Chapter 130 – Konoha Against the Entire Shinobi World? No! It's Me, Uchiha Renji!
"I honestly didn't expect you to persuade those people from Kirigakure."
Shikaku was somewhat amazed. Even now, the rapid sequence of changes left him in awe.
The alliance with Kirigakure had greatly eased the pressure on Konoha's warfront.
"There's still plenty of untouched resources left in the Land of Fire, but even that has already brought massive profit to many shinobi clans. What Konoha has sacrificed is merely being labeled a rebel by the other great nations. But in Kirigakure's eyes, that label means nothing—they're reaping actual benefits, and they need them."
In the end, it was about profit. In the past, everyone followed the rules: war was waged by ninja as a military organization, while the daimyo provided supplies to support the shinobi's survival.
Everyone had been willing to follow this system. But now, after the daimyo tried to protest and were promptly killed by Renji and the Uchiha, it became clear there was no real consequence.
How could Kirigakure not be tempted?
A group of powerless men had ruled over them—who would be happy with that? The only reason no one had challenged it before was because no one had thought to.
"You're right. After taking out the daimyo, even the Nara clan has profited greatly."
Konoha had always had limited resources. There was never enough for everyone. But after eliminating the nobles of the Land of Fire, the new beneficiaries were them. Everyone was eating well off the spoils.
Perhaps at first, there had been opposition to Renji's decision to kill the daimyo. But he was the Hokage, backed by immense strength and the Uchiha clan. So no one openly objected.
And once the profits started flowing, all that prior opposition disappeared.
Even the villagers of Konoha applauded the move—because they saw tangible benefits. Renji even distributed part of the gains to the civilians of the Land of Fire, which helped normalize the new order.
Without the daimyo, life was better.
"So of course Kirigakure is on board. I'm sure they're already busy enjoying the spoils. By the way, Shikaku, write me a few letters. The content should be invitations to the Kage of the other villages, encouraging them to kill their own daimyo. Then send one copy to the Kage, and another to their intelligence division—make it look like it was intercepted."
"Open provocation, huh?"
Shikaku pondered Renji's plan and couldn't help but admire his cunning.
Weren't the Uchiha supposed to be all brawn and no brains?
Everyone would know the letters were from Konoha, deliberately sent to stir trouble.
Under normal circumstances, no one would take them seriously. But now was different. Konoha had already killed the Land of Fire's daimyo. The Land of Water's daimyo was dead too. How would the remaining three nations respond?
The letters themselves didn't matter anymore. What mattered was that trust between the daimyo and the shinobi villages would be broken.
And once a crack forms, there's no going back.
"Jiraiya is at the Earth Country front, Tsunade went to the Sand front. Are you heading to Kumogakure?"
Kumogakure's strength was unmatched among the remaining villages. Besides A, they had two Tailed Beasts.
Because of that, Uchiha Fugaku and Uchiha Shisui had gone to the Iwa front. The Sharingan was advantageous in controlling Tailed Beasts.
On the Sand front, Tsunade faced Chiyo, while Pakura fought Rasa. The Tailed Beast in Sunagakure hadn't matured yet—it was still a child like in Konoha.
Thanks to Kirigakure's involvement, Konoha now had overwhelming superiority on the Sand front.
Meanwhile, Kumogakure had both the Eight-Tails and the Two-Tails in their prime. With their worship of strength, their jinchūriki were far stronger than others.
"Sure."
Kumogakure, huh? A place where talking wouldn't work—only fists.
That's how they operated.
"Big bro, do those idiots from Konoha really think we'll fall for this?"
"Shut up."
A glared at Killer B, then rubbed his forehead in frustration.
"Samui, what should we do next?"
Despite his outward brashness, A had his own wisdom. He knew exactly what Renji was trying to do—drive a wedge between them and their daimyo.
But what could they do?
A was genuinely considering whether they should kill their daimyo too.
After all, judging by what happened with Konoha and Kirigakure, there didn't seem to be much risk.
"I suggest we maintain good relations with the daimyo for now. After all that's happened, they won't turn on us just yet. Konoha could pull it off—but that doesn't mean we can."
Samui shook her head and shared her view. To her, now was absolutely not the time to imitate Konoha.
Konoha could do it—they could not.
"Why not?"
A scratched his head in frustration. Killing the daimyo didn't seem like such a big deal. All the shinobi villages had probably thought about it.
If Konoha could do it, why couldn't they?
What's the harm in eliminating the daimyo?
"Because Konoha had planned this long in advance. They had everything set up before acting. That's why they could take over the Land of Fire so quickly. We'd be acting on impulse—and we'd never match Konoha's speed. Normally, we could attempt something like this, but we're already mobilized for war. Most of our forces are on the front lines. How can we do anything else?"
Wasn't it obvious?
They were premeditated. You're just reacting.
That's not the same.
"Damn it. The daimyo are just obstacles in our path. But after we crush Konoha, we'll deal with them next!"
A understood things probably wouldn't go as he wished. Konoha's swift and precise moves had stunned the entire shinobi world. He knew it was impossible to replicate what they had done.
And the daimyo of the Land of Water had clearly been dealt with by Konoha.
How else could Kirigakure be cooperating with Konoha to take on the other three villages?
"The situation actually isn't in our favor. Iwa is being held back by the Uchiha and Jiraiya. Tsunade is in Sunagakure. Kirigakure is also reinforcing the Sand front. We have to face the majority of Konoha's forces and their Hokage alone."
What worried Samui the most was the Hokage—the man who killed both Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzō Shimura in front of all of Konoha.
His combat strength must be terrifying.
"The Hokage is just a coward. In my eyes, all of them are the same. Didn't the Second Hokage die at our hands? The Third gave in the moment we applied some pressure."
He didn't even mention the First and Fourth. Those two didn't impress him either.
They'd taken out both Hiruzen and Danzō. If those two had been deployed to the Kumogakure front alongside Renji, maybe A would've felt threatened.
But look at their side.
A himself, the Eight-Tails, the Two-Tails, plus the elite jonin of Kumogakure—what did they have to fear?
"Say what you want, but what about Ōnoki's proposal? Should we go along with it?"
"Hah. That old man sure knows how to scheme."
A sneered, but deep down, he was conflicted.
Even agreeing to work with Ōnoki this time left a bad taste in his mouth.
After all, the Third Raikage had died at the hands of Iwagakure. If not for Konoha's current upheaval, they'd still be at each other's throats.
But one had to admit—Ōnoki's plan was clever. If they truly followed through, merging their shinobi forces, they would have four Tailed Beasts in total.
With Takigakure also joining the war, they'd gain a fifth Tailed Beast.
Because of Konoha's execution of the daimyo, formerly neutral nations could no longer stay silent. The daimyo would never allow such a precedent—it directly threatened their own interests.
As a result, the Land of Waterfall dispatched Takigakure to fight Konoha, even deploying the Seven-Tails' jinchūriki.
The Land of Iron, while nominally neutral, also received orders from its daimyo to launch an offensive along the eastern front of the Land of Fire. The Land of Rivers and the Land of Grass moved along the southwestern front to link up with Sunagakure.
The daimyo of the Land of Snow, Kazahana Dotō, led his shinobi to unite with the forces of Takigakure.
All southeastern defense of Konoha was now entirely entrusted to Kirigakure.
At this point, it was Konoha and Kirigakure against virtually the entire shinobi world.
The Land of Fields remained quiet, since it was under Orochimaru's control. For now, Orochimaru had no intention of acting—but he was fixated on acquiring the Uchiha bloodline.
Ever since his defeat by Itachi in the Akatsuki, his desire for the Sharingan had reached its peak—especially after learning that Hiruzen Sarutobi had died to the Mangekyō. Now, he longed for it more than ever.
As for the Land of Rain—Akatsuki's base of operations—Pain held that territory. For the sake of his grand plan, he had no intention of intervening. He preferred to let the other shinobi villages battle until they were exhausted, and then emerge at the end to clean up.
"So, we'll move through the Land of Fields and wait in the Land of Frost for the arrival of Ōnoki with Iwagakure, along with shinobi from the Land of Waterfall and the Land of Grass?"
A fell silent. That plan seemed viable, even if allying with Iwagakure was distasteful. But it was undeniably the best way to consolidate their strength and deliver a decisive blow to Konoha.
"I think it works. Once we unite, we'll have five Tailed Beasts. Konoha's Nine-Tails has no combat power, so that gives us five jinchūriki and two Kage-levels—at least seven guaranteed top-tier combatants."
Samui wasn't even including the other elite Iwagakure fighters—just the jinchūriki and the Kage.
"Fine. Tell that old bastard Ōnoki we'll take Konoha down together. But our past grudges won't be forgiven so easily."
Though it irritated him, A understood that this was their best move. And of course, he wouldn't refuse what was advantageous to Kumogakure.
It was clear that the shinobi led by Renji were stronger than Iwagakure's.
"I got it. By the way, there's someone you might want to meet."
"Who?"
"Sarutobi Asuma."
After delivering his message to the daimyo of the Land of Lightning, Asuma had been sent to join them.
There was no way he could return to the Land of Fire now. If not for the protection of the daimyo back then, he would've been captured and branded a missing-nin long ago.
Now that the daimyo were dead, there was no place for him to return to.
"Heh. That guy wants revenge, huh?"
A let out a cold laugh upon hearing the name. He clearly understood Asuma's motivations.
An elite jonin joining them wasn't a bad thing.
But A had always looked down on traitors—anyone who could betray their own village. And once he learned of Asuma's actions in the past, his disdain only grew.
He was tolerating Asuma only because the man still had some value.
"Yeah. He wants to join the assault on Konoha. Or rather, he says he wants to target the Uchiha—not Konoha itself."
"Fine. Let him prepare. I won't meet him—I don't have time."
"Understood."
Samui finished speaking and went to inform Asuma.
Upon hearing that the Raikage refused to see him, Asuma's face turned grim. After Samui left, he gritted his teeth and muttered to himself:
"Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west—don't look down on a broke middle-aged man!"
Back when he was the Hokage's son, who hadn't tried to curry favor with him?
Now he had truly fallen from grace—like a tiger forced into a valley, bullied by dogs.
"Just wait."
"All of you—just wait!"
If he could use Kumogakure and Iwagakure to take down Renji and destroy the Uchiha clan…
Then he'd turn on them, return to Konoha, rally its forces, and—riding on the legacy of his father's influence—become the Sixth Hokage. Then he would marry Kurenai!
Kurenai had waited for him in Konoha all these years. He couldn't let her down.
Asuma's heart swelled with excitement.
Iwagakure.
Upon receiving A's reply, Ōnoki immediately rose and turned to Kurotsuchi's father, Akatsuchi.
"Gather all shinobi and advance toward the border between the Land of Waterfall and the Land of Frost. This time, we'll wipe Konoha out and take the Land of Fire!"
He had no intention of killing the daimyo of the Land of Earth. To him, the Land of Earth was a barren wasteland. His goal was to conquer Konoha and claim the fertile Land of Fire.
Now that the Land of Fire had no daimyo, wasn't this the perfect opportunity?
"The old man's been ready. Just waiting for your command!"
Akatsuchi grinned wide. This might very well be their last war against Konoha!
"Good. Then let's move out!"
Ōnoki nodded, then turned to the long-legged young woman beside him.
"Kurotsuchi, stay close to me on the battlefield. Don't run off!"
"Grandpa, I'm already grown up! I don't need your protection anymore!"
Kurotsuchi protested. She was an adult now—she didn't want to be constantly controlled.
But Ōnoki didn't argue. The battlefield was dangerous. He'd always cherished his granddaughter deeply and had no intention of letting her die out there.
Ever since Deidara left, Ōnoki had regarded Kurotsuchi as the next Tsuchikage.
[End of Chapter]
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