Born in Sunagakure, dedicated to antagonizing Konoha for decades

Masato said in a tone that suggested he was also in a difficult position.

"(▼へ▼メ).... Damn bastard..."

"Go outside and see for yourselves. All the resources of our Land of Earth for a year are here. If you agree to let me leave the resources here, you will become daimyo. If you don't agree, we'll fight to the death!"

Onoki gritted his teeth as he stared down at the white-haired bastard from the Hatake clan. What did he mean by saying it was too cheap and a slap in the face to the Land of Earth? This bastard was clearly trying to rip them off, and he made it sound so nice.

He realized that this bastard was wasting his talent by not becoming a businessman; he was getting a good deal and then complaining.

"Snapped!"

"Alright! Since Lord Tsuchikage is so generous, I won't say anything more. Releasing the people is no problem. However, Lord Tsuchikage, your reputation in the ninja world isn't very good, and there are so many people outside... How about this, let my men take the things away first, and I'll stay here. After my men leave the Land of Earth, I'll hand over your daimyo to you. This is your territory, so you don't need to worry about me going back on my word. Everyone knows that our Hatake clan is the most trustworthy. What do you think?"

His Observation Haki detected rows of carriages and supplies outside... To be honest, this daimyo wasn't as valuable as his future brother-in-law. However, considering that this daimyo wasn't Onoki's son, Onoki's high price was probably about right. Iwagakure wasn't as wealthy as Konoha, and although Onoki's military strength had increased through years of aggressive military campaigns, his national treasury wouldn't have much surplus grain. If they split it with Kumogakure, they wouldn't get much. But he shouldn't go too far; if Onoki fired a cannon at them, his underlings might not be able to withstand it.

At worst, he could go back and have Sasori write a "love letter" to his friend in Konoha, tricking him into coming to the village so Konoha could bail him out...

After pondering for a while, Onoki carefully examined the bastard disguised as Hatake Shiro. He waved to his underlings, signaling them to step back fifty meters so that the group of bastard Sand Ninja could receive the supplies. Although the bastard was despicable, there was something he believed: this was his territory, and he had so many underlings outside. He figured the bastard wouldn't dare to do anything.

However, whenever he heard this bastard keep mentioning the Hatake clan, he felt so disgusted that he wanted to punch him. This bastard had become a white-haired member of the Hatake clan, yet he stubbornly refused to admit that he was the Golden Lion. This made it difficult for him to find a reason to go and seduce the daimyo of the Land of Wind in the future.

In the end, it all comes down to the fact that Iwagakure lacks talent. If their Iwagakure had a top-tier double-flower red stick as a henchman, he wouldn't have to worry so much. As the Tsuchikage, he can't personally take action against the Daimyo of the Land of Wind, after all, his status is different. But could he have such a high-level expert?

Like this bastard impersonating a member of the Hatake clan to kidnap their leader—not only is it embarrassing for them, but more importantly, nobody will believe it. Everyone knows that the Hatake clan only has two male members now, White Fang and Little White Fang; one is fighting the Kazekage in Sunagakure, and the other is barely grown up...

If this bastard is indeed tying up their entire family, then this bastard now resembles the white-haired member of the Hatake clan...

He was truly disgusted by this real fight.

"You guys go first. Once you're out of the Land of Earth, have Miss Slug let me know you're safe."

"Hiccup... Shinto-kun, what's going on here...?"

Shindou gave Sasori's father a look and summoned a slug clone, who looked dazed and confused, who had been taken somewhere by Kakuzu again, to stay on Sasori's father.

Now, Miss Slug always has a drunken burp when she appears, leaning on her handsome dad's shoulder, looking around at the grand scene with hazy eyes, and asking...

"...Fine, just send me a message by carrier pigeon later..."

Shindou looked at the slug girl, whose eyes were glazed over and who had completely drunk herself into oblivion. In this state, she probably didn't even know what kind of creature she was, let alone report that she was safe. He said to the handsome scorpion with a black line on his face.

Damn it, we can't let Slug Girl hang out with Kakuzu anymore. Kakuzu, this old hand who's been raised with traditional values, is certainly loyal and treats Slug Girl to good food and drink every day, which touches me deeply. But Slug Girl's constant drunkenness isn't good either. Tsunade can't use her for group healing when she summons her, and similarly, it seems like summoning her doesn't do much good either...

317. That guy is incredibly experienced.

"boom!"

"What did you say? Golden Lion kidnapped the Daimyo of the Land of Earth?! Σ(⊙▽⊙a)"

On the battlefield in Sunagakure, Sakumo Hatake and the others in the Konoha camp stared at Tsunade in disbelief, feeling like their brains couldn't process what she was thinking. The Golden Lion's words and actions were simply unbelievable!

They're completely defying logic and conventions.

I've been fighting against Sunagakure for the past few days, and I finally got a few days off to rest. This morning, I had just gotten up and hadn't even had breakfast when Tsunade brought me some news that made me feel so full.

They were working with Iwa ninja to fight Konoha before, so what did they hear now?

This guy went to kidnap a daimyo. With the intelligence of normal people, they really can't keep up with the thinking of abnormal people. Doesn't Shiki worry that the Iwa ninja will also go and mess with the daimyo of the Land of Wind?

Historically, battles between ninjas never involved the daimyo. After all, the daimyo was nothing more than a good-for-nothing who indulged in pleasure. If every battle involved the daimyo, even if the Fire Country daimyo had dozens of sons taking turns to hold the position, it wouldn't be enough to kill them all. But this Golden Lion actually attacked the Earth Country daimyo...

"...The slug told me that. If you have any questions, ask it yourselves..."

Tsunade, looking exasperated, pointed at a slug-like girl beside her, whose eyes were glazed over and who seemed about to fall over at any moment, constantly hiccuping.

There were simply too many patients, and she was the only one on the battlefield skilled in medical ninjutsu. So every day, the ward was filled with a large number of wounded soldiers for her to treat. Even though she was born with abundant chakra as a member of the Senju clan, she was still too busy to handle it all by herself. So today, she was hoping that the drunkard, Katsuyu, hadn't gotten too drunk to summon her. However, reality annoyed her. She did manage to summon her, but the way Katsuyu kept hiccuping made her realize that he was drunk again. This infuriated her. She really wanted to complete her grandfather's unfinished mission and kill that bastard Kakuzu.

Ever since that bastard gave Kakuzu a clone of Miss Slug, Miss Slug has completely lost her power. Every time she tries to summon a spirit, she either fails or is completely drunk and disoriented, making her utterly useless.

Just as she was about to put it back, the drunken slug told her something else. If she didn't know that bastard Shiki well, she would have thought the slug was talking nonsense. But considering that bastard had already infiltrated Konoha and kidnapped her when she was three years old, it wasn't surprising that he would kidnap the Daimyo of the Land of Earth.

The reactions of everyone present were within her expectations. Although she didn't enjoy studying ninja history, the kidnapping of a daimyo was something she couldn't recall ever having happened before. While it's true that ninjas can't think like ordinary people, they also have principles and wouldn't attack an enemy daimyo just because of war. But that bastard actually did it...

-_-||...

Everyone was exasperated that the Slug Sage's clone, constantly hiccuping from drinking, had turned into a drunkard, but the plausibility was still quite high. After all, he was a sage who could outlast even the Sage of Six Paths...

"This guy....-_-||"

Sakumo Hatake stared speechlessly at the sky. Others might find it hard to believe, but based on his understanding of Shiki, this guy was perfectly capable of it. Kidnapping was a business he was an expert in, incredibly experienced...

"The Raikage disappeared on the battlefield of the Cloud Ninja, and Shiki went to the Land of Earth to kidnap the Daimyo... Could the Raikage also be in the Land of Earth?"

Nara Shika tapped his fingers on the table, sensing a connection between the events. He had a general idea of ​​Shiki's goal: to gain some advantage. Otherwise, he wouldn't have sent the Kazekage to prolong the war. As for the Raikage's disappearance from the battlefield, he hadn't been able to figure out which side the Raikage might be hiding behind, but now it seemed the Raikage, having been out of contact for so long, was probably also in the Land of Earth, plotting to steal a tower...

"Very likely. It seems like Onoki's retreat from the Land of Earth is due to its strong defenses, and most people wouldn't suspect the Raikage would go there. That's why they were able to launch a surprise attack... It's even very possible the Raikage and Shiki have joined forces. The last news we received about the Five-Tails' rampage in Iwagakure might have been a staged event orchestrated by Onoki himself, designed to keep the Cloud and Sand ninjas at bay. Now that I think about it, they probably guessed that, which is why they went to the Land of Earth to cause trouble. I didn't expect that guy to be so brazen... -_-||"

Hatake Sakumo nodded in agreement with Nara Shika's point of view. Although the Raikage was straightforward and didn't play these kinds of tricks, don't forget that he had a big head with an intelligence level no less than that of the Nara clan, so it was perfectly normal for him to play these kinds of tricks.

"If that's really the case, then once the Raikage and Shiki's battle is over, the war can be brought to a perfect end..."

The leader of the mountain clan gazed up at the sky with a profound sense of wonder, as if he could see the starry heavens through the ceiling...

As he spoke, everyone looked up at the sky, as if they could see the starry sky through the ceiling. This damned war was finally over!

This war lasted longer than World War I. Although there were no major casualties, unlike in World War I where all the Second Hokage were wiped out, the losses in each village were much higher than in World War I. To be honest, Konoha's casualties in World War I were not actually that high. The most brutal battlefield in Iwagakure was almost entirely borne by the Uchiha clan. The battlefields in Sunagakure and Kumogakure did not see any particularly intense battles. Moreover, the Second Tsuchikage and the Second Mizukage were killed in less than two years, causing the war to end earlier than expected. Therefore, the Uchiha clan was the one that suffered the heaviest casualties in Konoha. It had little to do with them. Almost every clan in Konoha did not suffer much loss in World War I. It was only the death of the Second Hokage that caught them off guard.

However, the core strength of Konoha suffered heavy losses in this war. From the Uchiha and Hyuga clans to the Ino-Shika-Cho trio, almost all of them suffered significant losses. In particular, the last time Shiki went berserk, it almost crippled every clan. In addition, there has been a year of daily confrontations with the Kazekage. If this drags on for another year or two, both their village and their clans will be severely weakened. The past twenty years of development will have been almost wasted.

The number of deaths in this war is simply too high!

318. The war is over, and the Golden Lion is a good ally.

"He's back! He's back! I see my son!"

"I saw it too..."

Led by Ebizo, all the villagers at the entrance of Sunagakure Village lined up on both sides, holding banners and small colorful flags, as if they had won a battle, to welcome the warriors returning from the front lines. Among them were probably their sons, husbands, and parents.

When they saw a dense mass of small black dots in the distance across the desert, the crowd began to stir, a complex mix of emotions—joy, excitement, and worry. The joy and excitement stemmed from the fact that the war was finally over, and their loved ones were no longer on the battlefield. But at the same time, worry arose: what if their loved ones weren't among the distant group, but instead, were being carried back as cold corpses...?

"...Damn, they've already admitted defeat, but they're still acting like they've won a battle. Why is your brother getting more and more into this kind of formalism...?"

In the crowd, Shinto looked at the scene before him and said to Chiyo speechlessly, "It's obvious that the Cloud Village got their share and left, so we should also leave and negotiate. After all, it would be stupid to stay and fight Konoha alone. But it looks like we've won a battle."

In the late 37th year of Konoha and the 36th year of Sunagakure, after receiving his share of the spoils from the Land of Earth, the Raikage left satisfied. In this respect, Shinto truly didn't hold the Raikage back; he shared half of the ransom from the Land of Earth's looting of the Daimyo's castle and the Daimyo's entire estate with the Raikage. Although he could be quite shameless at times, he still adhered to the basic principles of teamwork. After all, there was an even larger Third Shinobi World War to come, and who knows, he might need the Raikage as a teammate to organize things. However, the next target would be Konoha, and the Land of Earth... The country is truly poor. A daimyo's worth isn't even half that of Nawaki. The Third Shinobi World War is only about ten years away. If Onoki is still this poor even after twenty years of development, how much will he have developed in ten years? It would be more practical for him to go to Konoha and rob the rich to help the poor. It mainly depends on whether Danzo is capable or not. If Danzo is as capable as in the original story, and if White Fang commits suicide, the Sannin don't leave, and the Perfect Ninja and his brother, one dies and the other becomes a rogue ninja, then it will be time for Sunagakure to rise to power!

So there's no need to try and trick the Raikage now. Besides, he has a big-headed guy in Azabu by his side, so it's not easy to fool him. Now he has a more direct understanding of one of the smartest clans in the ninja world. Although he had contact with the Nara clan quite a bit before, he rarely had the opportunity to talk to them directly. It might be because the Nara clan has a physiological defect. Although they are very smart, they don't like to use their brains, so he didn't understand them very well. But this time, he came into contact with this big-headed guy in Azabu. It's really too difficult to fool such a smart person. Even if the conditions are obviously in their favor, they have to come up with a bunch of conspiracy theories.

So when the Raikage sent people to receive the loot, they simply divided it equally with him to avoid getting out that Onoki couldn't protect their daimyo and would be a disgrace. When the Raikage saw the pile of loot, he exclaimed that Shiki was a good teammate and that there was a chance to continue. He then happily led his men away.

With the Raikage gone, Sunagawa, who had already made a name for himself on the battlefield, naturally saw the opportunity and launched a final offensive, smashing everything in sight before leading his men to retreat.

With the departure of Sunagakure, World War II was drawing to a close. While the remaining small villages and countries continued their fierce fighting, these were merely minor skirmishes with no real impact on the overall ninja world or its ecological balance. Even when several small villages teamed up for battle, it was at most a few hundred weaklings fighting each other, unlike the massive melees of the Five Great Villages, where thousands or even tens of thousands of ninjas could easily clash. A few ninjutsu attacks could cause soil erosion; Hashirama Senju had been dead for over twenty years, and no one had come to reforest the land...

When Ebizo received news that the group was preparing to return to the village, he immediately organized the villagers to welcome their warriors back. Although they had nominally lost, in reality, Sunagakure had gained the most from this war. After all, the huge sum Konoha had paid to ransom their heir had already ensured they wouldn't have to worry about food and drink for a short period of time...

"They risked their lives for the village on the battlefield; this treatment is what they deserve..."

Chiyo, her face beaming like a blooming chrysanthemum, said that although Sunagakure had lost many men in this war, it was finally over. Even if they gave a large red envelope to every family of the fallen heroes, they would still be making a profit. However, the red envelopes still had to be given out. Most of the dead were killed by her nephew, and although this had been covered up and not revealed, her conscience still bothered her…

"Go and negotiate with Konoha in two months. Kaizo is getting old, and the village has a lot of things to take care of..."

Chiyo looked at the approaching procession and continued.

The war is over. According to tradition, each village that participated in the war will send a representative to the victorious Konoha to bring back the peace treaty signed by the Hokage to their respective villages. However, this thing is useless; it's just a piece of waste paper. After a period of time, when each village has developed to its full potential, the war will still have to start. This peace treaty is just a symbolic ceremony that the first Hokage of each village and Hashirama Senju held when the various ninja villages were established. Its significance outweighs its practical use.

The most crucial issue is the reparations from each village. After all, Konoha is the victor. Even if Hiruzen Sarutobi doesn't want it, the Konoha clans that participated in the war will have to pay. The large clans are fine; the Uchiha and Hyuga clans, which have been powerful for two thousand years, don't care. The Senju clan only has Tsunade and Nawaki left, along with a few elderly people who are ready to hold a funeral. Once they get the money, Tsunade will take it and live it up. The Hatake clan only has a father and son left. Hatake's fate of being unlucky is indeed a cursed star. His parents had just gotten married, and his father went to war, and this curse killed his mother... So, although the Hatake clan can't compare to powerful clans like the Uchiha and Hyuga, the wealth they accumulated since the Warring States period is enough for a single-lineage clan like theirs. As long as no one like Tsunade emerges as a hero, they can live a life of luxury for ten or so generations.

However, Konoha still has many small clans that need compensation. Without this compensation, and given the intensity of this war, many small clans will find it difficult to survive. During the last war, a few people, represented by Ebizo, who originally intended to concede defeat and not pay reparations, were pressured by Hiruzen Sarutobi for several days and were eventually driven almost insane by the pressure. Unable to bear it any longer, they offered to pay reparations and then left.

319. Even Karin's mom can hold hands now.

Normally, it should have been Ebizo, the Minister of the Military Affairs, who went to Konoha this time. However, due to what happened twenty years ago, the three giants of Konoha on the other side of the negotiating table backed away, so someone else had to be chosen.

In Sunagakure, only a handful of people are qualified to negotiate with Konoha based on their status and position. Sunagawa is the Kazekage, the face of their village, and his every word and action represents their village. Since Onoki and the Raikage are not going, Sunagawa naturally cannot lower himself to the task.

Chiyo's status is even higher than Sunagawa's. Since Mito Uzumaki's death, the most senior ninjas in the world are her and Madara, who is currently hiding somewhere planning a big undertaking. It would be even more inappropriate for her to go.

Ebizo absolutely refused to go. Sunagawa, the Kazekage, and Chiyo, the pillar of strength, were not suitable. That left only Shinto, the top performer. Although he was only the leader of the Jonin class, his status was high enough and his reputation was great enough. Letting him go would be just right. Most importantly, this kid's mouth was even better than Hiruzen Sarutobi's. Chiyo also wanted to see who could out-argue whom.

"...Sigh, what a tiring life. I've been in this business for about twenty years now, haven't I? Hey young man, does our village have any labor laws or anything like that? Does it say that you can retire after working for twenty years?"

After rolling his eyes in exasperation, Masato asked the handsome Sasori who was being forcibly held by Karin's mother's hand. Strangely enough, Sasori had never been kind to anyone except his parents and grandmother, not even his uncle. He was also very resistant to outsiders. Even the little girls who were attracted by his good looks would be hurt and leave by his sharp tongue.

However, Karin's mother did cry once or twice at first because of this brat's mouth. But the Uzumaki clan members are born with big hearts, so it didn't affect them at all. Each failure did not defeat Karin, the young mother, but instead made her more and more courageous. Now she can even hold hands with handsome Sasori. Although she can feel that handsome Sasori is still very resistant, she has made rapid progress. At least handsome Sasori did not shoot Senbon.

If any other girl were to forcefully hold hands with handsome Sasori like that, I bet a real fight would have her greeted with thousands upon thousands of green senbon needles. After his half-year of training... no! instruction, whether handsome Sasori's defense has skyrocketed is unknown, but his senbon-shooting technique has definitely surpassed Chiyo's, making him the best in Sunagakure...

"The village doesn't have a labor law, but it does have a rule that you can only apply for retirement after reaching the age of sixty. That means no matter how many years you've been in the industry, you still have to serve the village for about thirty years..."

Handsome Sasori struggled to shake off Karin's mother's delicate little hand, but the physique of the Uzumaki clan was much stronger than that of the young Sasori, who hadn't even grown his hair yet. Karin's mother's delicate little hand was like a pair of pliers, and he couldn't shake it off no matter how hard he tried. Handsome Sasori was extremely annoyed.

"...Speaking of which, you brat, why don't you study your puppetry properly? Why do you spend all your time studying these basic laws? You want to be a lawyer? Is that even a proper profession...?"

Masato stared speechlessly at the handsome Sasori struggling in Karin's mother's hands. He hadn't expected that this kid could actually come up with a coherent explanation. Was this kid studying the Basic Law in preparation for killing him or Sunagawa in the future?

Looking for loopholes in the law?

Reassuring!

Chiyo looked at her beloved grandson with a smile. Although he had some personality flaws, he was not as unruly as her nephew. Compared to her beloved grandson's talent and ability, his personality flaws were nothing. In her heart, her beloved grandson was just that perfect!

How old is your child to be able to study the Basic Law?

Only my precious grandson! ヾ(^Д^*)/

"snort...!"

Handsome Scorpion snorted coldly and turned his face away, not wanting to talk to an illiterate man. He'd already been lectured... ptooey! Although Handsome Scorpion, who'd been being taught for over half a year, was still as tough as ever, he clearly knew that arguing head-on with this bastard uncle would end badly. This shameless bastard could find all sorts of excuses to lecture him...

.....

Hello fellow villagers! Thank you for your hard work!!! ヾ(^Д^*)/

Sunagawa, standing tall and proud in the center of the group, waved to the villagers on both sides. At that moment, he was the most dazzling guy in the whole place!

Twenty years!

It has been a full twenty years since he last received this much attention! The last time was when he had just become the Wind Shadow, and now it all seems like it was just yesterday.

Although he often gives free performances to the villagers, it has been going on for twenty years, once a year, and the villagers are tired of it. Moreover, they have never been so enthusiastic as they are now.