Konoha: Starting with Sage Mode

Seeing that the two were still highly wary of him, Kirito simply sat down on the ground and took out a jug of good wine.

As the bottle cap was opened, a rich and intoxicating aroma of liquor wafted out from the exquisite white porcelain bottle, causing Tsunade and Jiraiya, the two old drinkers, to drool and swallow hard, their eyes instinctively glancing at the bottle in Kirito's hand.

"The Snow Peak Wine from the Land of Lightning is a trophy I recently acquired from the Hidden Cloud Village. Why don't you two give it a try?"

Kirito shook the bottle in his hand and introduced it.

After saying that, he took out three more white porcelain wine cups from his body. He poured himself a cup and drank it all in one gulp. Then he poured a cup for Tsunade and Jiraiya respectively, and finally threw two of the cups at Tsunade and Jiraiya.

Tsunade and Jiraiya caught the wine cups steadily with lightning speed, without spilling any of the wine, demonstrating the skill and expertise of both of them.

After the two accepted the wine cups, Tsunade did not hesitate and drank the wine in the cup directly. Then her eyes lit up and she praised, "It is indeed good wine."

"Alright, Princess Konoha truly lives up to her reputation as a heroine. This bottle is yours."

Kirito praised Tsunade for bravely drinking the sake he offered, and then presented her with the Snow Peak Sake.

His current identity is no longer Kirito Tohsaka, but Hattori Masanari of Amegakure. Logically speaking, he is now an enemy of Konoha because he broke into the Konoha military camp at night in an inappropriate manner.

Therefore, even if a normal person had already drunk the beverage in front of the two of them, they probably wouldn't have drunk it.

It wasn't that I was worried the wine was poisoned, but I just didn't want to give this uninvited guest any face.

But Tsunade gave it to him now, which made him very happy.

When Tsunade saw Kirito offer her the sake, she accepted it without any hesitation and then politely saw him off: "I've already drunk the sake, which is quite a show of respect. Please leave now; we don't welcome people who sneak in here."

“That’s right, Hattori Masanari. This is Konoha’s military camp. Not just anyone can come in. I know you are very strong and not afraid of us, but if you come here in this way, Konoha will not welcome you.”

Jiraiya agreed, then drank the sake in his cup.

"I am truly sorry. I know that it is indeed inappropriate for me to come here so abruptly. However, Amegakure is currently surrounded by Kumogakure, and the situation is extremely critical. My current whereabouts absolutely cannot be exposed. Otherwise, if Kumogakure finds out that I have left Amegakure, they will definitely launch another attack on Amegakure immediately."

So please forgive my impudence, Princess of Konoha. I can only come to see you secretly like this now.

Kirito didn't look at Jiraiya, but instead gave Tsunade an apologetic look and smiled wryly.

Upon hearing Kirito's words, the two fell silent, their mood becoming somewhat heavy.

They were both aware of Amegakure's current situation, which was indeed far from optimistic. Even though they had heard that Amegakure had received a group of reinforcements of unknown origin, thwarting Cloud Village's plan to take Amegakure in one fell swoop, the situation remained extremely critical.

According to the Byakugan ninjas of Konoha, there are fewer than 4,000 ninjas left in Amegakure, of which more than 80% are genin.

It can be said that if Amegakure had not received reinforcements in time, even if Hanzo of the Salamander and Masanari Hattori had held Amegakure to the death, the result would have been Amegakure's defeat.

There was no way around it; Amegakure couldn't match Kumogakure in either the number of ninjas or the number of strong individuals. Under normal circumstances, they had no chance of winning.

Hattori Masanari's surprise attack on Kumogakure was a risky move. Although the attack was successful, Kumogakure did not play by the rules and continued to launch a large-scale attack on Amegakure without sending a large number of troops back to reinforce it.

While Hattori Masanari is undoubtedly powerful, he is clearly not powerful enough to single-handedly destroy the rear of Kumogakure. Once Kumogakure is on guard, it will be impossible to launch a sneak attack on them as before and inflict heavy losses.

"Even so, please forgive me for not being able to meet with you like this. We in Konoha have rules. As the frontline commander here, I must set an example and cannot be the first to violate military regulations. Please leave immediately."

Tsunade expressed sympathy for Amegakure's situation, but as a Konoha ninja, she couldn't make an exception for Hattori Masashige just because of sympathy. At most, she could help him cover up his whereabouts, and that was it. She decisively saw him off again.

Jiraiya inwardly applauded Tsunade's decision.

At the same time, he secretly absorbed natural energy, preparing to use the Summoning Technique to summon the two Myoboku Hermits, Fukasaku and Shima, to help him at any time. Then he would activate Sage Mode in case Hattori Masashige got angry and suddenly attacked them.

If he successfully activates Sage Mode, he will be a Kage-level fighter. With the help of Tsunade and a large number of Konoha ninja in the military camp, he is not afraid of not being able to defeat the Rain Ninja in front of him.

"If possible, I don't want to be your enemy, so please leave now."

Jiraiya spoke up.

To be honest, he both admired Hattori Masanari and was extremely wary of him.

The reason for admiration is that this person brought good days to the Rain Country. Since he came to power, the post-war reconstruction of the Rain Country has been repairing the wounds of the war at a rocket speed.

During the time he spent taking care of Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan in the Land of Rain, he witnessed firsthand the changes that had taken place there.

In just over a year, the people of the Rain Kingdom went from being displaced to being able to eat one or two full meals a day. They also built many roads and bridges for the Rain Kingdom, as well as public facilities such as schools, hospitals, and orphanages.

Not only that, he also led the Rain Ninja to wipe out local bandits and various evil forces in the Land of Rain, greatly improving the security environment of the Land of Rain and laying a solid foundation for the Land of Rain to successfully attract merchants from all over the world to invest in the Land of Rain.

In short, thanks to his series of reform policies, the people of the Rain Kingdom began to live a better life.

If it weren't for the sudden sabotage by the Hidden Cloud Village, the people of the Land of Rain would have continued to enjoy their good days.

Therefore, he admired Hattori Masanari, admiring his ability to greatly improve the lives of the people of the Land of Rain after the war in such a short period of time, changing the fate of many who might have starved or died of disease.

The reason he was wary of this person was because this person had written a book called "The Will of Rain".

He read the book in detail and personally thought it was a good book that could change the mental outlook of the people of the Rain Country. Indeed, the book clearly explains the various problems of the Rain Country and the reasons for their occurrence, and also provides solutions.

Because of this book, the people of the Rain Country, whose basic needs were met, began to have a unified thought. Many young people who had suffered from the pain of war found a goal in it and embarked on the path to making the Rain Country stronger.

This can be seen from the three students he taught.

After his three students accidentally read the book, they all expressed that they would do their part to strengthen the Land of Rain when they grew up. Yahiko, in particular, was the most radical and regarded Hattori Masanari, who brought good days to the Land of Rain, as his idol. He wanted to join the Fuchi organization founded by Hattori Masanari in the future.

As an outsider, Jiraiya had no objection to Hattori Masanari publishing this book to arm the people of the Land of Rain with his ideas. However, as a knowledgeable Konoha ninja, he saw Hattori Masanari's ambition in the book.

The book "The Will of Rain" clearly states that the reason why the Land of Rain suffers so much is because it is oppressed by the powerful neighboring countries. The only way to solve this problem is to become stronger.

Although the book does not say that the Land of Rain will do this after it becomes powerful, he does not believe that the Land of Rain will be content after it becomes powerful, because he can tell from Hattori Masashige's series of reforms in people's livelihood, economy and ideology that he is a person with great ambition.

Hattori Masanari, having brought tangible benefits to the Land of Rain, enjoys high prestige and support among the people, clearly surpassing Hanzo the Salamander, who brought war and disaster to the Land of Rain.

If it weren't for the unexpected interference of Kumogakure, the Land of Rain would have been under Hattori Masashige's control in a few years.

What will this ambitious Rain Ninja do then?

All he saw was war.

He was certain that this Rain Ninja would launch a war to break the Rain Country's predicament in order to make the Rain Country stronger, and he might challenge the major ninja villages like Konoha, just like Hanzo the Salamander.

Therefore, he was extremely wary of Hattori Masanari.

He hoped for peace in the Land of Rain, but also hoped that the Land of Rain would not break the peace and bring war to the ninja world.

"Could you let me finish what I have to say before I leave?"

Kirito, seeing that Tsunade and Jiraiya still insisted on letting him leave, said with a slight headache.

He was well aware that their current rhetoric was merely polite formality, and the real reason was that they didn't want Konoha to get involved in the war between Amegakure and Kumogakure.

Now that Rain Village is in dire straits under Cloud Village's attack, it's obvious to everyone that he's visiting late at night, but both of them tacitly don't want him to say it out loud.

Of course, if the two men hadn't been intimidated by his strength, they would have driven him away long ago.

"I'm sorry, my orders are to protect the border."

Tsunade shook her head.

"Then I'm sorry to bother you."

Kirito sighed, turned away in disappointment, and quickly disappeared into the ground.

Tsunade had already made her point very clear. It wouldn't be appropriate for him to stay any longer, especially since there was something in his way.

As soon as Kirito left, Jiraiya immediately summoned one of the Jonin from the Hyuga branch family outside and asked him to use his Byakugan to check if Kirito had really left.

The other ninjas in the Konoha camp were no pushovers either. There were many excellent sensory ninjas there, and as soon as he revealed his whereabouts, he was immediately discovered by some sensory ninjas.

In the short time Kirito was talking to Tsunade and Jiraiya, more than a dozen elite Jonin from various Konoha clans had already gathered outside. As soon as Jiraiya and Tsunade gave the signal to attack, they would immediately surround and kill Kirito.

He has indeed left.

The Jonin from the Hyuga branch family carefully observed the area within a four-kilometer radius using his Byakugan, and answered, his tense nerves finally relaxing.

A person's name is like the shadow of a tree.

Hattori Masanari's sudden appearance in their camp terrified them, as they knew there were no Kage-level shinobi guarding the area. If Hattori Masanari caused trouble, they estimated it would take a huge sacrifice to drive this powerful figure away.

"You've worked hard, you can go now."

Jiraiya breathed a sigh of relief and gave the order.

The Hyuga ninja took his leave.

"It seems that Amegakure really can't hold on any longer, otherwise he wouldn't have rushed over so late to ask Konoha for help."

After the Hyuga ninja left, Jiraiya said with a heavy heart.

Once Amegakure is completely defeated by Kumogakure, the people of the Land of Rain will lose their power to protect them, and their lives will certainly become even more difficult, which is something he does not want to see.

But he couldn't stop it. He was just a deputy commander in the military camp and had no authority to mobilize the army to support Yuyin without authorization.

Moreover, the third generation had sent someone not long ago with orders not to act rashly.

Because Konoha has finally seen a glimmer of hope for peace, the Third Hokage does not want to fight with Kumogakure again. Even though Kumogakure clearly has ill intentions towards Konoha, he does not want to shatter this hope before Kumogakure actually makes a move against Konoha.

"Everyone has their own difficulties. We in Konoha are too busy taking care of ourselves to support Amegakure. I'm tired, you should go back and rest as well."

Tsunade gave a perfunctory reply, then promptly saw the guest out.

Jiraiya had originally planned to stay and share the fine sake Kirito had given Tsunade, hoping for something good to happen, but under Tsunade's cold, murderous gaze, he left with a grin.

However, as soon as Jiraiya stepped out of Tsunade's room, the playful smile on his face vanished instantly. He then went to a shady spot nearby, summoned a toad using the Summoning Jutsu, and hid inside the toad's body.

Hattori Masanari just managed to sneak into Tsunade's room, bypassing such an excellent sensory ninja in the military camp, which shows how terrifying his stealth ability is. He might reappear.

Therefore, he is worried about Tsunade's safety and plans to stay here all night.

"That idiot Jiraiya."

Inside the room, Tsunade saw a toad outside through the window and immediately realized that Jiraiya hadn't left.

Then, she closed the window, opened the bottle of wine that Kirito had given her, poured herself a glass of wine using the white porcelain cup that Kirito had left behind, and showed a sorrowful expression on her face.

In fact, she was inclined to have Konoha provide support to Amegakure.

Because she realized that the true target of the Cloud Village was Konoha, she did not want to wait until the Cloud Village had digested the fruits of its victory over the Rain Village before fighting against them. Instead, she wanted to take the initiative and join forces with the Rain Village to drive the Cloud Village back to their homeland.

She believed that as long as Konoha and Amegakure joined forces, this would definitely succeed.

Unfortunately, she wasn't the Hokage, and the village didn't want to provoke the formidable enemy, Kumogakure, again. Winning was one thing, but whether they were willing to fight was another.

When she was in charge of Konoha Hospital, she knew that most people in Konoha were tired of war and longed for peace. Even the most extreme martial arts ninjas wanted to catch their breath and have a few days of peace.

Therefore, in her view, Kirito's initiative to start a war while Konoha and Sunagakure were negotiating a peace was a very dangerous thing. Fortunately, he won, and won a great victory at that. Otherwise, Kirito would never have been able to maintain his foothold in Konoha.

The overwhelming public opinion will make it difficult for Kirito to move an inch in Konoha in the future.

But is it right to fear war simply because one desires peace?

"If I were the Hokage..."