Konoha: Starting with Sage Mode

Soon after, all the major ninja villages received the latest news about Hattori Masanari. Sunagakure and Kumogakure were furious, and the Third Raikage of Kumogakure was so angry that he smashed his newly installed desk again.

In the Kazekage Building of Sunagakure, in the round table room, a group of high-ranking officials of Sunagakure were urgently summoned by the Third Kazekage.

The Third Kazekage sat in the main seat. Seeing that everyone had arrived, he immediately addressed the high-ranking officials of Sunagakure: "Now that everyone is here, let's begin the meeting. You must already know the content of the discussion on your way here. Our assassins sent to kill Hattori Masanari failed and were captured instead. Amegakure has made a prisoner-for-prisoner offer to us. Tell me, should we agree to this offer?"

Upon hearing the Third Kazekage's words, all the Sand Village elders immediately ended their discussion and turned their gazes to the middle-aged woman in the first position to the Third Kazekage's left.

The middle-aged woman was Chiyo.

At this time, she possessed numerous honorary titles, such as wife of the First Kazekage, former Flower of the Sand Village, current Kage-level puppeteer of the Sand Village, and leader of the Sand Village's martial arts faction, which made her status and power terrifying.

It can be said that in the current Sunagakure, Chiyo's status is second only to the leader.

Now, the discussion involves the life and death of his son and daughter-in-law. Even Chiyo's political enemies choose to remain silent, for fear of provoking his mother, who seems to be in a stable emotional state but is actually on the verge of losing control.

Chiyo was indeed in a terrible mood at this moment. If she didn't have strong self-control, she would have already gone to the Land of Rain to find Kirito herself.

She stared expressionlessly at the group of Sand Village elders in the room who were all looking at her, remaining silent, but the sharp, cold glint in her eyes clearly showed her attitude.

She'll fight anyone who dares to object at this time.

Then, she turned her gaze to the middle-aged man in the first position to the right of the Third Kazekage, who was her younger brother, Ebizo.

"Ahem, let me say something. While Akasago and Sunagakure certainly bear a great deal of responsibility for their mission failure, they are both outstanding young people in the village and leading figures among the younger generation. They have also made great contributions on the battlefield many times and will surely become the pillars of our Sunagakure in the future. Now that we have the ability to redeem them from Amegakure, we should naturally step in to save them. Otherwise, it will discourage the many young people in the village who have risked their lives for the village. Therefore, I support redeeming them."

Ebizo received a signal from his older sister and had no choice but to speak up. He coughed and spoke with reason and evidence.

"That's right, Lord Ebizo is right. We can't let the young people down."

“Agreed. Moreover, Akasago and Sunagakure possess a great deal of information and secret techniques of our Sunagakure. The Amegakure group may not be able to obtain these from them, but the Konoha group may. The Amegakure cannot simply offer us, the Sunagakure, a prisoner trade.”

“That makes a lot of sense. We absolutely cannot allow Konoha and Amegakure to complete a deal, otherwise it will seriously affect our war with Konoha…”

……

As Ebizo made his point clear, the Sunagakure elders who were on Chiyo's side expressed their support.

Seeing this, the opposition members all chose to remain silent, neither supporting nor opposing, and surprisingly, they all tacitly chose to abstain.

Chiyo was somewhat dissatisfied with the opposition's attitude, but since they weren't causing trouble, she let it go and turned her gaze to the Third Kazekage sitting in the main seat.

Ultimately, the decision in this meeting rests with the Third Kazekage, currently the strongest ninja in Sunagakure.

"Since no one objects, let's go with Elder Ebizo's suggestion. However, whether we can successfully redeem the two depends on the attitude of that Amegakure ninja named Hattori Masanari. The people are currently in his hands, and judging from the intelligence, he is not on Hanzo's side. Amegakure's words may not be credible; only his words count."

The Third Kazekage was not surprised by the result. Seeing that no one objected, he allowed the proposal to pass smoothly and then expressed his opinion.

"Please rest assured, Lord Kazekage. Hattori Masanari clearly intends to return to Amegakure. If he wants to go back, then he cannot ignore the voices within Amegakure. I will mobilize the resources of Sunagakure within Amegakure to make Hattori Masanari more inclined to make a deal with us."

At this moment, Ebizo stepped forward again, unleashing his power as the Dark One of Sunagakure.

Over the years, Sunagakure's efforts for Amegakure have not only been limited to the front lines, but have also extended to the rear areas.

Through numerous battles with Amegakure, Ebizo had already infiltrated Amegakure's ranks with considerable scum.

In fact, Hanzo's role in the Amegakure's war against Konoha was partly due to Ebizo's influence.

Chapter 94: A Abundance of Talent

The Dark One of Sunagakure still holds considerable prestige within the village. Although she has recently faced criticism for failing to assassinate Mito Uzumaki, resulting in the waste of a high-ranking spy who had infiltrated Konoha for many years, the general public understands her situation given Mito's strength and the protection Konoha provides for her.

At least on the front lines, this Dark One of Sunagakure did a very good job. It was thanks to the various useful intelligence provided by the large number of intelligence personnel under his control that Sunagakure was able to gain the upper hand in battles against Konoha.

With him as guarantor, everyone suddenly felt there was a great chance of redeeming Akasago and Sasara.

"Elder Ebizo, thank you for your trouble. Please make sure that the voices within Amegakure are in favor of Sunagakure."

The Third Kazekage was satisfied with Ebizo's words and said with a smile.

"Yes, Lord Kazekage."

Under Chiyo's watchful gaze, Ebizo readily agreed.

The next topic of discussion was quite simple: how much it would cost to redeem Akasago and Sarashima.

After all, even if Amegakure is inclined to return the person to Sunagakure, Sunagakure would still need to spend a lot of real money. At the very least, the price they offer cannot be much less than that of Konoha and Iwagakure, otherwise Amegakure would not release the person so easily.

At this point, the opposition, which had remained silent, began to exert its strength.

Redeeming Akasago and Sasara is politically correct, and they don't oppose it, but now that their fundamental interests are involved, they can't sit idly by.

They were well aware of the immense value of Akasago and Sagara, and in order to redeem them, Sunagakure would inevitably have to pay a huge price, which would undoubtedly have to be shared by all of them.

Spending your own money to save the son and daughter-in-law of your political enemy is a terrible deal no matter how you look at it.

They must recoup their losses from other sources; that's their bottom line.

After a long and heated wrangling, as dawn approached, the supporters and opponents, through a complex exchange of interests, finally reached a relatively satisfactory result.

That is, in this ransom, the supporters and the opponents paid in a 73 ratio.

The meeting concluded, and the high-ranking members of Sunagakure departed.

On the way back, Chiyo, who was already exhausted, couldn't help but ask her younger brother Ebizo, "Zou, how confident are you in saving Akasago and Sunashira?"

"Sister, don't worry. As long as our ransom is no less than that of Konoha, and no other unexpected events occur, there is still a good chance."

Ebizo had no real confidence, but to be considerate of his sister's feelings, he tried his best to say the best.

"Hmph, stop spouting nonsense to comfort me. I'm already mentally prepared. Damn Amegakure, damn Hattori Masanari."

Chiyo instantly saw through Ebizo's trick. She lowered her head and spoke with deep hatred.

Ebizo remained silent.

How can we blame Amegakure or Hattori Masanari for what happened tonight? It was Sunagakure who provoked them, and they were outmatched and ended up getting taught a lesson. The fact that no one died is a testament to their mercy. No matter how you look at it, Sunagakure has no right to complain.

But this world is not a place for reason.

If your fist is big enough, then there will be a reason.

Ultimately, it's just a matter of the strong preying on the weak.

This time, it's because the Sand Village's fists aren't big enough, which is why they're in the wrong.

Having lived in the shadows for so many years, he had long since seen how hopeless this world truly was.

But what can he do even if he sees it clearly? He has no power to change anything and can only go with the flow.

"When will this world ever have some peace again, Hashirama Senju? You died far too soon."

Ebizo looked up at the faint crescent moon visible in the gray sky and couldn't help but miss the innocent and somewhat adorable ninja god.

If only there were more powerful idiots like Hashirama Senju in this world.

……

In Konoha, in the Hokage's office, the Third Hokage was smoking, staring blankly at the newly brightening sky outside.

He stayed up all night again last night because of a message sent back by his troublesome disciple Jiraiya, which forced him to urgently summon three Hokage advisors for a high-level meeting.

The outcome of the discussion both pleased and troubled him.

The reason for their joy was that once they successfully traded Akasuna and Sunagakure, two elite puppeteers from Sunagakure, with Hattori Masanari, Konoha would gain access to a great deal of information about Sunagakure and the secrets of its puppeteers. This would greatly help in the war between Konoha and Sunagakure.

The reason for their worry is that Konoha is bound to be ripped off by Amegakure, and a huge financial loss is foreseeable. This will undoubtedly make matters worse for Konoha, which is already not very wealthy.

"I didn't expect that Amegakure ninja named Hattori Masanari to be even more powerful than I imagined. If it's really as Jiraiya said, Amegakure is likely to rise to prominence this time. With him and Hanzo joining forces, other ninja villages will have to think twice before trying to take over the Land of Rain."

The three generations sighed.

The rise of the Land of Rain was not what he wanted, but judging from the current situation, it seemed impossible to suppress it. So he might as well go with the flow and use this prisoner trade to give Hattori Masanari strong support, so that a force close to Konoha could emerge within the Rain Village.

In his judgment, as long as Hattori Masashige is within the Land of Rain, he is invincible unless he is a Kage-level powerhouse.

But Kage-level powerhouses are extremely rare. Konoha currently has only about five, and his three disciples combined make up one and a half.

Other ninja villages have only slightly fewer ninja than Konoha.

The number and quality of Konoha Jonin are also greater and better than those of other ninja villages.

Logically speaking, with so many Kage-level powerhouses and outstanding Jonin, it's impossible for Konoha to suffer a defeat against Sunagakure on the battlefield.

Unfortunately, there are too many ninja villages in the ninja world that are hostile to Konoha, all of which covet the land of the rich and resource-rich Land of Fire. The number of Kage-level ninjas and Jonin is simply not enough. Konoha cannot send all its forces to the battlefield and must allocate a portion of its forces to be constantly vigilant against the major powers in the ninja world.

Not to mention the distant Hidden Cloud Village and Hidden Mist Village, the Hidden Sand Village and Hidden Stone Village, which are right in front of us, have always been eyeing Konoha with covetous intent.

If it weren't for the fact that Sunagakure and Iwagakure also had many conflicts, and that the Land of Earth had formed an almost irreconcilable feud due to the Land of Wind's encroachment on part of the Land of Wind's territory, making it virtually impossible for them to join forces, Konoha would have been unable to withstand the combined might of these two ninja villages.

"As expected, we still need new Konoha sprouts. Once the next generation of Konoha sprouts grows up, Sunagakure won't be as arrogant as it is now."

The Third Hokage racked his brains but still couldn't come up with any useful way to break Konoha's current predicament of being surrounded by enemies on all sides. He could only place his hopes on the next generation of Konoha's young buds who would inherit the Will of Fire.

Thinking of the tender shoots of Konoha, many young faces immediately came to mind for the Third Hokage, and a smile involuntarily appeared on his face.

The quality of this new generation of leaf buds is quite good.

Leaving aside Kirito, who is already guaranteed to be a Kage-level powerhouse, Nawaki, Chizuru, Karen, and Minato Namikaze, a young Konoha scion, also have promising futures and a high probability of becoming Kage-level powerhouses in their own right.

Konoha remains as full of talented individuals as ever.

"My main responsibility now is to stabilize the current situation in Konoha, keep the enemy out of Konoha, and buy more time for new Konoha sprouts to grow."

The Third Generation looked at the rising sun in the sky, exhaled a long puff of smoke, and thought to himself.

Suddenly, his sense of responsibility surged again, and he continued to work with great enthusiasm to deal with the mountain of documents on his desk.

Chapter 95: Immortal

The next day, at dawn, at the Nawaki family home.

Kirito himself gets up promptly at six o'clock. He quickly changes his clothes and washes up, then sits quietly in the courtyard, focusing intently on his daily chakra refining and natural energy absorption training. He uses this method to persistently increase his upper limit of chakra and natural energy.

An hour later, he opened his eyes again and slapped the ground with his hand.

Numerous sealing spells spread across the ground, and a square sealing barrier quickly formed.

Sealing Technique: Four Directions Seal!

After completing the sealing barrier, Kirito stretched out one hand, and a surge of blue chakra rapidly gathered in his palm, forming a small chakra ball that spun rapidly inside.

Rasengan!

Next, he began to gradually inject natural energy into the Rasengan.