Chapter 283: The Curtain Rises
As Konoha's ninja legions advanced towards the border, the entire ninja world began to be shrouded in a somber atmosphere.
Temari of the Sand Village, after receiving the message from Konoha, immediately began to mobilize the ninjas in the village, preparing to head to the northwest to put pressure on the Land of Earth.
However, just at this moment, two uninvited guests arrived in the Kazekage's office.
"Temari, are you planning to let our village stand on Konoha's side in this war?" Chiyo immediately questioned as soon as she entered the Kazekage's office.
Hearing Chiyo's question, Temari's brows furrowed imperceptibly, and only then did she speak, "Konoha and our Sand are allies who have signed an agreement. In this war, besides advancing and retreating together with them, do we have any other option?"
"Of course, we do. In the current situation, Konoha is being besieged by the Land of Earth and the Land of Lightning. This is a good opportunity for us to launch a sneak attack from the rear," Ebizō said.
"A sneak attack?" Temari immediately stood up from her office chair, her burning gaze fixed on Ebizō. "Elder, I didn't hear wrong, did I? You actually want our Sand to do such a thing as backstabbing an ally?"
"Temari, Konoha can't be considered our ally. We once had countless comrades who died at the hands of their ninjas! And now is a great opportunity to avenge them!" Ebizō said in a low voice.
"Avenge? Avenge whom?" Hearing this, Temari looked at Chiyo with a cold laugh. "I think the two elders want to avenge your son who died at the hands of Konoha, right? And for this, you don't even hesitate to drag the village into a state of eternal damnation."
"Temari! What do you mean by this?" Chiyo's face changed drastically upon hearing this. Although she and Ebizō did indeed think so on this matter, this kind of thing could not be said on the table.
Temari leaned forward, her hands on the desk, and glared at the two, "Have the two elders not thought about what the consequences would be if we were to backstab Konoha? The village's finances these past two years have relied on the low-level missions and economic aid outsourced by Konoha to get out of our predicament. Once Konoha cuts off the aid, our village will be beaten back to its original state in an instant!"
"As long as we can successfully bite off a piece of flesh from Konoha, then none of this will be a problem!" Ebizō insisted.
"Bite off a piece of flesh from Konoha?" Temari almost laughed in anger upon hearing Ebizō's words. "Is Elder Ebizō joking? During the Third Great Ninja War, Konoha had already proven that they have the ability to fight on three fronts. What's more, the current Konoha is strong and well-equipped, its strength countless times greater than back then. Even if we backstab them, it would only make their war situation a little more tense. With just our meager strength, wanting to inflict serious damage on them is nothing but a fool's dream."
"It's easy to backstab them. But after the war is over, does our Sand have the ability to face Konoha's reckoning?" Temari said. "I think the two elders have been living in comfort in the village for too long and no longer know the changes in the ninja world."
"Temari, you are boosting others' morale and dampening your own prestige!" Chiyo said.
"That's still better than letting the entire village be doomed forever!" Temari slammed the table and said, not yielding an inch.
"Temari! You will regret this!" Chiyo said, gritting her teeth as she looked at the Temari before her, who was now completely out of their control.
"Address me by my title during work! I am the Fifth Kazekage now!" Temari said angrily.
The two elders turned in anger, wanting to slam the door and leave. However, just as the two of them made a move, Baki led several Anbu to block the doorway.
Seeing this, Ebizō turned his head abruptly and looked at Temari, who had sat back down in her office chair, and asked through gritted teeth, "Tema..."
Before he could finish his words, he saw the squad of Anbu at the door staring at him with unfriendly expressions, so he could only change his words, "Fifth, what do you mean by this?"
"Nothing special," Temari said coldly. "Since the village has already decided to participate in this war, after the ninjas are transferred to the border, the village's defenses will inevitably be empty. At this time, if the enemy attacks the village, it is very likely that the two elders will be in danger. As the Kazekage, I naturally do not wish to see such a thing happen. Therefore, the village has decided to protect the two elders. I hope the two elders can cooperate."
The threatening meaning implied in Temari's words was very obvious. That is, if the two old things were willing to cooperate obediently and be placed under house arrest, then Temari wouldn't mind giving them a bit of face. But if the old things didn't want this face for themselves...
Then, it would not be a possibility that the two old geezers would be in danger, but a certainty.
Chiyo looked at Baki and the Anbu, whose hands were already on their ninja tool pouches, and her old face twitched continuously. If she were willing, with her and Ebizō's current strength, these few people plus Temari couldn't stop them. But after she forced her way through? Was she going to be a rogue ninja at her old age?
Chiyo took a deep look at the expressionless Temari sitting in front of the Kazekage's desk, her heart filled with mixed feelings. She had never thought of Temari's talent in political struggle before.
Back then, after Temari had thrown Ishiichi Seigaku into prison and easily become the Fifth Kazekage, Chiyo and Ebizō had originally thought that since Temari was still young, they still had the possibility of controlling her. But as soon as Temari took office, she quickly showed extraordinary talent in power struggles. The Human Puppet Forbidden Jutsu investigation team she ordered to be established pressed on step by step, forcing the two of them to give up a lot of the power they held. And Temari also grasped the limits, maintaining a state of struggle without breaking.
However, it wasn't until today that Chiyo and Ebizō were suddenly shocked to realize that they could no longer mobilize a single ninja in the village now. Temari's talent in this aspect was even greater than her father's.
[Could it be that the true Kekkei Genkai of this line of Rasa is this?] Before following Baki to leave, Chiyo couldn't help but think.
It was a pity that Chiyo didn't know that the reason Temari could evolve from an ignorant novice to her current state in such a short time was naturally because of the guidance of an expert behind her.
With the help of Uchiha Douhuan, after becoming the Fifth Kazekage through a coup, Temari had never broken off contact with Uchiha Douhuan and would from time to time humbly ask for his advice.
And Uchiha Douhuan, with the attitude of casually teaching, was not stingy in his guidance to Temari.
Even Sasuke and Neji didn't know that the two of them had a junior sister in the Land of Wind who had become the Kazekage.
However, it had to be said that under the condition of being able to practice hands-on at any time, plus a little bit of talent, Temari's progress in this aspect was very fast. However, it was also because of this that Temari, more than anyone else, could realize the terror of Uchiha Douhuan. This fear did not come from the level of strength, but from the fear of Uchiha Douhuan's means of manipulating people's hearts. She didn't dare to imagine what would happen if she stood on the opposite side of Uchiha Douhuan.
So, facing the signal sent from Konoha, Temari did not hesitate much and chose to follow in Uchiha Douhuan's footsteps.
After all, in Temari's view, Onoki and A together were no match for Uchiha Douhuan alone. By boarding Konoha's warship early, when Konoha was eating meat, their Sand could also follow and get two mouthfuls of soup.
...
In a village in the territory of the Land of Waterfalls, after Naruto used a Rasengan to plow a crisscrossing network of canals for the villagers' farmland, leading to the village entrance, he looked at the grateful gazes of the surrounding people, and Naruto smiled and scratched his head.
"Village chief, the war is coming soon. You should be careful. The ninjas of Konoha probably won't attack civilians, but you still have to be careful of the ninjas from Iwagakure and your own Hidden Waterfall Village. They might find an excuse to harm you," after returning to the village, Naruto reminded.
"War... is coming again?" The village chief sighed longly upon hearing this.
Two years ago, their Land of Waterfalls was plowed over by the flames of war. At that time, they were quite lucky and were not affected too much by the war. But at this moment, Naruto was telling them again that war was imminent.
"Don't worry too much, old sir," Naruto said with a smile. "You guys just live your lives normally here. As long as you don't take the initiative to go out and provoke ninjas, if those with ill intentions want to attack you, they will definitely not have a good time."
"Really? Little brother Naruto?" the village chief asked with some doubt. But seeing Naruto's eyes, he still couldn't help but choose to believe him.
"Yes," Naruto nodded. "In the village, is there anyone who hasn't fist-bumped with me?"
"Everyone in our village has fist-bumped with you, little brother Naruto. Does this mean that just by doing this, our village can be protected from the scourge of war?"
"Yes," Naruto nodded.
"By the way, brother Naruto, are you leaving now?" at this time, beside the village chief, a little boy asked.
"Yes, the war has already begun. My hometown also needs my power," Naruto said with a smile, patting the little boy's head.
That night, Naruto's group of three left this village.
"Gaara, what do you say? Do you want to go back to the Sand Village?" Naruto asked while heading south.
"Uh... what's the situation in the Sand Village now?" Gaara asked.
"The Sand Village, at present, has already joined the battlefield. They are setting up defenses in the direction of the Land of Demons, preparing to attack Iwagakure together with Konoha," Jiraiya, who had always been in contact with the village, said.
"That is to say, our two villages are allies now, right?" Gaara asked.
"That's right," Naruto said. "If you're worried about your own village, we can take you to the Sand Village's battlefield first."
"Forget it. If Shukaku is unwilling to lend me his power, my current strength, even if I go to the battlefield, the effect I can have is very limited," Gaara said.
"Alright then. Then you can still act with me. Those people last time might be targeting us Jinchuriki. If you go to the battlefield alone, I won't be at ease," Naruto said.
And Jiraiya, upon hearing Gaara say that he was very weak, wanted to say something but held back.
Do the children nowadays have such high standards for themselves? You must know, the current Gaara, even without Shukaku, the power of his ninjutsu of controlling sand was at the level of an elite Jonin even in Konoha, and he was just a step away from reaching the strength of a Kage. Yet Gaara still felt that he was very weak.
However, Jiraiya looked at Naruto beside Gaara, and could only shake his head helplessly. Compared to Naruto, the current Gaara was indeed a bit weak.
However, these two were only just 15 this year, right? What was he doing when he was 15? It seemed he was getting beaten by Tsunade three times a day!
"Naruto, what do you plan to do? Will you go back to the village first and then act with the village's main army, or what," Jiraiya shook his head, driving these messy thoughts out of his brain, and then said.
"Grandpa Jiraiya, since Gaara is with us, we won't go back for now," Naruto said. "Not many people in the village know about my situation. If I go there with the title of a rogue ninja, it will probably have a negative impact on the main battlefield. So, we will go directly to the enemy's rear."
"The rear?" Jiraiya was instantly curious upon hearing this. "Are you planning to cut off their supply lines?"
"If it's cutting off supply lines, I estimate Teacher will send Sasuke and Neji and their group to do it. If we go, it's easy for conflicts to arise on both sides," Naruto said. "So, I plan to launch a direct sneak attack on their Daimyō's palace!"
As Naruto's voice fell, Jiraiya was instantly so scared that he couldn't speak. Go straight for the Daimyō? Is that something a ninja should say?
"Naruto, attacking a Daimyō is a taboo among taboos! If you do this, you will be ostracized by the entire ninja world! At that time, not just you, but even Konoha will become the public enemy of the entire ninja world!"
"Isn't the village already the public enemy of the entire ninja world now?" Naruto said with a shrug.
Jiraiya was at a loss for words upon hearing this.
"And..." at this time, Naruto's expression also became serious. "The one assassinating the Daimyō is the rogue ninja Uzumaki Naruto. What does that have to do with Konoha Village?"
...
On the southern coast of the Land of Water, after Shisui took over Fugaku's position, he directly acted to stabilize the situation. The allied forces of Terumi Mei and Shee, who had originally thought that without the Mangekyo Sharingan, they could smoothly capture the capital of Water, had to retreat helplessly after seeing the green Susanoo rise in the Konoha camp.
At the same time, Killer Bee, who was prepared to strike first and capture the Land of Water in order to attack Konoha from three directions, had to be recalled to the village by A. Unlike Uchiha Douhuan, who was an anomaly who couldn't use genjutsu, any Uchiha with a Mangekyo Sharingan was an absolute counter to a Jinchuriki.
Letting Killer Bee fight head-on here was really not a wise choice.
At the same time, in the direction of the Land of Earth, Konoha's allied forces were also in a standoff with the Land of Earth's army on the border of the Land of Grass.
(End of chapter)
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