Chapter 445: The Akatsuki's Joint Chunin Exam
Looking at Ishiro, there was Sage Mode, multiple Kekkei Genkai, the Light Release Kekkei Tōta, and multiple S-rank ninjutsu. Any one of these things was enough to place him in the ranks of the top combatants in the ninja world.
Moreover, through his several failures, Obito had also come to understand a principle: there is strength in numbers.
Previously, he had held Ishiro's behavior of accepting so many disciples in contempt. But now he regretted it. If he also had a Kage-level disciple like Kawakita, he wouldn't be in such a miserable state now.
On this point, Orochimaru had done much better than him. Before and after establishing his hidden village, Orochimaru had always placed great importance on the cultivation of the younger generation. Although his method of cultivating disciples was akin to raising venomous insects in a jar, he did indeed have many outstanding ninja under his command. Many had reached the level of jonin or above, and there were also many elite jonin who could hold their own. These subordinates, whether as experimental subjects, cannon fodder, or reincarnation vessels, were all very convenient for him.
Regardless of the changes in Obito's heart, since he wanted to recruit people and expand his power, Black Zetsu had no objection. On the contrary, he was somewhat happy to see it.
With a thousand years of experience as a behind-the-scenes boss, Black Zetsu certainly understood the principle of strength in numbers. He had seen too many arrogant experts fall. The earliest one was Indra. With his level of strength, he had still been defeated by the populous forces of Ashura. It was indeed too difficult for Obito to try and succeed all by himself.
"Then let the White Zetsu clones pay attention and see if there are any powerful rogue ninja. We can subdue them, then have them join the Dark Akatsuki and become our eyes and ears," Black Zetsu said.
Obito nodded, then asked again, "The Two-Tails has also dispersed. As of now, how many Tailed Beasts have dispersed in total?"
Black Zetsu replied, "Counting the Three-Tails, the Seven-Tails, and the Six-Tails which has also likely disappeared, a total of four Tailed Beasts are now in their revival period."
Obito nodded, said no more, and began to recuperate in peace.
Black Zetsu glanced at him. He felt that this Obito was a bit of a stranger.
...
The situation in the ninja world changed from day to day. The Fifth Great Ninja War had started quickly and ended just as quickly, but its after-effects had not yet ceased.
Whether it was Iwagakure invading the northern Land of Fire, Suna forcing Konoha to cede land, or Iwagakure annexing Takigakure, and the recent battle between the high-end combat power of the three great villages and Iwagakure... these were all aftershocks of the war.
This made far-sighted ninja feel that more aftershocks were possible. Because the war had ended too quickly, the strength of all parties had not suffered great losses, and they all still had the strength to start another.
So, even though Iwagakure had flexed its muscles, there were still people who couldn't resist the urge to challenge its hegemonic status.
For example, Rasa's thinking was: I don't have the strength to sit on the throne right now, but I can pull you down from it.
...
In Iwagakure, Ishiro and the others had returned.
He immediately convened a meeting of the high-ranking officials.
Looking around, the attendance at this meeting was very neat. Ōnoki and Kawakita, who had been absent recently, were both present.
Wait, Bella wasn't here.
Ishiro said nothing and, like the others, sat in the office waiting for her.
She was currently in the warehouse, counting the pile of Gold Sand that Ishiro had brought back. When he had notified her of the meeting, she had insisted on finishing the count first.
After a long wait, Bella finally returned, her face full of joy.
Ishiro said, "Alright, let's start the meeting."
"This time, we have two gains. One is the pile of Gold Sand that Senior Bella was just counting. I have no concept of this, so I don't know how much it's worth."
Bella thought for a moment. "It's enough to support all the construction costs of the entire Takigakure branch, including all expenses for the initial resource stockpiling."
Ishiro's eyes lit up. Put that way, he understood.
"Very good. With this Gold Sand, it means our trip was not in vain," he said.
"Apart from the Gold Sand, the biggest gain from this operation was killing Kumogakure's perfect Jinchuriki, Yugito Nii."
"Having lost an expert who could fight at the Kage level, Kumogakure has suffered a considerable loss this time."
"As for the Raikage losing an arm and the hundreds of elites Kumo lost, that's actually nothing."
"From now on, our status as the hegemon of the ninja world is more or less stabilized. We should also do some things that only a hegemon can do."
Looking around at everyone, Ishiro pointed to countries like the Land of Bears and the Land of Moon on the map. "A long time ago, Kumo and Suna began to occupy the towns of these countries and refused to return them."
"We have just flexed our muscles in front of them, so they won't dare to go to war with us in the short term."
"In that case, let's just add one more push and force them to withdraw their troops from these countries."
Megumi asked worriedly, "Will this really not trigger an all-out war?"
Ikura said, "It won't. We just suppressed the morale of the three great villages. At this time, they are very wary of us and will not easily provoke a war."
Ishiro added, "Besides, don't we have the letters of appeal from these countries in our hands? We can use them as an excuse."
"We are the righteous ones. We were invited by the Daimyo of these countries to protect their citizens and resist the brutal invaders."
Megumi: "..."
"Ahem," Ōnoki cleared his throat. "Then let's do it that way. While the Kage of the three villages probably haven't returned to their villages yet, let's speed up our movements and directly dispatch our elites. We won't count on Suna and Kumo to recall them; we'll just clean all of them out of these countries."
Ishiro nodded. "Ikura, you will be in charge of this matter. You can send more experts. It's fine if the momentum is a bit big."
Ikura nodded. Without delaying, and without even waiting for the meeting to end, he stood up and left to make the arrangements.
The meeting continued.
Ishiro said, "This time, it's highly unlikely that Suna and Kumo will have a falling out with us. But after this, the relationship between those three villages will inevitably become closer."
"I plan to hold a joint Chunin Exam to deepen our relationship with the Akatsuki and Kirigakure."
Megumi asked, "Should we invite Konoha, Suna, and Kumo?"
Ishiro thought for a moment but did not answer. Instead, he said, "This exam will not be held in our village."
"I will discuss it with the Akatsuki's Yahiko and set the location for this exam in the River Village or the Land of Rain."
"As for whether Konoha, Suna, and Kumo will participate, we don't need to worry about it."
"For them, this should be a good opportunity to probe the Akatsuki. Even if Yahiko doesn't invite them, they will shamelessly attend."
Ōnoki asked, "Will the Akatsuki agree?"
Ishiro said, "It's very likely they will. They want to spread their concept of peace in the ninja world, and they also want the world to see the changes in the lands under their governance. This is a rare opportunity for them. They won't refuse."
Megumi thought for a moment. "Master Ishiro, then should we continue the previous talk of trading the ninja swords with Kirigakure?"
She had represented Iwagakure at the joint Chunin Exam held by Kiri and was quite familiar with the current situation there, so she was in charge of the sword trade.
Ishiro thought for a moment. "Continue. Let's trade one first, and then take out another one to be the reward for the winner of this Chunin Exam."
Bella frowned slightly, but then thought of that pile of Gold Sand and relented.
Ishiro naturally saw this. "After this joint operation, the trust between Konoha, Kumo, and Suna has greatly increased. An alliance between the three is now unavoidable."
"Especially after Tsunade and Rasa rescued the Raikage, and Tsunade took the others to Shikkotsu Forest. The relationship between the three is already very close."
"Even if they don't openly confront us, just obstructing us in terms of economy and missions will be enough to make us uncomfortable."
"At this time, it is we who need Kirigakure as an ally, not the other way around. So, it is unavoidable that we must pay a certain price."
Bella nodded. "I know. We'll do as you say."
After the meeting, Ishiro sat alone in his office, took out his ring, and contacted Nagato.
Soon, his thought-form arrived in the Land of Rivers via the Magic Lantern Body Technique. Although he had experienced it many times, he was still envious of this magical ninjutsu. Compared to relaying messages back and forth via summoning, this was much more convenient.
He looked around. This place was very familiar; it was the leader's office in the River Village.
"Yahiko, Nagato, Konan. Long time no see," Ishiro greeted the three of them.
Hearing his relaxed tone, the three of them breathed a collective sigh of relief.
Evidently, they had been frightened by the last news he had brought, and had thought that this time he was bringing more bad news for the Akatsuki.
Konan said, "Ishiro, what brings you to see us this time?"
In her eyes, he, the Tsuchikage, must be very busy. He must have endless documents to deal with every day, just like Yahiko.
Yahiko also said, "Yeah, Ishiro, you haven't come to see us for a long time. How have you been?"
Nagato, as usual, was silent, but he also looked at him curiously.
Ishiro said, "I'm actually more idle than you think, but Iwagakure has indeed not been peaceful recently."
"First, we fought with a Mangekyō Sharingan Uchiha, and then we fought with the Hokage, the Raikage, and the Kazekage."
Ishiro spoke calmly, but the three of them were stunned.
Yahiko thought to himself, Truly worthy of being the Kage of a great hidden village. To think that in his mouth, battles between Kage sound just like eating and drinking.
Nagato, on the other hand, thought of the Mangekyō Uchiha he mentioned. It should be that person who deliberately approached me.
Konan asked, "Ishiro, you weren't injured, were you?"
He shook his head. "It was fine. I was besieged by Kumo in their village and got a little injured, but I'm better now."
"I've come this time to discuss something with you. We haven't held a joint Chunin Exam for a long time."
"I want to deepen the connection between our two villages through another exam."
"This time, let's also call on Kirigakure and see if we can reach some treaties that are beneficial to all three of us."
Hearing this, Konan quickly interjected, "Ishiro, can you let us host this joint Chunin Exam?"
"Our Akatsuki also wants to increase our visibility by hosting it."
Through these years of experience in governing the village, the three of them had also slowly come to understand the importance of fame. Many foreign merchants, upon hearing that a product was from the Land of Rivers, would lose half their interest. So, the three of them had been racking their brains on how to enhance the influence of the Akatsuki and their country.
If they could successfully host a joint exam, it would be extremely beneficial for improving the visibility of a village and a country.
Ishiro blinked. His very next sentence was going to be: I hope to set the location for this joint Chunin Exam in the Land of Rivers or the Land of Rain.
Her sudden interjection had stopped his coherent train of thought for a moment.
And this pause made Konan think her request was too excessive. She looked at him pitifully.
Then, she heard him say, "Konan, your request... of course I won't refuse it. Don't worry, I will convince the other leaders in my village."
(End of Chapter)
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