Chapter 153: Disintegrating the Enemy from Within
Although En Yui and Isaribi were very reluctant to leave Teacher Merlin and had no chance to say a formal goodbye, both were very sensible and said nothing as they followed the White Lotus Saintessaway.
Naruto waited for a moment.
Finally, only Lord of Heavenless remained.
Only then did he ask the doubt in his heart: "What do you plan to do with En Yui?"
"It would be an easy task for the White Lotus Sectto win the third suppression campaign by the Land of Fire, but what happens after winning?"
Lord of Heavenless did not answer his question directly, saying, "After winning, there will be a next suppression campaign. Over time, the scale of the war will grow larger and larger. The Daimyo will inevitably have all members of Konoha Villageparticipate, which will be quite troublesome then."
Naruto raised an eyebrow.
Lord of Heavenless made a lot of sense.
He had originally thought that this Shadow Cloneof his would use Wudi City as a base and gradually expand into the Land of Fire.
Now it seemed he was planning to take another path.
"You want to support En Yui?"
"As expected of me!"
A smile appeared on Lord of Heavenless's face as he took the chance to praise himself.
"With the current strength of the Tianming Organization, it could completely steamroll the Land of Fire, but that would be meaningless. Governing a country requires a large number of talents, especially for our new philosophy, which will take a long time for people to accept.
My idea is to shed the shell of the White Lotus Sect and join the Land of Fire, first cultivating a group of usable talents, and then rising up. Of course, there will be many achievements you desire as well."
Naruto thought to himself, as expected.
He was all too familiar with this maneuver.
After all, it had been recorded in the history books of his previous life.
But their current situation was different; they already possessed overwhelming individual strength in advance.
They were almost invincible.
The rest was just the process.
The primary goal was to train and promote enough personnel during that process.
Furthermore, if they directly conquered the Land of Fire, other nations would certainly react and might even unite.
Because this was a revolution.
All feudal and aristocratic classes would inevitably launch a final desperate counterattack in their fear and trepidation.
When that time came, the Akatsuki Organizationwould likely join in the fray.
So there was no rush; disintegrate the enemy from within first.
"Then I'll leave it to you."
His doubts cleared, Naruto did not linger and returned to the Land of Hot Springs.
He practiced the Contract Seal in the courtyard.
This was a Sealing Jutsu unique to the Uzumaki Clan.
It could sever the connection between a contractor and their Summoned Beast.
The Fourth Hokage, Minato, had once used this Sealing Jutsu to free Kurama from Uchiha Madara's control.
As Kurama's Jinchuriki, he definitely had to learn it.
To prevent the fox spirit from being lured away by someone one day.
"Naruto."
Jiraiya walked in unsteadily from outside holding some sake, his face slightly flushed.
"I just received news from Tsunade."
"What news?" Naruto glanced at him and said, "Did your confession succeed?"
"Go away! You brat, you don't know anything!"
Jiraiya waved his hand in annoyance; he actually didn't have the courage to confess.
Thinking about how Naruto, whom he called a brat, was so popular with little lolis, he felt a bit irritated for a moment.
Consequently, his face became even redder.
"Eh, where are Yui and Isaribi?"
Jiraiya instinctively scanned the area and noticed that the two lolis who usually practiced there were gone.
"The Daimyo of the Land of Fire sent an envoy to take them both away."
Naruto gave his fabricated reason.
According to Lord of Heavenless's plan, En Yuiwould definitely have to return to the Land of Fire.
This reason of his wasn't too far from the truth.
"You'd let them leave?"
Jiraiya's eyes widened as he shouted, "What kind of monster are you? Show your true form at once!"
"Show your ghost!"
Naruto was speechless and said, "Mainly because the envoy who came was Yui's elder, and he even used Konoha to pressure me. I couldn't exactly just kill him, could I?"
"So that's how it is."
Jiraiya paused and said, "You actually did well in this matter. I thought you didn't know how to act with propriety."
"I'm not like you."
Naruto shot back, "I don't know who lacks propriety, abandoning the position of Hokage and running away."
"I'm doing this for world peace!"
Jiraiya was still being stubborn, but it wasn't easy to argue too much on this topic.
"Ahem, let's continue with Tsunade's news. She told me that the Land of Fire is going to suppress the White Lotus Sect."
"So?"
Naruto had a look of total indifference and asked, "What does that have to do with us?"
"Of course it does. We are Ninjas. The Daimyo has issued a mission request. Tsunade wants to do it but is undecided."
"What mission? Assassinating the White Lotus Sect Leader?"
"You guessed right."
Jiraiya nodded and said, "The bounty for the White Lotus Sect Leader's head is five hundred million Ryo. Are you in?"
"Five hundred million? The Daimyo is really rich."
Naruto remarked with emotion.
If it weren't for the fact that a Shadow Clone's head would reveal its nature upon being cut off, he would have wanted to take Lord of Heavenless's head to claim the reward.
But with such a high bounty, a certain fellow from the Akatsuki Organization might be tempted.
"Naturally. Our entire Konoha Village combined is just a fraction of the Daimyo's wealth."
"In that case, have you ever thought about..."
Naruto raised his hand and made a throat-slitting gesture.
Jiraiya's brow immediately furrowed as he said, "You'd better not have such thoughts again. Remember, you are a Ninja, not a bandit."
As expected.
A mindset sustained for so many years is not so easily changed.
Jiraiya was no longer a typical Ninja, yet he still strictly adhered to the so-called rules of the upper class.
Naruto nodded casually in agreement.
"What does Big Sister Tsunade think?"
"She loves money as much as her life, so naturally she wants to try, but so far no trace of the White Lotus Sect Leader has been found."
Jiraiya took a gulp of sake and said in confusion, "It's really strange. How can this guy hide so well? Even the Aburame Clan, Inuzuka Clan, and Hyuga Clan, who are best at tracking, have returned empty-handed."
Sage Mode plus Kagura Minds Eye.
It would be a problem if you could find him.
If Lord of Heavenless died, the next clone would also have the Flying Thunder God Technique.
It would be even more impossible to find him.
Naruto himself didn't know how he could possibly die.
"And then?" he asked again.
"Tsunade wants me and you to go take a look."
"?"
A question mark appeared on Naruto's face.
Investigating himself?
"This is an S-rank mission."
Jiraiya continued, "You also know that Konoha's finances still haven't recovered."
"Not really? I remember Hana Rin's shiranui songstress project made Konoha a fortune, didn't it?"
Naruto looked at him.
Don't lie to me.
Tsunade joyfully let Hana Rin join Konoha.
Was it because of Kakashi?
Of course not.
It was because she gave far too much.
As long as Hana Rin became a Konoha Ninja, a portion of the money she earned outside would be shared with Konoha.
Although the percentage wasn't large, the sheer volume was staggering.
"How do you know?"
Jiraiya was somewhat surprised.
"She's almost become my master's wife; how could I not know?"
Naruto rolled his eyes.
The last time he went back, he saw Hana Rin and Kakashi being all lovey-dovey; it was quite an eyesore.
"No one would complain about having too much money, right?"
Jiraiya had a lewd smile on his face. "I, your master, haven't asked you for much, but you must help me with Tsunade's mission."
It's so miserable; our whole city has to do nucleic acid testing.