Chapitre 224: Chapter 224: Ōnoki's suffering, Kirigakure makes its appearance
"Of course, the prerequisite for accepting Sunagakure's surrender is that Chiyo must die."
Sandaime saw that finally Momo had agreed, and he promised cheerfully.
Whether it was for the public good or for personal reasons, the consensus among the four was that Chiyo must die. Once they had reached agreement again, they began discussing the work involved in accepting Sunagakure's surrender, while Sandaime first explained the content of his recent private conversation with Kurokasa.
The content was nothing more than Kurokasa betraying the interests of the Sunagakure for his own survival and benefit, promising to pay Konoha 5 billion in compensation if Konoha accepted the surrender of the Sunagakure, and pledging the oasis in the north of the Land of Wind as collateral.
In addition, the Sunagakure and Konoha formed an alliance, and Konoha could station troops in the Land of Wind.
These were the main contents of the secret negotiations.
"Who is this Kurokasa? Is this person's promise credible?"
Momo, upon learning the content of Sandaime's and Kurokasa's secret negotiations, frowned and expressed deep doubts about the content.
Anyone can talk big, and until a promise is actually fulfilled, any promise is just empty words. However, people of status generally don't talk big, and this is determined by their status. Once a person's credibility is bankrupt, they can never mix in high-level circles again.
Having been the Hokage for so many years and stood at the top of politics for so long, he of course understood what Momo meant, and replied, "This person is the latest elder promoted by the conservative faction of the Sunagakure. He is quite capable, and at a young age he already has the strength of an elite jōnin. What is even more commendable is that he is from a commoner background."
Upon hearing about Kurokasa's acceptance, the three of them—Momo, Utatane Koharu, and Homura Mitokado—suddenly brightened up, and they all felt that this Kurokasa was a good partner to work with.
Although Kurokasa is from a commoner background, has no support behind him, and perhaps does not hold a high position in the Sunagakure, this is exactly what Konoha wants to see. Kurokasa has no support behind him now, which is good, as Konoha can provide Kurokasa with the support it needs.
Moreover, Kurokasa has the strength of an elite jōnin at a young age, and may even go further in the future. With Konoha's support, this is very likely, and Konoha can then use his power to develop Sunagakure forces in Sunagakure that are close to Konoha.
"In that case, this Kurokasa is a very good partner, but to be on the safe side, I think it is necessary to conduct a detailed investigation on him. Moreover, I have just received the latest intelligence from the Land of Wind, and I know that among the prisoners captured this time is the conservative faction leader Sayun."
Momo pondered for a moment, and then proposed a new option for the group to cooperate with.
Utatane Koharu and Homura Mitokado immediately looked to Sandaime when they heard what Momo said.
Sandaime nodded, indicating that Momo's information was accurate.
Information from the Land of Wind had been coming back one after the other. Kirito had indeed done a great job this time, not only leading the group to kill more than 2,000 Suna-Nin, but also capturing many high-quality prisoners.
Among these prisoners was Sayun, the commander-in-chief of the Sunagakure front line, leader of the Sunagakure conservatives, and patriarch of the Suna Clan.
Sayun was described in great detail in the intelligence reports from the front, but the content was somewhat ironic, because the leader of the conservative faction of the Sunagakure was a complete coward who never showed the slightest sign of resistance in order to save his life.
It was precisely for this reason that the leader of the conservative faction of the Sunagakure was almost completely unharmed in this battle, except for a little mental shock. The reason was that he was later called over by Kirito for a private interrogation, and his mental state was very poor after he returned.
"Personally, I think Kurokasa is more suitable. Sayun's status in Sunagakure is certainly much higher than Kurokasa's, but he is hard to control. The Suna Clan behind him is still the number one ninja clan in Sunagakure, and personally, they have no need for our Konoha. In fact, their fundamental interests are even in conflict with ours."
Utatane Koharu is a very controlling person who dislikes surprises. She compares the two and chooses the one she thinks is more manageable.
"I also think Kurokasa is more suitable. Young people have drive and ambition. He definitely wants to advance further in the Sunagakure. And now that he is negotiating with us from Konoha as the representative of the people who surrendered, then basically he will only be able to stand on our side in the future. Even if he has his own little plans, as long as our interests are aligned, I am not afraid that he will not cooperate with us."
Homura Mitokado also has a strong desire for control, and similarly chose Kurokasa as their representative in the Sunagakure.
After the two men had spoken, Sandaime still did not directly indicate his choice, but looked at Momohana to see her opinion.
Momo saw this and shook her head, saying, "Kurokasa is certainly easier to control than Sayun, but who can predict the future? The situation in the ninja world is changing very quickly, it's different from before. I think only what is in your hands is the best. Choosing Kurokasa is for the long term, but how much time do you think we need to make Sunagakure truly work with us?
Sayun is different. Not only is this person a softy, but he also has a lot of status in Sunagakure. As long as Chiyo is dead, he is the one with the highest status in Sunagakure. He made a promise to us in Sunagakure, and only then did Konoha have a good chance of obtaining substantial benefits."
Long-term and immediate, this is the difference between Kurokasa and Sayun.
Sandaime and the others understood what Momo meant, and they all fell silent, beginning to consider the pros and cons.
"Momo is right, the situation in the ninja world has changed too much, and Konoha is in a difficult situation. We must get help from somewhere else as soon as possible. Personally, I also prefer Sayun, but we can keep Kurokasa as an option for now."
After a moment, Sandaime made his decision.
His words were motivated by both public and personal interests. Konoha's financial situation was indeed not good. Although it had received a lot of commissions, the problem was that most capable ninjas had been sent to the battlefield, and no one was left to take on the work.
Therefore, in order to alleviate the financial pressure, Konoha urgently needs a blood transfusion from elsewhere.
Sunagakure is a bit poor, but this is only relative to large ninja villages such as Konoha. If Konoha can get a financial transfusion from Sunagakure, the financial pressure will definitely be greatly alleviated.
If Konoha can also get that Magnet Release ninja called Rasa later, that would be even better.
As for selfishness, he now desperately needs to achieve some impressive results to boost his personal prestige in Konoha. As Hokage, his prestige is lower than that of a young junior, which is ridiculous. He must reverse this situation before preparing for a series of follow-up plans.
It is imperative to deal with the hidden dangers within ANBU and the Sarutobi clan. To do this, he needs new strength.
Family is important, but Konoha is his most treasured possession. Konoha cannot decline under his leadership. On the contrary, he wants to see Konoha become the overlord of the ninja world again under his leadership.
Sandaime all stood up to support Momo's opinion, and naturally Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura could not go against Sandaime's wishes and tacitly approved of Sandaime's decision.
Thus, a plan on how to blackmail Sunagakure was completed.
...
Because of Kirito, a butterfly with great influence, flapping its wings energetically, tonight is destined to keep many people up at night.
For example, Iwagakure's Sandaime Tsuchikage Ōnoki is now looking at a piece of urgent intelligence that has just been delivered, which is that Sunagakure is likely to surrender to Konoha.
"These guys who grew up eating sand are really flexible. They've fallen to their knees so quickly. Just now the previous Tsuchikage died, and now so quickly a large group of soft bones have appeared. It seems that most of the hard bones in Sunagakure are dead."
Ōnoki angrily threw the intelligence in his hands onto the ground, then stomped on it several times, cursing the people of Sunagakure for being shameless and spineless.
Kitsuchi was also in the office of the Tsuchikage at this time. He looked at his father in this state, and he was not good at expressing his emotions, so he didn't know how to comfort him, and he could only cast a helpless look at his wife, Akatsuchi, for help.
Akatsuchi noticed her husband's helpless look, and she glared at him somewhat disdainfully.
The Tsuchikage was currently enraged, so asking her to comfort him would only bring bad luck.
However, she saw her husband repeatedly throwing her for help, so she had to step forward and comfort him:
"Tsuchikage-sama, please calm down. The current situation of Sunagakure is indeed very bad. The death of the Sandaime Kazekage must have been a great shock to Sunagakure. In Sunagakure, the Sandaime Kazekage should have been the biggest hawk ninja, and now that he is down, it is unsurprising that many soft bones will be produced.
However, the elder Chiyo of the Sunagakure is still alive. She is the leader of the hawk faction and currently the only Kage-Level powerhouse in the Sunagakure. With her, the Sunagakure will remain the same as before, a tough Sunagakure to Konoha."
How could Ōnoki not know what Benito was saying? However, what he is worried about now is that Chiyo may not be able to return to the Sunagakure because she is currently inside the Konoha base camp. If Konoha takes this opportunity to attack Chiyo, she will definitely be in danger.
"Tsuchikage-sama, you should be worried about Chiyo's safety right now. If you are worried that Konoha will attack Chiyo, why don't you let us, Iwagakure, step forward to mediate the war between Konoha and Sunagakure and promote peace talks between the two? Even if it doesn't work, it will send a signal to Konoha and Sunagakure that we, Iwagakure, support Sunagakure. This matter will allow Kumogakure and Kirigakure to join us, Iwagakure,"
After seeing that Ōnoki was still frowning, despite not saying anything, Benito continued:
Ōnoki's frown eased slightly when he heard his daughter-in-law's suggestion. He turned to her and asked, "Are you sure this will prevent Konoha from attacking Chiyo?"
"I'm not sure either. If Konoha really has the nerve to attack Chiyo, there's nothing we Iwagakure can do. A distant solution won't help a pressing problem. But at least if we make our stance clear, it should make Konoha think twice. I reckon that Konoha, which boasts of being the number one ninja village, should still have some pride. If it were the black thugs from Kumogakure, they would have already attacked Chiyo."
Benito shook her head and smiled bitterly.
"I see. Let me think about it."
Ōnoki sighed, then lowered his head and pondered.
Soon, he made a decision. He decided to try Benito's method as a last resort.
"Tsuchikage-sama, if Konoha lets Chiyo leave Konoha, we must be prepared to support her. Even if Konoha lets Chiyo leave Konoha, it definitely will not give up hunting her down, and the forces it sends will definitely be very powerful. If we don't support her, she will most likely be dead."
Benito accepted Ōnoki's order and then reminded him, "After hearing that someone will be sent to rescue Chiyo, Ōnoki's slightly relaxed brows furrowed again, indicating that it is one thing to make a stance and another to send someone to support. The former requires almost no cost, but the latter is different. If you are not careful, you may lose everything you invest.
This hateful old woman from Sunagakure has caused them no small amount of trouble over the years, and now they are being asked to rescue a foe, and it is likely that they will be wasting their time. He feels bad just thinking about it.
"Tsuchikage-sama, Konoha is now very powerful, and that Kirito Tosaka will only become stronger in the future. If Sunagakure falls now, it may even fall to Konoha, and then our days will not be easy in the future. After all, our Iwagakure is separated from Sunagakure and Konoha by the Land of Rain."
Seeing that Ōnoki was hesitant to support Chiyo, Benito spoke of her concerns.
The death of the Sandaime Kazekage not only shocked the people of Sunagakure, but also shocked her, a high-ranking member of Iwa-nin, and even gave her a trace of fear.
The shadow of a major ninja village just died, and it was killed by the hand of a young ninja aged 11. This news was truly appalling.
If someone as young as 11 could do such a shocking thing, what would the future hold? She couldn't help but ponder this question.
Combining the information she has gathered about Kirito Tosaka in recent days, she believes that this person is very dangerous. This is an ambitious young man, as evidenced by the fact that he has allowed his reputation to be slandered by others without taking any extreme actions.
He has also taken the position of commander-in-chief of the front line, officially intervening in Konoha's military department and becoming one of Konoha's top leaders.
From now on, his move against Sunagakure and the killing of the Sandaime Kazekage may very well have been a real action to show others that he cannot be brought down by petty tricks behind his back, and that he is still a respected hero of Konoha.
This is indeed the case. Once the news of Kirito Tosaka killing the Sandaime Kazekage spreads in Konoha, the public's opinion of him will definitely change immediately.
As long as someone like this doesn't die, it's only a matter of time before he takes control of Konoha. And once he does, what will he do?
After thinking about it, she realized that there could only be one answer: lead Konoha to dominate the ninja world.
And they, Iwagakure, are one of the obstacles to Konoha's domination of the ninja world.
At that time, will they, Iwagakure, really be able to resist Konoha?
Benito saw the problem, so how could Ōnoki, the leader of Iwagakure, not see it? He just had a psychological block that he couldn't get past. Deep down, he actually wanted Chiyo to die.
If he hadn't known tonight that Sunagakure would probably surrender to Konoha, he would have been happy to watch Chiyo die at Konoha's hands, and then he could have sent troops to invade the Land of Wind with a clear conscience and claimed the oasis in the north for himself.
But unfortunately, there are no ifs.
He didn't expect the bones of Sunagakure to soften so quickly. After the death of Sandaime Kazekage, voices of surrender emerged within Sunagakure so soon.
Peace talks and surrender are two different things. In the former, the two sides are equal, but in the latter, it is completely one-sided. Once Sunagakure surrenders to Konoha, Konoha will definitely gain a lot of benefits from Sunagakure to strengthen itself.
Once Konoha ends the war, it will be able to recuperate and gain a lot of benefits. With Konoha's strength, the troops lost in the war will be replenished soon, and even surpass the past.
A peaceful Konoha is not what they Iwagakure want to see, and they don't want Sunagakure to fall and become a pawn for Konoha to deal with Iwagakure.
"Damn it, damned puppet old women, you Sunagakure are truly worthless."
Ōnoki was ultimately not swayed by personal emotions, and he angrily yelled after rationally choosing what was in the interest of Iwagakure.
He then told Benito to prepare to support Chiyo, and incidentally, to inform Kumogakure of the plan to support Chiyo.
They could not be the only ones to bear the brunt of the injustice and risk.
"Tsuchikage-sama, there has been a new development in the Land of Rain. An unknown army of ninja has entered the Land of Rain, numbering over a thousand, and each of them is no slouch. They helped the Ame-Nin repel Kumogakure's general assault on Amegakure."
Kitsuchi hesitated for a moment before stammering out the news after Benito left.
He had always been in charge of intelligence work in the Land of Rain, and not long ago, he received this latest news from his subordinates.
However, compared to the defeat of Sunagakure and the death of Sandaime Kazekage, the news that Amegakure, with the help of an unknown ninja unit, had repelled a test attack by Kumogakure was far less important, so he had not reported it to his father in a hurry.
Now that his father had dealt with the situation in Sunagakure, it was time to tell him the news.
"What? Amegakure has sent reinforcements."
Ōnoki exclaimed in surprise when he heard the news.
...
Meanwhile, in the Land of Rain, in the Kumogakure base camp, which was located 7 or 8 kilometers outside Amegakure, Sandaime Raikage was roaring in the command center, "Can someone tell me where this army of ninja came from? There are suddenly so many powerful ninja on the battlefield. What are the people in the reconnaissance department doing?"
In order to defeat Amegakure as soon as possible, he once again deployed more troops from Kumogakure and other places to the Land of Rain, and also transferred his son, a Kage level combat power, to specifically keep an eye on Hattori Masanari.
The result of this was that they, Kumogakure, were unstoppable on the battlefield. In just two days, they had reached Amegakure, and it could be said that their troops were at the gates of the village.
He had originally planned to attack Amegakure with all his strength today and completely destroy them, but he never expected that an extremely powerful ninja unit would suddenly appear on the flank of the battlefield, thwarting today's attack and causing him to lose a lot of manpower.
"I'm very sorry, Boss. I plead guilty. You can execute me, but I beg to die on the battlefield."
The head of the reconnaissance department present said with a face of shame. He did not shirk his responsibility, and took the blame on himself.
"Your request is approved. From now on, you are a member of the ambush team. However, you do not need to report for duty yet. I want you to tell me information about the ninja unit."
Sandaime Raikage saw that the head of the reconnaissance department had taken the blame voluntarily, so he stopped accusing him and asked with a cold face.
"The enemy lurked in the nearby river. They lurked at a great depth, which is why they avoided the perception of our perceptive ninjas. When we attacked Amegakure with all our strength, they came out to attack us in secret, which caused heavy losses to our Kumogakure.
According to our people, these guys are most likely the same damned ninja from the island country. Some of them used the Water Transformation technique of the Hozuki clan,"
said the head of the reconnaissance department, who had been sacked, with clenched teeth.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone