Konoha: Starting with Sage Mode

Betrayal is indeed necessary.

When something precious is destroyed and someone you trust is betrayed, no matter how strong your will is, you will surely fall apart and eventually succumb to darkness.

"Ah~"

Madara Uchiha closed his eyes and let out a soft sigh.

Chapter 210: Harboring Hidden Intentions

While Black Zetsu and Madara Uchiha were plotting, in the temporary battlefield headquarters of the Hidden Cloud Village in the Land of Rain, most of the Hidden Cloud Village members showed no joy at their victory. Instead, they displayed expressions of grief and resentment, and an extremely oppressive atmosphere permeated the military camp.

The reason was simple: the bad news from Kumogakure overshadowed the joy that the Third Raikage and his men had felt when they defeated Amegakure on the battlefield.

They never expected that when they defeated Amegakure in the Land of Rain, Hattori Masanari would dare to lead only fifty Amegakure ninja to raid their base, and they actually succeeded, causing huge losses and casualties.

What angered them most was that Hattori Masanari swaggered away with a group of his men and escaped unscathed.

This is a huge slap in the face, a complete disgrace to the Cloud Village. All the Cloud Village members who know this news feel ashamed, followed by deep grief and anger.

"Damn Amegakure, they actually dared to play dirty tricks. I'm going to go to their house right now and wreak havoc. Isn't it just about hurting each other? We Cloud Village have never been afraid of anyone. Who's afraid of who's a grandson?"

"We must retaliate in kind and destroy Amegakure."

“That’s right. We must not only destroy Amegakure, but also completely destroy the Land of Rain. We must make Amegakure understand the consequences of angering Kumogakure.”

"Kill everyone in Amegakure, kill all those who resist."

……

Inside the military camp, a large number of Cloud Ninjas were shouting loudly, venting their resentment. Some even ignored military orders and rushed out of the camp with bloodthirsty and angry eyes, heading straight for the human settlements of the nearby Land of Rain.

In the headquarters, the Third Raikage, Burubi, Elui, and many Cloud Village Jonin were gathered. They heard the various clamors outside about revenge against Amegakure, and most of them showed expressions of agreement. Some even wanted to join in.

However, when they saw the Third Raikage on the main seat with a dark face and a terrifying aura emanating from him, they all subconsciously became quiet and remained still, tacitly choosing not to be the first to act.

At the same time, they all turned their gazes to Elui, who was sitting in the first seat to the right of the Third Raikage, and looked at her with pleading eyes.

The boss is furious right now, and his underlings are afraid they can't withstand his wrath, so they can only cower like turtles. The only person who can calm their boss down right now is Ellie.

The same was true for Brubi, who was bruised and battered.

Seeing this, Elui rolled her eyes and cursed inwardly that these men were all worthless and useless.

Then, she glanced at the Third Raikage, whose face was contorted with rage and who was now suffering terribly from suppressing his anger, and sighed inwardly.

She knew that if things continued like this, given the Third Raikage's temper, he might just silently charge into Amegakure and start a massacre.

She had great confidence in the Third Raikage's strength, but after Hattori Masanari's outburst in Kumogakure, she realized that Amegakure might be a trap, and if the Third Raikage recklessly rushed into Amegakure now, he would most likely be in mortal danger.

In this world, no one can truly be without weaknesses. Even the God of Shinobi fell into Madara Uchiha's trap and died young. If the right method is found, the Third Raikage could also die.

"Lord Raikage, please calm down for now. You are our backbone. At this time, you cannot lose your mind because of anger. This is the Land of Rain, not our Land of Lightning. When you are in an enemy country, the worst thing you can do is to be lured into the enemy's territory and fall into their trap."

For the sake of Kumogakure, Ellie said, forcing herself to speak.

Upon hearing this, the Third Raikage glared at Elui with murderous intent, causing her to turn pale instantly. However, she held on and met the Third Raikage's gaze with unwavering determination.

"Ah!!! Damn Amegakure."

The Third Raikage ultimately suppressed the urge to vent his anger on Elui and roared.

As he spoke, he slammed his fist heavily on the table in front of him, smashing the entire table into a pile of broken wood.

Still not satisfied with breaking a table, he immediately activated Lightning Release Chakra Mode and rushed out of the command center. Then, he punched and kicked an open space outside, venting his anger on the earth.

The entire military camp was shaken. The other Cloud Ninjas, seeing the Third Raikage's frenzied state, fell silent, not daring to breathe loudly for fear of making a sound that might attract the Third Raikage's attention.

About half an hour later, the Third Raikage had created a crater nearly a hundred meters deep in the ground. At this point, his anger had finally subsided considerably, and his nearly dead rationality had regained control of his mind.

He soon returned to headquarters.

"Elui, pass down the order: let them plunder freely in the Land of Rain. Anyone who resists will be killed without mercy."

After the Third Raikage returned, the first thing he did was give Ellie this order.

Upon hearing this, most of the Cloud Village members present showed excited expressions and were eager to try it out.

"Yes, Lord Raikage."

Upon hearing this, Elui felt a pang of pity, but she immediately obeyed the order and dared not object.

Because she knew that the Third Raikage's current approach was correct. Due to the harsh and remote nature of the Land of Lightning, the people of Kumogakure were generally combative, martial arts enthusiasts, and a strong culture of revenge; almost every one of them was a martial arts-oriented ninja.

If the Third Raikage doesn't let these Cloud Ninja, who are holding back their pent-up anger, vent their frustrations, morale might crumble, and a mutiny might even break out.

Furthermore, if the Land of Lightning does not launch a fierce retaliation against Amegakure now, it may be looked down upon by other ninja villages internationally, leading to an even more serious situation.

Perhaps Iwagakure, which is already at odds with Kumogakure, will launch a surprise attack on Kumogakure at the first opportunity.

"Wait a minute, also, issue a public announcement stating that as long as Amegakure hands Hattori Masashige over to Kumogakure for processing, Kumogakure will cease all operations within the Land of Rain. Finally, issue a formal bounty, offering a reward of 1 billion for Hattori Masashige, and 10 million for anyone who provides accurate information. Anyone can accept the offer."

As Ellie prepared to depart, the Third Raikage added two new orders.

When Elui and the other Cloud Village members heard the new order added by the Third Raikage, their eyes lit up, and many of them immediately shouted, "The Boss is brilliant!"

"Phew, it seems his anger has subsided a lot."

At this moment, Elui breathed a huge sigh of relief.

The Third Raikage doesn't usually like to use his brain, but that doesn't mean he's stupid. Ellie knows that this rugged man, who usually seems to want to break his brain to build muscle, has a delicate and cunning mind. He's very talented in playing dirty tricks and often learns them on his own.

The two new commands that were just added are quite good.

Once the Cloud Village launches its revenge, this order will definitely cause a split within the Rain Village, and Hattori Masanari may very well be betrayed by the Rain Village.

As for the second point, it is equivalent to getting all stakeholders in the ninja world to help them find Hattori Masanari. Although this may cost a lot of money, it is worth it as long as Hattori Masanari's whereabouts can be found.

Hattori Masanari has now clearly mastered the Iwagakure flying ninjutsu, Earth Release: Super Light Heavy Rock Technique, which greatly enhances his mobility and gives him the potential to lead Amegakure ninja on a long-range attack over a thousand miles in a short period of time.

Yunyin needs to know this guy's location in order to take precautions and kill him.

As long as Hattori Masashige lives, the Cloud Village will never feel at ease.

As soon as the Third Raikage issued the order, the entire Cloud Ninja in the military camp erupted in excitement, forming their own teams and leaving the base camp in anger.

A feast for wolves is about to begin.

After many Cloud Village Jonin left the headquarters, only the Third Raikage, Burubi, and Elui remained.

The Third Raikage suddenly asked Elui, "Elui, tell me, what else do we in Kumogakure need to be careful about right now?"

“There are many things to be careful about, but the first thing to be careful about is Iwagakure. I suspect that Hattori Masanari has already completed a secret cooperation with Iwagakure. That old fox Onoki, who is full of evil intentions, may send troops to support Amegakure, or even directly declare war on our Kumogakure.”

"Iluyi said with a solemn expression."

The deep-seated grudges between Iwagakure and Kumogakure are far more profound than those between Sunagakure, and because their interests are in serious conflict, the possibility of reconciliation and cooperation is extremely low.

Now, not only has Kumogakure failed to defeat Amegakure decisively, but it has also suffered a great loss. If Iwagakure, which has been watching from the sidelines, doesn't do something, then Onoki is not worthy of being the Tsuchikage.

“That’s right. Onoki will definitely take action to make things difficult for Kumogakure. That guy even gave flying ninjutsu to Amegakure. He must be colluding with Amegakure. We must send more people to guard against Iwagakure’s sneak attack.”

The Third Raikage affirmed Elui's opinion.

"Brother, let me go back. One of us has to go back, otherwise Hattori Masanari might launch another sneak attack and take advantage of the fact that we in Kumogakure are weak."

"I can speak," said Brubi.

He was certainly well aware that the biggest weakness of Kumogakure was its weak defenses, and that Yuki-maru Nii's strength was insufficient to resist Hattori Masashige.

"Lord Burubi, there's no need to worry too much about that. If Hattori Masanari dares to come again, we, the Hidden Cloud Village, will definitely make him suffer a great loss. When he attacked our village, he calculated that Lord Raikage was on the battlefield before he made his move. We have the most advanced communication equipment here, which allows us to contact the village in a timely manner. As long as Hattori Masanari dares to come again, I can immediately use the Heavenly Transfer Technique to teleport Lord Raikage back."

Elui said confidently after hearing what Brubi said.

The Heavenly Delivery Technique is a space-time ninjutsu that the Hidden Cloud Village is proud of, and it is also an important reason why Ellie was able to become the secretary of the Third Raikage.

The Third Raikage possessed exceptional physical abilities, making him fully capable of withstanding the side effects of the Heavenly Gift Technique.

In other words, as long as Ellie is with the Third Raikage, she can teleport the Third Raikage to any place in the ninja world.

Of course, this requires setting the spatiotemporal coordinates in advance.

And of course, the Hidden Cloud Village has the spacetime coordinates set up by Elui.

“I was just worried he wouldn’t dare come again. If that guy dares to come again, I’ll break his neck with my own hands.”

The Third Raikage said angrily.

Ellie's words reassured Burubi, but he soon had a new worry: once the Third Raikage was sent back to Kumogakure by Ellie using the Heavenly Transfer Technique, there would be no one here to stop him from going berserk.

In Amegakure, there is not only Hattori Masanari, but also Hanzo the Salamander, a demigod of the ninja world.

As it turns out, Hanzo of the Salamander truly deserves the title of demigod in the ninja world, at least in the Land of Rain. Even the Third Raikage could hardly gain any advantage over him; at most, he could only suppress him, and killing him was almost impossible.

"Lord Raikage, please calm down. The Heavenly Delivery Technique is indeed powerful, but it should only be used as a trump card. It is best not to use it unless absolutely necessary. Moreover, there is indeed a need to send another Kage-level expert back to protect it. Lord Raikage, please send Lord Brill back to the village immediately."

Elui noticed the distress on Brubi's face, knew what was troubling him, and spoke again.

Brill is the son of the Third Raikage.

“That brat should definitely be brought back. Although he’s not very capable yet, he’s at least a Kage-level fighter. His mastery of Lightning Release Chakra Mode is decent. With him and Yukimaru staying behind in Kumogakure, even if Hattori Masanari comes back, he won’t be as arrogant as before.”

The Third Raikage nodded.

Then, he frowned and said to Elui, "Besides Iwagakure, what do you think Konoha's reaction will be? Konoha is very wary of our invasion of the Land of Rain. Could they also take this opportunity to attack us?"

"It's unlikely. The current head of the Konoha ninja force stationed on the border of the Land of Rain is Tsunade Senju. I've studied her; she's an excellent medical ninja, not only in terms of medical skills but also in terms of character. She's unlikely to take advantage of our situation to kick us when we're down or provoke us excessively. And the Third Hokage is weak-willed, so it's even less likely that he would order an attack on us."

Elui shook her head.

"That was indeed an excellent medical ninja."

The Third Raikage found Ellie's analysis very reasonable and praised her, a hint of appreciation on his face.

With that, his worries finally dissipated, and a bloodthirsty and furious expression gradually appeared on his face. He had said everything he needed to say, and now he was going to wreak havoc in the Land of Rain.

He won't go to Amegakure, but he can go to other places in the Land of Rain.

He must repay Hattori Masanari's destruction in Kumogakure with a tooth for a tooth and blood for blood.

……

Undoubtedly, the fact that Hattori Masashige attacked and caused heavy losses to Kumogakure was a major event, and spies from various villages who were lurking in Kumogakure immediately sent the news back in their own ways.

Therefore, shortly after the Third Raikage and others received the news, all the major ninja villages were shocked by it and began to reassess the strength of Amegakure.

In Iwagakure, at the Tsuchikage Building, in the Tsuchikage's office.