As the news fermented over several days, Uchiha Rengoku's astonishing battle achievements became known throughout the entire ninja world.
Moreover, the news that Uchiha Rengoku had been promoted to the position of advisory elder spread like the wind.
At the same time, the Uchiha clan also announced the resignation of Fugaku, and Rengoku's succession as the new clan head.
With Rengoku's battle achievements as the foundation, now that he had succeeded as clan head, all factions were extremely cautious.
However, at this time, the Uchiha clan sent out two letters, one to Iwagakure, the other to Sunagakure.
———
[Iwagakure]
BANG!
Onoki slammed his palm on the letter in front of him.
"You didn't even know Kurotsuchi was taken away, what the hell were you doing?"
Don't be fooled by Onoki's small stature, his temper was quite big.
The one kneeling below was the Anbu he had previously sent out to search for Deidara and Kurotsuchi.
They had thought Kurotsuchi was together with Deidara. But now it was discovered that both Kurotsuchi and Deidara had already been kidnapped.
The key issue was that the Uchiha took them out of the Land of Earth and returned to Konoha, and they didn't even know.
"Extremely sorry, Lord Tsuchikage."
The Anbu kneeled on the ground and could only apologize, unable to do anything else.
Onoki was not like Danzo, who would kill at the slightest disagreement. After all, even someone as slippery as Deidara had been captured.
That meant the person who came must've been a top expert.
The most likely suspect was Uchiha Itachi, one of the Mangekyo Sharingan users of the Uchiha clan.
"Has Kitsuchi returned yet?"
"Reporting, Lord Tsuchikage, Lord Kitsuchi has already returned."
Onoki waved his hand, "Go receive your punishment. Summon Kitsuchi in."
"Thank you, Lord Tsuchikage."
The Anbu's mouth was bitter, this was truly a disaster from nowhere.
Before long, a man with a large nose and beard running across his face, wearing a red shinobi hat, huge in stature and clad in a red skintight combat suit with brown jonin armor over it, entered.
This was Onoki's son, Kurotsuchi's father, Kitsuchi.
Judging from height and build, Kitsuchi didn't resemble Onoki at all. But he was indeed Onoki's son.
Back when Onoki was young, his body was still very strong, just a bit short in height.
His current frail form was entirely due to age, his muscles had completely withered.
"Father," Since there were no outsiders in the office, Kitsuchi still called Onoki "Father."
Onoki tapped the table a few times, then pushed the Uchiha's letter toward Kitsuchi.
Kitsuchi quickly glanced through it, Uchiha had informed Iwagakure that Kurotsuchi and Deidara had been kidnapped by them.
They invited Iwagakure to send people to observe the public execution, and also to discuss ransom terms.
"Kurotsuchi was captured? When did this happen?", Kitsuchi was shocked. He had previously led five elite Iwagakure shinobi to test Konoha.
But Uchiha Rengoku had gone out and immediately dealt with Kumogakure's side.
Onoki had then ordered them to retreat, and not long after came the news of the AB combo returning defeated, and even the Raikage's arm being broken.
Kitsuchi had just been thankful that his father had called them back and avoided provoking Konoha.
He hadn't expected that the Uchiha had already kidnapped his daughter beforehand.
Onoki knocked the table, "Last time Deidara caused trouble in Yellow Rock City, the Anbu saw Kurotsuchi with him."
"After that, there was no news. So most likely they were captured during that time."
Kitsuchi frowned and looked at Onoki, "Father, are we going?"
Onoki nodded, "Take some people and go. See what the Uchiha want."
"After all, we don't officially have any forces in the Land of Fire."
After the end of the Third Great Ninja War, the Five Great Ninja Villages had signed a ceasefire agreement.
But now it had been eight or nine years, and all kinds of frictions were emerging.
What happened between Kumogakure and Konoha was basically well known.
Iwagakure's relations with Konoha were also bad, but hadn't yet reached the point of all-out conflict.
If Kitsuchi went through official channels, there wouldn't be any danger.
But Onoki didn't know what exactly the Uchiha wanted, so negotiations had to come first.
"If the Uchiha want supplies, we can negotiate."
"For anything else, you should understand."
Kitsuchi's expression turned very serious, "Understood, Father."
Onoki floated up from his seat with his hands behind his back, "Now that Uchiha Rengoku has taken over as clan head, I fear the ninja world will no longer be peaceful."
———
[Sunagakure]
[Kazekage's Office]
Compared to the emotionally steady Onoki—
Rasa directly flipped the desk, "GAARA'S NOT DEAD?"
Baki, holding the letter sent by the Uchiha, spoke, "Yes, the Uchiha have captured Gaara alive."
"They're now inviting us to send representatives to observe the public execution and discuss how to ransom him."
Rasa's expression was dark. He hadn't sent Gaara out to give the enemy any benefit.
He knew that Konoha didn't have strong sealing techniques, thus couldn't seal Gaara.
An unqualified jinchuriki had to be disposed of, and if it caused damage to Konoha or Uchiha, even better.
But now something went wrong, Gaara didn't die.
"Go get Seiji for me!", Rasa had previously confirmed things with Seiji, the head of the sealing squad.
Now that Gaara was still alive, Rasa naturally had to hold someone accountable.
"Yes, Lord Kazekage," The Anbu quickly left.
Rasa picked up the battle intelligence from a few days ago regarding Uchiha Rengoku's fights with Kumogakure on the border of the Land of Fire.
The Land of Wind was farther away, so intel had arrived a bit slower.
Although he had already read it once, Rasa still found it unbelievable.
'Uchiha Rengoku's strength has already reached such a level.'
'Could the power boost from the Mangekyo Sharingan really be this strong?'
'And this kind of Mangekyo Sharingan, the Uchiha has three users.'
Rasa asked, "Is this intel absolutely accurate?"
Baki understood the Kazekage's feelings very well, he had felt the same before.
He confirmed, "It's true, Lord Kazekage. Many scouts from different factions witnessed this battle."
"Everyone saw the fight. The AB combo lost, and the Raikage lost an arm."
Rasa himself was also strong, but even he didn't think he could defeat the AB combo.
The last person who had fought them was the Yellow Flash, Namikaze Minato.
And they hadn't worked together in years. Yet this time, Raikage returned with a broken arm.
This inevitably raised the question, 'Is Uchiha Rengoku even stronger than Namikaze Minato?'
As Rasa pondered, the previous Anbu quickly returned.
But no one followed behind him.
"Lord Kazekage, Seiji's sealing squad has been dispatched on an external mission by Elder Chiyo."
Rasa froze for a moment, then his face instantly darkened.
'Dispatched? This is a cover-up!'
Seiji clearly knew he was going to be held accountable, so he had already prepared his escape route.
'Chiyo again!'
"Lord Kazekage, I also saw Pakura and the others at Chiyo's place."
"They somehow already returned to the village."
Upon hearing the Anbu's report, Rasa instantly understood everything, "Very good. So I've been played."
"Go to Elder Chiyo and give this to her, tell her to make a trip to Konoha," Rasa said as he handed the Uchiha's letter to the Anbu.
"Yes."
The Anbu took the letter and vanished.
Rasa's face was full of gloom. It seemed Chiyo had no intention of retiring.
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