"Kurosuki Raiga, Kakuzu..."
"They actually attacked the Hidden Waterfall Village directly!"
In the distance, Pakura lay prone on a cliff face, her heart filled with secret astonishment. She had discovered Kakuzu's tracks at an underground exchange market and had been secretly following him all the way here. After waiting for a moment, the two of them had actually launched a direct assault on the Hidden Waterfall Village.
How audacious.
No, wait!
Pakura's pupils suddenly shrank as she looked at the battle in the distance—she had heard a terrifying explosion. This was not a fluctuation that could be caused by ordinary ninjutsu. In her entire life, she had only heard a similar sound once, in a battle with the Hidden Stone Village.
That was... a Tailed Beast Bomb!
Is their target the Tailed Beast?
Pakura's heart skipped a beat. Kakuzu and Kurosuki Raiga's audacity was too great. With just two people, they dared to come back and directly attack a ninja village with the intention of taking away the Tailed Beast Jinchuriki inside.
Wait!
These two could not possibly be looking for trouble with a Tailed Beast just for money. According to previous investigations, the two were suspected to be related to that group...
"When Kyohiko and Rasa were hunting down Sasori of the Red Sand, Kakuzu was suspected of heading there to provide support."
"If the two of them are indeed related to Madara's forces, then their goal is not simply money, but—"
"The Tailed Beasts!"
Pakura was instantly jolted awake. If she followed this line of thought, among the ninja villages that possessed Tailed Beasts, the weakest one had already been attacked.
Who was the second weakest?
The Hidden Sand Village!
She quietly retreated down the cliff face and ran in the direction of the Hidden Sand Village. But after running for a while, Pakura suddenly realized—if people like Kakuzu and Kurosuki Raiga were to attack the Hidden Sand Village, even if the village had made preparations in advance, it would be of no use.
The enemy was too strong! With the current strength of the Hidden Sand Village, they simply couldn't withstand the enemy's assault. And their village's Jinchuriki should currently be Bunpuku. That old monk was still alive only due to his strong will; it was completely unrealistic to expect him to fight the enemy.
Going to the Hidden Sand Village would definitely be useless!
She immediately changed direction and ran towards Kikyō Castle.
Notify Konoha!
***
Night. Outside Kikyō Castle, a kunai flew in swiftly.
Thud!
A crisp sound. The patrolling ninja immediately gave chase, but the other party vanished in an instant. The next second, they followed the sound from earlier.
Under the kunai, a bamboo tube was tied. On the paper inside, there was a familiar mark.
"Quick, send it to Hayama-sama!"
This was definitely intelligence sent by that person.
Not long after, Shirakumo Hayama received the intelligence. He opened it and, as expected, it was the familiar handwriting. But the words on it made his expression change drastically.
Shirakumo Hayama immediately rolled it up and put it back into the bamboo tube. "Quick, send it to the Anbu!"
***
Konoha Anbu. Kakashi was drenched in sweat.
After the previous "bounty increase," he thought nothing could throw his mind into chaos again, but the unexpected came faster than he had imagined.
Something seemed to have happened to the Hidden Waterfall Village! This was sent over by the Anbu's intelligence network, but for now, they hadn't found out the specifics.
Just then.
"Sir, intelligence from Kikyō Castle."
"Give it to me!" Kakashi flickered to his side in an instant.
He took it, opened it. His expression changed dramatically. The content on it was...
"Hidden Waterfall Village attacked. Kurosuki Raiga, Kakuzu. Target suspected to be the Seven-Tails. The One-Tails is in danger."
The Seven-Tails? Kakuzu, Kurosuki Raiga!
Cross-referencing it with the intelligence from his own channels, Kakashi immediately knew that this matter was not to be taken lightly. "I'm going out!"
The next second, Kakashi headed towards the Flying Thunder Formation Squad's location. A minute later, he appeared outside the Hokage's office in Konoha.
Inside, the voices of Tsunade and Sarutobi Hiruzen could be faintly heard. He couldn't wait. He immediately knocked on the door, then pushed it open and entered.
Tsunade and Sarutobi Hiruzen turned to look. On their desk, there were quite a few books and a scroll.
"Kakashi, you're just in time..."
"My lords, something has happened!" Kakashi didn't have time to explain. He immediately handed both pieces of intelligence to them.
One came from the Anbu's own intelligence network. The other came from a special channel on the Kikyō Castle side.
The two of them quickly glanced at it and shot up from their seats. They had been discussing the matter of summoning beasts. They never thought that before the artificial summoning beast clan was even established, a major incident would occur outside.
The Hidden Waterfall Village had been attacked. For a ninja village, how many years had it been since such a terrible incident occurred?
"Kyohiko and I have talked about it before. If Madara wants to strengthen them and weaken us, the most likely direction is to obtain as many Tailed Beasts as possible."
"After all, Madara's power is in the shadows. On the surface, it has nothing to do with the three great ninja villages. No one can hold them accountable," Tsunade said, rubbing her brow.
She never thought that what they had previously rehearsed would actually happen so quickly. Her mind quickly raced, thinking of countermeasures.
Kyohiko was not in the village. If she sent Namikaze Minato to support... No!
Tsunade immediately rejected the idea. If Namikaze Minato went to support the Sand Village, it might resolve the crisis there, but Konoha might fall into a state of being threatened by Madara's subordinates. After all, Obito's current ability had already reached the level of "space-time" jutsu.
Tsunade's thoughts were in a whirl. She took a deep breath and said, "Kakashi, make another trip. Have Minato come here to discuss."
"Yes!" Kakashi left with a flicker. This matter was too big. He, the "squad leader" and "acting captain," couldn't handle it at all!
A few minutes later, Namikaze Minato arrived directly via Flying Thunder God. After hearing the description, he too fell silent for a moment.
Kakuzu, Kurosuki Raiga. Neither was a pushover. Plus, there were Ōnoki and the Third Raikage in the north, watching like tigers...
Minato let out a long breath. "Fortunately, Kyohiko captured Killer B. The Eight-Tails is now in our hands, which can hold the Cloud Village in check. Otherwise, the pressure would be even greater."
He said, "Hokage-sama, Sandaime-sama, what do you think? Why don't we contact Kyohiko first and have him come back quickly? After that, we can hold a meeting, summon the village's important ninja to discuss together, and send some teams to Kikyō Castle first."
Tsunade nodded lightly upon hearing this. Minato's suggestion was good! But...
She thought for a moment. "Notify the Sand Village first and have them prepare. Otherwise, if we enter the Land of Wind and become invaders instead, it wouldn't be good."
"After that, have Jiraiya go check on the Hidden Waterfall Village..." Tsunade issued one order after another.
Although she and Orochimaru had a certain contingency plan, the enemy's attack came much earlier than she had expected. There was definitely not enough time to do anything about the Seven-Tails, Chōmei.
In that case... the Sand Village's Shukaku must be protected!
Theoretically, that thing was their Konoha's "collateral." And with this crisis, if they could protect Shukaku, they could directly have the Sand Village hand over the Tailed Beast.
A blessing in disguise. Tsunade realized that if handled properly, this crisis was also an opportunity.
Konoha quickly got to work.
***
In the north, the Land of Snow.
With a cry, a baby was born into the world. It was a girl.
Kazahana Sōsetsu was all smiles, incredibly affectionate.
"Your Excellency, congratulations!"
"Hahahaha, thank you all from Konoha. This time it's all thanks to you. Otherwise, my wife and child might not have had such a smooth delivery," Kazahana Sōsetsu said with a laugh.
Nara Shikaku returned the smile. Although he was not yet a father, he could completely understand the joy Kazahana Sōsetsu was feeling at this moment, so he was very willing to let him enjoy the current happiness a little longer. After all, the feeling and opportunity of being a first-time father would not come a second time.
As Kazahana Sōsetsu was exclaiming, Kyohiko was outside the door, letting the wind blow, with Gyūki's clone on his shoulder—or rather, it was now Gyūki's main body. After all, on Killer B's side, only one-fifth of the chakra remained. Even if its consciousness could be preserved, it definitely couldn't compare to the Gyūki before him.
"Did you Konoha people really come to the Land of Snow just to do good deeds?" Gyūki was very shocked.
It had thought of many possibilities in its head, such as—Konoha wanting to join forces with the Land of Snow to obtain their resources, or stationing a ninja unit here.
And the result? This group of people came, killed Kazahana Dotō, saved Kazahana Sōsetsu's wife, and allowed his wife to give birth safely... In Gyūki's eyes, it was very confusing.
Kyohiko smiled but didn't answer. Just then, he suddenly sensed a chakra fluctuation. The next second, a scroll wrapped in a bamboo tube appeared in his hand.
Coming from Konoha, and so intact... even the Flying Thunder God squad that he and Minato had trained together couldn't do it yet. Currently, the only one who could do it was Namikaze Minato himself!
His expression turned grave. He opened the bamboo tube and took out the scroll.
Gyūki curiously leaned over, then it was somewhat taken aback. "The Hidden Waterfall Village was attacked? I remember, the Seven-Tails is sealed there, right?"
"That's right." Kyohiko nodded. He quickly put away the scroll. He had seen the content. He could roughly guess the subsequent developments and didn't need to look any further.
Putting away the scroll, Kyohiko looked at the others. Shikaku was still talking with Kazahana Sōsetsu, Yūhi Kurenai was in the backyard discussing medical techniques with the doctors, and as for Might Gai—he was running wildly in the snow, saying he wanted to feel the power of life and youth.
I should call that guy back first!
Kyohiko flickered over, arriving beside Gai in an instant.
"Gai, stop running."
"What's wrong? Are there more enemies?" Might Gai was full of fighting spirit.
Kyohiko shook his head. "Not that, but before that, we have work to do."
"What work?"
"There's a situation in the village. I need to leave the Land of Snow ahead of schedule. You guys will need to clean up the mess here afterwards," Kyohiko said.
Using the Flying Thunder God to return to Konoha from the Land of Snow would theoretically consume a large amount of chakra, possibly requiring him to open the remaining pools. But—didn't he have Gyūki? Besides, he didn't need to return to Konoha. Using Yahiko or Pakura's location as a coordinate could save a portion of his chakra and allow him to arrive directly at the Sand Village's front line.
Might Gai instantly ended his handstand, stood firm, his face becoming grave. "What happened?"
Although he wasn't very smart, he wasn't completely clueless. Kyohiko had always been extremely confident. A situation like this was extremely rare. If something happened to Konoha, his father... Might Gai's heart couldn't help but worry. He naturally knew the power of the Eight Inner Gates. After opening the eighth gate, one would have terrifying combat power for a short period of time, but correspondingly—they would die!
What kind of crisis was Konoha facing? He was still pondering.
Kyohiko couldn't help but laugh. "It's not as serious as you think. If it were that kind of situation, wouldn't I have just used Flying Thunder God to go back directly?"
"Ah? That's true, then..."
"This scroll, you take it to Shikaku-senpai later. You don't need to rush back. That group of wandering ninja in the Land of Snow is very important. Do your best to bring them back or recruit them," Kyohiko instructed.
Might Gai nodded repeatedly, but watching Kyohiko speak while a piece of wood grew in his hand, on which he carved words with chakra, he knew that the other party did not trust his intelligence. But... that was fine too! What if he really forgot? He nodded while silently reciting Kyohiko's instructions.
A few seconds later, Kyohiko had written down the general situation and handed it to Might Gai. "I'm leaving first. Your mission here is equally important, so don't rush to leave. Build a good relationship with the daimyō first."
"Oh, okay..." Might Gai said with a dazed expression, taking the piece of wood and the scroll. Then he watched Kyohiko leave.
After waiting for a few minutes, inside the house, Kazahana Sōsetsu and Nara Shikaku finally finished their conversation.
Shikaku secretly breathed a sigh of relief. If not for the increased number of dealings with the nobles of the Land of Fire and the Land of Clouds recently, which had given him a wealth of experience, it probably wouldn't have been so easy to satisfy Kazahana Sōsetsu.
But the result was good. The Land of Snow was vast. If Kyohiko's vision could really be realized, the potential of this place would be immense. If a ninja force could be cultivated... then, if the Land of Snow became an ally of Konoha, it would be of immense strategic significance to Konoha. Of course, the premise was that their strength could be raised to a certain level, enough to threaten the Hidden Stone Village.
As for the method of increasing their strength... chakra and ninjutsu training was one part, and the other part was Kazahana Dotō's special chakra armor. Something that could be mass-produced quickly might not be of high quality, but it was better than nothing.
Nara Shikaku could imagine a part of Kyohiko's follow-up plan, so he attached great importance to Kazahana Sōsetsu's attitude.
After giving the daimyō a huge amount of emotional value, he walked out of the house and noticed Might Gai waiting in the snow, and... Ryoho Kyohiko, who had vanished.
"What happened?"
"Mhm, it might be slow to explain. You should read this first. It'll be faster to ask me questions after you're done," Might Gai said, knowing his own limitations. For a smart jonin like Nara Shikaku, he could probably read and understand most of the intelligence with a single glance, while his own description might contain errors.
Nara Shikaku took it and quickly read through the instructions on the piece of wood. Then he took out the scroll and opened it. His expression suddenly changed drastically.
Someone had actually attacked a Tailed Beast Jinchuriki! Once someone started targeting the Tailed Beasts, it meant that the ninja world would descend into complete chaos.
"Konoha..." He was silent for a few seconds, then looked at Gai. "Kyohiko wants us to continue the mission here?"
"Yes, he said there's another group of wandering ninja in the south that is very important. We need to bring them over, and it would be best if we could recruit them, and then..." Might Gai relayed Kyohiko's instructions.
Shikaku nodded repeatedly. He had already thought of what Kyohiko had said and naturally understood the importance of this group of wandering ninja. Besides, Kyohiko would go to provide support, so the situation in the Sand Village wouldn't be too bad.
In terms of chakra, Kyohiko himself had a massive reserve of chakra stored up, and with the Eight-Tails by his side, he could borrow the Tailed Beast's power when necessary.
Safe!
After weighing it for a long time, Shikaku nodded. "I understand. From now on, you and Kurenai will follow my command."
"Yes!" Might Gai stood at attention.
Command... there wasn't much to do, really. It was more about maintaining stability, helping Kazahana Sōsetsu control the chaos in the country, and bringing peace here. More than that, it was about staying in the Land of Snow and not acting rashly—if they set off to return now, whether they encountered the Hidden Stone or the Hidden Cloud, without Kyohiko by their side, they could be attacked.