The Raikage sat in the temporary office. After carefully reading the intelligence A had recounted and written down, his expression was incredibly grave.
According to this...
"Ryoho Kyohiko's strength has increased again, and Hatake Kakashi's strength is also improving rapidly. Although he hasn't reached the level of those two, he is at least an elite jonin."
"Why is Konoha so powerful!"
The Third Raikage leaned back in his chair, a wave of powerlessness washing over him. He couldn't help but recall what he had seen and heard in Konoha.
Could it be that Konoha's education model is truly more conducive to producing geniuses?
Knock, knock, knock!
The door was knocked.
"Come in."
The Third Raikage sat up straight, rubbing his face to wipe away the fatigue and dejection. He looked towards the door.
Dodai and A walked in from outside, one after the other.
"What is Konoha's response?"
"Currently, Konoha has not responded to this. It's possible that the information link between Konoha and the Land of Snow team is not very good," Dodai answered.
A was full of energy, somewhat unable to hold back. "This means Ryoho Kyohiko is not in the Land of Snow! Father... Raikage-sama, I think we should go to the Land of Snow and get Killer B back!"
"The Land of Snow."
The Third Raikage was also struggling internally. Without a doubt, retrieving Killer B through normal channels would require paying a huge price, one that the Cloud Village might not be able to bear at the moment.
But, going to the Land of Snow...
"What if it's another trap?" Before the Raikage could speak, Dodai had already voiced his doubts.
From this statement and Kyohiko's previous strategic style, it could be judged that this young man was full of cunning tricks. This wasn't the first or second time he had used baiting tactics.
The Third Raikage glanced at A. "Do you still remember the matter of the Third Kazekage?"
The Third Kazekage...
A was speechless. Of course, he remembered. The Third Kazekage had been mysteriously ambushed and killed by Konoha. From the intelligence they gathered later, it was highly probable that Konoha had found a way to crack "Magnet Release" and used it to ambush the Third Kazekage.
He was about to speak but suddenly stopped. His father mentioning the Third Kazekage at this time...
"Are you saying... the Third Kazekage's death was also planned by Ryoho Kyohiko?" He was somewhat incredulous.
The Third Raikage nodded lightly. "We previously suspected it might be Orochimaru. Although we were suspicious of Ryoho Kyohiko, we didn't think he would have had such an opportunity at the time..."
"Looking at it now, it was him!" He took a deep breath.
Who could have imagined that when he was just over ten years old, Orochimaru would dare to hand over Konoha's ninja army to Kyohiko's command, letting a child plan the course of a war. For Konoha, it was a huge gamble.
But, Konoha had won!
He slowly exhaled. "Continue to liaise with Konoha. Find a way to get Killer B back, or... forget it, let's just stick to the plan."
The Third Raikage had originally thought of letting A follow them, waiting for news from their side—if Ryoho Kyohiko wasn't in Konoha, it meant the man himself was also in the Land of Snow. In that case... the Land of Snow would be a trap!
But, even if that guy was in Konoha, he would be handling matters in the Anbu or elsewhere, which wouldn't prove anything. On the contrary, if they went to the Land of Snow, it would be easy for both sides to make mistakes in their decisions due to intelligence, repeating a similar error as before.
The Cloud Village could not afford a second mistake!
***
On the northern seas.
After several days of drifting, Might Gai had completely lost his combat effectiveness. He lay on the bed like a salted fish, exuding an air of depression. At this moment, he was a completely different person from when he was on land.
Shikaku finished reading the scroll and was about to speak, but Kyohiko suddenly waved his hand. He walked to the side of the amber and performed a jutsu. Vines crawled all over the amber stone. These vines would absorb and isolate sound and sight from the inside and outside, forming a second line of defense outside the amber stone.
The third line... was the soundproof barrier around them.
"Leave a portion of the Eight-Tails behind..." Shikaku mused. Then, he looked at Kyohiko. "The octopus tail you threw away earlier..."
"Mhm, that's also chakra," Kyohiko nodded. He pondered for a moment and said, "I can use that tail as a catalyst and use Wood Release to draw out the chakra from Killer B's body. But this will require a certain amount of time and space."
"Set it up after we reach the Land of Snow?"
"We can."
Wood Release had the ability to absorb chakra. But, Wood Release absorbed chakra more for strengthening itself, rather than condensing it into a separate clone. The reason he could split the Nine-Tails into two before was that the Nine-Tails had cooperated with the output, making it convenient for Kyohiko to extract and seal.
Now, the Eight-Tails Gyūki and Killer B got along quite well. The possibility of getting the Eight-Tails to cooperate was slim. He would have to use force.
At this moment, Killer B had already woken up, but his vision was blurry, and no sound could get in. Only his nose and mouth were left for breathing.
"You idiot..." Killer B was just about to "sing" a rap.
At that moment, his vision went dark. He was pulled into Gyūki's world of mental communication.
"I advise you not to talk nonsense."
"What's wrong? I can't even curse a little!" Killer B was indignant. He never imagined that his Tailed Beast Bomb, far from helping the Cloud Village, had instead shattered their ship. If not for A's shout, he might have even killed or severely injured A with the Tailed Beast Bomb.
If that had really happened... he would never be able to forgive himself!
"I wonder how my brother is doing." Killer B sat paralyzed in the dark space, feeling lost and confused, not knowing what the future held.
Gyūki was silent. It also never expected Kyohiko's strength to be so terrifying. A single wood clone possessed such horrifying combat power. Although it had the advantage of a sneak attack, even without it, dealing with the brothers A and Killer B would only be a matter of time. If their positions were reversed... Kyohiko, even with just a wood clone, would absolutely not be afraid of them.
It thought for a long time and sighed. "In the current situation, we can at least be certain that your brother is not dead. At most, he's just injured."
"Really? How do you know!" Killer B was a little surprised.
"After you passed out, I still had some consciousness to perceive the situation outside. At that time, your brother even charged out from the explosion to fight..." Gyūki explained simply.
Hearing Gyūki's description, Killer B felt much more at ease. "That's good."
He was most worried about A's safety. Now that he heard his brother was safe, a weight was lifted from his heart. As for his own situation, in the current circumstances, it was useless to think too much.
***
In a dark underground cave.
Black Zetsu had just returned from the outside, reporting that he had successfully facilitated the cooperation of the three ninja villages.
After a short while, a White Zetsu emerged from the ground. "Madara-sama, something has happened!"
"Hm?" Madara looked at him, a cold glint in his eyes.
White Zetsu immediately shrank back, realizing that Obito was still here. The current Obito was not the same as before. Having awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan, his abilities had skyrocketed. He was no longer the same as when he first arrived. The current him... was not so easy to fool!
Moreover, even Uchiha Madara, in his current state, had to both use and guard against him.
Obito's gaze had already quietly shifted over.
Madara nodded lightly.
White Zetsu said, "Madara-sama, the Cloud Village's ship got into a fight with someone else. I'm not sure about the specifics, but Killer B didn't come back, and A was injured."
"A fight?" Black Zetsu immediately understood what that meant.
The Hidden Mist and Hidden Stone were already cooperating with the Cloud. It was impossible for them to have a conflict with a Cloud ship at sea. That only left one possibility.
Konoha!
The current Konoha was the strongest it had been since the death of Senju Hashirama, comparable to the era when Senju Hashirama and Senju Tobirama were together. How could Konoha possibly be afraid of a Cloud Village ship...
White Zetsu replied, "It should be, but we don't have an advantage at sea, so we don't have a clear understanding of the specific situation. This is all we know for now."
"Understood." Madara waved his hand, signaling him to leave. White Zetsu quietly vanished. This place was becoming more and more unbearable to stay in!
After White Zetsu left, Madara looked at Obito and smiled faintly. "Konoha has already begun."
"You mean, Konoha wants to start a war?" Obito frowned. Although he had already left Konoha, and with his actions in the Uchiha clan, the possibility of him returning to Konoha was slim, he couldn't believe from the bottom of his heart that Konoha was that kind of village. Konoha... in his eyes, although it had its problems, had always advocated for peace, just that it was walking on the wrong path.
Madara chuckled in a low voice. "Of course not." He looked straight ahead, as if gazing into the distance. "Many times, it's not that if you advocate for peace, others will believe you. For example, back then, was the brief peace in our time achieved through spiritual enlightenment?"
Madara sneered. "That was a peace that was fought for!"
"But..." Obito hesitated.
Black Zetsu said, "I know what you want to say, but child, the ninja world was previously in a state of balance. Konoha was strong but also wary of other ninja villages, and the other villages held each other in check."
"And now?" he guided Obito's thinking persuasively.
Obito understood what they wanted to say. Ever since he came here... besides training and improving his strength, he mostly read books and listened to Madara and Black Zetsu explain the world's structure, the evolution of power, and the path to peace. Hearing this, he felt more and more that peace was truly difficult.
After a wave of powerlessness, Obito suddenly thought of Kyohiko—in his impression, Kyohiko's ideal also seemed to be peace in the ninja world.
He couldn't help but ask, "Then, Kyohiko..."
"His plan should be similar to that of Senju Hashirama and myself back then, but perhaps a step further. This was a plan I once envisioned," Madara said slowly. On this point, he was not deceiving Obito.
"Back then, I once thought of unifying the ninja world, so that everyone would be in one country, one village, and thus there would be no pain of war..."
Obito listened with fascination. Unifying the ninja world! With no distinction between countries and villages, everyone would be one family, and there would indeed be no more disputes!
Then, he realized that Madara hadn't done it, and his current thinking and attitude seemed to have changed.
"Then why?"
"Because, although Kyohiko is smart, he has only seen the first layer. He only sees the brief peace after unifying the ninja world, but he doesn't see human desires, disputes..." Madara's tone was full of lament.
From Madara's perspective, Kyohiko was a truly respectable enemy, a respect that even surpassed the position of Senju Hashirama in his heart. He had mastered such powerful strength at a young age. As a teenager, he could summarize from history and think of a path that he himself had only thought of after his own failure.
Even if it was a relatively wrong path... in his view, this was not Kyohiko's fault. It was only because Kyohiko did not have the Sharingan, did not know the contents of the stone tablet, did not know the relationship between the Senju and Uchiha, and thus failed to grasp the power of all creation. This was a cognitive barrier, not a limitation of Kyohiko's own wisdom.
"From a human perspective, Kyohiko's vision is already very perfect," Madara praised softly.
Black Zetsu was silent on the side for a while. In his view... what Madara said was not quite right. If things really went according to Kyohiko's vision and the ninja world was unified, then his own plan would be very difficult to complete. He might have to wait for another one or two hundred years, or even longer.
Thank goodness for idiots like Madara and Obito! he thought to himself.
Madara and Obito naturally didn't know his inner thoughts. The two were currently talking about the pros and cons of unifying the ninja world. After listening, Obito sighed with no small regret.
"Even someone as strong as Kyohiko has his own limitations in knowledge and ability, leading to a restricted perspective..."
"I must train and learn even more!" Obito thought to himself.
Madara leaned back in satisfaction and said softly, "From the looks of it, the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki has most likely been captured by Konoha. I have a mission for you."
"Is it to capture the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki?" Obito immediately answered.
Madara looked at him, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly.
Capture the Eight-Tails? You? It wasn't that he looked down on Obito, but the current Obito was really no match for Ryoho Kyohiko.
He leaned back a little. "Ryoho Kyohiko's goal should be to collect the Tailed Beasts, to re-gather most of them and use them as a threatening force to compel the other ninja villages to submit."
"Such a vision can minimize casualties to the greatest extent."
"But, according to our plan, we also need the Tailed Beasts as support to achieve the state of the Sage and activate the Infinite Tsukuyomi..."
"You two, go and capture the Seven-Tails and One-Tails," Madara said unhurriedly.
Black Zetsu and Obito immediately responded. "Yes!"
Only after they left did Madara send out White Zetsu to go to the Land of Snow and monitor Konoha's movements. He needed to know—did Konoha capture Killer B or not!
***
Land of Snow, outside a bay harbor, a ship slowly sailed in.
Kojin Shun let out a long sigh of relief when he saw the familiar snow and glaciers.
He was home! This trip to Konoha had been relatively safe in the first half. In the second half, after hiring ninja, it seemed to be even more dangerous than the first half. Almost every passing ship would try to inquire about them.
Fortunately, there were no more battles later on. Even for Kyohiko, if there was no fighting, he was more than happy to coexist peacefully.
"Honorable ninjas of Konoha, this is our Land of Snow. Welcome to the kingdom of snow!"
"Thank you. I think my subordinate can't wait any longer," Nara Shikaku said, smiling as he looked back.
Might Gai, supported by "Hatake Kakashi," slowly walked off the ship, looking half-dead, his face a picture of misery.