Saving the Uchiha clan starts with becoming the clan leader.

Cooperation with Konoha was no longer a choice they made, but an inevitable one. The Cloud Ninja's stance clearly indicated that they wanted to drag the Iwa Ninja down with them to share the impact of Konoha. The Konoha threat theory made a lot of sense, but the problem was that it was too late. The rise of the Uchiha clan meant the rise of Konoha.

In particular, with the deaths of Hiruzen Sarutobi, Danzo Shimura, and others, the internal conflict between Konoha and the Uchiha clan has clearly shown signs of being resolved. Hoping for internal strife in Konoha is impossible. At this point, continuing down the wrong path and opposing Konoha would be clearly unwise.

At least,

Onoki genuinely didn't want to see the three Susanoo attack Iwagakure!

"This matter... is acceptable!"

Onoki agreed.

After careful consideration and weighing the pros and cons, they decided that agreeing was better than disagreeing. In any case, the spies like the Walking Shrine Maiden had already escaped. To be honest, keeping the remaining small fry in jail was just a waste of food. The Iwagakure ninja had to buy large quantities of food from outside every year.

Why not make good use of it!

"To be honest, your people have been acting rather recklessly, causing us considerable trouble. In particular, some of them violently resisted the arrest, causing significant damage to the village. If possible, I hope you can help us gather some supplies. Of course, we will exchange them for equivalent amounts of ore."

"No problem, it's a piece of cake."

Suzaku Nara readily agreed.

This is really a trivial matter. For Konoha and the Land of Fire, resources have never been a problem. If you were to say that you would just give them away to the Iwa ninja for free, that would definitely not work. Once it is exposed, he would probably have no choice but to commit suicide to atone for his sins. However, exchanging them with minerals is perfectly fine. The Land of Fire does not have abundant mineral resources. In the past, they imported copper and iron minerals from the Land of Rivers.

As for the minerals of the Land of Earth

Previously, the Land of Earth was subject to blockade, and apart from gold and silver mines, other minerals could not be sold.

With all the major and minor matters discussed, Nara Suzaku withdrew satisfied, leaving only a group of Iwa ninja in the tent.

"Lord Tsuchikage, is it really alright to exchange spies with Konoha?"

Wenya couldn't help but ask.

"What's the problem? Don't forget that the walking shrine maidens have already run away. These small fry are no use if we keep them. Since Konoha wants them, let's give them back. It won't cause any trouble anyway," Onoki said calmly.

Wenya was speechless.

The walking witch escaped from his grasp.

"Alright, everything's settled now, there's no point in saying any more. Instead of wasting time thinking about this, you should think about how to cooperate with Konoha. We've agreed on the general outline, but the cooperation can't officially begin until the details are clear."

"Huang Tu, I'm entrusting you with the task of discussing matters with the Konoha envoy. If anything goes wrong, you will be held responsible."

"Wenya, you handle the Cloud Ninja envoy. Don't kill him for now, just keep him under control to prevent the Cloud Ninja from noticing anything unusual."

"besides······"

Onoki issued six or seven orders in one go.

"Yes, Lord Tsuchikage."

A group of people began to work in accordance with Onoki's orders and will. Thousands of Iwa ninja, no, it should be said that the entire Iwagakure village, and even the Land of Earth, were mobilized as a result. Without the Kumo ninja's knowledge, Konoha and Iwa ninja quietly formed an alliance pact.

A storm is brewing against the Cloud Ninja!

[Chapter 203. Memories of the Tailed Beasts]

Life in captivity was better than he had imagined. There was no interrogation or torture. Of course, A-Ba also told him that his blood had been drawn for research while he was unconscious, and that he could still see needle marks on his arm after waking up. Someone had also tried to read his memories, but the blood draw could not be stopped, although A-Ba blocked the memory reading.

For this,

Kirabi wasn't too bothered.

So what if he gets his blood drawn? He doesn't have any bloodline limit anyway. All his achievements come from his own hard work and have nothing to do with bloodline. Getting his blood drawn isn't a big deal. However, it's impossible to say that he has no worries at all. Even though Konoha didn't torture him severely, life as a prisoner is still uncomfortable, and danger is always around him.

Especially now that the war between the Cloud Ninja and the Leaf Village is still ongoing,

He was very worried about the situation at the front.

I don't even feel like rapping here!

He looked down at the shackles that dragged heavy iron balls on his feet, and the handcuffs on his hands that possessed the power to seal and suppress chakra. Of course, the most important thing was the seal that had been placed on his body, which seriously interfered with the stability of the original seal in his body, making him afraid to use the power of the Eight-Tails at will. Otherwise, the seal would be broken, which would mean the release of the Eight-Tails and his own death!

Tailed Beast Sealing

What appears to be a shackle binding the Tailed Beasts is actually a bond connecting them to their Jinchuriki. This connection is one of life and death, which is why killing a Jinchuriki causes the Tailed Beast to temporarily perish. However, the Tailed Beasts' immortality means they only perish briefly and eventually return alive.

However, the Jinchūriki could not be brought back to life!

Therefore,

Killer Bee couldn't risk breaking the 'Iron Seal' by using the Eight-Tails' chakra to destroy the newly applied seals on him. In fact, the Eight-Tails was deliberately restraining its power, afraid that the accidentally leaked energy would break the fragile balance on Killer Bee's body. It didn't want to see Killer Bee die!

Since he couldn't use the Eight-Tails' chakra, and his own chakra was tightly sealed by the Konoha ninjas' sealing techniques, he was unable to carry out his escape plan and was trapped in this small space.

After all, without using chakra,

He couldn't possibly beat those two Konoha brats guarding him, even though one looked eleven or twelve years old and the other was probably not even ten.

At this time,

A commotion arose outside the tent.

"Lord Zongxian."

"Itachi, Kimimaro, has that guy inside been behaving himself these past few days?"

"It was quite quiet; we didn't notice any unusual activity during our shifts."

"Well done, and you've been performing very well on the battlefield lately, but don't get complacent, remember to keep up the good work!"

As they were speaking,

Zongxian lifted the curtain and walked in.

“You’re much more honest than I expected, Mr. Killer Bee.” Sogen looked at Killer Bee sitting on the thin plank bed. Speaking of which, the small tent where Killer Bee was imprisoned was only about ten meters away from his main tent. However, after capturing Killer Bee, he was extremely busy. He had unexpectedly obtained the Bashōsen, which occupied most of his attention. In addition, he had to deal with various military affairs. Only today did he finally have time to deal with the problem of this perfect Jinchūriki.

"Uchiha... Sogen?"

Killer Bee sat on the edge of the bed without moving, but twisted his neck and looked at the person in front of him.

This was the first time he had seen Uchiha Sogen in person.

He was as young as rumored, appearing to be only fifteen or sixteen years old. He wore a long black robe with a prominent fire fan family crest. However, he looked more composed and experienced in person than in the photos. Upon entering the tent, he felt an indescribable pressure. He subconsciously recalled the towering, deep crimson Susanoo from that day, and felt as if a heavy stone was pressing on his chest, making it difficult to breathe.

There was another reason why he didn't try to escape: Hachi told him that Uchiha Mugen was always nearby, at least most of the time within Hachi's perception range. At such close range, even if he wanted to fight to the death, he wouldn't find an opportunity.

According to Hachi, it probably wouldn't be able to stop Uchiha Sogen's Sharingan from invading, which means the idea of ​​releasing the Eight-Tails to cause great destruction in the Konoha camp is also not feasible!

"Oh right, I should say it's our first meeting."

Zongxian stood with his hands behind his back, looking directly into the eyes of Kirabi, who was sitting on the edge of the bed.

Unlike Killer Bee's extremely solemn expression, Sogen was in a good mood at the moment. He had made great progress in his research on the Bashōsen these past few days. Not only was the time to advance to the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan just around the corner, but he also had a clear idea of ​​how to develop the Rinnegan. The changes in the chakra nature of the other attributes besides wind and fire had already made progress, which made him quite happy!

"Is the interrogation... about to begin?"

Kirabi's hands, hanging down, clenched into fists.

But it immediately loosened again.

Resistance is pointless; in this state, he probably couldn't even withstand a single finger from Uchiha Munen.

"Of course, it would be unreasonable to leave such a precious prisoner here unattended. I didn't have time the past few days, but I finally have some free time today, so it's about time to deal with your problem. If we delay any longer, it would be a dereliction of duty on my part as the Hokage's assistant."

Killer Bee's brow twitched.

This solution shouldn't be about physically eliminating it!

If the goal was to kill him, there was no need to confine him to such a small place in the first place. But even if what awaits him is not death, it is certainly not a future worth looking forward to. In fact, death may not be a bad thing at all!

Unfortunately, he dared not die.

As the jinchūriki of the Eight-Tails, his life is not entirely his own.

He believed that his sworn brother would definitely find a way to rescue him. He had to hold on until the rescue arrived, rather than committing suicide out of a fit of anger. Sometimes living is harder than dying. At least for now, in Kirabi's opinion, dying might be a better thing!

"Before the interrogation begins, may I ask about the situation at the front?"

"You're already a prisoner, why bother with this? But... I might as well tell you. Since that big battle a week ago, there haven't been any large-scale battles like that between us and the Cloud Ninja. Recently, it's been mostly small-scale skirmishes. The Jonin rarely take action; it's mostly the Chunin and Genin who are active. Judging from the results, our Konoha side has the upper hand."

That's the truth.

Although the Cloud Ninja had the advantage in troop strength, as long as a large-scale war did not break out, no matter how many troops they had, they could not be deployed to the battle all at once. Meanwhile, the individual soldiers of the Leaf Village were clearly superior to all others, and the Cloud Ninja lost more often than they won in small-scale battles.

When Itachi Uchiha and Kimimaro Kaguya are not on duty, they go to the front line. To date, Itachi Uchiha has taken the heads of thirty-one Cloud Ninja, including two Special Jonin, eleven Chunin, and eighteen Genin. Kimimaro has also taken the heads of fifteen Chunin and twenty-seven Genin, for a total of forty-two kills.

Of course, there are not many examples like Itachi Uchiha and Kimimaro. Otherwise, if every Konoha ninja could fight against thirty or forty people... no, even if every one of them could fight against ten, the Cloud Ninja would have been wiped out long ago. Most people would only get one or two beheadings a week, and many more would return empty-handed or die in battle.

But even so

Ultimately, Konoha gained the upper hand in these nearly one hundred small-scale battles thanks to the superior individual skills of its soldiers.

"That's it!"

Kirabi sighed softly.

This news is not bad. Although a new round of war is probably unavoidable, having more time to prepare is not a bad thing. He didn't know what his elder brother was planning, but he knew how deep the wealth accumulated by their Hidden Cloud Village was.

The Cloud Ninja entered the Third Shinobi World War late but left early. Although they lost their leader, the Third Raikage, their core forces suffered almost no losses. Their war with Konoha was short-lived, unlike the Iwa, Suna, and Kirigakure Ninja, who suffered severe damage.

up to now,

It's about time we made use of these assets!

However, he had only heard bits and pieces about these things from his elder brother, and he wasn't worried that Konoha would find any classified information in his memories that would affect the outcome of the battle on the front lines. It's just that the situation has evolved to this point... He was no longer sure how this war would end!

Their initial confidence that Yunren would surely win was beginning to waver.

"Any other questions?"

Zongxian walked slowly closer.

"If you have nothing left, then you can just stay here and be a prisoner in peace!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Zongxian reached out and pressed his hand against Killer Bee's forehead. Killer Bee's gaze was forced upward to see those crimson eyes. In an instant, the world spun, and his consciousness fell into the space where the Eight-Tails was sealed. However, this time, it wasn't just him and Hachi who appeared here.

"Uchiha, those are truly repulsive eyes."

The eight-tailed fox crouched inside the sealed cage, looking down at Zongxian, who stood outside the cage and looked like a tiny insect. The difference in size did not prevent it from clearly seeing those scarlet eyes that made people feel extremely uncomfortable.

"It seems like none of you tailed beasts like our Uchiha clan!"

Faced with the eight-tailed fox's harsh words, Sogen simply treated it as a gentle breeze and didn't care at all.

"Whether human or tailed beast, no one likes to be manipulated by genjutsu."