บท 78: Dark thoughts
After running for quite a while, Sato and Itachi met the Uchiha clan on the way. Now, the duo was running back to the village with the Uchiha clan behind them.
"Sato-sama, I know I shouldn't ask, but I really want to know, who do you want to revive with Edo Tensei?"
"Is it someone close to you who has died? Is it your parents, Sato-sama?"
Itachi asked in a low voice. They were running at the very front of the group. Itachi could ask Sato without anyone listening in.
"Someone close to me who has died? I guess I will eventually revive my parents; it's the entire reason I became a ninja in the first place—that and destroying that smug ocean. Don't ask. We will talk about that later."
"But for now, I have another very important thing to do. My plan is to revive a different person. Before I say anything more, Itachi, tell me, do you think the Hidden Cloud is strong?"
"We just accepted an enemy clan into our village; our situation is unstable. If other villages take this opportunity to attack us, do you think we can win?"
Sato asked Itachi a counter question. Itachi thought about it for a while; he didn't rush to answer but really gave it some thought.
He was thinking of the Hidden Cloud's strength compared to every great ninja village.
"Hidden Cloud is strong, but strictly speaking, Konoha is stronger. Hidden Cloud has three S-class ninjas: Yugito Nii-sama, Killer B, and Raikage A. The rest of the ninja are of average quality."
"Whereas Konoha has major clans, their regular ninja are way above average; if a fight does happen, there is a high chance Konoha would win. Purely because the number of deaths in Hidden Cloud will be much higher."
Itachi cleared his throat and continued.
"Then there is the Hidden Stone; they also have three S-class ninjas, Onoki, the four-tail jinchuriki, and the five-tail jinchuriki."
"Their military strength is pretty average, but their sheer number of ninjas is the highest among all ninja villages; their last recorded estimate was 10,000+ ninjas."
Itachi paused then shared the rest of his thoughts.
"We don't know much about the Mist village, but they do have three confirmed S-class ninjas: Kisame, Mizukage, and Terumi Mei. As for their common ninjas, they are the best of the best; no other ninja village can compare to their quality."
"There is also their mysterious six-tail jinchuriki; if he is their trump card, they currently have the highest number of S-class ninjas in the world, with a total of four."
Itachi was grim; he began to realise what Sato was trying to do. The Hidden Cloud was strong, but it was highly debatable if they could win an all-out war.
Taking in the Uchiha clan was a big deal; Hidden Cloud's relationship with Hidden Leaf was tense. Hidden Cloud citizens might also reject this enemy ninja clan.
Hidden Cloud was unstable; this was a great opportunity to attack them.
"As for the Hidden Sand village, they used to have three S-class ninjas, the fourth Kazekage, Chiyo, and Pakura, but I heard Pakura was killed in battle, so they are down to two, unless their new jinchuriki is ready."
"Their regular ninjas are the strongest after the Mist village; most of them are poison users and puppet masters; they are extremely difficult to deal with."
Sato nodded silently. Itachi's analysis was spot on. Hidden Cloud was strong, but not strong enough to fight a large-scale battle once more.
It was too soon; they haven't recovered from the last war, and people like Sato, Darui, Mabui, C, and the next generation haven't grown up yet.
They still needed time; right now, they needed to show that they were strong, that their village was stable, or they would be in danger.
"Yes, we aren't as strong as we need to be. We could be considered strong if I count you, Shisui, and Fugaku into the mix, but people in the Hidden Cloud won't trust you guys directly."
"You guys won't be given important duties right away, if a war does happen that is. What I am trying to do is prevent this possible war."
Sato smiled, narrowed his eyes, and said.
"I thought, if the current generation isn't strong and the next generation is still immature, then what about the previous generation? What if I ask the previous generation for help?"
"This is why I asked for the Edo Tensei back then; I was planning on reviving someone who wants to help the Hidden Cloud, someone like the previous generation's strongest warrior."
"I plan to revive the Third Raikage, the man said to have the strongest defense and the strongest offense in the world."
Sato said in a low tone, his voice turning evil.
"Think about it: if our Third Raikage is successfully revived, how powerful will the Hidden Cloud become? Nobody will want to start a fight recklessly if he is there."
"He was so strong that 10,000 ninjas had to gang up on him for three days and nights, and even then he died of exhaustion, not injury."
Itachi was taken aback; he hadn't heard about the Third Raikage's glorious legend before, and Konoha never made the matter public. But after learning about it, he understood Sato's intentions.
"I understand now, if the Third Raikage is alive, as long as the Hidden Cloud itself doesn't start a war, nobody would come looking for trouble."
"Best of all, if he is there as the Cloud's protector, the village won't fear the Uchiha clan's strength, and will slowly accept us as time goes by."
"Sato-sama! Truly, you think 100 steps ahead of us; you must have planned everything since the moment you knew about the Uchiha clan's existence!"
Itachi worshipped Sato, and Sato was frantically twitching his eyes. He did plan this, but it wasn't anything as exaggerated as Itachi said it was.
Itachi worshipped him almost as much as Sasuke worshipped Itachi.
"Stop talking nonsense. Itachi, the plan is good, but I don't know if it will work."
"Think about it: the Third Raikage is the father of the Fourth Raikage; will Raikage-sama let me use Impure World Reincarnation on his father?"
"He might even kill me if I suggest something like this; after all, Impure World Reincarnation isn't a real revival; nobody wants to see their parents look like broken zombies."
Sato said helplessly, and Itachi was silent. Sato then waved his hand.
"Whatever, I'll convince him somehow."
Itachi remained silent; what Sato didn't know was that Itachi was thinking dark thoughts.
'If the Raikage thinks of stopping Sato-sama's quest for peace, I will destroy him. Father or not, nobody can stand between Sato-sama and his goals.'
'This is good for Sato-sama and the Uchiha clan; Raikage must die if he becomes a problem, I will kill him with my own hands.'
Advanced chapters ahead on patréon
www.patréon.com/ImagineMaker
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