Born in Sunagakure, dedicated to antagonizing Konoha for decades

746. Be a good girl and come back with me to lay eggs.

After parting ways with Kakuzu, Shinto immediately flew towards the Land of Rain. The Land of Tea is not far from the Land of Rain, separated by the Land of Rivers. After three days, he arrived in the Land of Rain and activated his Observation Haki to scan the entire map of the Land of Rain. It had been many years since he had been to the Land of Rain, and the current Land of Rain felt completely different from what he had experienced back then.

The Land of Rain right now can be described in one word: miserable!

Although it was still drizzling in the Land of Rain as always, it seemed to have some life back when Hanzo of the Salamander was in power. Now, however, it felt much less popular. While Hanzo's management skills weren't great, at least he had some education and had completed some basic academic studies. Now, the Land of Rain was in the hands of Jiraiya's two illiterate disciples, and in such a short time, it seemed to have become even poorer.

No wonder they went to find Kakuzu immediately after acquiring Handsome Scorpion. Judging from how hungry those underlings looked, they probably weren't getting enough to eat. If Kakuzu didn't come soon, most of them would probably starve to death.

Ultimately, it comes down to the importance of culture.

Nagato was practically raised in a captivity and never went to school. He only managed to write his own name after meeting Jiraiya. The rich girl was also from a poor family and only learned to read and do basic arithmetic after being taught by Jiraiya, who was also semi-literate. They don't know anything about high-level topics like developing a country's economy, even a small one!

The fact that they haven't starved to death by now is probably thanks to that rich girl smuggling explosive tags; that's how so many people have survived...

However, explosive tags are expensive during wartime, but supply and demand are much lower in peacetime, causing prices to drop quickly. Besides, apart from Sunagakure, which lacks the resources, other major ninja villages have their own explosive tag manufacturing plants. While production isn't high, it's sufficient in peacetime. Smaller ninja villages don't have a significant demand for explosive tags. Now that the war is over, Shinto is worried that if Kakuzu doesn't join, the Akatsuki might starve before even debuting...

Deep within the central building of the Land of Rain, several emotionless, lifeless circular eyes were discovered, presumably the Six Paths puppets. There were only four so far; one was the familiar Deva Path Pain, while the other three were of unknown origin. Deeper inside, a emaciated rice-carrying foreman and a blue-haired, wealthy young woman were seen babbling incoherently, their conversation seemingly meaningless. However, this was a company secret, and it was best not to pry; it was a matter of personal decorum.

In the early stages of the Xiaotian Gang's formation, besides the rice-carrying foreman and the wealthy girl, there were only three skinny guys, including his eldest nephew. The rest were just a bunch of skinny peripheral henchmen. After scanning around for a while, he finally spotted the most handsome guy in the ninja world hammering away in a house...

boom!

"Nephew!! I've finally found you! Do you know how hard I've searched for you! Look at your thin face... I almost didn't recognize you, you're so pitiful..."

The handsome young man, Scorpion, was startled by the violent sound of the door being broken down. Then, a disheveled figure rushed in and grabbed his thin, pretty face with an evil hand.

"...Bastard, let me go! How did you find this place?"

After a brief moment of confusion, seeing the familiar figure in front of him, Handsome Scorpion immediately started beating him up. He struggled to get his pretty face away from that evil hand, but it was no use. He wasn't a puppeteer who played with bodies after all, and even though he had developed ten-pack abs, his strength was still far from enough.

"I just missed you. You've been away for so long without even going home to see your family. Your grandma, your mother, and your wife are still waiting for you at home. Look how thin you've become! It breaks my heart. Come on, let's go home. If I had known this would happen, I wouldn't have let you leave in the first place!"

Masato's eyes were brimming with tears, like a father seeing his son suffer; it was heartbreaking...

"Hiss...! You bastard, let me go! I'm not going back!"

ding ding ding...

Handsome Scorpion felt a chill run down his spine at the bastard's nauseating gaze. He struggled but couldn't break free, and in a fit of rage, hundreds of green senbon needles shot into Shinto's chest.

However, it was of no use; the lush green senbon needles fell to the ground as if they had been shot at a lump of iron.

"Alright, be good and stop making a fuss. Your grandma and I have already discussed it. They won't stop you from pursuing your art, but your little wife has been with you since she was nine. You should at least go back and give her a proper status, right? Besides, your marksmanship is worse than your father's, and you haven't even laid a child yet. The ninja world is so dangerous. If something happens to you one day, I'll be under a lot of pressure! Come back with me and study artificial insemination with Xiuli. We won't stop you from coming out again when you have some results. Look at where you live now, it's not even as good as our toilet..."

After finishing speaking, Masato looked around with disdain and complained.

"Let me go, I'm not going back. It must have been you, you bastard, who came up with this again. Let me go, I'm going to kill you..."

Upon hearing this, Handsome Scorpion instantly exploded. Wasn't this treating him like a stud? Even a fool could tell that this bastard came up with such a despicable method. His grandmother and mother were both highly educated people; they wouldn't be so shameless…

"Be good, listen to me. You wanted to come out and pursue your dreams, right? That's the only condition we won't stop you. Go back home obediently and take care of yourself. Look at how dry your skin has become after all these years of being out in the wind and sun. Your grandma and your mother are heartbroken to see you like this... Hey, young man and woman outside, it's a little rude of you to eavesdrop on their family matters..."

Before Shindou could finish speaking, he sensed several circle-eyed puppets and a rich girl coming outside to eavesdrop.

"We must be careful when the famous Golden Lion comes to our Rain Country."

Tiandao Quanquan and the rich girl walked in. The rich girl looked at the blond, slovenly guy who was their core member without any emotion and said something indifferently.

Although they overheard for a few minutes and roughly understood what was going on, they shouldn't interfere in other people's family matters. The current situation is that Handsome Scorpion clearly doesn't want to go home... If Golden Lion really forces Handsome Scorpion back to have a baby, that would be terrible. Handsome Scorpion is their organization's first member, and someone she went through a lot of trouble to recruit. If they can't even protect their own people, who will join them in the future?

747. Rice porters these days are pretty easy to fool.

Moreover, seeing what happened to Handsome Scorpion, the wealthy girl felt a little sorry for him. It's truly pathetic to have such a despicable uncle who treats himself as part of his race...

"Haha, I didn't realize that this young girl is so good at talking. Looking at your beautiful uniforms... you must be my nephew's accomplice... ptooey! Partner, right? Don't worry, I'm just asking my nephew to go back and have a baby, not to leave the group. I'll bring him back after he succeeds. It won't affect the development of your team."

After seeing the wealthy girl, Shinto subtly used his Observation Haki to spy on his nephew. He initially thought his nephew would be defeated by the girl again, as in the original story, and then join the fight. However, it seems that's not the case. His nephew wasn't defeated by the wealthy girl, but rather by the circle-eyed Pain from next door. His nephew realized that Pain was a puppet, and a puppetry system completely different from his own, which is why he agreed to join and, incidentally, stay there to find inspiration...

"Hmph! Scorpion clearly doesn't want to go back with you, so why force him to leave? Let him go!"

The ruthless Tiandao beside the rich girl said emotionlessly.

After activating Ban Da Ye's circle eyes and instantly killing Sanshoku Hanzo, the rice-carrying foreman became arrogant. If it weren't for the fact that their organization had just been established and needed to keep a low profile, they would have already made their move. Bastards dare to steal people in front of God, even Golden Lion would die.

"Young man, you're mistaken about that. Although I don't know what big thing you and Scorpion are planning, according to Newton's law of conservation, big things always involve high risks. You might be single and don't care—if you die, you'll die and be reborn. But since Scorpion is your partner, have you thought about him? He has a family, and a large family fortune awaits him. He's the only legal heir. If something happens to him, and he doesn't leave any descendants, who will inherit the family business? Have you considered these things for him? I'm not against him joining you. I'm just taking him back for two or three months, maybe a year or two, until he leaves an heir for his family. Then he can come back and discuss big things with you. That way, he won't have any worries and can focus on your big business, right?"

“Brother, people who want to do great things must learn to be tolerant and considerate of their companions. If you can’t even do that, you might as well go home and herd cattle. I wouldn’t feel comfortable letting my nephew hang out with you guys, wouldn’t you say?”

Shinto, despite his arrogant demeanor, had roughly guessed their thoughts since he hadn't actually made a move. After all, they had the ultimate goal of destroying the world and being reborn. They were currently in the early stages of their business and needed to develop cautiously without being too high-profile. As a top figure in the ninja world, if they were to fight and cause too much of a commotion, it would inevitably attract the attention of the ninja world.

"..."

The guy with the round eyes exchanged a glance with the rich girl. They weren't very well-educated, and they couldn't understand what she was talking about, Newton's law of conservation. But it sounded very sophisticated. So doing big things wasn't just about being able to fight and kill; there were so many intricacies involved. They finally understood.

What the Golden Lion said seems reasonable. They are orphans, their parents have long since passed away, leaving them with no ties. But the handsome Scorpio is different; he has both parents and a large family fortune waiting for him to inherit. If he has any worries about the future, it will be difficult for him to join them in accomplishing great things. He should indeed go back to stabilize the home front first. Besides, this is their family matter, and it doesn't seem appropriate for them to interfere too much...

Besides, didn't the other side say that they would only take Scorpion away for a year at most, and let him come back after he successfully created humans? Their plan would take at least ten or twenty years to complete. Now, recruiting Scorpion would be pointless, as he would just stay in the house making his puppets. In that case, it would be better to let him go back with Shiki to create humans.

Well, anyway, it doesn't affect their plans. They haven't promoted the organization's ideology to Sasori yet, so they can't leak any information. Shindo just thinks they're a small organization from the Land of Rain.

The organization is still developing and shouldn't be exposed. It's said this Golden Lion is as tough as the Third Raikage; if they really fight, the scale will be too large, inevitably exposing them. In that case, it's better to let Sasori go back with him...

"You bastard, let me go! I won't go back with you! ヽ(#`Д′)?"

Watching the rich girl and the round-eyed man being easily fooled by this bastard uncle with just a few words, Handsome Scorpion looked up at the sky speechlessly. He began to regret his decision to join. He was the boss of a terrorist organization, yet he was still so naive.

The handsome scorpion struggled even more fiercely.

"You two handsome young man and beautiful young woman, look how much this child is struggling. I'll take him with me now. I wish you booming business and abundant wealth!"

Masato never expected that rice carriers and rich girls at this time would be so easy to fool. He had thought he would have to fight them, but now it seems that he doesn't need to at all.

Young people are just young people after all!

Even if he turns to the dark side, his lack of experience and cultural background is still a fatal flaw!

Look at his nephew, he's been a top student since he was a child. Although he doesn't have much life experience, he's highly educated. It's not so easy to fool his nephew.

"Xiao Nan, who is this Newton?"

Watching the two soar into the sky, Nagato, who controlled the Heavenly Dao, was still pondering what Golden Lion had just said. After thinking for a long time, he asked the rich girl beside him.

When Xiao Nan was a child, her academic performance wasn't the best...

"Probably someone who did something significant in the past..."

"Wow! Xiao Nan is really cultured!"

......

"Nephew, I'm not trying to criticize you, but your vision is too narrow. You actually recognized such a naive and innocent person as your leader. I dismissed him with just a few words. You don't understand the wickedness of people's hearts. I don't think they'll amount to anything in the future!"

On the way back to Sunagakure, Shinto shook his head and said to Sasori.

“…”

Handsome Scorpion is constipated...

He never expected that the circumcised guy who fought so fiercely was even more naive and innocent than him. Where did all that high-class air he had when he convinced him to join go? He'd been completely fooled by that bastard's few words—it was so damn embarrassing…

"Alright, stop looking like you're about to die. Go home and behave yourself. It's just having a baby. If you try a couple more days and get lucky, it'll only take one time. After that, I won't care if you come out again. I just don't understand. I've already found you a pretty girl like Xiuli, and you still dare to run away? Aren't you afraid someone will steal her away? Then you'll have nowhere to cry..."

"asshole!".

748. It's time for intellectuals to shine again.

When Shinto brought the handsome Sasori back to the village, the peace talks in Konoha had already begun!

Those attending the Konoha peace talks included the host, Konoha's representative, and the next Hokage candidate, suspected to be the son of the Golden Lion, "The Yellow Flash" Minato Namikaze.

Given Minato Namikaze's outstanding performance in the recently concluded Third Shinobi World War, the day after the Raikage announced his retirement and the war officially ended, Hiruzen Sarutobi and the other three giants of Konoha went to the Daimyo of the Land of Fire to propose that Minato Namikaze become the next Hokage.

Of course, all of this is just going through the motions. Who becomes the leader of Konoha has little to do with the Daimyo of the Land of Fire. Moreover, the current Daimyo of the Land of Fire has a deep understanding of the world. He only wants to eat, drink, and have fun, and to gain some face in the Daimyo circles of various countries. He has no right to interfere in who becomes the leader of Konoha. All he has to do is flip through the cards every day or compete with a few other Daimyo for girls, and allocate funds to Konoha every day.

So after Hiruzen Sarutobi returned from the Daimyo's residence in the Land of Fire, he began to let Minato Namikaze take charge of some of the Hokage's duties, and also built up momentum for Minato in the village. This peace talk was also a test for Minato by Hiruzen Sarutobi, and Hiruzen Sarutobi's bottom line for the compensation demanded was really not high.

After all, he had wanted to end the war for a long time and avoid any further complications. Also, since they were all young people who were prone to impulsiveness, his bottom line was that half of the losses they suffered on the battlefield would be compensated to the participating families, while the losses in the village would be compensated from the village's accounts as before.

Such a requirement is simple and easy for Minato Namikaze to fulfill.

When it comes to cultivating successors, Hiruzen Sarutobi is probably the best and most competent person in the entire ninja world, at least much better than him in raising his sons. Now almost no one in the ninja world knows that Hiruzen Sarutobi's son-raising skills were really not good. His eldest son's success had nothing to do with him. His youngest son is the one who truly reflects his level.

For this reason, Onoki sent his right-hand man and his son, Kotsuchi, to the Iwagakure peace talks. Onoki was just an assistant, while his son, Kotsuchi, was the main damage dealer, and could also annoy Hiruzen Sarutobi.

What's the use of having many sons? If they're going to be successful, one is enough...

Sunagakure is a team led by Rasa, and supported by "Conan's dad" Minato Namikaze, who went toe-to-toe with him for a few minutes. When they arrived in Konoha, Iwagakure's Tsuchiki and Yotsuchi were already in place, mainly to wait for Kumogakure and Kirigakure.

After waiting for ten days to half a month, Mabui, the new Jonin chief of the Cloud Village, arrived with his men, but no one from the Mist Village appeared for a long time. Minato Namikaze, who was presiding over the meeting, had no choice but to start the peace talks first.

After the representatives of the four villages delivered their individual speeches at the peace talks, Minato Namikaze, carrying Konoha's trump card—the cultured Mitokado Homura—officially began arguing with the representatives from all sides.

Now it's time for the intellectuals to shine...

So this time, all the young people once again witnessed the power of the cultured Mitokado Homura and the Iwagakure giant Tsuchiki. Even Azabui, the young leader of the Azabu clan who had just taken power, couldn't stand the massive verbal battle between the two and was the first to agree to compensation and leave the venue that day.

The two of them were incredibly talkative, which had nothing to do with her level of education; it was mainly because the girl couldn't stand the pervasive smell of motivational platitudes in the room...

The remaining Sunagakure representative, Rasa, had slightly better endurance than the girl. By the next day, he couldn't withstand the two's massive verbal sparring and agreed to Konoha's compensation, withdrawing from the meeting. At that moment, he finally understood why Ebizo refused to come to Konoha for peace talks—cultured people were terrifyingly powerful, especially when two cultured people were engaged in a heated debate. Those with lower levels of education were too embarrassed to interrupt, and couldn't get a word in edgewise. They were simply not on the same level, and it was easy to lose face.

Rasa was a highly educated person since childhood. Although he could not be called a top student, he at least had a master's degree and was considered a highly educated person in the ninja world. However, he finally realized what it meant to regret not having studied enough when he needed to use his knowledge when he was in front of Konoha and Mitokado Homura, two postdoctoral fellows.

The two intellectuals talked for two days straight, and he couldn't get a word in edgewise. He also had to endure the strong smell of motivational speeches and the spittle flying everywhere in the meeting room. It's really amazing that he managed to hold out until the second day.

Even he admires himself.

"That's terrifying... The teacher was right, cultured people are too scary."

The "Conan's dad" who followed Rasa out still looked shaken. He swore that once was enough, and he would never do it again, even if it meant death. He'd rather open the Sixth Gate and fight the suspected teacher's son to a standstill for a few more minutes...

Konoha is truly bizarre; it has all sorts of talented people. I had always heard that Konoha had four giants: the Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi and the three advisors. I had heard my teacher explain the roles of the Hokage and Danzo Shimura, the Root of Konoha, but I really didn't know the roles of the other two advisors. Today, I finally witnessed the prowess of one of the advisors.

This guy's mouth is worth an entire division!

The various sharp words and civilized language, which sound like they are cursing the other party, do not contain a single swear word. They can even be used in negotiations. It's really amazing!

"Let's go. This is our first time in Konoha. Let's take a good look around. Judging from their expressions, this meeting won't be over for at least a week."

Rasa nodded in agreement with Conan's father's words, while also envying Iwagakure for having such a sharp-tongued intellectual. Although Iwagakure didn't have as many double-flower red sticks as Sunagakure, it had a giant with such sharp eloquence. Although Sunagakure had many intellectuals, the one with the best eloquence was actually the least cultured Shinto, which was like adding the wrong stat points.

Even a powerful adult couldn't handle this kind of situation.

After Sunagakure and Kumogakure left, only Iwagakure and Konoha remained. On the evening of the third day, Tsuchiki and Mitokado Homura took a short break to drink some tea. After ten minutes of rest, it was Tsuchiki and Namikaze Minato's turn to take the field.