In Amegakure, under the endless rain, one after another, the destructive traces of ninjutsu caused the group of Amegakure ninjas to look at each other.
One could imagine that a terrifying battle had taken place here!
"What level of ninja battle was this?"
Everyone couldn't help but feel terrified, and even more so, fortunate—thank goodness they arrived late! If they had come a bit earlier, who knows, they might have all had to die here. In such a terrifying battle, even if the other party didn't intend to kill them, a casual brush from a ninjutsu could have taken their lives.
They walked around for a bit, then saw another battlefield.
"It seems only four people made a move."
They observed the traces at the scene. But soon, someone pointed out the fact that there was "one more."
Ryoho Kyohiko hadn't dealt with the traces at the scene, so they could see clearly, and this was exactly what Kyohiko had intentionally left behind. He didn't need to cover up his ninjutsu traces or intelligence. Because… from beginning to end, apart from the Strength of a Hundred Healings and Sage Mode which left no traces, the rest were just relatively ordinary techniques. The most bizarre was at most the Wood Human Technique. He hadn't even used the True Several Thousand Hands yet!
All of this needed to be conveyed by these ninjas to the leader of Amegakure, Hanzo.
Before long, Hanzo had flickered to the scene. Seeing the traces, he was silent for a long while. As the leader of the Amegakure ninjas, he could see the ninjutsu traces in this area, and naturally could also connect them to some of the intelligence he had received.
Kakuzu, Kurosuki Raiga. During this time, it was rumored that these two had come to the Land of Rivers. He hadn't expected them to actually fight with others here.
"Kakuzu…"
Hanzo narrowed his eyes.
He didn't think anyone could kill Kakuzu, but what was strange was that from the traces at the scene, Kakuzu had been trying to get close to the water flow. Is this guy trying to escape by water? Who has such an ability?
He walked around for a bit and soon saw a remaining trace. A small piece of resin that had seeped out of a pine tree.
"Amber."
Hanzo was stunned for a moment, and immediately understood its origin. Ryoho Kyohiko! This ninjutsu derived from Wood Style was currently only mastered by Ryoho Kyohiko.
"It was actually him."
Hanzo was shocked. He glanced around and saw the piece of land that had been directly moved away, and his heart was clear. Kakuzu had most likely suffered a disaster!
"Leader-sama…"
"Clean up the traces. Let's just pretend we didn't see it," Hanzo answered.
Then, he went to look at another battlefield. The battlefield here was much messier. And the scene had obviously undergone some trace processing. The key parts had been cleverly covered up, leaving only a small portion. But if it were Konoha's Kyohiko and Minato attacking together, it wouldn't have taken so long to deal with Kurosuki Raiga.
"What are you planning?"
Hanzo was secretly puzzled.
Kyohiko leaving the intelligence here was, on one hand, a display of strength. He had already felt this—the other party was indeed very powerful, to the point of forcing the Earth Grudge Fear-wielding Kakuzu to flee in a sorry state. By analogy, Hanzo admitted that even with his "poison" and powerful swordsmanship, facing Kyohiko would be a nine-deaths-one-life situation. For no other reason than Kyohiko's speed, ninjutsu, and destructive power were all things he did not possess. If he were to be killed quickly in a short time… Hanzo's advantages couldn't be brought into play at all.
But Konoha, for no good reason, why help Takigakure arrest Kakuzu? Simply to clip Madara's wings? Or does Konoha need the Land of Waterfalls to achieve some purpose?
As the leader of a village, Hanzo was not stupid. This person, Ryoho Kyohiko… he did not hesitate to speculate with the greatest malice. Kyohiko must have another plan! The Land of Waterfalls.
"You handle it properly. Don't leak what happened here to anyone."
"Yes!"
They responded.
Hanzo left with a body flicker. Returning to his office, he looked at the map. He scanned it once and soon understood. The Land of Waterfalls and the Land of Rain were separated by the Land of Grass. The Land of Grass, in the past, had been severely taught a lesson by Konoha for breaking their alliance. The current Muu was from the pro-Konoha faction. So, the Land of Grass was also on good terms with Konoha.
In this way, from the Land of Waterfalls to the Land of Rain and even to the Land of Wind, all were now allies of Konoha. If Konoha could ensure that its allies would not betray them, then this force would definitely be stronger than the alliance of the other three countries! The only problem was—on that side, there was still the lurking Uchiha Madara.
"Konoha is already actively preparing for war. And on this side, Konoha is the sole dominant power, with seventy percent of the strength coming from Konoha…" In contrast, the alliance of the Land of Earth, Land of Lightning, and Land of Water seemed very fragmented.
Hanzo scanned the map and could vaguely see Konoha's victory! Konoha! His heart was heavy.
"This move by Ryoho Kyohiko…"
Hanzo took a deep breath, having no other thoughts. If Amegakure allied with Konoha, as long as Konoha could win, they could surely get a piece of the pie in the end. If they could take a big bite out of the Land of Earth, and then merge the Village of Birds created by Yahiko and Konan… then Amegakure might not be unable to become the sixth great ninja village!
Hanzo's heart was filled with heroic spirit. After his failure in the previous years, he had gradually let go of his inner ambitions. But now, feeling that Konoha's chance of victory was great, he had some ideas again. Cooperation!
As for the problem of Konoha being too powerful in the future, that was also fine. At that time, they could unite with Sunagakure and the other three ninja villages. Five together could surely contend with Konoha. If they sided with that side now, they would not be taken seriously at all, and Amegakure might even be carved up.
After Hanzo had completely thought it through, a brilliant smile appeared on his face. We must cooperate!
***
"Why didn't you erase the traces?"
"Hanzo is very capable. He had ambition and ideas in his early years. Now both we and Madara need him. An alliance is mutually beneficial for both sides. But at the same time, we have to let the other party understand that I have the strength to punish those who break the alliance."
An alliance agreement is a piece of waste paper. But if one has the strength to punish the oath-breaker, then it's a completely different matter.
Pakura was silent for a few seconds, but had to admit that Kyohiko was right. This world ultimately respects the strong! Having strength or not made a huge difference.
Ryoho Kyohiko spoke his point of view.
"Every country has its own interests and demands, but in fact, cooperation is the best way to achieve mutual benefits…"
The north of the Land of Rain and the Land of Wind was the best example! One side rained every day, while the other was short of water to the point of being covered in desert. The Land of Fire had fertile soil and rich commodities, and could trade with the two countries. In addition, Konoha had the strength to solve their security concerns and geographical problems. An alliance of the three was beneficial and harmless.
However, Ryoho Kyohiko naturally didn't know that Hanzo had so much drama in his heart, thinking for half a day just over one move. In fact, he had left the scene, only erasing the traces related to Kakashi, just to warn Hanzo, nothing more. His words with Pakura, on the other hand, were truly with a purpose.
For Pakura, Ryoho Kyohiko had special thoughts. Pakura's status in Sunagakure was not low. Back then, when he wanted to support Pakura to be the Kazekage, it was not on a whim to deliberately disgust Sunagakure, but because the other party really had this ability. But compared to Rasa, she was certainly slightly inferior, and what Konoha needed was precisely this point. It was just that Rasa was more ruthless and directly sent her to Kirigakure. Kyohiko had to step in and save her.
Now, Pakura had feelings for Sunagakure, but no feelings of being from the same village as Rasa. Her attitude was quite complicated. Asking the other party to go to Konoha with him was to let the other party further feel the benefits of the "Will of Fire." Once the ideology was unified, territory and villages were not difficult matters. On the contrary, if the ideology and consciousness were not unified, even if the shinobi world was reluctantly unified, it would quickly fall apart in the end.
***
In Konoha, the crowd was surging.
"Boss, what's going on today? Why are there so many people?"
A stall owner answered.
"At first, the Guardian Shinobi came over for training, and the nobles came over to play on the side. The merchant caravans followed and formed a market. Later, at the suggestion of the Hokage-sama, it slowly became a tradition."
Yahiko nodded with understanding. So that's how it is! He walked around inside. There were indeed things from everywhere, very convenient. There were even goods from the Land of Water inside. If such a market could be formed in the north of the Land of Rivers… Yahiko secretly pondered how to create such a place in the north of the Land of Rivers to facilitate and strengthen the Land of Rain.
And at this moment, the three who had returned to Konoha directly via the Flying Thunder God Formation, after some disguise, also came to the outskirts to patrol.
It was Pakura's first time in Konoha, so she was very curious and wanted to see everything. Besides, according to Kyohiko, Maki and Temari were currently shopping here with Kushina. She wanted to see Maki, even if it was just a glance from a distance.
Leaving Sunagakure, knowing that that mission was extremely dangerous, Pakura still went. Afterwards, she did not regret it in her heart. The only one she felt sorry for was Maki, who had been very close to her. Pakura understood. After she left, given Sunagakure's situation, unless Maki could perform exceptionally well, it would be difficult for anyone to choose her as a subordinate again. Natural selection. A young bird that has left its parents will find it difficult to be adopted in the wild. She could mostly only fend for herself. The fact that Maki was sent to Konoha was a side reflection of the problem that no one was willing to teach her.
Pakura was worried about her student, her heart extremely urgent.
Ryoho Kyohiko walked to a tree and pressed his hand on the trunk. After a moment, he smiled.
"Found them!"
He found them just like that? Pakura was astonished. Although she was willing to do things for Kyohiko, it was more for Sunagakure to fight against Uchiha Madara, not to sincerely help Konoha. So, since long ago, she had rarely seen Kyohiko make a move. And now, whether it was dealing with Kakuzu, or easily using the trees to sense Maki's location, the strength and means shown by Kyohiko were all terrifying. Perhaps only Senju Hashirama of that time could be compared with the current Kyohiko.
She sighed inwardly, used the Transformation Jutsu, and quietly blended into the surrounding crowd. Following all the way, she arrived in front of a shop. Maki was wearing beautiful clothes, and beside her were Kushina and Temari. But obviously, she was very reserved, her eyes constantly watching the surroundings, full of vigilance.
Pakura's eyes couldn't help but dim. Maki was only ten this year, yet she already had the vigilance of a genin, and… in the past, their Sunagakure's education was to teach everyone who the enemy was and how to deal with them. As a Sunagakure ninja, being in Konoha, where was there not an enemy? She could imagine the troubles Maki was facing now.
"Sigh!"
"Not going up to talk?"
Ryoho Kyohiko asked in a low voice.
Pakura shook her head, her expression complicated.
"No, it's not suitable for me to appear…"
"Actually, you've already shown yourself in front of Rasa. Many of the higher-ups in Sunagakure probably also know you're still alive."
After Kyohiko advised this far, he didn't insist.
Pakura stood and watched for a long time. Suddenly, the girl in black clothes turned her head and looked over here. The two looked at each other, both stunned. In just half a second, Pakura calmly averted her gaze, but her voice carried nervousness.
"Let's go!"
She turned and walked in another direction. Ryoho Kyohiko kept pace.
Maki hurriedly took a step forward.
"Wait…"
She wanted to find them again, but in the sea of people, where could she see them? After all, those two looked very ordinary.
"What's wrong?"
Temari turned her head to look.
Maki was eight years older than her, with a calm personality, and had a similar bad background and upbringing, so Temari was willing to associate with her. After getting along for a few days, she had a relatively good understanding of Maki. The other was very calm and would not usually be so flustered. Something must have happened.
Maki started to speak, then stopped. She had made eye contact with that person, and only felt that she had seen her teacher, but her teacher was clearly already dead. Maybe I was mistaken… Thinking of this, she was sad and shook her head lightly.
"It's nothing. I just saw someone from the village also came, but he quickly ran away."
"…"
Temari didn't press further.
But she wasn't a fool. How could she really believe Maki's words? Someone from the village? Those people from the village were being closely watched by Baki for the time being. Apart from Maki being with her, the rest would not go out at all, for fear of arousing Konoha's suspicion. But in fact, Konoha didn't suspect them at all. As long as they didn't go to important areas and didn't wear forehead protectors, the people of Konoha were very kind and friendly, very enthusiastic towards them. So, it definitely wasn't one of the few people who came with Maki from the village.
Temari didn't expose her, but took a snack from the boss, then handed a portion to Maki.
"Let's go. Let's go to the park over there and sit and eat."
"Alright."
Maki nodded and kept pace with her.
In the shadows.
"Should we follow?"
"No need."
Pakura shook her head, her expression complicated.
She hadn't expected that Maki could actually sense her observation, and even somewhat recognize her.
Ryoho Kyohiko said faintly.
"A person's appearance and height can be concealed, but only the eyes are very difficult to conceal, because they are a reflection of the soul."
Pakura nodded silently. She knew that Kyohiko was right. She hadn't been able to hold back her emotions, so the other party had recognized her. It was just that Maki didn't know she was still alive, so she wouldn't think in that direction.
She sighed, then changed the subject.
"I'm done looking around. You must be very busy too, right? I should go back to the Anbu."
Speaking of which, she couldn't help but smile.
"Get me a room."
The room she was talking about was naturally not the "dormitory" of the Anbu, because the Anbu didn't have dormitories, only prison cells.
Ryoho Kyohiko shook his head lightly.
"No need."
"Really no need? I think you should still go and ask for permission."
Pakura joked.
Ryoho Kyohiko chuckled lightly.
"Since I let you come to Konoha, I won't have any suspicions. If you have no place to live, my home can temporarily rent a room to you."
"This… alright!"