Konoha: Starting with Sage Mode

"Hmph, this Cloud Ninja is still so rude. Does he really think that we Sunagakure are powerless after losing Shukaku? Over the years, we Sunagakure have not survived in the ninja world by relying on a mere tailed beast. We can still survive without the Cloud Ninja."

Chiyo sneered upon hearing her subordinate's report.

Cooperating with Kumogakure to deal with Konoha sounds very attractive, and it is indeed a good choice for Sunagakure at the moment.

However, the purpose of this cooperation by Kumogakure is clearly to reap the benefits, and they also want to use Sunagakure to openly restrain most of Konoha's firepower, while they launch a sneak attack in secret to seize the fruits of victory.

Such an outrageous form of cooperation is something Sunagakure could never agree to.

In her view, if Kumogakure truly wanted to cooperate, they should first take the initiative to deal with Konoha, share some of Konoha's firepower with Sunagakure, and then work together to deal with Konoha from both the east and west.

This aligns with the interests of Sunagakure.

Therefore, although she did not meet the Fourth Raikage, she gave a corresponding hint.

However, Yunyin was stubborn and did not intend to compromise. She simply added a new condition: Yunyin could help her get her reward by bringing her the head of her enemy, Hattori Masanari.

When Chiyo learned of the new conditions, her first reaction was simply to find it ridiculous. Although she deeply hated Hattori Masanari, the enemy who had almost caused her to lose her son, she had no intention of entrusting such a private matter as payment to anyone else.

If she wants revenge, she will do it herself; why should she ask someone else to do it, let alone have someone from another village do it?

"Mother, I think it's not a bad idea for us to agree to Yunyin's request."

After Chiyo dismissed her men, a voice came from the darkness.

The next moment, she saw her grandson, Scorpion, pushing a wheelchair out of the darkness, with Akasuna, who had lost all four limbs, sitting in the wheelchair.

At this moment, Akasago's body was emaciated, his hair was dry and lusterless, and he looked like a dried corpse covered with human skin, exuding a decadent and depressed aura.

Some time ago, Akasago was personally brought back from Iwagakure by Chiyo. In exchange, Sunagakure and Iwagakure signed a secret agreement and offered each other many benefits.

However, although Akasuna was brought back, he was completely ruined. His mental state was very poor, and he was utterly dejected, no longer the spirited person he once was. He hadn't spoken since returning, completely closing himself off. He only showed some emotion in front of his grandson Sasori.

Chiyo saw it all and felt a pang of pain in her heart, but she didn't know how to help her son, whose heart was clearly deeply wounded, to recover.

But now she feels that her once spirited son has returned. Although he still looks very dejected, his eyes have regained their light.

It was those eyes filled with hatred and the darkness she knew all too well.

"Tell me your thoughts, Akasago."

Regardless, Chiyo was very happy to see that her son was showing signs of cheering up again, and she quickly urged Akasa to continue.

For a skilled puppeteer, losing limbs is not a big deal and will not have a significant impact on their combat ability. As long as Akashi can recover, he can continue to be a ninja by controlling prosthetic limbs with puppetry techniques.

Her younger brother, Ebizo, has passed away, and she desperately hopes that her son can pull himself together and take his brother's place in protecting Sunagakure.

"Mother, Yunyin has indicated that they will use Hattori Masanari's head as a bargaining chip for this cooperation, right?"

Akasago remained silent for a moment before asking.

When he spoke of Hattori Masanari, a deep-seated hatred flashed in his eyes.

That's right.

Chiyo noticed the hatred in her son's eyes and, feeling sorry for him, gave an affirmative answer.

Hattori Masanari is the real culprit who caused his son to end up in this state. This person has become his son's obsession. Only by killing this person can his son escape the abyss of hatred, otherwise something bad will happen sooner or later.

"In that case, let Kumogakure pay this cooperation bargaining chip first. As long as Kumogakure can do it, Sunagakure will agree to cooperate with Kumogakure."

"I am filled with hatred," said Akasago.

“Akasago, cooperating with Kumogakure is like asking a tiger for its skin. Moreover, if we want to kill Hattori Masanari, we should do it ourselves.”

Chiyo, seeing that her son seemed to be blinded by hatred, quickly reminded him.

It's good that her son can get back on his feet, but she can't watch him make mistakes that harm the interests of Sunagakure.

The Cloud Village is not easy to get along with. These despicable barbarians are nothing but bandits, and domineering and shameless are their defining characteristics.

If both Sunagakure and Konoha suffer heavy losses, these barbarians would not hesitate to wipe out Sunagakure along with Konoha.

“Mother, you’re overthinking it. Of course I’ll take revenge on my enemies myself. I just want to use this to stir up conflict between Kumogakure and Amegakure. Hattori Masanari is an important figure in Amegakure now. If he is attacked by Kumogakure, how could Amegakure possibly swallow their anger?”

The fact that Kumogakure dared to offer us, Sunagakure, this cooperation offer clearly shows that they don't take Amegakure seriously.

Once they start fighting, we, the Sand Village, will join in and, together with the Cloud Village, will eliminate the Rain Village. Then, we can use this to make up for the losses we suffered in this war with Konoha.

"Mother, we Sand Village desperately need a victory to regroup, don't we? Amegakure would be an excellent target."

Upon hearing Chiyo's reminder, Akasuna shook his head and slowly revealed his true thoughts.

Kill Hattori Masashige?

No.

His goal is to destroy Amegakure and the Land of Rain.

Doesn't Hattori Masanari value Amegakure and the Land of Rain very much?

Then he'd destroy that bastard's beloved possession completely.

This is his true revenge.

Chapter 197: Shukaku's Temper

"Killed Hattori Masashige?"

The following day, in the Raikage Building of Kumogakure, in the Raikage's office, the Third Raikage frowned as he looked at the secret report brought by his secretary, Ellie.

He had heard of Hattori Masanari before; he was a powerful Amegakure ninja who was currently second only to Hanzo of the Salamander in power within the village. He had also heard that the various positive changes happening in Amegakure were his doing.

It can be said that Hattori Masanari has now become the second-in-command of Amegakure and enjoys great prestige within the village.

In order to forge a cooperation with Sunagakure, his good son actually wanted Kumogakure to eliminate the second-in-command of Amegakure.

If it goes as expected, once Kumogakure really makes a move against Hattori Masashige, Amegakure will definitely not let it go, and war is almost a certainty.

"Elui, what do you think of my stupid son's idea? Can you agree to it?"

The Third Raikage was undecided for a moment, so he habitually handed the secret report in his hand to his secretary and listened to her advice.

Emotionally, he supported his son's idea because, in his view, Amegakure was an easy target to bully. If they could take the opportunity to plunder the Land of Rain, it would greatly alleviate the current financial pressure on Kumogakure.

He had long wanted to test his skills against Hanzo the Salamander, a powerful ninja hailed as a demigod in the ninja world.

Rationally, he felt that launching an attack on the Land of Rain now was not a good choice, as it would attract the attention of Konoha. Although yesterday's protest letter had already caught Konoha's attention and was somewhat like alerting the enemy, he still did not want to waste extra troops on the Land of Rain.

After a year of recuperation, Amegakure is far from being as strong as it was when it challenged Konoha. However, Kumogakure will still have to pay a considerable price to defeat Amegakure, which will be detrimental to its subsequent attack on Konoha.

"Lord Raikage, you should know that killing Hattori Masanari is tantamount to starting a war with Amegakure."

After reading the contents of the secret report, Elui made a decisive reply.

"Is that so? It seems you don't agree with starting a war against Amegakure either."

Upon hearing this, the Third Raikage sighed.

As he expected, Ailuyi, this rational woman, also did not want Yunyin to provoke Yuyin at this time.

But the next moment, Elui contradicted him: "No, you're wrong. I personally support going to war with Amegakure."

"Are you in favor or against it? Be clear."

The Third Raikage looked at Ellie with a somewhat speechless expression.

Elui pressed her finger against the bridge of her nose, causing the lenses to reflect light, and slowly said:

"Of course I agree. Because the Raikage, together with the Kage of other ninja villages, sent a letter of protest to Konoha to put pressure on them, our plan to launch a surprise attack on Konoha has probably failed. And because of that genius ninja named Kirito Tohsaka, Konoha's ninja forces are in high spirits. It would be difficult for us in Kumogakure to gain any advantage in a war with Konoha now, and we might even suffer losses."

However, Kirito Tohsaka is indeed a huge threat. We cannot stand by and watch him continue to grow stronger. We have to eliminate him. In order to eliminate him, we have no choice but to start a war with Konoha. Therefore, we really need the power of Sunagakure to unite with us to deal with Konoha.

However, Sunagakure has just suffered a major blow, and the balance of power between them and us has been disrupted. They will definitely be very wary of cooperating with Kumogakure. In addition, we have a history of enmity with Sunagakure, so it will be very difficult to gain their trust. Giving Hattori Masanari's head to them is indeed a good way to improve our relationship with Sunagakure.

Finally, we, the Hidden Cloud Village, need a major victory to boost morale, and the Rain Village is a good candidate to help us warm up properly before the war with Konoha breaks out.

"Hmm, what you're saying makes a lot of sense."

After listening to Elui's explanation, the Third Raikage nodded thoughtfully.

He had great confidence in the ninja forces of Kumogakure, because they frequently clashed with ninja villages in neighboring countries, and were practically in a state of constant warfare, resulting in a high level of combat proficiency.

However, it has been more than ten years since the Hidden Cloud Village fought against the Hidden Leaf Village. If they were to fight the Hidden Leaf Village, it would be hard to say whether they could win.

In that case, it would be a good choice for the Cloud Village to use the Rain Village as a practice target.

Amegakure had fought Konoha for several years before, and even if their strength hadn't fully recovered, they were still a very good whetstone for Kumogakure before the war.

Most importantly, Amegakure has been doing quite well lately, and raiding their village would definitely ensure a good New Year for us.

"Lord Raikage, if you intend to attack Amegakure, you must not be careless or underestimate them. Amegakure has undergone great changes in the past year or so, and their strength is probably far more than it appears on the surface. Moreover, the climate of this country is not very conducive to prolonged battles for our Kumogakure ninjas. We must make sure to finish this battle quickly. Ideally, we should kill Hanzo of the Salamander and Hattori Masanari in a short time."

Seeing that the Third Raikage was showing signs of attacking Amegakure, Elui immediately warned him.

Although Yu Yin was not Yun Yin's primary focus, she personally paid special attention to Yu Yin because of their business dealings.

Putting aside everything else, just looking at the fact that the trade volume between the Land of Rain and the Land of Lightning this year has far exceeded previous records, it's clear that the Land of Rain is recovering at an extremely fast pace. Therefore, the Hidden Rain Village, which rules the Land of Rain, must also be recovering its strength very quickly.

Of course, even if Amegakure recovers its strength quickly, there are limits.

After all, less than two years have passed since the post-war reconstruction began. In that short time, the number of lower and middle-ranking ninjas in Amegakure can only recover to a limited extent. As for the number of high-level combatants like Jonin, the recovery will certainly be very limited.

It's important to understand that the birth of every Jonin is hard-won; it's not something that can be achieved simply by piling on resources. Individuals not only need sufficient talent, but also must put in countless efforts and experience numerous life-or-death battles to be born.

Therefore, the two biggest obstacles currently facing the Land of Rain are Hattori Masanari and Hanzo the Salamander.

The two are not only the face of the Land of Rain, but also its spiritual pillars. As long as they live, it will be very difficult for the Hidden Cloud Village to defeat the Hidden Rain Village. They may drag the Hidden Cloud Village into a quagmire of war and end up with a loss that outweighs any gain.

"Don't worry, both Burubi and I will take action. Although my son is useless, he is still a decent helper. Dealing with a mere Hanzo of the Salamander will be no problem. As long as he dares to show up, I am confident that I can keep him here."

The Third Raikage, reminded by Elui, spoke with great confidence.

"So, Raikage-sama, you mean you've decided to agree to the assassination of Hattori Masashige?"

"I asked," Elui inquired.

"That's right, let's use Amegakure to test our skills first. It'll be a good opportunity to show Konoha how powerful we are. Maybe we can even scare that cowardly Third Hokage into handing over Kirito Tohsaka, hahaha~"

The Third Raikage laughed loudly, giving an affirmative answer.

As the Third Raikage made the final decision, a messenger hawk swiftly flew from the Raikage Building into the sky.

The messenger hawk flies extremely fast; in just half a day, it has already traversed tens of thousands of kilometers, entering the Land of Wind from the Land of Lightning.

As it entered the desert region of the Land of Wind, a terrifying gale suddenly appeared on the ground, causing it great danger. It quickly flapped its wings and flew to a higher altitude, narrowly avoiding the attack of the gale mixed with a large amount of vacuum slashing waves from the ground.