Chapter 473: Surrender or Resist?
"Rasa, the Kazekage, is dead."
Inside Konoha's hospital, Tsunade spoke softly from her bed while Shikaku diligently recorded the information beside her.
However, the very first piece of news was already so shocking that Shikaku's hand paused.
He thought of Sunagakure's ninja, whose whereabouts had mysteriously vanished and remained completely unknown.
Now that Rasa, the Kazekage, was dead, Sunagakure would likely decline.
Did Konoha need to change its attitude toward Sunagakure?
Although Konoha had not suffered catastrophic losses in this war and had even preserved much of its strength, Shikaku instinctively wanted to do something, such as extracting some benefits from Sunagakure to make Konoha more prosperous.
But after considering that the entire Shinobi World was now facing the same threat, Shikaku abandoned that idea.
Currently, the biggest threat to the entire Shinobi World was Kenichi, that madman.
His offensive seemed endless.
What exactly was he planning?
Could he be planning...
"Mei is also missing. I don't know where she went, but I didn't see her body."
Tsunade exhaled wearily, interrupting Shikaku's thoughts.
Tsunade's complexion was not good.
The scenes from before were like a nightmare.
Five Kage-level experts had fought Kenichi and Jiraiya's disciple, yet they could not do anything to those two madmen. They had even fallen into Kenichi's hands instead.
Tsunade was somewhat confused.
Could they really withstand Kenichi and Jiraiya's student?
If not, what meaning did all the sacrifices they had made during this time have?
Suddenly, Tsunade understood the despair of the ninja who had lived in the same era as her grandfather.
It was the feeling of powerlessness that came from facing an opponent far beyond one's own strength.
Even though they had fought with all their might, they could not even defeat Uchiha Madara, who had been resurrected by Kenichi through Edo Tensei.
How were they supposed to solve this problem?
They might as well simply give up.
Just thinking about Madara, Kenichi, and Nagato standing before her made Tsunade feel deep despair.
It was completely impossible to fight them.
Shikaku rubbed his temples and exchanged glances with Inoichi beside him.
This problem was extremely troublesome.
Lady Tsunade and the other four Kage-level experts had fought together, yet they were still at a disadvantage.
And Kenichi, as the victor, still had the energy and confidence to conquer the Land of Lightning afterward.
His strength was too extraordinary.
What should Konoha do to deal with someone as troublesome as Kenichi?
"Do we have any intelligence on Onoki and A?"
Tsunade remembered something.
Onoki had been the first to discover the weapon falling from the sky and had told them to escape quickly.
Tsunade had also unleashed her full power without reservation and rushed out, but she had still been severely wounded by the nuclear explosion.
She wondered whether that old man Onoki and the Fourth Raikage, A, were still alive.
The Fourth Raikage, A, should be fine.
That muscle monster had extremely strong physical ability.
But Onoki was uncertain.
He was very old, and she did not know whether he could withstand the attack of that weapon.
"The ninja of Iwagakure... were almost completely wiped out. According to the intelligence Kakashi brought back, almost all of Iwagakure's ninja died on the battlefield. They should only have the ninja left in their village now, and the intelligence has not yet been transmitted back."
Shikaku spoke softly.
Tsunade let out a dejected laugh.
"According to intelligence, the Five-Tails Jinchuriki released the Five-Tails and entered its complete form, but it still could not defeat the ninja team from the Land of Flame led by Orochimaru. They all seemed to have Sharingan. The Five-Tails could not move at all and was suppressed. It should have died afterward."
Shikaku mentioned Iwagakure's Tailed Beast, and Tsunade's expression grew even worse.
During the battle, she had noticed the Five-Tails appearing on the battlefield, but she had not expected the appearance of the Tailed Beast to be completely useless.
Now, Iwagakure's ninja were also...
If Onoki died and the main force of Iwagakure's ninja was annihilated, how could the Shinobi World possibly deal with Kenichi?
Sunagakure had nothing impressive to offer now.
The only thing it had was its Tailed Beast, but the death of the Five-Tails had already proven that Kenichi had mastered a method to deal with Tailed Beasts.
And with that terrifying Wood Release ninjutsu, even the Nine-Tails would probably have to obediently behave like a pet, right?
"What about Kumogakure?"
Tsunade thought of Kumogakure, whose strength was second only to Konoha.
Kumogakure and Konoha also had a strategic cooperative relationship, and their relationship was quite close.
If Kumogakure's ninja forces were preserved intact, then there might still be some ability to resist.
"An explosion occurred in Kumogakure earlier, and they were also attacked by Kenichi. The subsequent situation is unknown. But according to the latest intelligence, Kenichi and Orochimaru are leading their self-proclaimed Land of Flame ninja army toward the Land of Lightning. Before you woke up, they had already entered the territory of the Land of Lightning."
Shikaku carefully chose his words, trying to use phrasing that would not provoke Tsunade too much.
Tsunade's eyes became somewhat hazy.
That madman, Kenichi.
After a great battle with them, he still had the time to attack other countries?
Was he planning to directly annex the Land of Lightning?
Was he not afraid...
Tsunade closed her eyes.
Yes.
That madman really was not afraid.
The allied forces of four Ninja Villages had jointly attacked him, and he had dealt with them.
Now, taking advantage of victory to directly annex the Land of Lightning was a matter of course.
It was likely that so-called neutral countries like the Land of Iron would also submit to Kenichi's military might, unless Kumogakure could hold back Kenichi's army.
But...
Whether the Fourth Raikage, A, was still alive was already a question.
Although Killer Bee of the Eight-Tails and Yugito Nii were powerful, they probably could not resist that madman Kenichi.
Thinking about it this way, unless Kumogakure had some trump cards they had never revealed, news that the Land of Lightning had been renamed the Land of Flame would likely spread in just a few days.
What would Konoha do then?
"Hold a high-level meeting. If Kenichi successfully annexes the Land of Lightning, then we..."
Tsunade gritted her teeth and gripped the bedsheet in frustration, so hard that her wounds reopened.
Shizune frantically treated Tsunade's bleeding wounds.
Tsunade seemed completely unaware of the pain.
She only felt deep humiliation.
As the Fifth Hokage of Konoha, she did not seek to achieve great deeds.
But at the very least...
She should not let the name of Konoha disappear under her watch.
This was the village her grandfather had founded.
But now, it was about to be destroyed in her hands.
How ironic.
The hospital room fell silent.
No one spoke.
Tsunade, Shikaku, and Inoichi were all lost in thought.
But there was no doubt that the Shinobi World was about to undergo a massive change.
"The Land of Lightning."
Kenichi yawned.
He did not have much impression of this country.
The scenery was quite good, but aside from that, there was nothing worth mentioning.
Of course, Kumogakure should be considered the Land of Lightning's greatest specialty.
However, Kumogakure's ninja were no longer in Kumogakure.
The Land of Lightning was in danger, but the king was nowhere to be seen.
What a sad story.
Those people had gone somewhere unknown.
According to Orochimaru, if a thief entered Kumogakure now, he would have to leave behind a bag of rice, because basically everything had been moved out.
Only some useless houses remained.
It could be said that these people had not even left a single dango for Kenichi, which made him unsure whether to laugh or cry.
Of course, it was not a complete loss.
Some scattered items that could not be taken had been left in the village, but they were not valuable.
Those things would probably only be recycled and reused, and he still had to be wary of explosive tags.
So Kenichi swiftly rushed to the capital of the Land of Lightning to prevent the Daimyo of the Land of Lightning from fleeing with the funds.
The Daimyo could flee, but the money had to remain.
Kenichi needed those funds to maintain the country's financial operations and purchase the necessary experimental equipment and materials.
Fortunately, he had arrived quickly enough.
At the Daimyo's residence in the capital of the Land of Lightning, he intercepted the Daimyo of the Land of Lightning, who was about to flee with his retainers.
There was another person beside him.
Kenichi glanced at her.
He remembered that this woman's name was Yugito Nii.
The Two-Tails Jinchuriki.
Or was it Yugito Nii?
She should be a Jinchuriki, and her strength was certainly good compared to ordinary ninja.
However, for the current Kenichi, she was not impressive enough.
"You are..."
Yugito's pupils constricted as she stared at the man in front of her in astonishment.
Although she had not seen this man's face often, it had appeared in intelligence reports.
He was the Heavenly Demon who had attacked Kumogakure.
Then he was the madman who had actively challenged the Fourth Raikage, A, the leader of Kumogakure, to a fight.
That man named Kenichi.
"Can you leave the money?"
Kenichi chuckled as he looked at Yugito.
He completely disregarded the Daimyo behind her.
The Daimyo's only purpose was to stabilize the annexed country and allow a peaceful transition of power.
Instead, Kenichi was more interested in Yugito.
The Tailed Beast within Yugito was necessary to complete the Eye of the Moon Plan.
If Yugito were killed here, Madara would have to wait even longer.
However, Kenichi immediately abandoned this idea.
Because one Three-Tails and one Five-Tails had already died.
Without these two Tailed Beasts, how could Madara complete the Eye of the Moon Plan?
"You..."
Yugito was somewhat wary.
She was here to take the Daimyo of the Land of Lightning away, but she had not expected to run directly into Kenichi.
The fact that he could defeat four Kage meant his strength was absolutely beyond what she could handle.
"Leave the money, then go back. If A is still alive, tell him. If A is dead, tell the next person who can make decisions."
Kenichi casually walked past Yugito.
Her body stiffened, and chakra raged throughout her body, as if she might transform into a Tailed Beast at any moment.
But she still made no move.
She allowed Kenichi to walk past her.
Then Kenichi stopped.
"If you can't win, then why increase casualties? Surrender now, join the Land of Flame, and work together for the peace of the Shinobi World. Isn't that better?"
Kenichi patted Yugito's shoulder, then walked to the Daimyo's side.
His Mangekyo Sharingan flickered in his eyes, and the Daimyo instantly became motionless.
Kenichi took the Daimyo inside.
He needed to extract all the wealth from the Daimyo and keep him alive for now, but the Daimyo also needed to be controlled by his Mangekyo genjutsu.
Once Kenichi had implemented the Land of Flame's system in the Land of Lightning, it would be time for the Daimyo of the Land of Lightning to die.
Yugito fled.
She frantically left the capital of the Land of Lightning, and at the same time, she relayed Kenichi's words to the ninja of Kumogakure.
"That guy actually said that?"
The Fourth Raikage, A, lay on his hospital bed and was so enraged by those words that he slammed the table, almost spitting blood.
Even so, the surrounding medical ninja stared at him sternly.
The Fourth Raikage's injuries were severe.
The burns on his body were difficult to treat, and his wounds were still worsening.
Because of that, they could only abandon Kumogakure for now and hide.
A group of Kumogakure's high-ranking officials exchanged glances.
This proposal did not seem entirely impossible.
After all, for them, changing leaders did not matter as long as it did not affect their status.
"Yes."
Yugito breathed a sigh of relief.
When she had encountered Kenichi, she had doubted whether she would die.
Raikage A coughed, veins bulging in anger.
That bastard Kenichi had gone too far.
Was he so certain he could annex the four great nations?
Raikage A felt somewhat unwilling.
The current situation was complicated.
He could either choose to take Kumogakure's ninja to the Land of Fire, then cooperate with Konoha and jointly send troops to resist Kenichi.
Or he could only submit.
In that case, at least Kumogakure's foundation could be preserved to the greatest extent.
And it was hard to say whether there would be other opportunities to deal with Kenichi in the future.
Even Hashirama and Madara, the founders of Konoha, had once intimidated the entire Shinobi World.
But they fought each other to the death, which led to the flourishing development of the other Ninja Villages and the three great Shinobi World Wars.
If Kenichi and that other powerful individual clashed, and they fought each other to the death, then Kumogakure could naturally take the opportunity to rebel and reclaim its status and the Land of Lightning.
So...
What choice should he make?
The Fourth Raikage was somewhat indecisive.
If Kumogakure's main force had not been damaged, he would definitely kill that bastard Kenichi directly.
But Kumogakure's main ninja force had also been attacked and had suffered heavy losses.
Killer Bee was also injured.
"Damn it!"
Raikage A roared in anger.
Then a group of medical ninja rushed over.
The Fourth Raikage's wounds were bleeding again.
.....
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