XX-level Hokage

This was exactly what Mashiro had anticipated. The Rinne Rebirth technique doesn't kill the caster instantly; it only consumes a large amount of chakra and life force. Because reviving ninjas requires even more chakra and life force, Mashiro had saved all the Cloud Ninjas beforehand, which meant Nagato only...

It requires consuming the chakra and life force of reviving civilians.

Then Mashiro used the Divine Blessing to connect the Eight-Tails' chakra with Nagato's. This meant that Nagato only needed to expend his life force. Since the Uzumaki clan has always had strong life force, Nagato would not die immediately, but would only become weaker.

Chapter 140: Little Shiro

Even so, Nagato would die soon after; his body was too weak.

"Next..." Shinji said, releasing the divine power, and then reached out to take out Nagato's Rinnegan. Nagato was too weak to react.

"What's this?" Konan stared in shock at Mashiro's sudden action, utterly bewildered.

She didn't think Mashiro wanted Nagato's Rinnegan, since as a sage, Mashiro already had one herself.

Mashiro slowly summoned a scroll, then conjured a transparent jar filled with liquid. She placed the Rinnegan inside and tossed it to Konan, saying, "These eyes weren't something Nagato was born with. They're constantly draining Nagato's chakra and life force. To completely heal Nagato, these eyes must be removed."

As she spoke, Mashiro took out another scroll and summoned a transparent jar containing a pair of Byakugan eyes.

Mashiro took out the Byakugan and placed it into Nagato's eye socket. Immediately afterward, green light entered through Mashiro's hand, and with the application of medical ninjutsu, the Byakugan became Nagato's new eye.

Seeing this, Xiao Nan was relieved.

"How are you feeling? Can you see?" Mashiro asked softly.

Nagato nodded, saying weakly, "I feel so relieved. I haven't felt this way in a long time." Having gotten rid of the Gedo Mazo and the Rinnegan, Nagato hadn't felt this relaxed in many years.

Shinji nodded, then tapped Nagato's head with his finger, and a massive amount of Yang-attribute chakra surged into Nagato's body. In a moment, Nagato's body went from being emaciated to full and plump.

Yang-attribute chakra, also known as life force, was something Nagato lacked most.

Soon, Nagato's body returned to normal. Mashiro stretched out her hand and looked at Konan, saying, "Nagato's body is basically fine now. Without the burden of the Rinnegan and the Outer Path, these Byakugan will not have any effect on his Uzumaki body. With proper rest for a while, Nagato will be back to normal."

Konan nodded, glanced at Nagato, then looked at Mashiro and asked, "Will this have any negative effects on you?"

"Impact? There is some, you'd like to see?" Mashiro said softly. Konan nodded.

Then Mashiro's body instantly shrank, turning into a little loli.

"What...what is this?!" Konan stared in utter shock at the scene. Nagato, standing nearby, also gasped in surprise.

Mashiro said in a childlike voice, "Nagato needed too much Yang-attribute chakra, which caused a backlash against me. It will be fine after a while. For now, I can only use ninjutsu to maintain the previous state."

Then Mashiro turned back into Mashiro.

The excessive output of life force overburdened Shiro's body, causing her to age prematurely due to the influence of the Otsutsuki bloodline.

However, Mashiro can use the bloodline of the Otsutsuki to convert other chakra attributes into Yang attribute, thus restoring himself to his original state. However, Mashiro's current chakra level is not high enough, so before Kushina's affection level reaches 50, Mashiro's body can only be in the form of a 12-year-old.

"It's good that you're alright." Konan nodded and said, in her opinion that this situation was not a big problem. "Then what should we do with these eyes?" Konan asked, looking at the transparent jar containing the Rinnegan in her hand.

“You will take him back to the Land of Rain. That masked man will definitely try to take him away. Let him take him. I will be watching from the shadows. If he tries to kill you, I will show myself and save you,” Mashiro said softly.

Xiao Nan nodded first, then asked with some doubt, "Why go through all this trouble to return the Rinnegan to him?"

"Because we need to ensure his plan can proceed, whether it's collecting the Tailed Beasts, reclaiming the Rinnegan, or even the later Fourth Shinobi World War. The masked man is just a pawn of Madara Uchiha, and Madara Uchiha is just a pawn of my brother. Since they're all manipulating things, we'll join the game and treat them all as pawns," Mashiro said with a light laugh.

Xiao Nan nodded, seemingly understanding but not quite.

Mashiro continued, "Next, I will divide the Eight-Tails into two parts. You will take half of the Eight-Tails back with you. As for Nagato, I will leave him in Konoha."

Wait here for me a moment.

After Mashiro finished speaking, she sank into the shadows along with Nagato and Killer Bee on the ground, into Konoha.

Mashiro first appeared in the Hyuga clan.

"Sousuke, this is a member of our Hyuga clan who has been living away from home. He is very weak. Please arrange for a few people to take care of him," Mashiro said to Hyuga Sousuke.

“Yes, Master.” Hyuga Sousuke nodded in response. Then Mashiro once again sank into the shadows.

In the underground headquarters of "Root", in Tono Hosuke's laboratory.

Mashiro appeared out of nowhere, carrying the unconscious Killer Bee. Tono and the other researchers hurriedly bowed.

"Assistant Fang, bring those two storage devices over," Mashiro said softly.

"Yes, Lord Mashiro," Tono Fusuke said respectfully, then hurriedly had the researcher push the two perfect storage devices over.

Looking at the two jet-black cubes, Mashiro nodded in satisfaction. She then unsealed the Eight-Tails from Killer Bee's body.

Then three special "root" members emerged from the shadows.

"The door ghosts are completely sealed."

Two members of the "Root" faction simultaneously unleashed the Toki Sealing Technique, and two Shinigami appeared, one of whom split the Eight-Tails in two.

Another one will split the eight tails in half, injecting one half into two storage devices and the other half into the remaining "root" body.

After it was completed, the bodies of the two Root members who had used "Dead Demon Seal" turned to dust. Mashiro, along with the remaining Root member and Killer Bee, sank into the shadows.

Tono Kazusuke was left standing there, bewildered. The Dark Guard's prison.

Mashiro suddenly appeared, handed Killer Bee over to the prison guards, and told them to imprison him using a sealing technique, before disappearing again.

In a cave in Kumogakure, Mashiro appeared with the "Root" member and then killed him with a single strike. Konan looked at Mashiro in confusion.

About half an hour passed between Masami's departure and return. When she left, she took Nagato and the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki with her. When she returned, she brought a person wearing an animal mask, and then suddenly captured and killed this person wearing the animal mask.

No wonder Xiao Nan looked puzzled.

The mask was removed, revealing the face of a middle-aged man.

Mashiro turned to look at Konan and said, "These are prisoners captured by Konoha Root. Their memories were erased through some special means, and then they were hypnotized, making them perfect test subjects."

Now, half of the Eight-Tails' chakra remains within him; he is the new Eight-Tails Jinchuriki.

After hearing Mashiro's explanation, Konan nodded. Often, all she could do was nod in front of Mashiro.

"I've already made arrangements for Nagato. I have another use for the previous Eight-Tails Jinchuriki. You just need to take this Eight-Tails Jinchuriki with you to complete the task. Remember, be careful. I'll be watching you from the shadows." Mashiro walked up to Konan and said softly.

Then he hugged Xiao Nan and leaned his whole body against her.

Using the Shadow Ninja for such long and frequent teleportation was taking a toll on even Mashiro's powerful mental strength, causing her to feel dizzy.

Noticing Mashiro's exhaustion, Konan gently stroked Mashiro's hair, then sat down on the floor and let Mashiro sleep on her lap.

Ten minutes later, Mashiro opened her eyes and said, "You should go." Then she got up from Konan.

Xiao Nan nodded, got up from the ground, wrapped the man on the ground with white paper, and then flew into the air, gradually disappearing into the distance.

Chapter 141: Industry

After Konan left, she glanced at the cave and then disappeared into the shadows. Soon after, the cave collapsed, burying all traces. In a makeshift mud house in the Cloud Village, Ai was counting the dead.

Despite the combined efforts of all the Cloud Village ninja, a small number of civilians remained trapped beneath the mud, ultimately facing their second death. "Akatsuki! The Cloud Village will never forgive you!" Looking at the list in his hand, A suddenly burst into tears, slamming his fist on the stone table and shouting.

This attack not only took his beloved brother's life but also destroyed his cherished hometown, resulting in the deaths of dozens of innocent people. He will never let this go.

"It seems I've come at the wrong time, Raikage-sama," Mashiro said softly as she entered Ai's temporary office.

"No, please come in." Upon seeing Mashiro, Ai quickly suppressed her struggling expression, calmly saying, "How many people ultimately sacrificed their lives?" Mashiro asked in a somewhat heavy tone.

“Fifty-four people, most of whom are elderly,” Ai said sadly. “Death is inevitable,” Mashiro could only say at this moment.

Ai stood up and walked to Mashiro, then knelt down with a thud, saying with immense gratitude, "On behalf of the entire Hidden Cloud Village, I offer you my sincerest thanks."

He understood deeply that the Cloud Village hadn't been completely destroyed entirely because of the person in front of him. Mashiro remained silent, accepting Ai's gratitude.

A moment later, he helped Ai up and said, "It was just a coincidence. There's no need to publicize it. As a member of Konoha, I don't want to interfere in the affairs of Kumogakure." Ai looked at Mashiro, shocked by her selflessness. If he had known Mashiro's deeds would be publicized, even if she wanted to become the next Raikage, she definitely wouldn't have...

Some people will object.

Selfless? If Shiro knew what the Raikage was thinking, he would definitely laugh silently. Some things are better left unsaid than announced. As long as the Raikage and some core ninjas of Kumogakure know, Shiro can do many things. As for when to let the rest of Kumogakure know, that requires a better opportunity.

"I wonder what the Raikage thinks about the Five Kage Summit?" Mashiro asked softly.

Ai paused for a moment, then said, "Once the Daimyo's aid arrives and the village begins reconstruction, I will immediately send someone to inform the other four Kage. After they learn of the tragedy in Kumogakure, I think they will definitely not refuse to help anymore."

"Regarding aid, Konoha will also provide some, not only material support, but also a Jonin skilled in woodworking. With him, I think Kumogakure..."

"The reconstruction speed will be greatly improved." Mashiro said softly, quite pleased with the Raikage's words.

"Thank you again!" Ai knelt down again.

"In my opinion, there are no fundamental conflicts between the various ninja villages, but now that someone is acting recklessly in order to unify the ninja world, we should unite against this common enemy," Mashiro said softly, then turned and left the Raikage's temporary office.

On the way back to the guesthouse, Mashiro passed by the ruins of Yukiori's house, where several people were searching the ground, hoping to find something that hadn't been damaged inside.

Upon seeing Mashiro, one person hurriedly bowed. "Lord Mashiro!"

Looking at him, Mashiro felt a sense of familiarity and said, "Are you one of Gato's men?"

"Yes, Lord Mashiro, my name is Isshin, and I am the branch president of the Chamber of Commerce in the Land of Lightning, responsible for managing all the Chamber's businesses within the Land of Lightning," Hashimoto Isshin said respectfully.

"What are you doing?" Mashiro asked, somewhat puzzled.

Upon hearing this, Hashimoto Isshin smiled bitterly and said, "My lord, you may not know this, but as a branch president of the Chamber of Commerce, we are required to report on our profits every six months. Originally, the profits of the Land of Lightning, which I was in charge of, were among the lowest of the branch presidents. Now, we have suffered another blow. All of our assets in the Cloud Village have been destroyed. I knew that in the vast Land of Lightning, the only places that could truly generate significant profits were the Royal City and the Cloud Village. Now, half of them are gone, not to mention that a large amount of inventory was also destroyed."

In this way, all the losses will fall on me.

There was no other way but to lead a few people to search through the ruins for anything intact, hoping to minimize the losses. "Hashimoto said these words partly to explain the situation to Mashiro, and partly to feign distress.

If he had known, half of the business would be destroyed. When Kado found out, he not only lost his position as the branch chairman, but also had to shoulder a huge debt. As for the reason, Kado didn't care what the reason was.

Hashimoto Isshin knew that Shinji was the one behind Kado, so he quickly told him with a smile, hoping that Shinji would take pity on him and spare him punishment. "Do you still have any funds on hand?" Mashiro suddenly asked.

Although he didn't know why Mashiro suddenly asked that question, Hashimoto Isshin hurriedly replied, "Yes, sir. Profits are reported to headquarters every six months, and income is transferred to headquarters annually. There are still three months until the income is transferred to headquarters, so all previous income is still in my hands."

"You want me to cancel your punishment?" Mashiro asked with a smile.

"I beg you, my lord!" Hashimoto Isshin hurriedly knelt on the ground, ignoring the pebbles, and kowtowed.

"Then let's use this money to help the villagers of Kumogakure," Mashiro said softly. Hashimoto Isshin looked up, somewhat confused by Mashiro's meaning.

"So that's why Gato is the guild master. I'll talk to Gato and have him keep his position as branch master. He won't take back his income from the Land of Lightning this year either. But there's a condition: next year, you must surpass the Konoha branch and become the branch with the highest income. If you can't do that, then commit seppuku." Mashiro said slowly.

Hashimoto Isshin hesitated, torn between living with debt and risking everything to get a job. "I'll give you five seconds to think it over," Mashiro said softly.

Just then, Hashimoto Isshin suddenly had a flash of inspiration and understood Mashiro's meaning.

"I agree, sir," Hashimoto said hastily. He had originally wanted to think about it for a moment, but Mashiro didn't give him any chance. After "five," it went straight to "—".

"I understand now. I'll personally review the accounts next year. If you can't win, I'll personally watch you commit seppuku." With that, Mashiro turned and left. After Mashiro left, the vice-president behind Hashimoto Isshin hesitated and said, "President, can we really do it? Surpass the Konoha branch next year and become..."

It ranks first among the branches.

It's worth noting that among all the branches, the Konoha branch's income stands out, exceeding that of all other branches combined.