บท 95: Chapter 95: If Konoha Can’t Have It, No One Can
Had Minato not been aware of Konoha's darker secrets, he might have thought Danzo was genuinely praising him. But after learning too much of what he shouldn't have, Minato could only think that Danzo was trying to manipulate him.
What a con artist! Who'd believe you?
Minato thought, There's not a single decent person among you lot.
When Minato found out he would be staying behind to train under Jiraiya, his reaction was entirely different from Nawaki's.
He was thrilled—finally, he could learn from his teacher.
All this time, Minato had felt like he had a fake sensei, being left in the village with no news of Jiraiya. Sure, he knew Jiraiya was fighting on the front lines, but still.
Even when Minato arrived at the front, he wasn't able to join his teacher, instead having to follow Takuya around.
Jiraiya hadn't exactly been fulfilling his responsibilities as a teacher, and this had made Minato feel quite down at times.
Now, the opportunity had come. How could he not be excited?
Meanwhile, Chiyo had also made a tough decision in order to keep the war between the Hidden Rain and Konoha going.
She diverted some of the scarce resources from the Hidden Sand Village and sent them to the Hidden Rain Village.
This move received approval from the Third Kazekage.
Although the Hidden Sand was struggling financially, it was crucial for them to keep Konoha's main forces tied up in the Land of Rain.
As long as the war in the Land of Rain continued, Konoha would be stretched thin, unable to fully focus on any one front.
The supplies were sent, but after the Hidden Rain Village received them, there was no immediate response.
Chiyo grew impatient and quickly sent someone to urge Hanzō to act swiftly.
What's the holdup? she wondered, I'm still waiting to strike Konoha's camp.
But the messenger returned, fuming with anger.
"Lady Chiyo, the Hidden Rain are nothing but a bunch of swindlers! They refuse to fight, claiming their recent losses were too great and that they need time to recover. They also said the supplies were insufficient—they're asking for more than just food, ninja tools, and explosive tags. Now they're demanding various medicines as well."
"Heh…"
Oh, Hanzō, you crafty devil!
Chiyo was so furious, she couldn't help but laugh.
Why don't you just ask for gold while you're at it? Maybe I should send you a few bricks of it too—wouldn't that be nice?
The audacity was too much.
In that moment, Chiyo felt a strong urge to march an army straight to the Hidden Rain Village and attack.
But she knew she couldn't—over a few supplies, it wasn't worth it. Besides, the Hidden Rain wasn't an easy target.
As long as Hanzō was still standing, no one could underestimate the Hidden Rain Village.
"Send them more supplies," Chiyo ordered, her voice tinged with resignation. "And make it clear—this is the last time. They'd better keep their word."
"But Lady Chiyo, our own supplies are running low..."
"Just do it!!" Chiyo snapped.
As long as Konoha was kept on edge, as long as Konoha was made to suffer, it would all be worth it.
Chiyo's thoughts turned to her son and daughter-in-law, still on the battlefield in the Land of Rivers. She desperately wanted to avenge them.
And whenever she thought of Sasori, waiting back in the village for his parents to return, her heart ached.
"Sakumo Hatake..." she muttered under her breath.
The people of the Hidden Sand were frustrated, but they had no choice. Orders were orders, and so they continued sending what little resources they had to the Hidden Rain.
Fortunately, this time Hanzō didn't play games with Chiyo—he did launch another round of attacks. However, the intensity of the conflict was nowhere near what Chiyo had hoped for.
Instead of a grand showdown, the fighting had returned to small-scale skirmishes.
Chiyo was so enraged she could grind her teeth to dust, but there was little she could do about Hanzō.
He had, after all, reignited the war, even if it wasn't to the scale she had wanted. Without any concrete agreement, Chiyo had no grounds to complain.
After resting for two days at the camp, Tsunade took Takuya and Uzumaki Nami back to Konoha.
Tsunade's reason for returning was clear to Danzo, but he wasn't concerned.
With Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado backing him up, Tsunade would find it nearly impossible to convince the Third Hokage to initiate peace talks with the Hidden Rain.
Danzo had no reason to worry about suddenly being handed the task of negotiations—it wasn't going to happen.
At the moment, Danzo was more focused on keeping tabs on the Hidden Grass Village.
After Takuya's team returned, Minato had given his report. Danzo hadn't labeled the mission a failure, even recording it as a success.
But suspicion still gnawed at him. Danzo didn't trust the people of the Hidden Grass Village, so he immediately sent out ANBU and Root operatives to investigate and gather intelligence.
Thanks to the efforts of the ANBU and Root, the secret of the Hidden Grass Village was uncovered and soon found its way onto Danzo's desk.
"The Uzumaki clan!" Danzo growled, slamming his hand on the desk, his expression darkening.
It wasn't that Danzo particularly cared about a few members of the Uzumaki clan. After all, when he learned that Takuya's team had brought back Uzumaki Nami, he barely reacted.
To him, and to Konoha, it didn't really matter whether there were more or fewer Uzumaki around.
What truly infuriated Danzo was the attitude of the Hidden Grass Village.
You asked for our help, I sent people to support you, and yet none of your villagers even bothered to show their faces.
That's bad enough, but now you're hiding the Uzumaki from us, afraid we'll take them back to Konoha?
Even the Hidden Stone knew about this, and yet Konoha was left in the dark?
Is this how an ally behaves?
"Find them," Danzo ordered, his eyes gleaming with malice. "Track down every last one of them. If you can bring them back to Konoha, do it. If not, eliminate them."
The idea of killing flashed in Danzo's eyes.
"If Konoha can't have the Uzumaki, then no one can."
One of Konoha's long-standing advantages had been its ability to avoid the troubles that plagued other villages with their jinchūriki.
While other villages were tormented by their tailed beasts, Konoha had always remained peaceful.
Danzo had no intention of letting any other village get their hands on the Uzumaki and turn them into jinchūriki.
That would be a threat to Konoha.
So, he planned to bring them to Konoha. And if that wasn't possible, he'd eliminate them.
If Konoha can't have it, then no one can.
Had Uzumaki Mito still been alive, Danzo wouldn't have dared to treat the scattered members of the Uzumaki clan this way.
She had been a formidable pillar of support.
As long as Uzumaki Mito was around, even the Third Hokage had to listen to her.
But now things were different. Konoha was fully under the control of Danzo and a few others. Even if there were more Uzumaki in the village, they wouldn't be able to cause much of a stir.
The legacy of the Uzumaki clan had long since become Konoha's property.
On the way back to Konoha, Tsunade's true nature soon came out. Takuya had thought she was in a hurry, but…
Before they were even halfway there, she started complaining about needing a break and craving some grilled meat.
She even began teaching Uzumaki Nami how to play cards, deciding they should play a few rounds to unwind.
Maybe after spending so long in the Land of Rain, she felt a bit repressed.
But as soon as they re-entered the Land of Fire, Tsunade began to let loose. She led Takuya and Nami to a small town along the way, where they decided to take a break.
She even booked them a room at an inn.
"Do you even have money?" Takuya asked, voicing the question on his mind.
"Who do you think you're talking to, kid? What do you call this, huh?" Tsunade shot back, her face flushing with irritation.
If she didn't know that Takuya wouldn't back down easily and might even use genjutsu on her, Tsunade would have already decked him.
How dare you doubt me!
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