Born in Sunagakure, dedicated to antagonizing Konoha for decades

In the Land of Earth, inside the dilapidated Tsuchikage-ro, Onoki gritted his teeth so hard they were almost ground to powder, and growled menacingly.

Although he was certain that he hadn't misread the situation and that the one hit by the Tailed Beast Ball was indeed that bastard Shiki, a henchman came to tell him last night that the Four-Tails was indeed in Kakuzu's hands and that Kakuzu was looking for a new owner. He immediately thought that it was very likely that Kakuzu and that bastard Shiki had teamed up to trick him.

Although he hated Kakuzu and Shiki, those two bastards, it wasn't enough to make him this angry. When you lose, you have to admit it and stand up straight when you get beaten. This time, Shiki's attack on their base was due to his carelessness. He thought that because Iwagakure's location was superior, no one would dare to attack their base. He would consider this a lesson learned. Although Sunagakure didn't admit that Shiki was the bastard, they did make corresponding compensation. Although the promised supplies didn't arrive, at least they didn't have to repay the loan they took out to buy the tailed beasts, which reduced Iwagakure's financial pressure.

What angered him most was that bastard Hiruzen Sarutobi's statement, what did he mean by setting up a special foundation for impoverished families in Iwagakure to help countries and ninja villages in need? Wasn't that a veiled attack on Iwagakure and the Land of Earth, calling them poor idiots?

As one of the five great ninja villages, Iwagakure is indeed a bit poor, but not to the point that it needs Konoha's help. Moreover, Hiruzen Sarutobi is clearly saying that Iwagakure is a poor bunch! People have pride, and trees have bark, let alone one of the five great ninja villages. Every time Onoki thinks about this, he gets furious.

"Lord Tsuchikage, news has come from the Land of Demons: they've acquired the Four-Tails from Kakuzu, but they want to offer it up in exchange for a condition..."

At this moment, Onoki's leader rushed in, saw his boss and, as usual, gritted his teeth but ignored him and continued to report.

Since the village was destroyed, the eldest brother had become accustomed to his frequent outbursts of anger, a major rage every three days and a minor one every two. Based on his years of clinical experience, he knew that persuasion was useless at this point. The eldest brother was in the prime of his life, his temper so fierce that even his wife couldn't quell it, let alone them. So, he should just do what he needs to do; everything was up to him...

"Hmm? The Land of Demons? They're pretty fast. I only received the news last night, and they've already bought Yukari back from Kakuzu today. What do they want..."

Upon hearing this news, Onoki's brows relaxed a bit. Finally, there was some good news. He hadn't expected his underlings to be so accommodating. Their boss's men had been kidnapped, and the underlings immediately went to ransom them. Onoki was quite pleased to have such helpful underlings. As long as their demands weren't excessive, he was happy to agree to them, since they had paid real money to buy the men back.

Kakuzu is so popular now, his asking price is bound to be high. The Land of Demons might be bleeding money this time. But thinking that all that money will likely end up in that bastard Shiki's pocket, Onoki gritted his teeth...

"The Land of Demons is willing to give us the Four-Tails for free, but they want us to help them attack Takigakure and steal the Seven-Tails..."

"That's what the Toastmasters said."

"Oh, attack Takigakure... What?! Attack Takigakure? Steal the Seven-Tails? These bastards are asking for trouble! They dare to use us as thugs! ?╬?д?╬?"

Upon hearing the request from the Land of Demons, Onoki sprang up from the stool, his braids instantly standing on end, and his nose rapidly turning from pink to black.

123. All the gold dust in the Land of Wind belongs to their family.

Iwagakure is fully capable of attacking Takigakure. Although Takigakure is known as the sixth great ninja village, it's just a slogan. The only one that can be considered a real threat is the Seven-Tails.

However, Takigakure is located in a secluded area, and its neighbor is Konoha, which likes to meddle in other people's business. Moreover, Takigakure and Konoha have been like a loving family for many years. If they want to attack Takigakure, Konoha will definitely protect them.

And... those bastards from the Land of Demons are trying to use them as thugs!

Thinking about this, Onoki's blood pressure, which had been dropping after he thought his younger brother was on the right track, started to spike again.

"Lord Tsuchikage, we..."

Seeing his boss so angry, the younger brother cautiously asked, "Is it worth it to help the Land of Demons attack Takigakure for the sake of a Purple One who can withstand the Four-Tails' seal?" In his mind, it wasn't unreasonable for them to help the Land of Demons attack Kotakigakure. After all, tailed beasts are easy to find, but there aren't many people who can withstand the seal of a tailed beast and coexist peacefully with it. Purple One was someone they had carefully selected, and Takigakure was really nothing to them. They were just doing their younger brother a favor. However, seeing that his boss didn't seem very willing, he didn't dare to say anything.

"...Send someone to meet the people from the Land of Demons, ensure Zi's safety, and we'll talk about it when they return."

Onoki remained silent for a long time. The Land of Demons was just their little brother. Even if they didn't help, would they dare not return the Four-Tails? However, when he thought about how if they used their status as the leader to forcibly take back the Four-Tails, and if word got out that Iwagakure was bullying their little brother, it would damage Iwagakure's lofty and majestic image, Onoki fell silent. He didn't care about losing face personally, but he couldn't lose face for Iwagakure.

This matter needs to be discussed and resolved by everyone sitting down. What's most infuriating is that Kakuzu is now too expensive to hire. Otherwise, if we could ask him to bring back the Four-Tails, we wouldn't have to worry about this.

He's the man who survived the assassination attempt on Hashirama Senju...

.....

"Tsunade, keep betting! Losing is only temporary; no one loses forever!"

In the Konoha casino, Shinto pulled a sealing scroll from Sasori's father's ninja tool bag behind him, took out a bag of gold sand, and pushed it in front of Tsunade, who was gambling heavily, as if to encourage her with a "I'm rooting for you" attitude.

“…”

Handsome Scorpion's dad looked up at the sky helplessly. "Dude, you've been saying that since I came in! My allowance from over ten years is almost gone..."

Senju Koma was buried. Ever since he sent the dying Senju Koma back so that he could see his family one last time before he died, just as he expected, at least Tsunade didn't roll up her sleeves and start fighting as before, acting like she was ready to come at him.

However, it was only Mito Uzumaki and Tsunade. The old men of the Senju clan were quite superstitious and still treated him like their father's killer. To prevent Tsunade from being influenced by those old men, it took Shinto several days to get Miss Slug to coax Tsunade out, claiming that venting was a great cure for sadness.

"Consider it a loan, I'll pay you back if I win! Bet big, you bastard!!"

Tsunade didn't stand on ceremony. As soon as she entered the casino, she acted as if she were on her own turf. With an imposing and heroic aura, Tsunade immediately went online. At this moment, she forgot what her father's surname was. She pushed the gold sand out and stared intently at the gambling table. In order to prevent the dealer from cheating, she didn't look away for a second.

"σ(⊙▽⊙a....Orochimaru, how much has Tsunade lost in total? These two seem to have a lot of money. Aren't they afraid Tsunade will count them until they go bankrupt...."

Tsunade's magnanimous demeanor and Sasori's father's indifferent attitude towards losing left Jiraiya speechless. Jiraiya, whose math teacher had died young, couldn't even count his ten fingers and ten toes anymore. These two guys were ninjas, so how come they were so rich?

As Tsunade's friend, he had known about her gambling luck for many years. Over the years, she had forcibly taken and squandered a lot of their mission rewards. But today, Tsunade was so generous and treated money like dirt. Forgive his ignorance, but this was the first time he had ever seen her like this.

"...I don't know how much Tsunade lost, but it's probably enough to buy a whole street in Konoha... As for them... they own all the gold sand in the Land of Wind. You'll probably never see them go bankrupt in your lifetime..."

Orochimaru was quite taken aback by Tsunade's generosity. Thinking back to the mission rewards he had been tricked into before, he suddenly felt better. After regaining his senses, Orochimaru habitually gave his good-for-nothing friend, who had never studied human body art, a disdainful look before making a light comment.

Making the legitimate heir and the face of Sunagakure go bankrupt is no easy task! Just think of the Land of Wind, where gold is everywhere... what we lose here wouldn't even be enough to cover their production for half an hour or a minute.

"Keep writing it down..."

Upon hearing Tsunade's words, Masato raised an eyebrow at Sasori's father.

"...Big brother, what's the point of remembering all this? You...you wouldn't be thinking of pursuing this little princess, would you? (⊙_⊙)"

Scorpion's father, speechless, scribbled notes in his notebook before asking Masato in a low voice, "Money is a small matter. He's never cared about money since he was a child. Even the toilet in his house is made of pure gold. But as a Casanova who brought girls home to meet his parents when he was seven, it would be a waste of his 'Casanova' title if he couldn't understand his older brother's unusual behavior. Didn't he use the same tactic to woo Yusaori when he was a kid?"

But for his brother and his gang, representing Sunagakure, to flirt with Konoha's little princess... it just seems a bit outrageous. His brother has racked up quite a few kills from Konoha, after all...

Moreover, Sunagakure and Konoha are considered enemies.

"What's the problem? You brought Yusaori home when you were seven. If I don't flirt with another girl soon, your mother will really think there's something wrong with me in a couple of years..."

Masato said it was no big deal.

"This is a huge problem! She's from Konoha, and she's even the princess of Konoha..."

Sasori's father pointed at Masato, then at Tsunade who was staring at him, and gestured to indicate the difference in their identities.

Even if his mother agreed, Konoha probably wouldn't vote in favor, not for any other reason than the many Konoha ninja who died at his older brother's hands over the years...

Most importantly, with his big brother's status, he could have any girl he wanted. There was no need for him to flirt with a flat-chested princess from a rival village. She had no figure, no looks... girls change a lot as they grow up, and she was still a young girl, so you couldn't tell.

"People in this era are rather narrow-minded. I'm investing in the future. Don't underestimate this little princess; she has the best future development potential..."

124. The Great Shimura, Edogawa, Danzo

"Huh?? Danzo is looking for me?? (⊙_⊙)?"

Shinto, his eyes still half-closed with sleep, stared at the Root member who had come to disturb his sleep in the middle of the night and was about to be killed by a punch driven by his human instincts. Perhaps because Root was still in its early stages, Danzo hadn't recruited many talented individuals. Even the Jonin he was supposed to be were mostly unqualified, yet he still managed to get beaten up.

"Yes, Lord Danzo is looking for..."

This Root henchman was quite tough; when he was about to die, he didn't ask me to help him give his last words. Instead, he nodded with difficulty and then tilted his head to the side before he could finish speaking.

Based on this alone, even though Danzo's Root organization had only been established for a few years, he had already developed its core skills. His brainwashing ability was top-notch. The current Root followers were not the same children that Danzo would later harvest and train from childhood under the guise of children's charitable foundations all over the world. Most of the current Root followers were newcomers, and yet they were willing to risk their lives for Danzo. This shows how strong Danzo's core brainwashing skills were.

"Big brother, what's wrong?"

Hearing the noise, the handsome Scorpion's father next door rubbed his sleepy eyes and came in to ask.

"It's nothing. That half of Konoha sent someone looking for me, but I accidentally killed them..."

Masato shrugged and looked at the corpse on the ground.

"...That Shimura Danzo? Didn't he go to find Kakuzu?"

Sasori's father was taken aback. Wasn't that guy from the Senju clan, whom his older brother called "half the sky of Konoha," all talk about righteousness and wanting to find Kakuzu to take back the Four-Tails Jinchuriki? Why is he setting off now?

"Who knows what's going on with him? Let's go see what this guy wants from me."

Shinto ignored the corpse on the ground and walked out the door. Someone would come in to collect the body later; he didn't even bother using his Observation Haki to know that there were at least three squads of ANBU guarding his room, and who knew, Sakumo Hatake might even be the one in charge...

Where are you going so late at night?

Sure enough, no sooner had Masato and Sasori's father stepped out of the room than a white-haired man appeared in front of them with a look that said, "I knew you guys were going to cause trouble."

"Your people are disturbing my sleep so late at night. I couldn't sleep, so I went for a run to work up a sweat before trying to sleep... Get rid of your people right now. Seriously, can't you guys in Konoha change your habit of not knocking before entering?"

Shinto pointed at the Root corpse in the room and, without giving Hatake Sakumo a chance to reply, activated his Observation Haki and searched for Danzo's location before rushing over.

"Minister, the person wearing our Dark Guard mask isn't one of us... Should we give chase?"

After the two left, a member of the ANBU (Anbu, a secret service unit) examined the body and then came over to speak to Sakumo Hatake.

"...No need, you all continue to guard here, I'll go report to the Hokage."

Those wearing Anbu masks weren't actually Anbu members; the identities of those lower-ranking personnel were unknown. As the head of the Anbu, he certainly knew who they were. Since it involved the Hokage's best friend, Hatake Sakumo felt it was best to inform the Hokage; his intervention would only create a love triangle...

......

"Yo, isn't this the handsome and dignified advisor Danzo? Why aren't you going to find Kakuzu to steal the Four-Tails? Why are you sending people to me so late at night? I need to have a word with you. Your people are so rude! Not knocking at the door so late at night, sneaking around and disturbing my sleep. How impolite! You'll have to teach those underlings a lesson next time!"

Shinto, along with Sasori's father, found Danzo in a small grove. This Danzo was quite ostentatious; he even brought bodyguards for their evening date. There were layers upon layers of people surrounding him, as if they were afraid others wouldn't know he was a big shot.

"...Golden Lion, let's not beat around the bush. What price do you want in return for bringing the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki out of Takigakure? ヽ(ー_ー)ノ"

When Danzo saw the two approaching but didn't see the subordinate he had sent out, he knew that the subordinate was probably in grave danger. His heart was bleeding; that was one of the few Jonin in his Root!

Although his best friend had agreed to let him form Root and become a prospective member of the Anbu, it wasn't easy to entice those elite Jonin into Root. Moreover, his best friend was keeping an eye on him, preventing him from making any major changes to his development. Over the years, he had worn out several layers of skin from talking so much before finally managing to recruit about a dozen Jonin who were presentable. Each one was the culmination of his hard work. Now, one of them had died because he didn't knock before entering a room. Danzo felt a pang of pain in his heart, thinking that he would have to give the next generation of Root a lesson in etiquette. It would be such a waste for Danzo to die in battle just because he lacked manners!

However, these were all minor matters. He had important things to do. After feeling sorry for him for thirty seconds, he got down to business. He had already received news that the people of the Land of Demons had bought the Four-Tails Jinchuriki from Kakuzu. Moreover, the people of the Land of Demons were very cunning. They did not return via the route of the Land of Fire but instead rowed a small boat by water, which made it impossible for him to intercept and kill them.

However, while others believed the Golden Lion's nonsense, Shimura Danzo did not. This was because everyone in the Senju clan was shocked by Kakuzu's assassination of the First Hokage II and failed to notice the obvious flaw in the Golden Lion's story!

That is, when he asked Shiki if there was anyone he suspected, Shiki immediately named Kakuzu without hesitation, and as if he had been there at the time, he was certain that Kakuzu was the one who did it.

Although this guy's acting skills are very good, he forgot that when humans think, even the most quick-witted people like the Nara clan have at least a second or two of buffer time between thinking about a question and giving an answer. But this Golden Lion answered as if he had just finished asking the question.

Therefore! The great Shimura Edogawa Danzo is certain that Shiki is lying! He must have been involved in the events in Iwagakure. Onoki is not yet old enough to be blind and senile. Moreover, why doesn't Onoki point the finger at him alone? If Onoki wanted to maximize his own interests, shouldn't he have pointed the finger at Konoha?

Given his perceived cowardly nature, when Onoki pointed the finger at Konoha, Hiruzen Sarutobi would likely have considered giving Iwagakure some compensation for the sake of peace.

After figuring all this out, the great Shimura Edogawa Danzo decided to meet this good teammate. If they couldn't get the Four-Tails Jinchuriki, they could get the Seven-Tails! That has three more tails than the Four-Tails. This good teammate could give the Four-Tails to Kakuzu to sell, so it seemed reasonable to pay a price to ask him to help them get the Seven-Tails!

Thinking about this, Danzo couldn't help but give himself a thumbs up!

I'm a fucking genius! ヾ(^д^*)/.

125. The number 250 suits your temperament very well.

"(⊙_⊙)...Advisor Danzo is indeed resourceful. It's a blessing for our village that Konoha isn't under your rule. I didn't expect you to see through it so quickly!"

Shinto glanced at Danzo in surprise. Didn't the author of that novel, "Konoha Drunkard," say that Danzo had a low IQ? Now it seems he's not so stupid after all!

While others were still reeling from the shock of Kakuzu's performance, this guy had already seen through the true nature of his advertisement.

"Enough with the nonsense, name your price. As long as it's within my capabilities, just get me the Seven-Tails! ヽ(ー_ー)ノ"

Shinto, who was about to offer some compliments, hit Danzo's sore spot with a single sentence. Those who have never brushed past the pinnacle of life can never understand that feeling. Danzo's old face instantly turned black, and the camaraderie of his teammates who had rallied for him was instantly forgotten. He adopted a professional, "upright and incorruptible" demeanor.