Yes, the Hokage!

Chapter 88 Luo Sha's Game

Upon hearing Yahiko's answer, Fenglan reverted to his smiling tiger form: "Won't you reconsider?"

"No." Yahiko turned around and glanced at Konan and Nagato, then turned back to his head. "We don't have time. If we drag this out any longer, the children will go hungry. Besides... no matter how much we think about it, we'll always come to the same conclusion."

He paused, then added, his voice not loud but loud enough for Feng Lan to hear: "But I agree to the alliance not because I'm afraid of you, but because although you schemed against me, you didn't lie to those children."

"Also, I need..."

"Tsk!" Obito clicked his tongue impatiently when he heard that the other party actually made a request.

Fenglan waved his hand to silence him, then gestured for Yahiko to continue.

Yahiko glanced at Obito again, composed himself, and said, "Your delegation seems to have skilled craftsmen who can build houses. The number of refugees coming to Amegakure is increasing, so in addition to supplies, I hope to use your help to build a batch of wooden houses to solve our immediate problem."

"You mean this? Of course, no problem." Feng Lan smiled. "Obito."

Although Obito was a little annoyed, he still obediently took a few steps forward.

Yahiko frowned slightly. Although he had guessed something when he saw the wooden house, it just so happened to be this guy he didn't get along with...

Fortunately, Fenglan quickly called out, "Kakashi, Rin."

Two young ninjas immediately ran over from the house next door. They had obviously been eavesdropping in the next room, so when Rin came over, she playfully squeezed Obito's hand, and the latter immediately started scratching his head with a silly grin.

Fenglan called out again, "Itachi, Kabuto."

Two other, smaller ninjas also ran over. Feng Lan introduced them, saying, "These are all elites from Konoha. Rin and Kabuto are even Tsunade's disciples. Let them go and help treat the wounded."

Tsunade rolled her eyes. She had only agreed to let Fenglan take him and Lintu in; the other one was just forced on her.

However... firstly, Kabuto is quite clever and sensible, and his talent in medical ninjutsu is extremely high; secondly, he has already been pulled onto Fenglan's pirate ship, so he is too lazy to get off and accept it.

To be honest, both she and Jiraiya had this feeling: the longer they spent with Fenglan, the more they felt their brains were starting to degenerate.

At first, Jiraiya was completely confused. Logically speaking, his disciple Minato wasn't the kind of naive person who would do whatever he was told. Before meeting Fenglan, he had risen step by step to become a Jonin class leader and was a genius who could command several squads to fight at the same time.

How come when we got to the later stages of the third battle with Fenglan, all we could do was ask questions like "Fenglan, where are we going today?", "Fenglan, who are we going to kill today?", and "Fenglan, where are we going to set up camp today?"

After spending time together, the two realized that when you have someone by your side who can plan everything in advance, and you can get the results you want just by following their instructions without having to think, you will eventually become like that too.

This is similar to how Zheng Zha could still reach the third level and imitate Xiao Honglu before Chu Xuan officially joined the team, but after spending a lot of time with Chu Xuan, he turned into a gorilla with only one punch and two pancakes in his mind.

【I see……】

Yahiko also realized that this girl named Rin was clearly Obito's weakness, and he was very grateful that Fenglan was willing to let her come and help.

"Snapped!"

The intertwining of their palms signifies that Konoha and Amegakure have formed an alliance. Although it is not yet time to formally announce the signing with Minato, they can begin to fulfill their alliance agreement.

Therefore, Yahiko stopped being coy and directly invited Fenglan and his group to move into the village to live. However, Fenglan declined his offer and only sent a team of people with supplies to help, because he had to stay behind to wait for Rasa.

Then he specifically instructed Riji and Dai, who were entering the village, to do nothing but follow and protect Lin.

As for himself, talking to Rasa in Amegakure was clearly not a good decision. If that guy turned on them and produced some gold dust, the whole village could be swallowed up. He still had to show basic respect to a Kage-level powerhouse.

After waiting for about a day and a night, the Third Kazekage asked the guard to tell Fenglan, "Luo Sha has arrived."

This time, Fenglan didn't hold any grand trap, and since Rasa couldn't possibly enter Konoha's territory, the two sides agreed to meet in a valley.

Aside from Shisui, Fenglan had no other guards. The three reanimated Kage were enough to deter anyone with ill intentions, not to mention that Sunagakure didn't have any other people to offer.

Just as he expected, only two people from Sunagakure came: the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, and a beautiful and dashing young woman with long, dark brown hair styled in a high ponytail. She wore a dark sleeveless bodysuit, but deliberately exposed her back.

Most importantly, the girl's skin wasn't wheat-colored like that of ordinary people from the Land of Wind; instead, it was incredibly soft, white, and delicate. Combined with the several dazzling fireballs floating beside her, she appeared exceptionally alluring.

Feng Lan's eyes narrowed slightly: [This is... Pakura, right?] (Also known as Ye Cang; the author uses Pakura in this book because of Huo Pi.)

She possesses the bloodline limit of Scorching Release and is quite powerful. She once shone brightly in the battle against Kirigakure. However, at that time, the war between Sunagakure and Iwagakure had reached a stalemate, and Sunagakure wanted to make peace with Kirigakure. But at this time, Kirigakure proposed to hand over Pakura, who had killed several Kirigakure ninjas, to them for disposal.

It's unclear what the Sunagakure leadership and Rasa were thinking, but they actually agreed. As a result, Pakura tragically died at the hands of the village and Kirigakure's machinations. Afterwards, Sunagakure used her death to their advantage, claiming that Pakura died at the hands of Iwagakure, in order to further incite public anger towards Iwagakure and garner full support for the war.

In short, he is a loyal but tragically fated guy, and now that Feng Lan has met him, it's hard to say whether it's a good thing or a bad thing for her.

"Rasa, you've come after all." The Third Kazekage slowly lowered his hood.

"Sandaime-sama!"

Rasa and Pakura both exclaimed in surprise, but the next second their expressions turned to shock. The resurrected person had characteristics and temperament completely different from the living. Even if the appearance did not change, it was easy to tell that something was wrong at a glance.

"Impure World Reincarnation..." Rasa's expression gradually changed from joy to disappointment, but he quickly calmed down. "Third Hokage, you really are..."

“Yes, I was killed by Sasori of the Red Sand.” The Third Kazekage spoke slowly. “Rasa, you did well. The village still exists.”

“The village is indeed still there, but its survival is very difficult…” Rasa sighed, then turned his gaze to Feng Lan, “You must be the chief advisor to the Fourth Hokage.”

“That’s right.” Feng Lan put on her standard smiling expression. “It’s an honor to meet you, Fourth Kazekage.”

After the two shook hands, Feng Lan got straight to the point: "I suppose the Third Kazekage has already explained the terms of the cooperation in detail."

“That’s right.” Luo Sha nodded, but then changed the subject, “But that was signed by the Third Hokage. I am the current Kazekage.”

He didn't say that he could turn his back on someone after learning the crucial news of the Third Kazekage's death, and Feng Lan didn't say that if you dare to turn your back on me, the men I brought will kill you on the spot, but both sides knew the truth.

Some things are better left unsaid; it's impolite to say them aloud. Especially since Rasa could have easily ignored this place after learning of the Third Kazekage's death, but he still came, which proves that things are open to discussion.

"So, you're planning to make some extra small requests, huh?" Feng Lan's smiling tiger demeanor remained unchanged, but she made her bottom line clear: you can only make small requests and try to negotiate, but the overall direction cannot be changed.

“First of all, Sunagakure cannot directly announce that the Third Hokage was killed by Sasori.” Rasa stared directly at Feng Lan, refusing to back down. “This would cause Sunagakure to lose all its prestige and become a laughing stock, and it would also be unable to obtain the benefits it could have gained from the surrounding small countries.”

"Therefore, the statement should be vague: only say that the Third Hokage's body has been identified, the cause of death was combat, and the murderer is still under investigation."

“Even if you don’t make it public, you still have to make it public to the village,” Feng Lan said immediately. “If I’m not mistaken, your position as the Wind Shadow isn’t so secure, is it?”

Luo Sha pondered for a moment, then nodded slightly: "That's right. I won the hearts of the people because of my outstanding performance in the three wars, but I haven't received support from the higher-ups yet, so I was forced to find some people to back me up."

"Let me guess..." Feng Lan's expression changed slightly, "Your backers are Chiyo and Ebizo?"

Luo Sha's gaze sharpened instantly. He stared intently at Feng Lan for several seconds before nodding slightly.

[So that's how it is. Just like Minato was pushed into power by the Third Kazekage, Rasa was also pushed into power by Granny Chiyo and Ebizo.] Feng Lan's eyes flickered slightly. If that's the case, could Sasori's ability to kill the Third Kazekage really make those two old men disheartened and retire into obscurity?

Even without knowing this news, Chiyo and Ebizo in the original work gave up, and the reason for giving up was that Rasa was killed by Orochimaru in a clownish manner. This would undoubtedly cause the two of them, who had promoted Rasa, to lose face in the village. So it seems that their retirement might not have been voluntary, but rather they were ostracized by the elders.

The elders' council of Sunagakure has far more members than that of Konoha. This can be seen from the meeting held in Sunagakure during the Kazekage Retrieval arc, where a bunch of old fogies with little ability were present, and they were particularly ostracizing of newcomers.

If that's the case, then I was wrong before. Keeping Chiyo and Ebizo to support Rasa would have been a better choice.

Feng Lan rolled his eyes. After all, he didn't know much about the situation inside Sunagakure, so it was normal for him to make a wrong judgment. Fortunately, there was still a chance to make up for it.

“Since making this public will damage the reputation of Chiyo and Ebizo, who support you, it’s not a bad thing to keep it quiet for now.” He pretended to think for a moment. “But all future cooperation between Sunagakure and Konoha must be handled by Minato and you, not by the elders of both sides.”

His original intention was not necessarily to bring down Chiyo and Ebizo, but to bypass that network of interests and get involved himself.

Luo Sha's gaze sharpened immediately. What Feng Lan sought was exactly what he wanted. As a Wind Shadow, he was constantly hampered by the Elder Council, and naturally, he also longed for outside help.

“Okay!” He immediately agreed. “From now on, I will be in charge of all cooperation between Konoha and Sunagakure.”

“That’s right.” Feng Lan nodded. “That’s how it should be.”

"But what about trade?" Rasa seized the opportunity and made another request. "The Sand Village's poor advisor knows that even if I can refine gold dust, we are still struggling financially. So how about we exchange iron sand, gold dust, and blueprints discarded by the puppet army for food and supplies?"

Information about the Sunagakure puppet forces has always been top secret, so even though Rasa brought out outdated blueprints, he was under considerable pressure, which shows he was quite sincere. But the problem is that it's pointless for Fenglan to take this thing.

The other party might think that he wanted the iron sand to create a puppet, since a living person without Magnet Release couldn't control the iron sand. But Feng Lan wanted to use it to make scientific ninja tools. The two were thinking completely differently.

So Feng Lan immediately said righteously, "Selling the blueprints is too dangerous for you. I don't want my newly established business relationship to fall apart because of something like this. Let's change the terms."

Hearing this, Luo Sha was slightly moved, but then awkwardly said, "But... I don't have any more chips to offer."

Sunagakure was poor to begin with, and many of its resources were controlled by the elders. Moreover, the elders of Sunagakure wielded more power than those of Konoha. At the beginning of Shippuden, they were even able to make nonchalant statements about how the Fifth Kazekage was taken away.

Feng Lan already had a plan in mind, but she didn't say it immediately. Instead, she snapped her fingers and said, "Let's talk about other things first. Do you have any other requests?"

Rasa pondered for a moment: "Signing with Konoha means that Sunagakure will become a potential target for Kumogakure and Iwagakure. I need to know when they will attack me, not wait until they attack to find out."

"Does that mean you don't even have your own intelligence network in Sunagakure?" Feng Lan frowned.

"Even if Konoha wanted to attack Sunagakure, I would only find out if the elders notified me," Rasa said helplessly.

[It seems this guy's situation is far worse than I imagined, considering he's only just taken over. But supporting someone like him is the best way to keep Sunagakure under control.]

Feng Lan raised an eyebrow. Wasn't Minato the same way before? When Danzo's Root organization received the information about the expansion of the Cloud Village's army, only the elders discussed it. Did they tell him? If it weren't for his efforts, he probably would have just waited for the elders to come up with a result and then handed the result to Minato so he could do as he was told.

“I can set up an intelligence line for you in the Hokage’s office, but I’ll need a liaison,” Feng Lan said smoothly. “Besides, you just said you don’t have any other bargaining chips besides the puppet blueprints, so let’s leave it at that…”

"First, I don't want the blueprints, but you need to give me more iron and gold dust. Second, you need to give me a trusted confidant as a hostage. This person can also serve as a liaison. How about that?"

Rasa fell into deep thought. His request for information sharing was actually an attempt to secure an ally rather than a vassal for Sunagakure. He could also see that Fenglan was taking advantage of his recent appointment and weakness to further control Sunagakure by supporting him.

However, he doesn't have any more bargaining chips right now, so he can only use Fenglan's power to eliminate the Elders' Council first, and then concentrate all his resources to make Sunagakure stronger and get rid of Konoha.

Although she already had a plan in mind, Rasa pretended to be troubled and pondered for a moment before looking behind her: "Pakula, would you be willing to take on the position of liaison officer?"

Chapter 89 The White Zetsu Attack

While Luo Sha and Feng Lan were talking, Pakula quietly stayed to the side as a guard. She seemed to be doing nothing, but in fact, while she was on guard, she was also listening to their conversation and even secretly sizing up Feng Lan.

[He seems unremarkable, yet he has the confidence to make such a crucial promise on behalf of Konoha. Is Konoha different from Sunagakure, and is it led by young people?] Looking at Feng Lan's calm and composed demeanor, she couldn't help but feel a little curious.

When Rasa turned back to ask for his opinion, Pakula nodded without hesitation: "As you command, Kazekage-sama."

She knew about Rasa's situation, and Pakura was even more heartbroken about the current state of Sunagakure. Too many old guys held high positions but were just sitting idly by. The only two who could shoulder the main responsibility, Granny Chiyo and Ebizo, were not very interested in getting involved because of their grandson's affairs.

Therefore, Pakula fully understands that Lord Rasa is alone and can only seek help from other villages.

"Yes, thank you for your trouble." Rasa nodded. Pakura was a trusted confidante whom he had personally cultivated. If she stayed by Fenglan's side, she could convey not only information from the Hokage's office, but also the secret information that she herself could collect.

Feng Lan knew what the two were thinking, but if Pakula could only pass on what he wanted the other to know, what then?

There are no true allies between villages; it's all just about calculating interests. Since I dared to ask for it, I'm confident I can handle the trouble Pakula might cause.

The two sides lightly clasped hands, symbolizing the formal establishment of a new alliance between Konoha and Sunagakure. As for how long this alliance will last... well, that depends on when the balance is broken.

Pakula naturally put on his hood and stood some distance behind Fenglan, silently waiting for orders.

Feng Lan then led his men back, giving the Third Kazekage some space to give his last words. It can only be said that ninjutsu really depends on how it is used. The Impure World Reincarnation technique can be used as a war machine, or it can be used as a dream-fulfilling master. It's a pity that Feng Lan's sensory abilities cannot be used for eavesdropping, otherwise he would really have taken the opportunity to find out more about the situation in Sunagakure.

However, it's okay if we can't listen to it right now. The strength of Sunagakure is far from threatening Konoha. The most pressing situation is still with Kumogakure.

Feng Lan walked to the valley entrance and reported to the First and Second Hokage, who were standing guard on the mountain walls on both sides of the valley entrance: "I have successfully completed my mission. The Sand Village has been captured."

"Hmm." Tobirama nodded, a sharp glint in his eyes. "What are your plans next? We old folks have been in this world for quite some time now, it's about time we returned to the Pure Land to avoid trouble caused by too many people knowing about us."

He turned his head to look at Hashirama: "Brother, you think so too, right?"