Born in Sunagakure, dedicated to antagonizing Konoha for decades

Thinking about this, Onoki wanted to toast himself. To come up with such a perfect plan, he was truly a genius!

However, the only thing that puzzled him was why there hadn't been any good news from the Land of Water. Was that mysterious person still there? Had Zi and the others encountered that mysterious person?

This was a point of concern for him, and the only factor in the entire plan that he was uncertain about. That's why he sent Yuki, whose fighting strength was second only to his own, to the Land of Water. However, he was still a little uneasy. If the wind was favorable, the journey from their Land of Earth would be much shorter than the journey from their Land of Earth to the Land of Lightning. Now, there were reports of good news from Kurajiro's side, but there was still no news from Hikari and Yuki's side. This made them a little worried. If they really encountered that mysterious person, it would be difficult to handle.

Although he had never met the mysterious person, the fact that someone could fight Golden Lion one-on-one and create such a huge spectacle with towering flames and a massive crater meant their strength was absolutely top-notch. Golden Lion could beat the Four-Tails into begging for mercy, so it wouldn't be difficult for anyone who could fight Golden Lion to the death to beat the Four-Tails into begging for mercy. So, while he was happy, he was also worried that something might have gone wrong in the Land of Water. If something happened to the Land of Water, although he could announce that the Land of Earth had been destroyed, the credibility wouldn't be as high if the Land of Water was still implicated. Many people in the ninja world had been deceived by Golden Lion's hypocritical mask and didn't know how many despicable things Golden Lion had done, so they certainly wouldn't all suspect Sunagakure. They would be more likely to suspect Kirigakure, given Kirigakure's past record.

"...There's no news yet, but it's quite difficult to go to sea this time of year; they probably encountered some rough seas..."

After a long silence, the civil engineer finally spoke.

As rational people, they dislike gambling and taking risks. They value a steady and pragmatic approach. Therefore, they disagreed with their leader's plan from the bottom of their hearts because it was too risky. Although the method was indeed very good, it could not only recover the losses of their Land of Earth, but also delay the development of several other families, and also shift the blame and seek revenge. It could be described as killing three birds with one stone.

However, this plan is far too risky. If one of the three routes is discovered and its identity is exposed, the other two routes will also be exposed. At that time, they will have offended three families at once, plus the Sand Village which is trying to shift the blame. Goodness, they could be fighting four against one at any time. Even if the Land of Water really closes itself off and doesn't participate, they will still have to fight three against one. With their village's current strength, he can't imagine any possibility of not being riddled with bullets no matter how he considers it.

However, he was powerless in front of his boss, and since his boss was stubborn, he couldn't persuade him at all. He could only pray to God that nothing unexpected would happen with this gamble-like approach.

"Lord Tsuchikage, Hikari and Yukari have returned to the village..."

Just as Tu Mu finished speaking, a member of the secret service appeared in the office to report.

"(⊙_⊙)?...What's going on? Didn't they leave? Tell them to come over..."

Onoki and Tsuchiki looked at each other, both with puzzled expressions.

What the hell is going on? They were just discussing this topic, and these two guys have already gone back to town! Can they fly?! (⊙_⊙)?

"Lord Tsuchikage..."

A few minutes after the ANBU henchmen left, two disheveled figures walked in. One of them looked particularly pitiful, with tears welling up in her eyes, as if she wanted to cry but couldn't, which made Onoki feel a pang of sadness.

Hikari, a Jonin of Iwagakure, was one of the young talents promoted by Onoki. Although his potential wasn't extremely high, among the younger generation of Iwagakure, Onoki could only choose the best among the worst. For a commoner ninja to have such skill at such a young age was quite impressive. The five great villages all faced the same problem: an aging leadership and a need for generational change. Onoki, however, was more aware of this than the leaders of the other four villages. After World War II, he began promoting young people to positions of power. The other four villages either lacked capable individuals or, like Hiruzen Sarutobi, believed these young people were still inexperienced and should be allowed to wait a few more years...

Because he was a commoner ninja without the protection of a clan, he worked the hardest after being promoted by Onoki. In the last fight against Konoha, he charged even more fiercely than Onoki's son to repay the kindness of the Tsuchikage. However, because he was a commoner ninja, he had a deep sense of inferiority. He would do his best to complete any mission assigned by Onoki, and this time was no exception. Originally, Onoki had arranged for young Murasaki to go to the Land of Water because it was too dangerous, but he volunteered to go to the Land of Water with young Murasaki.

Seeing Huo Guang so eager to try, ready to sacrifice his life for the village, Onoki was also very excited. This was the kind of young man he had high hopes for!

Seeing how proactive and ambitious Huoguang was, Onoki had no reason to stop him, right?

"What happened here? How did things get like this?"

Seeing the two disheveled figures, especially Huoguang's pitiful appearance, Onoki did not lose his temper as expected, but instead tried to control his tone and asked gently.

It wouldn't be good to frighten this ambitious young man...

"...Lord Tsuchikage, we... we crashed into an iceberg... (?^?)"

Seeing the gentle, fatherly look in his eldest brother's eyes, Kagami finally couldn't hold back his tears and burst into a hug, wiping his tears and snot all over Onoki's pants...

538. How did they hit the iceberg?

Holy crap!

"Hit an iceberg??? Σ(⊙▽⊙a)"

"Tell me what happened?? (⊙_⊙)"

Onoki and Tsuchiki were shocked!

They stared blankly at the young man in front of them. They had considered many reasons, such as encountering a mysterious person, their ship breaking down, or even the possibility that the four tails were seasick. But they had never considered hitting an iceberg. It was July or August, the hot summer, and they had actually hit an iceberg.

Could you come up with a more original excuse?

However, seeing that the young man in purple looked miserable and it didn't seem like a joke, the two of them gradually came to their senses and asked curiously.

They were curious to know how they had miraculously bumped into an iceberg in the sweltering summer heat.

That's even less likely than winning the lottery...

"It's all my fault...╥﹏╥"

Huoguang began to speak while tears streamed down his face.

It turned out that the night before departure, Huoguang had never been to sea before, so he spent the whole night cramming on nautical knowledge. Although it was last-minute cramming, he actually learned a lot of basic nautical knowledge.

As they boarded the ship to prepare for departure, the navigator they had found was so excited about receiving such a big job the night before that he drank a few too many glasses of horse urine. However, he had drunk counterfeit alcohol and was suffering from alcohol poisoning, so he was still lying in bed and hadn't gotten up yet. Due to the tight schedule and heavy workload, they didn't have time to find another navigator. Fortunately, Huoguang had stayed up all night to study navigation and had a route map. As long as he could tell the direction, there shouldn't be any problems.

So Huoguang put his skills to good use and took on a part-time job as a navigator. At first, the sea was calm and they had a smooth journey. However, things didn't go as planned, and three days after setting sail, they encountered a storm. Encountering a storm on the vast ocean is very dangerous. Although Huoguang had learned a lot of basic naval navigation knowledge, it was only for one night. His knowledge was limited to finding the right direction in calm weather. He had never learned how to find the right direction in such a situation!

The group that boarded the ship were even worse off. They had practiced their sword-fighting skills since childhood, barely managing to graduate from the Ninja Academy with a score of 60. Young Purple was even more impressive; he had never attended school in order to improve his relationship with the Four-Tails, and his literacy level was limited to recognizing characters. Under these circumstances, they could only drift with the tide, riding the waves, and then... and then that was it. After drifting in the storm for several days, one night, their ship crashed into an iceberg. The ship was destroyed and the people sank. If it weren't for the solid basic skills and superb water-walking techniques of some of them, plus the massive chakra supply from Young Purple's stomach, they would have been shark food like their underlings.

Only at that moment did they truly realize how insignificant they were in the face of nature...

"...This isn't your fault, it's just bad luck. You should go back now..."

After listening to their conversation, Onoki's short temper flared up. Just as he was about to start yelling, he saw his underling clinging to his leg looking disheveled, sad, and remorseful. In the end, he couldn't bring himself to yell. He was already saddened that so many of his companions had been fed to the sharks because of his lack of knowledge. How could he bear to yell at them? Wouldn't that be like asking them to commit seppuku?

In the end, all I could do was silently point at God and mutter "Damn it!"

Fate is cruel!

Was the firelight to blame? You can't really blame him. His mission wasn't navigation. He really put in a lot of effort to stay up all night to cram on nautical knowledge for the mission he was given!

You can only blame the heavens; why did such a storm have to come of all? If it weren't for that storm, they might already be farming in the Land of Water...

Huoguang is still young. It's okay to fail once or twice when you first debut. You have a long road ahead of you. Just consider it a lesson learned.

"Lord Tsuchikage, we can't go to the Land of Water now, we're one point short, should we continue...?"

After Huoguang and the young Zi left, Tsuchiki said cautiously, "Don't think that Onoki didn't lose his temper just now because he wasn't angry. He just didn't want to hurt Huoguang and had nowhere to vent his anger. Tsuchiki has been with Onoki for so many years, how could he not see through it? As the saying goes, serving a king is like serving a tiger. It's better to be careful with your words now."

However, because the young Purple and the Firelight collided with the iceberg, causing a collapse along all three routes (upper, middle, and lower), he felt it was fate. The plan itself was extremely difficult. The Raikage of the Land of Lightning and Tsuchida's group were still in the village, while the Hokage, White Fang, and others had already returned to Konoha. The possibility of Kurajiro and Kyoto's group, who had infiltrated behind enemy lines, being exposed was high, and it was also very dangerous...

"...Spread the word that our Land of Earth's borders have also been sabotaged, leaving behind traces that point the finger at Sunagakure..."

Onoki understood Tsuchiki's worries. In fact, he was just as worried. One was his son, and the other was his nephew. He would be heartbroken if either of them got into trouble. But now the die was cast and there was no turning back, otherwise the actions of Hiroto and Kurajiro would be meaningless.

.......

After Tsuchiki carelessly spread the news that several villages on the border of the Land of Earth had been destroyed by a group of people of unknown origin, the entire ninja world was shocked.

Because villages on the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Lightning had already been destroyed, many people suspected that it was done by the other three ninja villages. Among them, Onoki was the most suspected, because everyone knew that he was a cunning old fox, and this kind of thing was in line with his character setting.

He just wanted to see if the same situation had occurred in the other two villages, Sunagakure and Kirigakure. However, many people thought that Onoki must have taken too much brain-boosting supplements. Anyone with a brain would think of him. Was he doing this to draw hatred to Iwagakure?

Does he really want to lead Iwagakure to take on both Konoha and Kumogakure?

But now several villages on the border of the Land of Earth have also been targeted. A group of people who had previously suspected Onoki have been thoroughly humiliated and are now even more confused. If it wasn't Onoki, who was so arrogant as to target three major ninja villages at once? Are they preparing to become enemies with the ninja world?

Immediately, the ninja world's attention turned to Kirigakure and Sunagakure. Logically, whichever village hadn't experienced trouble was the prime suspect. The Land of Water had closed itself off, and there had been no trace of Kirigakure ninja in recent years. Therefore, the ninja world's focus was on Sunagakure. If Sunagakure remained untouched for a while, then it was obvious they were the culprits!

539. I would never admit to something like this, even if you beat me to death.

"boom!"

"Damn it, which bastard is so despicable? This is clearly a frame-up!?(*｀皿*)??"

Inside the Kazekage Tower in Sunagakure, the high-ranking officials sat in rows, nervously eating their fruit. Sunagawa, sitting in the center, unleashed a rare outburst in public, spewing profanities and smashing the table in front of him to pieces. Iron sand swirled around him, a far cry from his usual gentlemanly and amiable self. At this moment, the high-ranking officials realized just how terrifying their Kazekage could be when he erupted. Looking at the small black iron sand floating around them, no one dared to utter a sound, waiting for the Kazekage to finish his tirade.

"Bang bang bang...!"

However, Sunakawa was furious at this moment, smashing everything around him without stopping. Ebizo sat there calmly, seemingly lost in thought, as if he hadn't seen anything and didn't try to stop him.

Actually, Ebizo was also furious, but years of self-restraint prevented him from showing it. Letting Sunagawa vent was good; smashing things was better than hitting people, right?

Their fears had come true. After learning about the events in the Land of Lightning and the Land of Fire, they had instructed their subordinates to closely monitor the Land of Water and the Land of Earth, precisely to avoid being blamed. What was the cause of World War II? Wasn't it just a bunch of "Konoha ninjas" causing trouble on the borders of various countries, leading the major ninja villages to finally declare war on Konoha?

There's a bunch of bastards using the same tactics they used back then, and all three factions have been targeted, yet no one has been touched. It's obvious they're just trying to make them take the blame. Everyone knows the Land of Water has closed itself off from the world. In the past few years, apart from one or two rogue ninjas, not a single Kirigakure ninja has been found. This proves that they have indeed closed themselves off from the world.

That leaves the Sand Village as the most likely suspects.

Although the villages are still in the process of recuperation and development and it hasn't reached the point of a world war yet, after this incident, if a major war were to break out in the future, Sunagakure would likely become the focus of attention for all the major ninja villages. At that time, forget about trying to gain benefits from a first or second war; it would be hard to say whether they could even protect their village. Being targeted by two villages is truly a joke.

"Hey, alright, alright, these things didn't bother you, why are you smashing them? Damaging public property is a crime punishable by imprisonment. How come you're all PhDs or graduate students, and you can't even figure out such a simple thing? It's just about shifting blame, isn't it? It's so simple, if they can do it, we can just copy them!"

"Rasa, you brat, later find a few underlings who know earth-遁 (earth-遁 is a type of martial arts technique) to set up a few villages on the border, then smash them up. Then just say we got robbed, right? Even if we don't know who did it, we won't have to take the blame. Once we've muddied things up, everyone'll be confused and it'll all be forgotten. Then we'll see what these guys do next..."

Masato, bored, propped his head up with his hand. Just as he was about to drift off to sleep, he was woken up by Sunagawa's loud "bang bang bang". Looking at the group of self-proclaimed learned intellectuals around him who didn't dare to utter a word at this moment, he impatiently spoke to Rasa, who had become mature beyond his years since his father died, next to Sunagawa.

He usually avoids these high-level meetings, but this time, the ANBU underling who notified him of the meeting made it sound very serious, like the village was facing a life-or-death crisis, so he reluctantly came to listen to what was going on. Weren't Sunagawa and Ebizo investigating the culprit who attacked Sasori's father? Why did it sound like a monster invasion? But when he heard it wasn't a monster invasion, he immediately lost interest. He had also heard about the incidents of the Land of Fire and the Land of Lightning having their territory disrupted, but he didn't know much about it. He had been chatting with Sasori's father at the hospital lately, and his younger brother hadn't even recovered yet, so he didn't have the time to care about such international affairs.

The current situation is that the venues in the Land of Fire and the Land of Lightning have been vandalized. Just when everyone thought it was Onoki, it "seems" that the venues in the Land of Earth have also been vandalized. Why "seems"? Because he, Sunagawa, Ebizo, and a few others know that Yusaka and Umekawa Naito had raided the Land of Earth once. Given their crude methods, it's hard to say whether those venues were vandalized by Yusaka and Umekawa Naito or by another group...

Therefore, the Land of Earth is still in a state of uncertainty, unlike Konoha and the Land of Lightning, where they were genuinely vandalized, and the methods were quite brutal. It's like a short mule seizing territory and smashing things up; they rush into the village, not rushing to loot, but first causing a ruckus. This is completely different from the more refined methods used by Sasori's father and his group. So, it's basically certain that the Land of Fire and the Land of Lightning have indeed been vandalized...

The first person that comes to mind when thinking about this is Madara's white-haired subordinate. In the ninja world, if we're talking about who has the most experience in this kind of thing, it's definitely Madara's white-haired subordinate. His clones are said to be all over the world! Hundreds of thousands of White Zetsu clones, taking out a few hundred or a thousand is just a piece of cake...

However, considering the timeline and the fact that Madara wasn't in good condition when he fought him one-on-one last time, he probably lost at least a few years of his life. Meanwhile, Obito was probably still playing ninja house with kids in Konoha at that time.

Madara hasn't even found a spokesperson yet, so he doesn't have time to waste. Therefore, this idea only lingered in his mind for a few seconds before he slapped it away. Right now, Madara should be anxious to find a spokesperson and doesn't have time to mess around.

If it's not Madara, then it's really hard to say who it could be. Nagato, the future boss, is still a weakling and hasn't yet activated Madara's ultimate gift pack to dominate the scene. The Akatsuki team probably hasn't even been formed yet, so it can't be them.

Aside from Kirigakure, which is already under Madara's control, it's possible that any of the other three major ninja villages is orchestrating their own schemes. It could be Azabu-Doraemon from Kumogakure, the F4 of Konoha's cunning old foxes, or the duet between Onoki and Tsuchiki from Iwagakure. None of them are exactly innocent.

"Snapped!"

"...You mean someone is lying? (⊙_⊙)"

These words were like a wake-up call. The next moment, Ebizo slammed his fist on the table and looked at Masato with a sudden realization. Even Sunagawa, who was smashing things to vent his anger, was startled.

"Otherwise what? In the entire ninja world, besides my idol who dares to stand alone against the world, who else has the guts and courage? Brother! Crashing into someone's territory is a sure way to attract hatred. Without my idol's strength to dance alone even in the face of a thousand armies, are you going to lie or be a fool and confess like a fool? In short, no matter who it happens to, there's only one word: never admit it! ┐(￣ー￣)┌"

Masato spread his hands, speechless.

Everyone looked up at the sky: What the hell is this?! -_-||

540. He's practically a lone wolf compared to Madara.

"Da da da..."

"Then who do you think is lying?"

Ebizo kept banging on the table, deep in thought. Although this guy was usually unreliable and ignorant, there was no denying that he was very quick-witted. Perhaps because he lacked education, his thoughts were not that complicated, and he could often see through the essence of things. Therefore, Ebizo felt that although this bastard's words were somewhat incoherent, they were not without reason. In the past hundred years, only one Uchiha Madara had appeared in the ninja world. Uchiha Madara's success was impossible to replicate. First, one had to have such formidable combat power. Second, one needed a close friend with equally formidable combat power. Moreover, one needed to be orphaned, have all one's brothers dead, and have the fate of a lone star. The conditions were extremely harsh. Those people were all cunning and scheming. So, it was plausible that someone would send their underlings to cause trouble and then spread the news that they themselves had been attacked.

The key issue is that the territories of the Land of Fire, the Land of Lightning, and the Land of Earth have indeed been vandalized, making it incredibly difficult to determine who is lying...

"You're asking me? Who am I supposed to ask? I'm not God. Let's get Luo Sha and his men moving quickly. If we keep dragging this out, even if it's not shit yet, it'll really become shit!"

"These people are just bored," Masato said irritably. "They still have the mood to hold a big meeting at a time like this..."

"..."