Konoha: Starting with Sage Mode

Black Zetsu bowed his head and obeyed the order.

A few seconds later, Madara Uchiha issued a new order: "Let the Sand Village begin. The 'peace' of the ninja world has lasted long enough. It's time to start the chaos again."

As a king hidden in the shadows, Madara Uchiha could create huge ripples on the relatively calm surface of the ninja world with a single command.

Two days later, a serious bloody conflict broke out on the border between the Land of Earth and the Land of Wind, and Chiyo, an important figure from Sunagakure who was stationed at the northern fortress, went missing in the conflict.

In an instant, relations between Iwagakure and Sunagakure deteriorated rapidly, and large numbers of ninja from both sides began to gather and confront each other at the border.

In Iwagakure, inside the Tsuchikage's office in the Tsuchikage's building, the Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, was in a fit of rage. Before him knelt two middle-aged ninjas, the two men in charge of the southern military fortress of Iwagakure.

"Tell me, is that old woman who plays with puppets dead?"

Onoki spoke to the two in an almost roaring voice, his short body now exuding a terrifying chakra pressure, and his dark eyes filled with coldness.

Tomorrow was the day he was to secretly meet with Hattori Masashige, but he never expected such a serious diplomatic conflict to suddenly erupt.

If Chiyo really dies, then war between Iwagakure and Sunagakure will be almost inevitable.

Even if Iwagakure were willing to offer compensation, Sunagakure would definitely not accept it, since the current acting Kazekage is that old woman's son and harbors unparalleled malice towards Iwagakure.

He genuinely didn't want to start a war with Sunagakure at this critical juncture.

Because in the current situation of the ninja world, rashly starting a war would only cause Iwagakure to expose its trump cards too early and greatly slow down the speed at which Iwagakure recovers its strength.

The current Iwagakure is no longer in a period where the large number of low- and mid-level ninjas has strained its finances. In the last battle between Iwagakure and Amegakure, the low- and mid-level ninjas suffered heavy losses.

Furthermore, due to the recent investment of a large amount of manpower and resources in the artificial human project, the recovery speed of the number of low- and mid-level ninjas is naturally not very fast.

"I'm sorry, Lord Tsuchikage, we really don't know. Our ninjas were all under the control of genjutsu at the time, and when they broke free, Chiyo had already disappeared."

"Yes, the unknown enemy possesses a terrifying sound-based illusion technique; we were affected just by hearing it."

The two leaders lowered their heads to the ground, their faces full of bitterness as they spoke.

At first, this serious bloody conflict was just a verbal battle between ninjas from both sides who encountered each other on the border. Who would have thought that Chiyo would suddenly appear there and then disappear without a trace?

"That's not what I want. Hasn't your team found even a single clue?"

Onoki shouted angrily.

Then, a look of pain suddenly appeared on his face, and he clutched his waist with his hand.

After sitting in a chair for long periods of time at work, he, who was over sixty years old, eventually developed a herniated disc.

I almost strained my back again because I got so excited.

"Lord Tsuchikage, please calm down. Neither of you wanted this to happen. There must be someone manipulating things behind the scenes, trying to provoke a conflict between Iwagakure and Sunagakure. Maybe that Chiyo is an imposter."

Seeing this, Akatsuki, who was behind Onoki, quickly went up to support Onoki and gently persuaded him. Then he placed his hand on Onoki's lower back and used the Palm Healing Technique to treat him.

Under the healing power of Kurotsuchi's palm technique, Onoki's back pain was quickly relieved, but his face remained terribly gloomy. He roared at the two managers who secretly raised their heads to look at his face before quickly lowering them again, "Get out!"

The two felt as if they had been granted a pardon and fled the room as if they were escaping. At the same time, they made up their minds to send out all their manpower to search for Chiyo's whereabouts when they returned.

As soon as the two left, Onoki's face fell, as if all his strength had been drained. He sat weakly on the ground, his eyes, with their heavy dark circles, revealing deep exhaustion.

Seeing Onoki looking so overwhelmed by the pressure, Kurotsuchi felt a pang of heartache but didn't know how to comfort him.

In Iwagakure, Onoki was the biggest pillar; everyone else could collapse, but he couldn't.

She could only stand silently behind Onoki, offering her support in this way.

Onoki's dejected state lasted only about a minute. His strong sense of responsibility quickly helped him shake off this shameful state and return him to the dignified and strong Third Tsuchikage, Onoki.

He used the Super Light Heavy Rock Technique to fly up, turned to Red Earth and said, "I need to leave for a while. I'll leave this place to you."

As soon as he finished speaking, his body quickly became transparent, his chakra fluctuations became negligible, and then he flew outside through the open window.

Red Earth did not stop him, but simply bowed deeply to Onoki.

She knew that Onoki was going to find Chiyo himself, because it was the key to resolving the war between Iwagakure and Sunagakure.

The only thing to worry about now is whether the other party is still alive. If they are already dead, then Iwagakure will have no choice but to fight Sunagakure.

Meanwhile, above the Tsuchikage Building, a figure, also completely transparent, watched Ōnoki leave. This figure was none other than Ōnoki's teacher, the Second Tsuchikage, Mu.

Although Mu, now in the form of an impure spirit, is filled with grief and indignation, he can only obey Madara Uchiha's orders and remain hidden here to monitor Iwagakure.

"Onoki, you're still too careless."

Despite his powerful sensory abilities, he watched Onoki leave Iwagakure with a sigh.

Ōnoki's departure from Iwagakure means that Iwagakure has lost its greatest protective force. He has stayed by Madara Uchiha's side for quite some time and has vaguely guessed what Madara Uchiha is going to do.

Unfortunately, he is now just a puppet who cannot speak and can only do all sorts of things against his will.

What he is about to do will likely cause great harm to the Iwagakure village he loves so much.

"Go, cooperate with the Demon Organization to seize the Three-Tails. It's in Lava Mountain."

Just as he expected, a cold thought suddenly appeared in his mind.

The next moment, he couldn't help but think of the lava mountain, and then his body began to move uncontrollably toward the lava mountain.

……

In a forest on the eastern border between the Land of Earth and the Land of Wind, a ninja missing a limb is moving swiftly through the woods. Judging from her figure, she is a woman, her entire body wrapped in white bandages, some of which are stained with blood.

She was also a puppeteer, and her other, still intact hand was constantly moving, manipulating five puppet strings to attack five puppets, thereby slowing down the pursuers behind her.

She is none other than Chiyo, who mysteriously disappeared not long ago during the bloody conflict that broke out on the border between the Land of Earth and the Land of Wind.

What outsiders never expected was that the people chasing her were actually a group of no fewer than fifty humanoid puppets.

These humanoid puppets all look exactly the same, the only difference being the weapons they are equipped with. They all wear black robes and move swiftly through the forest like monkeys, looking no different from real ninjas from a distance.

The two sides pursued each other, with fleeting battles erupting frequently along the way.

During the process, both sides suffered losses. More than thirty humanoid puppets that had been chasing them were destroyed, and Chiyo lost three of her puppets, one of which was a high-level puppet with powerful combat capabilities.

After nearly a day of high-speed movement and intense combat, Chiyo, who had lost an arm, felt her body was about to give out. However, her will to survive, her iron will, and her powerful puppetry skills still allowed her to continue moving forward at an astonishing speed.

With her excellent sense of direction, she kept heading east, and judging from the increasingly dense humidity around her, she was not far from the Land of Rain, which was now her only way to survive.

By this time, she already knew who had betrayed her.

Therefore, after being attacked and successfully killing the attacking enemy, she did not return to Sunagakure, but instead ran towards the Land of Rain, which was her only way to survive.

"Sigh, why bother, Mother? Why don't you just surrender obediently? You should know that I won't kill you."

As they approached the Land of Rain, a heavy voice reached Chiyo's ears.

Upon hearing that familiar voice, Chiyo couldn't help but show a sorrowful expression on her resolute face, but she quickly composed herself, her expression turning cold again. She continued charging forward without looking back, making no attempt to respond to the voice behind her.

In the sky above the forest, Akashi flew through the air, leaning against a Magnet Release puppet. His chest was open, revealing a black hole filled with numerous chakra threads that connected to the group of humanoid puppets below.

Why are you forcing me?

Akasuna watched Chiyo's retreating figure and sighed softly.

The next moment, he threw a signal flare into the air, and a blinding flash immediately appeared in the sky.

Chiyo, who was in the woods, noticed the signal flare, and her heart sank immediately.

Then, her expression changed drastically as a huge ice wall suddenly appeared in the road ahead, blocking her way.

Not only that, the surrounding temperature dropped rapidly, and snowflakes even began to fall from the sky.

Chapter 340: The Withering Flower of Ninja

Ice Release: Demonic Mirror Ice Crystal!

Yahiko looked at the huge, mirror-like ice wall in front of him, then merged into it, quickly arriving at the other side of the ice wall. A middle-aged female ninja, shivering from the cold, suddenly appeared in front of him.

"Chiyo of Sunagakure, I never expected that meeting this formidable enemy of Amegakure would turn out like this."

Yahiko instantly recognized the middle-aged female ninja and exclaimed in amazement.

"Stop talking nonsense and just kill her. She's almost exhausted. Don't tell me you can't even handle an enemy like her."

The next moment, a cold voice appeared in his mind, urging him to act quickly.

Upon hearing this voice, Yahiko felt a strong sense of resistance, but he ultimately did not hesitate any longer.

The side effects of the Oni-Garuru technique on him were about to erupt, and in order to avoid his body collapsing and dying, he had no choice but to accept that damned guy's request and kill the enemy he had met here today.

"Are you from Amegakure? I am Chiyo from Sunagakure. I am an old acquaintance and partner of your current leader, Hattori Masanari."

At the same time, Chiyo looked at Yahiko, who was dressed in black and wearing a mask, and spoke, trying to obtain a glimmer of hope through negotiation.

There are no permanent enemies in the world, only permanent interests.

Sunagakure did indeed seriously harm Amegakure in the past, and even took advantage of the chaos during the battle between Amegakure and Kumogakure, but this did not prevent the two ninja villages from still having trade relations.

Not long ago, she secretly reached a trade agreement with the people sent by Hattori Masashige.

The main content of this trade agreement is placer gold and various rare metal minerals in the desert.

In addition, there are joint research and development of new types of puppets and employment agreements for puppeteers.

In summary, Amegakure intended to cultivate its own puppeteers and create a batch of standardized puppets in order to quickly restore its strength. Therefore, it paid Sunagakure to send people to help, which also eased the tension between the two sides and laid the foundation for the normalization of their relationship.

Sunagakure readily accepted this offer. After all, since the end of the war, Sunagakure had been facing huge war reparations and was struggling to make ends meet. Many puppeteers were very willing to make big money by providing technology.

When Yahiko heard Chiyo suddenly say such a thing, he felt a sudden surge of anger.

Hattori Masanari has actually partnered with Sunagakure!

Sunagakure is Amegakure's enemy. Unlike Konoha, which extended a helping hand to Amegakure, Sunagakure is a bunch of scoundrels who kick someone when they're down.

It's utterly incomprehensible that Hattori Masanari would cooperate with such despicable enemies.

Enraged, Yahiko unleashed a powerful burst of Ice Release chakra, and a thin layer of ice rapidly spread from his feet toward Chiyo.

During the process, ice wolves emerged from the ice and pounced on Chiyo.

Ice Release: Wolf Devour!

Upon seeing this, Chiyo's heart sank quickly, knowing that she was facing only an enemy. However, she was already prepared for battle. With a flick of her two fingers, the puppets on her left and right sides immediately completed the unsealing.

A huge fireball was released from the mouth of a humanoid puppet with the character "monk" carved on its forehead, while a white whirlwind spewed from the mouth of another humanoid puppet with the character "Dharma" carved on its forehead.

In an instant, a terrifying whirlwind of fire swept in.

Even though she was nearly exhausted and surrounded by dangers, Chiyo still did not intend to give up.