly be number one.

If Orochimaru were taken hostage, he would probably feel very uncomfortable.

Considering various factors, Tsunade and Jiraiya chose to become hostages.

Tsunade waved her hand, telling Orochimaru not to worry about it, and then said.

"Orochimaru, go talk to Sarutobi-sensei and explain things to him. He will come to save us."

Watanabe Tetsu's lips twitched. He felt that these people weren't even acting anymore, saying such things to his face.

"Hey, aren't you afraid I'll leave Orochimaru here too?"

Watanabe Toru said with dissatisfaction.

Tsunade looked Watanabe Tetsu up and down, then shook her head.

"You don't dare."

Why?

"I will commit suicide."

Tsunade stood with her hands on her hips, looking completely self-righteous, which left Watanabe Tetsu speechless.

She's right. Watanabe left Tsunade and Jiraiya behind to ask Konoha for resources, not to start a war with Konoha.

But if Tsunade or Jiraiya were to die unexpectedly, then this matter would be irreconcilable, and Akatsuki would be quickly wiped out by Konoha.

Don't think that just because Konoha is fighting on multiple fronts, it won't have the energy to deal with you. This behemoth could easily crush the Akatsuki.

He didn't want Hiruzen Sarutobi to become enraged upon hearing of his disciple's death, transforming into a ninja hero and single-handedly wiping out the Akatsuki.

Watanabe sighed helplessly.

"You win."

Tsunade wore a smug smile, and like a schoolchild on a field trip, she waved to Orochimaru, who had already taken a few steps and was about to leave.

"Take us back soon!"

Tsunade gave Watanabe Tetsu a provocative look.

"Alright, you can take us away now."

Watanabe Tetsu looked helpless, waved his hand, and his underlings followed Tsunade and Jiraiya.

"Come with me."

...

Orochimaru stood on the border of the Land of Rain, gazing intently at the distant forest.

He recalled what had happened half a day earlier and still felt it was somewhat surreal.

A new and powerful leader has been born in the Land of Rain.

Although he is still far inferior to Hanzo in terms of individual strength, the power he commands, the scale of his organization, and his own cunning...

They are probably not simple at all.

The appearance of such a force in the Land of Rain might be a good thing.

Two tigers cannot share one mountain.

Watanabe Toru's presence would cause Hanzo to be wary.

He can distract Hanzo, the ruler of the Land of Rain, while allowing Konoha to benefit from the situation.

but...

If Watanabe Toru were to seize power in the Land of Rain and become the sole ruler...

Orochimaru recalled everything that had happened in the last two days.

Hanzo defeated them, leaving them in a very bad state.

Then they encountered three war orphans from the Land of Rain.

Then Watanabe Tetsu appeared and rescued three war orphans, but captured them alive when they were in poor condition.

All of this has only one beneficiary.

That was Watanabe Toru.

It was as if everything was being done to benefit him.

He gained the trust of three war orphans, and earned prestige by sparring with and capturing the Sannin. He could also use Jiraiya and Tsunade as hostages to demand ransom from Konoha.

The more Orochimaru thought about it, the more he felt that there was a pair of giant hands behind everything.

And the owner of those large hands...

Is it Watanabe Toru?

Orochimaru kept this suspicion buried deep in his heart, intending to gather more evidence to support his idea.

If it's true...

The leader of this new force must be quite terrifying.

If he succeeds in his coup and seizes power in the Land of Rain...

The Land of Rain will likely become a formidable enemy of Konoha.

Orochimaru glanced once more at the Land of Rain, this weeping nation.

Regardless, his most important task now is to hand this information over to the Third Hokage.

Orochimaru took out a scroll and a pen, quickly wrote a few words on it, and then tied the scroll up.

"Spiritual communication!"

Orochimaru bit his fingertip, drawing blood, and then slammed his fist onto the ground.

As the smoke cleared, a small snake appeared and swallowed the scroll in Orochimaru's hand.

"For the Third Hokage."

The little snake nodded intelligently, then disappeared from the spot amidst white smoke.

Seeing the snake disappear, Orochimaru turned around and ran towards Konoha.