Konoha: Starting with Sage Mode

Under the sweeping whirlwind of flames, a large number of ice wolves were instantly melted away.

Faced with such a powerful combination of ninjutsu, Yahiko decisively took a few steps back, allowing his body to merge into the giant ice mirror behind him.

The giant ice mirror was attacked by the fiery whirlwind and melted rapidly. However, Yahiko's body had already moved to another part of the ice mirror. He quickly released the seal inside the ice mirror, and ice wolves began to jump out of the giant ice mirror and rushed towards Chiyo in packs.

Yahiko was no longer a novice ninja. He knew very well how powerful a veteran Kage-level ninja like Chiyo was, even though she was clearly nearing the end of her life, she was still extremely dangerous.

It can be said that this is the most dangerous time for this veteran Kage-level powerhouse who has already reached the end of his rope.

"You cunning little rascal."

Chiyo saw Yahiko trying to wear her down with the pack of ice wolves, giving her no chance to take them down with him, and couldn't help but feel sorry for him.

The ice wolves created by ice-style ninjutsu weren't very strong. Chiyo easily eliminated them by controlling three puppets. However, their numbers were almost endless. She could only eliminate a few before more wolves emerged from the giant ice wall.

Chiyo attempted to destroy the ice wall using a wide-range combination of Fire Release and Wind Release ninjutsu, but was instead defended by Yahiko's Water Release: Water Barrier.

Suddenly, her situation became increasingly precarious.

Before long, Chiyo finally couldn't hold on any longer. The side effects of her nearly depleted stamina and chakra caused her to feel dizzy for a moment during the battle, and then she was knocked to the ground by the two ice wolves.

Although Chiyo quickly regained her senses and used her powerful physical skills to shatter the two ice wolves, the wolves' cold, piercing claws and teeth still left several terrifying wounds on her body.

As a large amount of blood flowed from the wound and the surrounding temperature continued to drop, Chiyo suddenly felt a strong sense of drowsiness.

Then, she saw her husband, Retsuto, and her younger brother, Ebizo, both of whom looked like they did when they were young, smiling at her.

With a "plop,"

Chiyo collapsed helplessly onto the cold ground, and the three humanoid puppets also lost their mobility.

"Is this the fate of ninjas?"

As Yahiko watched this renowned Sand Village savior fall, he was suddenly filled with emotion, and then prepared to take action to completely eliminate Chiyo.

But at this moment, many humanoid puppets that had been lingering nearby immediately sprang into action, eliminating a large number of ice wolves and then forming a human wall around Chiyo.

Akasago slowly descended from the sky and landed beside Chiyo. Then, in a commanding tone, she said to Yahiko in the giant ice mirror, "Your mission is complete. You may leave."

In the end, he couldn't bear to watch his mother be killed by someone else.

Yahiko, of course, would not obey the orders of this stranger, Akasuna. He regarded Akasuna as the one who had stolen his prey, and then decisively regarded Akasuna as an enemy, controlling a large number of ice wolves to attack him.

Unfortunately, Akasuna is not Chiyo. He is in excellent condition and has a large number of puppets at his disposal, allowing him to fully utilize the puppeteer's terrifying ability to fight groups.

As a large number of hidden weapons were released from the humanoid puppets, Yahiko's ice wolves were almost wiped out in the blink of an eye, and even the giant ice wall was severely damaged.

Akazawa did not intend to have a further conflict with Yahiko. After slightly repelling Yahiko, he grabbed Chiyo's body and then controlled the Magnet Release puppet to quickly ascend into the air. He then manipulated the puppet to create a sturdy iron sand shell to protect itself.

Magnet Release: Iron Sand Shield!

"Is this alright?"

Seeing that none of his various ninjutsu techniques could break through the turtle shell in mid-air, Yahiko said with a grim expression.

A few seconds later, his expression turned even uglier, because the hateful voice had not reappeared, which clearly meant that his mission had failed.

However, Yahiko ultimately decided not to continue pursuing Akasuna. He had already been secretly away from Amegakure for quite some time, and if he didn't hurry back, his shadow clones left in the village might arouse suspicion.

After Akasago and Yahiko left, the battlefield fell silent. However, since this area was on the border between the Land of Earth and the Land of Rain, the battle that had broken out here had naturally alerted the ninjas from the two nearby patrol villages.

A few minutes later, a group of Iwa ninja and a group of Amegakure ninja met up here.

Because of orders from above, both sides exercised great restraint and did not engage in battle as soon as they met. They each searched and inspected the battlefield before leaving one after the other, reporting the situation to the village as quickly as possible.

About half an hour later, Onoki arrived alone. He looked at the chaotic battlefield below, his old face clouded with gloom.

He had already learned some information about the situation from his subordinates. After arriving in person, he immediately noticed the traces of battle left by the old woman Chiyo.

"An ice-style ninja, who attacked her?"

"Ohnoki said through gritted teeth."

"Anyway, it's not from our Amegakure."

As soon as he finished speaking, a light, airy voice came from the top of the Great Wood.

Upon hearing this voice, Onoki immediately said coldly, "This place is closest to your Amegakure. Your words lack credibility. If our Iwagakure and Sunagakure were to go to war, your Amegakure would be very happy to see it."

"That's true, but I'm sure the Tsuchikage wouldn't believe it was Amegakure who did it, right?"

The White Zetsu clone landed in front of Onoki and said with a forced smile.

Not long ago, his true form was still in the Shikkotsu Forest. After obtaining the Reincarnation Eye, he did not stop cultivating the Shikkotsu Forest Sage Techniques. On the contrary, he became even more diligent.

After acquiring the Tenseigan, his understanding of Yin-Yang Release began to advance by leaps and bounds.

As the Yin-Yang Release is a ninjutsu that creates all things, it brought Kirito new inspiration for ninjutsu, and many ninjutsu were improved. For example, Shennong's forbidden medical technique, Body Revitalization, was improved in a groundbreaking way, which greatly increased his speed in practicing the Slug Sage's Split Sage Technique.

At the same time, in Shikkotsu Forest, he can freely try out the various abilities of the Tenseigan without worrying about being discovered by the outside world.

Just now, he was testing the Tenseigan's abilities and using it to fight the Slug Sage's true form.

However, he received a message from a shadow clone of Amegakure midway through his journey. In order to avoid a serious diplomatic conflict between Iwagakure and Amegakure, he had no choice but to return immediately and come here in person to see the specific situation.

"Hmph, who knows if it is or not?"

Onoki replied unhappily, then looked at the White Zetsu clone with increasing apprehension.

His honed sense of danger was telling him one thing: the despicable Rain Ninja before him was much stronger than before, so much so that he couldn't help but feel a sense of fear.

"Could it be that this guy has mastered some powerful forbidden technique again?"

Onoki thought with a mixture of surprise and uncertainty, his attention immediately shifting.

"Ahem, Lord Tsuchikage, don't look at me. I can assure you clearly that this matter has absolutely nothing to do with Amegakure. We were supposed to meet secretly tomorrow, how could I be so stupid as to do something so foolish at this crucial moment?"

If Iwagakure and Sunagakure were to truly clash now, it would be utterly detrimental to Amegakure. Of course, if Lord Tsuchikage were willing to sign a trade agreement with me now, it would indeed be very beneficial to Amegakure. Unfortunately, I'm afraid you wouldn't be so keen on that."

The White Zetsu clone finally gave Onoki a sincere and genuine smile, and said regretfully.

With this incident, there's no doubt that his secret meeting with Onoki tomorrow will be canceled, because tomorrow is likely the day Sunagakure officially declares war on Iwagakure, or even sooner.

Onoki didn't say anything more, but left quickly, feeling very frustrated.

Judging from the current situation, Chiyo is definitely in grave danger. Since Iwagakure cannot hand her over, they have no choice but to face the wrath of Sunagakure.

In fact, the conflict between Iwagakure and Sunagakure is already very deep, and it would not be surprising if war broke out between the two sides at any time.

"At this critical juncture, Chiyo was attacked and went missing, which led to a war between Iwagakure and Sunagakure. It's quite a coincidence."

Just as Onoki had flown a short distance, Kirito, the White Zetsu clone, spoke.

Upon hearing this, Onoki immediately stopped, his eyes becoming incredibly deep.

"Yes, this is such a coincidence."

Onoki began to harbor deep suspicions.

He was so concerned before that he didn't immediately connect the dots, but now that Masashige Hattori has reminded him, he finally realizes something is wrong.

"Lord Tsuchikage, our meeting must be a highly confidential matter, right? I think we both need to investigate the integrity of the internal affairs. Also, if the enemy really wants to sabotage our cooperation, then we should cooperate even more. What do you think?"

Seeing that Onoki had finally reacted, the White Zetsu clone said with a grin.

The Land of Rain really needs the Land of Earth's abundant mineral resources, especially a large amount of precious chakra metal.

He now possesses the Tenseigan, one of its abilities being the ability to imbue puppets with self-awareness, potentially allowing him to easily control a powerful puppet army.

Therefore, he really wanted to complete a secret collaboration with Onoki.

Otherwise, he might only have one option left: to take advantage of the chaos.

Onoki fell silent once again. Reason told him that agreeing to Hattori Masanari's request now would be beneficial to Iwagakure.

But reason also told him that Hattori Masanari's eagerness to discuss cooperation with him must mean he was preparing some huge 'conspiracy' behind the scenes. If he cooperated with Hattori Masanari now, this 'cooperation' might become the noose that hangs Iwagakure in the future.

You could say he's dealing with a tiger for its skin, and this tiger is incredibly dangerous.

"Lord Tsuchikage, someone as intelligent as you must be very clear about the current situation in the ninja world. If you don't seize every opportunity to become stronger and find excellent partners, you will definitely regret it in the future."

Seeing that Onoki was still hesitant, the White Zetsu clone added another sincere reminder.

Chapter 341: Turning Enemies into Friends

The White Zetsu clone's words, though rough, were reasonable, and Ōnoki's heart trembled upon hearing them.

Yes, the current situation in the ninja world is so dire, and instead of improving our own strength, we are being dragged down by Sunagakure. It's really too painful.

With this thought in mind, Onoki couldn't help but feel resentment towards Sunagakure.

Don't you know the current situation of Sunagakure? You still want to take the initiative to fight. This is like having nothing to lose and not being afraid of those wearing shoes. You want to muddy the waters of the ninja world so that you can fish in troubled waters, or perhaps further reduce your own presence?

If Onoki hadn't known that the current leader of Sunagakure had such a deep grudge against Iwagakure that there was no room for reconciliation, he would have wanted to temporarily submit to Sunagakure and settle the bloodshed by paying compensation.

Compared to the terrifying expenses incurred after the war began, that amount of reparations was really nothing. It was just money spent to buy peace and contribute to the peace of the ninja world.

"What do you want? You're begging me for cooperation like this, it can't be just about reopening trade between the Land of Earth and the Land of Rain, can it?"

After a moment of silence, Onoki turned around again and spoke to the White Zetsu clone with a strong sense of vigilance.

Now that things have come to this, Iwagakure doesn't really have many options left.

Refuse to cooperate with Amegakure and fight Sunagakure alone, or join Amegakure and find an opportunity to drag Amegakure into the conflict to share the burden of the war.

These are the two options.

Clearly, judging from the literal meaning alone, the second option is more advantageous for Iwagakure.

"Lord Tsuchikage is indeed intelligent. You should also know about the situation in Amegakure. Amegakure is now just an empty shell. If it weren't for Hanzo and me barely holding it together, it would have been gone long ago. Given the current situation in the ninja world, there is definitely not enough time to wait for the next generation to grow up."

Moreover, once the great war breaks out, Amegakure will definitely be unable to escape, and neither will Hanzo and I. At that time, it will be unclear whether Amegakure will still exist.

Therefore, I must find a way to ensure that Amegakure has some self-defense capabilities in the next Shinobi World War as quickly as possible. Although relying on others may not be reliable, having a good ally is better than having none.

"My relationship with Lord Tsuchikage can be described as 'becoming acquainted through a misunderstanding,' and I have a fairly good understanding of your character. As long as our interests align, I'm sure you won't stab me in the back like you did last time."

The white-haired clone quickly put on a sincere expression and said with concern.

The next Shinobi World War is not far off. In order to deal with Madara Uchiha, he must win over as many other ninja villages as possible. Even if he cannot bring them onto his side, he must at least ensure that they do not cause trouble when Konoha is fighting Madara Uchiha.

Now, by using his White Zetsu clone as the leader of Amegakure to express his intention to form an alliance with Onoki, he is, in a sense, acting as an intermediary to facilitate an alliance between Iwagakure and Konoha.

Although they are allies of allies, with Amegakure as the bond, the two sides can still coexist peacefully.

He believed that with Onoki's political acumen, he would surely be able to see the hidden information behind this alliance between Iwagakure and Amegakure.