[Hozuki Castle]: Located on a small island in the northern inland sea of the Land of Grass, surrounded by ocean on all sides. The island was named for the abundance of a fruit called "Hozuki"—a type of sour groundberry.
After the First Great Ninja War, in order to secure its own safety through strategic cooperation, the Hidden Grass Village specially accepted commissions from various nations, actively establishing on the island a prison specifically for imprisoning criminal ninja.
After all, for these countries, keeping certain high-profile criminal ninja in their own hands brought no real benefit—it was just like holding a hot potato; you wouldn't want to keep it in your hands for long. They were forced to provide food and shelter—squandering precious resources—while also ensuring the prison's security and preventing any potential escapes. Wouldn't it be better to simply hand them off to a public facility specialized in receiving prisoners?
Thus, the Hozuki Castle prison of the Hidden Grass Village came into being.
Of course, from the perspective of the Hidden Grass Village, they appeared to be selflessly contributing—building the prison themselves, then spending time and effort managing dangerous criminals. But this was exactly what they wanted.
Firstly, through the study of these foreign criminal ninja, they could research and analyze their ninjutsu, searching for ways to counter them.
Secondly, this prison could serve as cover for their forbidden experiments, concealing their ambitions.
Thirdly, they could use this as leverage in diplomatic negotiations among various nations, avoiding the fate of the Land of Grass becoming a battlefield for larger powers. Otherwise, the shattered Rain Hidden Village nearby might have foreshadowed their own future.
In short, no nation is filled with fools. Each nation, each hidden village… is quietly gathering strength in its own way, plotting in secret… seeking to shake up the rigid structure held by the Five Great Nations and fight for more benefits for their own villages.
Whether it's the Rain Ninja Village or the Grass Ninja Village, all are playing this game. It's just a matter of who hides deeper and possesses greater power.
Right now, at dusk, outside of Hozuki Castle, beams of light continuously swept across the area, vigilantly scanning for any suspicious boats or creatures attempting to approach the island.
Of course, common and small animals usually went unnoticed.
Soon after nightfall, a sudden splash broke the waves as a toad leapt from the water and landed upon the island, stopping at the outer wall of the fortress.
"Waaagh—"
The toad opened its mouth and spat out two figures. Undoubtedly, these were none other than Jiraiya and Tsunade.
"Pfah! That was disgusting!"
"Do we really have to sneak in like this?"
Tsunade wrinkled her face in disgust as she removed her coat soaked in toad stomach acid, revealing her impressive cleavage and smooth bare shoulders. The sight nearly gave Jiraiya next to her a nosebleed.
At this moment, Jiraiya felt deeply convinced—this infiltration method had indeed been absolutely necessary!
"Cough cough—"
"Don't worry about minor details anymore. Our mission comes first."
"According to intelligence, representatives from smaller ninja villages may currently be secretly meeting inside this prison city."
"Just look—tonight's defenses are even tighter than the intel suggested."
"If we force our way in, we'll only interrupt their secret meeting and risk failing the mission..."
Jiraiya whispered patiently.
With their strength, breaking through forcefully wouldn't be a problem.
But they were here to complete a mission,
not to provoke a war between Konoha and the Hidden Grass Village.
It was better to keep a low profile until they had evidence.
"Phooey!"
"I think you're just doing this on purpose! Pervert!"
Tsunade scolded angrily, slapping Jiraiya on the head.
In reality, she wasn't truly angry.
"Hehehe!"
Jiraiya rubbed his head and chuckled silently.
Indeed, the older a woman got, the stranger her temper became!
However, having the chance to go on a mission with Tsunade again, adventuring together like old times,
already made Jiraiya extremely satisfied.
All throughout the journey, their playful interactions had sparked countless inspirations within him.
He felt like he could write ten more *Icha Icha* novels without running out of ideas!
"Oh well, fine. I'll leave it to you."
"What do we do next?"
Tsunade waved her hand slightly, showing a bit more seriousness as she stopped dwelling on it.
"First, we sneak inside and find their conference room to see what exactly they're conspiring about. Then we decide our next move..."
"Alright."
The two exchanged glances before immediately springing into action.
Using superior stealth techniques and taijutsu, they soon bypassed heavy guards and infiltrated deep into this prison city...
At this moment, inside a secret underground meeting chamber within [Hozuki Castle].
Dozens of people were divided into over a dozen factions, gathered together in one place, arguing intensely.
Clearly, they were representatives from various minor ninja villages.
This gathering was all about discussing alliance terms.
The main proposers behind this alliance were the [Hidden Grass Village] and [Hidden Waterfall Village].
The [Hidden Waterfall Village] had long been regarded as the premier small ninja village under the Five Great Hidden Villages.
Combined with the influential and reputable [Hidden Grass Village] proposing jointly, naturally many small ninja villages had joined them.
Of course, the primary reason was...
Recent major events had frightened these smaller villages greatly.
Chaos in Mist, war in Iwagakure, battles in Konoha, and even the resurrection of warriors rivaling those from the legendary Warring States era...
The entire ninja world had become turbulent,
appearing as if the Fourth Great Ninja War was about to erupt.
Forcing these fragile small villages to ally with one another and seek survival through unity.
After all, none of these minor villages wanted to sit idle and wait for death.
Right now, what they were discussing was precisely...
how to unite all the small ninja villages to resist potential dangers from the Five Great Hidden Villages together...
...
Just then, those inside the secret conference room had no idea...
In another locked room outside Hozuki Castle,
Jiraiya and Tsunade stood quietly inside,
watching the entire scene unfold through a crystal ball.
In a corner of this room lay a knocked-out guard, motionless.
Jiraiya: "The intelligence was correct. They really are plotting here!"
"Such a large group... How did they manage to gather here secretly?"
Jiraiya replied, "Most likely under the pretense of transporting criminals... That's probably how they got together here."
Every year, various Ninja Villages would send some of the criminals they captured to the prison at [Hozuki Castle].
Of course, those in charge of transportation were usually regular ninja from each village.
Therefore, by simply blending their representatives into these transport teams,
they could easily reach [Hozuki Castle] under the guise of prisoner transport.
This allowed them to secretly assemble and plot alliances without alerting the major nations.
Unfortunately, these smaller Ninja Villages underestimated the powerful intelligence networks of the Five Great Hidden Villages.
As a result, [Konoha] received an early warning
and sent people to investigate.
"What nerve! Just a bunch of small villages—can't they just stay put?!"
"Why don't we just deal with them now?"
Tsunade muttered angrily, turning to Jiraiya.
Known for her bold personality, she wasn't interested in dragging this out.
Jiraiya quickly stopped her, saying:
"Everyone wants to survive!"
"These smaller Ninja Villages are no different..."
"Don't underestimate their determination; continual oppression will only breed deeper hatred!"
"Do you still remember my student Nagato?"
"There may be other talents like him emerging from these small villages in the future. If we keep oppressing them, Konoha might face another tragedy like before..."
Thinking about Pain's immense power and especially that final [Ultimate Shinra Tensei],
Tsunade couldn't help but shiver slightly.
She reluctantly agreed with Jiraiya's reasoning and decided to wait patiently,
continuing to observe the meeting.
"Wait! Jiraiya, look over there!"
Suddenly noticing something, Tsunade pointed at a corner of the image shown on the Crystal Ball.
Jiraiya focused closely.
Only then did he suddenly notice, standing quietly in the corner of that meeting room,
a Grass ninja holding onto a red-haired woman.
Jiraiya had studied the Uzumaki Clan closely — he knew something was off the moment he saw her.
After all, in the whole Ninja World, almost no one had such blazing red hair...
What's more, even through the Crystal Ball, he could feel a powerful life force radiating from that woman—
reminding him strongly of Kushina Uzumaki, his former student Minato's wife.
"Could that be... someone from the Uzumaki Clan?"
"If it isn't Nagato or Naruto, could there still be surviving members of the Uzumaki?"
"Why is she here?"
Jiraiya quietly muttered in astonishment.
Beyond his surprise at finding a living Uzumaki clan member,
Jiraiya felt even more perplexed.
How did a member of the Uzumaki appear at this secret alliance meeting among small nations?
From the looks of things, she didn't seem to have come willingly; rather, it looked forced.
Could it really be...?
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