Born in Sunagakure, dedicated to antagonizing Konoha for decades

Ding! Your friend Jiaodu is now online!

The issue of Azabu's large head was no problem for Shinto at all. Infiltrating Iwagakure was as easy as infiltrating Konoha; he was extremely experienced. And the place where the Five-Tails was sealed was even simpler. In the Naruto world, nothing could block his Observation Haki. The Five-Tails' massive chakra was like a bright lamp in the darkness under his Observation Haki—so vivid, so clear…

As for the person to trade with, there's no need to say more. His good brother Kakuzu is in this line of work. When it comes to bargaining, who can be more professional than Kakuzu?

After saying that, he also gave Kakuzu a little plug, since Kakuzu treats Miss Slug to delicious food and drinks every day, so he couldn't just not give him a report, right?

That would be incredibly tactless. Who the hell would want to associate with you after that? As the old saying goes, the world of martial arts isn't just about fighting and killing; it's about human relationships and social graces...

"That bounty hunter Kakuzu? If it's him, then there's no problem!"

There was no need for Azabu Big Head to ask Tsuchida; he knew who Kakuzu was. Kakuzu was a top-tier veteran in the ninja world, as well as the Black Market's top bounty hunter. His reputation was beyond question; sometimes, the Black Market valued reputation even more than they did. Moreover, Kakuzu's bounty mission completion rate had been a staggering 100% over the years. If he accepted a mission, he would chase after the target without hesitation, even if the target was on the other side of the map.

So when he heard it was Kakuzu, Azaburo nodded. He wasn't worried that Kakuzu would take a kickback or anything like that. After all, the Raikage and Shiki were not to be trifled with; being hunted by either of them would mean being on the run for one's life, let alone both. Besides, he could tell that Shiki trusted Kakuzu quite a bit; if anything happened, he could just turn to Shiki as his guarantor...

.......

"Father, there seems to be no movement from Konoha. Should we go there again?"

Hidden Rock Village

Huang Tu was still very excited after returning, as were everyone who had returned from the Land of Fire. Although it was their first time playing in the wild, they instantly fell in love with the thrill and excitement, and even felt a sense of intellectual superiority. If they hadn't received a message from their father telling them to return to the village, they would have liked to play a few more rounds in the Land of Fire.

More than two weeks after returning to the village, there was still no movement from Konoha, which made his heart restless again.

"No, you can't go. Hiruzen Sarutobi isn't as simple as you think. Besides, news has come from Sunagakure that their territory was attacked. The situation in the ninja world is too tense right now. Going there might give us away. Let's wait until Kurajiro comes back. You didn't leave any evidence or traces in the Land of Fire, did you?"

Seeing his son's eager eyes, Onoki shook his head and asked, "What evidence or traces did my son leave behind that led to this? That short dwarf Hiruzen Sarutobi is after me."

"No, we did exactly as you said, using only taijutsu throughout the Land of Fire. We didn't leave a single chakra fluctuation. Even when we attacked Sunagakure at the border between the Land of Rain and the Land of Wind, we didn't use ninjutsu. There's no way we could have been recognized!"

Huang Tu said firmly.

"That would be best. Let's wait until Kurajiro returns from the Land of Lightning and see what Konoha and Sunagakure are up to..."

Onoki, unusually relaxed, pulled his chair closer to compensate for his height, put his feet on the table, and closed his eyes to rest. Although this effort hadn't achieved the desired effect, and he couldn't blame Sunagakure, and young Yukari was running into an iceberg halfway through, and they couldn't get any loot from the Land of Water, the spoils his son brought back from the Land of Fire were enough to make up for their emotional loss. When Kurajiro brought back the spoils from the Land of Lightning, they could even make a small profit, so it was a win-win situation no matter how you looked at it.

He finally understood why so many people liked playing jungle; it was just too easy to make money!

This feeling is definitely addictive...ヾ(^?^)?

.....

"Hiccup...! Kakuzu-kun, Shinto-kun said he's teaming up with the Raikage to capture the Five-Tails from Iwagakure. He'd like you to negotiate with them. He'll give you 10% of the profits if it's done..."

In a small grove in Frost Ninja Village, corpses lay scattered on the ground. Kakuzu had just severed the head of his target. Miss Slug, still hiccuping and with dazed eyes, relayed Masato's message before sneaking back in to continue her drunken revelry.

If the fight were really happening here, I'd be incredibly curious about where Miss Slug hid the sake, since Kakuzu's ninja tool pouch was clearly on his lap...

"puff!"

“This guy is eyeing the Tailed Beasts again, and he’s even dragged the Raikage into it… Tell him we’ll meet at the border of the Land of Earth.”

Kakuzu almost spat out a mouthful of blood after hearing this, looking up at the sky speechlessly with a black line on his forehead. His good brother was usually very loyal and righteous. He would think of him every time there was a big birthday celebration, and he would even advertise for him and get some business. Now, almost all the high-ranking people in Sunagakure were his high-end VIP clients.

However, his ability to stir up trouble is unparalleled, and almost every time it results in a major disaster. This time, he not only stirred things up himself, but also dragged the Raikage into it.

What sins did Onoki commit to deserve this? Why does his best friend seem to target him so much...?

This reminded him of the major events that had recently occurred in the ninja world. The first was the conflict between Konoha and Iwagakure, but it was just a minor skirmish that ended quickly. Moreover, it didn't involve their good brother's village. Although the conflict started in Sunagakure, Konoha and Iwagakure were the main players.

The second thing is the recent hot topic in the ninja world about the incident where the four great ninja villages were attacked. He has been in the ninja world for so many years and has seen a lot. In his impression, the only person who would dare to do this once was the legendary Madara, who was dead and looked down on everyone. But now Madara has been dead for so many years, who else would dare to do this?

But the man's sixth sense told him that his good brother's alliance with the Raikage against Onoki must be related to this matter. Could it be that Onoki did it?

That can't be, right?

548. This is a man's confidence.

Based on his understanding of Onoki, although that kid was a bit cunning, the overall strength of Iwagakure was undeniable. Just provoking Kumogakure and Sunagakure was enough to give him a hard time. How could he have provoked all three major ninja villages except Kirigakure in one go? If this were discovered, he would be surrounded and wiped out by the three major ninja villages.

But apart from this possibility, Kakuzu really couldn't think of any other reason why his good brother would ask the Raikage to team up with him to take down Onoki. Isn't that just bullying him?

Moreover, the Third Raikage is quite arrogant. He wouldn't cooperate with others so easily unless he was really angry. Even with Golden Lion Shiki, the two are more than ten years apart in age and are not even from the same generation. How could the Raikage team up with a junior so easily?

So, although Kakuzu didn't quite believe that Onoki had the guts to do something like this, since his good friend wanted to pull off a big heist, and he could get a 10% commission just by talking, he had no reason to refuse. You see, with the rapid development of the ninja world's economy, the price of tailed beasts has been rising all the way up. Back then, each village only needed to spend a few hundred thousand to bring back a tailed beast from Hashirama Senju, but now it costs millions or even tens of millions to buy a single tailed beast. Firstly, although each village still cannot fully control the tailed beasts, everyone has witnessed their power.

Once it goes berserk, few in the ninja world can withstand it, and its destructive power is immense. Even if it cannot be completely controlled, it is the best option for villages to be considered a nuclear threat. It is something that many small and medium-sized ninja villages dream of. If the Land of Commerce had this ability and brought back a tailed beast, why would they need his help to establish ninja villages? Just by releasing it, the ninja villages of all sizes around the Land of Commerce would follow their lead, and they would not dare to have any bad ideas about them.

This is also why the price of tailed beasts has been rising over the years. Although they are somewhat useless to large ninja villages that cannot control them, they are definitely the guardian beasts that small ninja villages dream of.

The village of Takigakure is a prime example. Despite its extremely low overall strength, it held the title of the sixth greatest ninja village after the five great ninja villages for decades thanks to the Seven-Tails. Even the Salamander of the Land of Rain, who had already risen to power, had to temporarily avoid its sharp edge. Only after the Seven-Tails was taken away by its good brother did the Land of Rain dare to truly rise, and Takigakure completely fell into becoming Konoha's lackey.

Therefore, the price of this Four-Tails and Five-Tails from Iwagakure is very high. This 10% is equivalent to his endorsement fee in the black market for several years. If his good brother were working alone, he wouldn't have asked for this commission; it would just be helping out casually. But now that his good brother is teaming up with the Raikage, there's no reason not to take it.

Desiring this place, Kakuzu's eyes gleamed with a fierce green light. He looked disdainfully at the head of the mission target in his hand, casually tossed it into a black cloth bag, leaving behind a pile of corpses, and turned to leave.

The price is a bit low, not even a fraction of my good friend's commission, but every little bit counts...

.......

"Brother Raikage, I think I should lure Onoki away, and you can take your nephew to fight the Five-Tails..."

Meanwhile, on the way to the battlefield, Shinto kindly spoke to the Raikage, who was leading his son into battle.

After Azabu-da spent the entire night refining Masato's proposal, a perfect plan began to take shape. First, they could beat up Onoki, or even strip him of his remaining hair, but the condition was that Onoki couldn't discover their true identities. Otherwise, given Onoki's volatile temper, he might incite an internal conflict among his teammates, something none of them wanted to see. Although everyone acted independently, sometimes scheming against each other, their general goal was the same: Konoha. In crucial moments, they would unite against Konoha, so small skirmishes were fine, but large-scale conflicts were unnecessary.

In this scenario, a real fight would be fine; even without a sword, his fists are no joke. However, it would severely limit the Raikage's output. While the Raikage's pure tanky output is decent, everyone knows that 80% of his damage comes from Lightning Release Chakra Mode. To avoid revealing his identity, the Raikage cannot activate Lightning Release Chakra Mode when drawing Onoki away. The Raikage is already somewhat suppressed when facing the flying Onoki, and if he doesn't use Lightning Release Chakra Mode, he might become a target for Onoki to practice firing his cannons. The future Fourth Raikage is still a young man; his time hasn't come yet. He's just here to make a cameo appearance with his father.

Therefore, Shinto kindly suggests that everyone switch positions. With the Raikage's strength to fight the Eight-Tails alone, even though the Five-Tails is currently at its peak, it would still be no problem for him to take down the Five-Tails. Moreover, he has the future Fourth Raikage by his side, a strong contender for the title of the fastest man in the ninja world, providing support, making it even easier.

"Haha! No need. This time, I'm going to shave Onoki's head! You should worry about yourself, you brat Shiki. Don't let yourself get caught off guard and get beaten up by the Five-Tails!"

The Raikage understood Shinto's good intentions, but his pride prevented him from accepting them. Although it would be troublesome to face Onoki, who could fly and fire cannons, without using Lightning Release Chakra Mode, his explosive muscles were not for nothing. As long as he could lure Onoki to a favorable position and prevent Onoki from using his flight and area-of-effect attacks, wouldn't that red-nosed dwarf Onoki be easily controlled by the father and son?

Moreover, he debuted more than ten years earlier than Golden Lion, making him Golden Lion's senior. If he were to switch places with Golden Lion, he wouldn't be able to get past his own conscience. He has always wanted to have a proper fight with Golden Lion to see who is the strongest tough guy in the ninja world. However, due to pride, he can't challenge Golden Lion to a duel. Golden Lion has no affection for him and has never challenged him to a duel in decades. If he agrees to switch places this time, wouldn't that be admitting that he is a step below Golden Lion?

Raikage is too proud to accept this fact.

"Tch! You overestimate these tailed beasts. I'm not bragging, but even if I stood in front of the Nine-Tails and let it attack me for a year, it wouldn't be able to break through my defenses. Nephew, learn from this, this is a man's confidence!"

After saying this dismissively, Shinto pulled out his Uchiha Greatsword and slashed it across his chest without warning. As the sword touched his chest, his Armament Haki was passively activated, producing a chilling cutting sound. His clothes at the chest were not even torn.

The future Fourth Raikage was amazed and almost exclaimed that it was impossible.

549. Onoki's Road to Wealth and Fortune

"This is... the power of the physical body?"

The future Fourth Raikage looked completely bewildered and said with surprise and uncertainty.

This was the first time he had ever seen such a taijutsu. When the great sword cut through the Golden Lion's chest, he was 100% certain that the black thing that appeared on his chest was not their ninjutsu, because he hadn't felt any chakra fluctuations at such close range.

If it's physical skill, that's just too absurd. How could the human body possibly withstand swords? Even if his father used lightning to stimulate his muscles for decades, he couldn't achieve the point where his bare body could withstand swords without getting hurt. At most, it's just that because of the high density of his muscles, the wounds wouldn't be too deep when he was cut by swords.

But what did he just see?

The Golden Lion seems to have been completely unharmed by the great sword, with his physical strength alone, and his clothes weren't even torn by the rice. Isn't that a bit too exaggerated?

Could it be that the Golden Lion's sword is inadequate?

Don't be ridiculous, that's the Golden Lion's exclusive weapon!

"Never seen this before, have you? This is high-grade stuff, called Armament Haki. Its function is similar to your Lightning Release Chakra Mode. It's applied to the body to enhance defense and attack. I've been exceptionally gifted since childhood, with superhuman strength. Not only did I awaken my ancestral Magnet Release at the age of five, but my body mass is also several times that of an ordinary person. So, I trained and trained until I managed to develop this thing. Although the color isn't very appealing, it's quite hard. In all the battles, big and small, I've fought for decades since my debut and haven't been injured at all..."

Shinto raised an eyebrow at the Raikage of the future era and spoke with great enthusiasm.

“…”

The future Fourth Raikage rolled his eyes. For some reason, something just didn't sound right to him. Extraordinary talent? Innate superhuman strength? Was this guy just showing off?

.....

In Iwagakure, at the Tsuchikage Tower, Onoki sat leisurely in a chair close to his desk, his feet propped up on the table, humming off-key. Kurajiro had arrived safely in the village, and the spoils he brought back exceeded his expectations. Although they weren't as extravagant as what his son had amassed in the Land of Fire, the harvest was still considerable. He had initially thought it would be a small profit, but it turned out to be a huge windfall. The losses from the previous raid had been made up. Although the plan had a slight mishap and he hadn't successfully shifted the blame to Sunagakure, the outcome was still good.

This is a way to make a fortune. I was thinking that after half a year when the outside situation wasn't so tense, I would let them go to the Land of Fire and the Land of Lightning for a trip. If they did this two or three times, wouldn't the economy of the Land of Earth take off?

Then, he, the mighty Earth Shadow, won't have to argue with those merchants until his voice is hoarse over two bastards.

Onoki felt very annoyed at the thought of those merchants' faces. Their Land of Earth was rich in mineral resources, with jade, emeralds, and agates practically everywhere. However, these things had no practical use; to put it bluntly, they were just a bunch of useless stones. Their prices were entirely inflated by those idle daimyo and a bunch of literary figures. When there was no war, they were expensive luxury goods and works of art, but when war broke out, they were worthless.

Those merchants always withdrew their investments just when the village needed money most before the war, and then shamelessly came back to invest after the war ended. This infuriated Onoki, who wished he could just blow them up, but he couldn't do that. The village and the country's development depended on these shameless merchants. Their rapid recovery after the war was also thanks to them. If he blew them up, who would dare to invest here?

Dealing with these bloated, cunning, and treacherous merchants was far easier than dealing with Hiruzen Sarutobi. While that short, arrogant Sarutobi could be a real fighter if he didn't like something, these weaklings preferred to use verbal sparring rather than resort to physical force. Onoki, who considered himself a polymath, always found himself at a disadvantage when negotiating with these merchants. He was proficient in administration, strategy, and military tactics, but his only weakness was economics. These bloated bastards, on the other hand, were all financial giants. Onoki was like a scholar encountering soldiers; he was nearly rendered speechless by their barrage of insults every time he negotiated, and he always had to be subservient to their whims.

After opening up this path to wealth, he no longer had to put up with those bastards, and the speed at which he accumulated wealth was much faster than relying on the taxes those bastards paid every month!

Thinking of this, Onoki flipped through the almanac to see which day six months from now was auspicious for launching an attack or hunting in the wild...

"Lord Tsuchikage, something terrible has happened! Two guys have come out and started attacking our people as soon as they saw them. The Anbu who went out were seriously injured by them. Yukari is currently fighting them. Those two guys are incredibly fierce, and it looks like she's about to give up!"

Just as Onoki was flipping through the almanac to choose a date, Tsuchida rushed in to report.

"What?! Where are they??(*′?皿`)?"

Onoki was startled, then his anger surged. Beating up his underlings on his turf—wasn't that a slap in the face to Onoki?

"We're almost at the village entrance!"

Tsuchitai was also extremely nervous. This was the first time he had seen such barbaric people. They didn't even bother with words and just started fighting. The two of them fought from start to finish, and their fighting style was incredibly intense. They completely defeated their ANBU underlings with ninjutsu. Even without summoning the Four-Tails, young Yukari couldn't withstand one of them just by wearing the tailed beast cloak. Facing the two of them was like being double-teamed.

"Damn it! I'll see who dares to run wild on my turf!"

Upon hearing Tsuchikage's words, Onoki became even more furious. The dignified Iwagakure had been almost completely defeated by just two people. If word got out, it would become a laughing stock in the ninja world. With that, he immediately rushed out of the Tsuchikage Tower and flew quickly towards the village entrance.

"Bang bang bang!"

"Hahaha! Kid, although you can borrow the Four-Tails' power, your strength is still a bit lacking. This old man will take over! Son... Big... Brother, those cats and dogs outside are yours to handle! ヾ(^Д^*)/"

Less than two kilometers outside Iwagakure, in a basin, the Raikage, whose upper body was bare and whose muscular physique was still undeniable even when transformed into a young heartthrob, forced back the young Yukari, who was clad in a tailed beast cloak, with a series of punches. He then laughed heartily twice and spoke to the future Fourth Raikage, who had transformed into a middle-aged man. He almost made a slip of the tongue, but immediately corrected himself and raised his fist to charge at the young Yukari again.

While the young Purple could temporarily increase his five-dimensional attributes by borrowing the power of the Four-Tails, to be fair, he was far inferior to the Eight-Tails. The Eight-Tails had twice as many tails as the Four-Tails. So even though he was no longer at his peak, and even without using Lightning Release Chakra Mode, the Raikage was still the strongest man in the history of Kumogakure. The young Purple, disguised as a Tailed Beast, was no match for him.

550. The future Fourth Raikage, called "Big Brother" by his own father.

What does it feel like to be called "Big Brother" by your own father?

"Asshole....(▼へ▼メ)"

The future Fourth Raikage, now an old and weathered man, knows this best!

It feels like I ate shit. ヾ(^?^)?