Born in Sunagakure, dedicated to antagonizing Konoha for decades

There's no way around it; their military strength simply can't keep up with Iwagakure, no matter how much gold dust they have—their strategic resources are still inferior to Iwagakure's.

Not to mention Konoha also has a super-powerful team; if things aren't handled properly, Sunagakure could be doomed.

They really wanted to pry open this guy's brain to see if it was filled with tofu pudding; he could even come up with such a terrible idea.

However, the thought that if they could use their influence to gain favor with Konoha in the Land of Earth, and if that succeeded, they wouldn't have to worry about villagers going hungry for at least the next five years...

However, the risk was also very high; if they were discovered, the Sand Village would be doomed. Therefore, both of them were debating whether or not this operation was feasible.

"Just be careful, okay? Nothing in this world is 100% certain. With great rewards come great risks. Show some leadership courage, okay? Being so afraid of everything, what great things can you achieve? Besides, if I rescue this kid from those two who handed him over to Onoki, I might even be able to make a killing in Konoha. That's killing three birds with one stone! If it succeeds, I'll be incredibly wealthy; if it fails, I can just hide in some remote mountain village for ten years and then make a comeback. As long as the dream remains, there's nothing to panic about..."

Shindou said nonchalantly that if both sides were clever and discreet, they would be hard to notice when Konoha and Iwagakure were fighting so fiercely. He was confident that as long as they weren't too greedy and knew when to stop, he would be fine.

When Onoki encounters Konoha, he goes all out. The more brutally he was beaten by Madara when he was a child, the deeper his resentment grows with his rising status. Why did the Second Tsuchikage mobilize the entire village during the First Shinobi World War, fighting the Uchiha relentlessly regardless of the cost? It was because Madara had brutally beaten him when he was already the leader of Iwagakure. The Second Tsuchikage wasn't at his peak from the start; before he became leader, Hozuki Gengetsu had his eyebrows steamed off, turning a once-spirited young man into a mummy. Madara only gave him a minor beating, and after healing, there wasn't a single scar. However, the Second Tsuchikage's resentment towards Madara and the Uchiha was clearly much greater than his resentment towards Hozuki Gengetsu. Otherwise, his first act after becoming leader of Iwagakure would have been to attack Kirigakure.

If Onoki goes to the border with a small force, he might be driven back by Konoha, which would only fuel his anger and could potentially escalate the war...

"...Find two Iwagakure spies in the village immediately, and dump this brat at their house. Remember to make it look convincing..."

Sunagawa and Ebizo's eyebrows twitched at his words. "The bold get rich while the timid starve." Sunagawa gritted his teeth, stomped his foot, and said, "Let's do it!"

Before Ebizo could speak, he turned to the two bodyguards who had disguised themselves as Iwa ninja and brought Nawaki over.

Spies are a common occurrence in every village, but even if a village knows there are spies from an enemy village lurking there, they tend to ignore them. Even after investigating their backgrounds, they often turn a blind eye and don't bother eliminating them. It's impossible to eradicate them all. If you eliminate some spies today, the enemy village will send new ones tomorrow, causing another wave of trouble. It's more efficient to simply monitor the spies they already know about. Besides, spies are easy to train. With a decent transformation ability and above-average intelligence, they can basically be deployed as spies. Therefore, unless it involves touching on the village's core secrets, it's generally easier to keep the spies whose backgrounds are already known.

Therefore, finding the two Iwagakure spies is extremely easy; a quick check of the Anbu's records will suffice.

499. His height was his lifelong pain.

Hidden Rock Village

Inside the Tsuchikage-ro, Onoki was leisurely flipping through a book on fortune telling.

Ever since rumors spread throughout the ninja world that Hiruzen Sarutobi was petty, narrow-minded, and ostracized the descendants of the Senju, Onoki's life had been incredibly enjoyable. Although the week-long free admission to all establishments in the village had caused him a financial blow, the daily rumors about Hiruzen's pettiness always helped him recover. After a month, he was fully recovered. The village was back on track, and everything was progressing well. The only thing that bothered him was the lack of a truly outstanding genius among the next generation. However, he thought to himself that he was still young, and his fighting style had helped him avoid many unnecessary injuries. He figured he could easily maintain his professional career for another ten or twenty years. He had time to wait; fortunes change, and one day his village would produce a dazzling genius like himself…

After figuring things out, Onoki is no longer in a hurry. He doesn't know if it's because of Hiruzen Sarutobi that his soul has been elevated, but he has now figured out all the problems that used to confuse and frustrate him!

Since that day, he found that his luck was getting better day by day. Not only did many investors come to the village, but the next generation's studies also made great progress. Although there were no so-called super geniuses in the next generation, it has to be said that their overall quality was much better than that of their predecessors. This made him wonder if his fate was exactly the opposite of Hiruzen Sarutobi's. When Hiruzen Sarutobi was having a bad time, he was in high spirits and his luck was also good. When Konoha was in trouble, his Iwagakure was quite stable and slowly got back on track. He used to not believe in fate. He always firmly believed that his fate was up to him, not up to heaven... But now that such things were happening to him, his belief began to waver.

"Father, news has come from Sunagakure that our people have captured Tsunade's younger brother and are on their way back, but Sunagakure has discovered them and is pursuing them!"

Just as Onoki was engrossed in watching the film, his son, Koto, rushed in, speaking at twice the speed.

"What?! They captured Tsunade's brother?! What's going on?! Σ(⊙▽⊙a)"

Onoki jumped up from his stool in excitement and quickly floated to his son's shoulder height. He was first surprised, then excited. Through his studies over this period of time, he could basically conclude that the destinies of him and Hiruzen Sarutobi, as well as those of Iwagakure and Konoha, were completely opposite. In other words, if one side was unlucky, the other side would be extremely lucky, like being hit by a gold brick while walking. So when he heard his son's words, he was first surprised that his spy underling in Sunagakure was so capable of taking down Tsunade's brother.

You have to understand that these spies were selected by him from a group of cannon fodder who were not strong in combat but had passable intelligence. It would be a pleasant surprise if they could bring back any useful information. They wouldn't feel too bad if they were killed. Over the years, those spies who were sent out to hide in Sunagakure could not be said to be incompetent. Sometimes they did bring back some useful information, but most of the time they were just freeloaders waiting to die.

He never expected these guys to be so effective this time, actually managing to take down Tsunade's brother!

What is Tsunade's identity? She is Hashirama Senju's granddaughter. So, what is the identity of Tsunade's younger brother?

Isn't he just Hashirama Senju's grandson? The first in line to inherit the Senju clan!

I had always heard that although the Senju clan in Konoha had declined, Hashirama Senju still had a granddaughter and a grandson. His granddaughter was Tsunade, and he only knew the name of his grandson but not who he was. This was mainly because that short dwarf Hiruzen Sarutobi had protected the Senju clan's heir too well, making it impossible for the spies he sent out to infiltrate Konoha to get close. They only knew that there was such a person in Konoha. When the war broke out, he had thought of sending someone to Konoha to snatch the Senju clan's heir back. Then Hiruzen Sarutobi would be at his mercy.

Those of them who lived through that era know how special the Senju clan is to Konoha.

However, he was only thinking about it. After all, it was Konoha's stronghold, and it would be too difficult to snatch the Senju clan's heir back from Konoha, which was under layers of protection. Even he himself couldn't handle it.

Although Tsunade left Konoha with her brother this time, the glory of the Senju clan still shines in Konoha. This kid's value is just too damn great!

Once we get our hands on this brat, he can ride on Hiruzen Sarutobi's neck and shit on him, and Hiruzen Sarutobi won't dare say a word against it!

The losses caused by the previous week's free service at consumer venues can be fully recovered instantly, and who knows, it might even force Konoha to cede territory and pay reparations...

In an instant, various plans flashed through Onoki's mind, but before that, he had to figure out the cause, process, and outcome of the matter. After all, their people had taken down that brat in Sunagakure. That despicable, shameless, cunning, and brazen Golden Lion in Sunagakure was not so easy to deal with. The thought of taking down someone right under his nose made him feel a little unreal. He would believe it if it were Tsuchiki and his son who could take down someone in Sunagakure, given their abilities.

But the fact that several cannon fodder spies did nothing but steal people and actually succeeded made him feel uneasy.

"The intelligence report wasn't clear, but roughly it's about how Tsunade and that kid were taken to Sunagakure by Shiki. Kumogakure spies seized the opportunity to capture the kid, but before they could escape, they were caught by the Sunagakure ninja. Our people happened to be nearby, and after learning the kid's identity, they secretly captured him. However, they were discovered while trying to escape Sunagakure, and now a large group of Sunagakure ninja are hunting them down..."

Huang Tu took out a piece of intelligence and explained it to Onoki while reading it.

"...Notify the Civil Engineering department to gather everyone; we're heading to the border to pick them up now!"

After listening to his son's explanation and analyzing the various pros and cons in his mind, Onoki gritted his teeth and stomped his foot.

It's done!

Although it's still uncertain whether there's anything fishy going on, fortune favors the bold, and this kid's value is too great, enough for him to ignore those unstable factors. As long as he gets his hands on that kid, not only will Iwagakure be able to enter a period of rapid development, but he can also get revenge. He'll get his revenge on his best friend's grandson just like how Madara Uchiha beat him when he was just a child!

His height was a lifelong source of pain for him....

500. That's even more impressive than all the boasts they've ever made before.

Meanwhile, in the Hokage Building of Konoha Village, since his beloved general and chief comrade Sakumo Hatake left the Anbu, there was no suitable replacement, so Hiruzen Sarutobi had to take on two roles. However, since his beloved general had already established a mature operating system for the Anbu, he wasn't too worried. Although Tsunade and Nawaki had left Konoha and been tricked by that bastard Shiki into going to Sunagakure, he firmly believed that Tsunade, who possessed the First Hokage's genes, wouldn't be so easily defeated by Shiki. Don't be fooled by the First Hokage's seemingly foolish appearance; his decades-long struggle against the seemingly shrewd Madara showed just how clever he was. After all, he and the Second Hokage were siblings, and if the Second Hokage was so shrewd, how could the First Hokage be so foolish?

One day, Tsunade will bring Nawaki back to Konoha, after all, this is their home. So, to welcome Tsunade and Nawaki back, he's been giving his best friend, who's still half-dead in bed, a lesson every morning. The fact that the Ino-Shika-Cho trio are also applying for retirement, following in their footsteps, caught him off guard. The next generation of Ino-Shika-Cho, while grown up, lacks experience, which inevitably put him off balance. However, since it's not wartime and their physical condition has indeed declined significantly, and maintaining his reputation for unparalleled benevolence, he had grounds to refuse their applications. Overall, he's been doing quite well lately. He gives his best friend a lesson in the morning, then returns to the Hokage Building to have morning tea with his two friends and reminisce about their past glories. The next generation is also thriving; Minato is increasingly showing the demeanor of an admiral, and the younger Ino-Shika-Cho trio are becoming more mature after taking over their father's position.

"Lord Hokage, something terrible has happened! News has come from Sunagakure that Nawaki has been captured by Iwa ninja in Sunagakure. The Kazekage requests that we go to the border of the Land of Earth to intercept him, in order to maintain peace and stability in the ninja world and uphold the friendly relations between the two villages!"

"Puff X3"

"What happened? They were captured by Iwagakure in Sunagakure?! Σ(⊙▽⊙a)"

However, on this day, Hiruzen Sarutobi was having morning tea with his two friends, Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado, while dealing with some trivial matters in the village and chatting. Suddenly, an ANBU underling appeared and, without waiting for the three leaders to speak, took out a letter sent from the Sand Village and handed it to Hiruzen Sarutobi.

The three giants of Konoha stopped reading the letter. They were shocked by what the ANBU underling said. They sprayed their morning tea all over the ANBU underling's face and stared at each other in disbelief.

Wow!

When did the Iwagakure ninja produce such a talent? He actually managed to take someone away right under the noses of Tsunade and Shiki, the two masters of the Red Flower Double Sticks. That's too amazing!

This is even more impressive than all the boasts they've made before!

And... when did Konoha and Sunagakure ever have a friendship?

"I don't know the details of the plot, but Sunagakure has indeed sent many people to search for Nawaki. Shiki and Lady Tsunade have also caught up with him. Judging from their route, they seem to be taking Nawaki Cannon back to the Land of Earth. The Kazekage is worried that they will become cannon fodder in the Land of Earth, so he sent a letter asking us to send people to intercept them!"

The underling from the secret service truthfully stated that he was also startled when he received this intelligence, and even sensed a hint of impending battle.

The Iwa ninja took down Nawaki in Sunagakure.

Of course, the Sand Village's protection was inadequate to some extent. As the saying goes, guests are guests, and since a guest got into trouble on your turf, you can't shirk your responsibility. But the Iwa ninja are really sharp. They dared to take someone down right under the noses of Shiki and Tsunade, and they actually succeeded!

He could almost picture how, if those two guys successfully brought Nawaki back to Iwagakure, they'd be set for life, rising from cannon fodder spies to the pinnacle of success...

"Alright! What's done is done, there's no use saying anything now. Notify Sakumo to gather men and head to the border of the Land of Wind. That son of a bitch Onoki, we even stopped fighting after the last failure, and he's doing it again! You two are temporarily taking my place, but this time I'm going to beat that old bastard to a pulp! 凸(艹皿艹)"

Hiruzen Sarutobi was so furious!

The last time Nawaki secretly went to the Land of Rain, he almost got killed by the Iwa ninja. He wouldn't believe it was without Onoki's instructions. Fortunately, Nawaki was lucky and was saved by Shiki, who liked to "help others (meddle in other people's business)". But that was during wartime, and he didn't mind being a little despicable for the sake of victory.

But now that the war has ended and everyone is in their developmental stage, that bastard Onoki is still eyeing their juniors, and it's Nawaki no less. It's hard for Hiruzen Sarutobi not to go into his power spike. Why did he raise Nawaki so painstakingly, even more than his own two sons? Isn't it just to prevent the Senju clan from dying out?

But that bastard Onoki kept trying to get his hands on Nawaki, which really annoyed him.

As he spoke, Hiruzen Sarutobi had already thrown off his Hokage robes, revealing a full suit of military uniform, and with a bang, he slung a staff known as the hardest and most magical in the ninja world over his shoulder.

Old Fa, suddenly bursting with youthful exuberance, appeared majestically before his two best buddies and a henchman from the secret service.

"Be careful..."

Without needing to say a word or ask, just by looking at their friend's posture, Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado knew that their friend was going to chop someone up.

They didn't say anything. After all, Onoki had gone too far. It was one thing to fail once during the war, but now that it was peacetime, he was using such despicable methods to target their Konoha juniors. They didn't try to persuade him anymore; they just wanted Sarutobi to beat that despicable bastard to a pulp.

The next generation of the village is their Achilles' heel, as is the Achilles' heel of many leaders around the world. After all, the future of the village depends on the young people, not them. If the next generation is targeted, what future will the village have?

"Lord Hokage, we are ready and can depart at any time!"

Presumably to highlight how imposing Hiruzen Sarutobi looked in his full armor, less than ten minutes later, Sakumo Hatake appeared, followed by the recently outstanding Konoha super genius Minato Namikaze. At this moment, Minato Namikaze no longer had his gentle smile, but followed behind Sakumo Hatake with a murderous expression. Just kidding!

Although Nawaki's abilities were somewhat weak, he was still Kushina's distant cousin and the legitimate heir of the Senju clan of Konoha. He was a rare perfect ninja with a murderous aura.

Seeing his perfect grand-disciple's grim expression, Hiruzen Sarutobi felt a little better; this was his last bit of solace...

501. Heaven finally smiled upon them.

"Huff... Huff... Boom, I can't run anymore. You take this kid and go first, I'll hold them off for you..."

In the Land of Wind, in a vast, seemingly endless desert, sandstorms rage, reducing visibility to less than ten meters. Two figures, one carrying a large burlap sack on his back, run frantically through the sandstorm, as if trying to recapture their lost youth...

Halfway through the run, a slightly thinner figure collapsed onto the sand, speaking weakly to his companion. Perhaps it was because he was about to die and had become indifferent to everything, but his eyes were unusually bright, showing no sign that he was too weak to run. However, his rapid breathing and pale face clearly indicated that he was truly out of strength.

The saying "Great fortune is followed by great calamity" is absolutely true. In their youth, they lacked talent and hadn't developed any real skills in killing. They thought they would only be cannon fodder or extras in the future. Who knew that they would be chosen by the Tsuchikage and sent to Sunagakure as spies. When they came together, they had dozens of companions, but the conditions in the Land of Wind were harsh, and half of them died on the way due to the change in environment. Over the years, the remaining people either committed suicide or were killed because they were exposed. After more than ten years, only the two brothers remained, living in Sunagakure in fear for more than ten years. They couldn't find any major intelligence, but they would still get some small and medium-sized intelligence every month to report back.

For example, Kazekage is preparing for another solo tour, all about swaying his hips and twisting his waist. Ebizo, though old, is still going strong and wants to choose a concubine even though he's over fifty. And when did Golden Lion and his nephew Super Scorpion start arguing again? And so on—nothing was missed.

They originally thought that their lives might just pass by like this. But actually, after living in Sunagakure for so many years, once they got used to the changes here, it was quite nice. They could earn a considerable income by reporting a trivial piece of information every month, and they didn't have to fight or kill anyone. Although this kind of lifestyle could make people feel decadent, they had gotten used to it and didn't think much of it. Their skills in killing people were too weak, and they never thought about reaching the pinnacle of life. They just wanted to stay in Sunagakure and collect intelligence for the village.

But who could have imagined that, as the saying goes, "the flowers you plant with care may not bloom, while the willows you plant without care may thrive"? A few days ago, just as they received their wages from the village and were preparing to indulge in a life of debauchery, they saw two guys wearing Cloud Village ninja headbands carrying a large sack being chased by a group of Sand Village ninja before they even stepped outside. It was obvious to anyone with a brain that this was a spy being discovered and hunted down. They had seen this scene far too many times and were already used to it.

But this time was different. After overhearing the conversation between the two sides from the corner, the two almost cried out. Good heavens, it turned out that these two Cloud Ninjas hadn't just been exposed, but had actually kidnapped the crown prince of the Senju clan of Konoha, and the huge sack they were carrying contained the crown prince of the Senju clan.

They had heard that Tsunade, one of the Legendary Sannin of Konoha, had come to Sunagakure a few days ago, but they didn't pay much attention to it. After all, it didn't seem to conflict with them. Unexpectedly, not only did Tsunade come, but her younger brother, the sole heir of the Senju clan, also arrived!

Watching the battle unfold before them, their minds began to race. That was the crown prince of the Senju clan, Konoha's precious darling! And everyone in the world knew how much their Tsuchikage hated Konoha. If they could get their hands on this brat and sneak away to take him back to Iwagakure... it seemed like they could return home in glory!

Having been away from their hometown for so many years, they did indeed miss it. Although their parents had passed away early, they might still have friends in the village, and there was that girl from that summer—more than ten years had passed, and they wondered if she had married someone else...

So, after exchanging glances, the two, having lived together for over a decade, sharing hardships and joys, developed a strong rapport. Taking advantage of the intense battle between the two Cloud Ninja and the surrounding Sand Ninja, who were oblivious to the burlap sack nearby, they quietly crept up to it...

The art of petty theft!

They nimbly hoisted the large sacks and excitedly ran outside, brimming with excitement! They could already imagine their triumphant return as heroes, a sea of ​​people—what would that girl from that summer matter then? ヾ(^Д^*)/

After more than a decade of ups and downs, God finally smiled upon them!

But they hadn't run far before they were discovered. To be honest, those two Cloud Ninja were really weak. They thought that anyone who dared to cause trouble in Sunagakure must be a top-tier figure in the Cloud Village, right? But they hadn't been out of Sunagakure for long before they were being pursued. They were sending intelligence to the Tsuchikage as they ran, not to claim credit, but to hope that the Tsuchikage would come to greet them when they reached the border. After all, the identity of this prince of the Senju clan was too outrageous. If the Tsuchikage wasn't guarding the border, the Sunagakure ninja might very well chase them to the ends of the earth.

However, they underestimated this boundless desert. In this barren desert with its endless yellow sand, there was simply no room to hide. Several times, if they hadn't been quick-witted enough to dig a large pit in the sand and hide inside, they would have been trapped long ago. Even so, while being hunted, they didn't have a single day where they could eat or sleep well. If it weren't for their longing for their homeland and their belief in returning home in glory, they wouldn't have been able to hold on until now. Along the way, to ensure that the old man they were holding was still alive, they fed him their own rations and gave him a chop to the neck every day or two to keep him asleep.

It was precisely because of this that the rather thin Iwa ninja finally couldn't hold on any longer. Just when they were about to leave the Land of Wind, and their Tsuchikage was sure to be waiting for them at the border, he couldn't run anymore. However, this Iwa ninja was also loyal. Even though he was lying on the sand and couldn't get up, he didn't want to drag his comrades down. So he resolutely took out his shuriken and held it tightly in his hand, intending to stay and buy time for his comrades!

It was all fate; sadly, their relationship of over twenty years could only share hardship but not prosperity...

"Huff huff huff... No! We came together, so we have to go back alive together! Liren, don't give up! (iДi)"

The Iwa ninja carrying the large sack and shouting was also exhausted, but seeing his comrade who was determined to die, he was so moved that his eyes were filled with tears and he kept roaring, trying to persuade his comrade not to give up.