Ryun was not surprised when he received the news. Moreover, he called Nara Luming over to discuss this matter. Nara Luming smiled and said, "This Shingen is quite a character. Not only did he not shift the blame onto you, but he also publicly declared that the Daimyo died from a sudden illness. Interesting."
Ryun nodded. "Exactly. That guy is a born politician."
After chatting for a while, Ryun went home to spend time with his wife.
Kumogakure
At this moment, Kumogakure was terrifyingly quiet. The Third Raikage helped his son back to the Raikage building, then immediately summoned a medical ninja to reattach his son's arm. However, due to the long time that had passed and the severe damage to the arm, reattachment was impossible. The Raikage was enraged and killed several medical ninjas, causing widespread panic.
Finally, A sighed. "Father, forget it. Stop the killing. Even with one less arm, I can still fight. It doesn't affect me."
The Third Raikage gritted his teeth. This trip had been a complete failure. They had suffered heavy losses, and even his own son had lost an arm. Damn it. Why. Just why. Ryun's existence was simply a nightmare for Kumogakure.
"Son, don't worry. There must be a way to cure your arm." The Third Raikage said solemnly. At that moment, Black Zetsu spoke up. "I can help him restore his arm."
"Sir, please lend a hand and help my son restore his arm." The Third Raikage said urgently.
Black Zetsu nodded, then attached chakra to A's body. Soon, A's arm grew back. A tried moving his arm and found it no different from the original. He immediately said with a smile, "Thank you, sir. You saved my father before, and now you've healed my arm. We, father and son, have no way to repay you."
Black Zetsu just waved his hand. "It doesn't matter. No repayment is needed. Just continue to develop your strength." After saying this, Black Zetsu did not respond further. He began thinking about how to get Ryun to help him rescue his mother.
The two were tactful and did not disturb him further. However, two hours later, they realized something. The Eight-Tails Jinchūriki was missing.
"Father, Killer B is gone. He also left a letter." A said with a grim expression.
The Third Raikage took the letter and opened it to read it. "Uncle, Big Brother, I have now repaid the debt of your upbringing and our brotherly bond. From now on, I owe Kumogakure nothing. We part ways here."
The words between the lines revealed disappointment with Kumogakure. The Third Raikage slammed the table. "Hmph. Easy for him to say. The debt of upbringing can never be fully repaid. He's only been asked to do a few things, and he already betrays us."
A remained silent. A few things. It seemed like it had been many things already. All the dirty work was given to him to do. How many times had their lives been saved by Killer B.
But now that his father was alive, he relied more on his father, thus overlooking Killer B's feelings, causing the bond between the two brothers to be almost completely worn away.
"Father, actually..." A said hesitantly. The Third Raikage immediately interrupted him. "Don't you dare plead for that kid again. He can't even handle these minor things. How will he ever amount to anything. Fine, he left, right. If he's gone, then he should never come back."
"Announce to the shinobi world. The Eight-Tails Jinchūriki has defected. List him as an SSS-rank missing-nin. A bounty of ten billion for anyone who captures him and brings him to Kumogakure." The Third Raikage A slammed the table, finalizing the matter.
A looked at his father with a complicated expression, watching him be dictatorial and unwilling to listen to anyone's advice. He began to wonder if his decision would have been better had his father died.
But as soon as this thought appeared, he shook his head. What nonsense was he thinking. His father was the Raikage. If the sky fell, he would hold it up. Why should he worry. But, B, you wouldn't just leave like this, right.
A felt some regret in his heart at this moment.
Konoha
Hokage's Villa.
Ryun carried Tsunade to bed, and the two had another friendly exchange.
As for the children, they were also fed intermittently, stopping for a while, then fed again intermittently, stopping for a while.
If calculated, the exercise time was probably about twenty hours.
Ryun, supporting himself against the wall, walked to the living room. This exercise was really tiring. He felt drained. What was going on with Tsunade, was she really that powerful.
After drinking some water, Ryun walked back into the bedroom. This time, he got into bed, Tsunade hugged him, and the two fell asleep like that.
Meanwhile
In Kumogakure, Black Zetsu suddenly said, "A, send an envoy to the Land of Rain. Tell them that nowadays, the people of the Land of Rain only know the Akatsuki organization, and not Hanzo."
For some reason, Black Zetsu suddenly thought of this method. Although the Third Raikage A did not know why Black Zetsu wanted to do this, he ultimately sent an envoy to the Land of Rain.
Initially, the Land of Rain treated them with courtesy. Hanzo personally received the envoy. Then the envoy casually mentioned this offhand. Hanzo's eyes flickered, and he froze holding his wine cup until the envoy waved his hand, then he reacted.
"Oh, esteemed envoy, I am a bit too drunk, please forgive me." Hanzo said with a smile.
"In that case, I will take my leave now. This time, the main purpose is that the Raikage-sama wishes to establish trade with the Land of Rain, for mutual benefit. Please, Hanzo-sama, do not think too much about it." After saying this, the Kumogakure envoy left.
Hanzo's expression darkened. The people of the Land of Rain only know the Akatsuki organization, and not him, Hanzo. Hmph. Akatsuki. What a fine Akatsuki organization. Their reach is really long.
It seemed he had been too accommodating, too trusting, allowing this so-called peace-loving organization to grow unchecked. Even Kumogakure knew about this.
This was not a good sign. If Kumogakure knew, it meant all Five Great Shinobi Countries knew about this. In other words, they were all waiting to see him, Hanzo, become a laughingstock, waiting to see him be sidelined.
The more Hanzo thought about it, the angrier he became. The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. Finally, he slammed the table. "Someone come."
Immediately, a ninja wearing an Amegakure forehead protector appeared and knelt on the ground. "Hanzo-sama, what are your orders."
"I ask you, do you know the Akatsuki organization. What is their reputation like." Hanzo inquired.
"The Akatsuki organization promotes peace, opposes war, treats common people righteously and generously, winning their hearts. Now in Amegakure, there is no one who doesn't know of them." The Anbu answered truthfully.
"Are they only winning over commoners." Hanzo inquired.
"Currently, yes. They have also contacted some shinobi clans, but the shinobi clans feel that mixing with this group of commoners has no future, so they maintain a neutral attitude." The Anbu took out a recorded scroll and unfurled it before Hanzo.
Hanzo took the scroll, looked at it, then suddenly slammed the table. "Tomorrow, call the three leaders of the Akatsuki organization for negotiations. The location is the abandoned factory in Amegakure. Remember, we bring more people. Prepare the poison gas. Also, after the three of them enter, you immediately take people and slaughter all the Akatsuki members."
"I want to make all their years of effort go to waste." Hanzo was heavy. His voice was deep, magnetic, which made the Anbu understand that Hanzo was finally going to start eliminating dissidents.
At this moment, the Akatsuki organization had just returned to the village. They had smiles on their faces and were still discussing the events of the full moon banquet for Uchiha Ju in Konoha. It was also their first time seeing such a grand and joyous banquet.
Little did they know, a crisis was extending its wicked hand towards their Akatsuki organization.
Jiraiya felt that his three students, now with the strength of two Jōnin and one Kage-level, were sufficient to handle anything, so he went off to train. It was said he intended to train relentlessly to master Sage Mode, thus he parted ways with the three.
"Three Leader-samas, the Rain Shadow of Amegakure, Hanzo-sama, wishes to invite the three of you for negotiations regarding land distribution in Amegakure."
"The Akatsuki organization has now become the strongest organization besides Hanzo-sama. It should have a larger territory, not just in the countryside. Therefore, Hanzo-sama plans to give some cities to you to govern, hoping that under the cooperation of your esteemed organization and the Amegakure ninja, Amegakure can become better." The Anbu ninja spoke very tactfully.
Nagato frowned. He always felt that something big would happen if they went on this trip. Konan was smiling, looking at Yahiko and Nagato. For such matters, she would listen to the two of them.
Yahiko thought for a moment, then suddenly smiled. "In that case, we agree. What is the time." He asked.
"Tomorrow at 10 AM. The location is the abandoned factory." The Anbu handed Hanzo's handwritten letter to Yahiko. He knew that among the three leaders, Yahiko was the final decision-maker.
Yahiko opened the letter. His brows relaxed. "It is indeed the Rain Shadow-sama's handwriting. Brother, please relay a message to the Rain Shadow-sama for me. Say that the Akatsuki organization always advocates for peace and will always obey the arrangements of the Rain Shadow-sama."
The Anbu nodded. "The message will be delivered. The three leaders have just returned from the Konoha ceremony, you must be very tired. I will not disturb you further." After saying this, the Anbu ninja used the Body Flicker Technique and immediately disappeared.
The three watched the direction he left, their hearts filled with mixed feelings. Yahiko, however, smiled. "Comrades, it seems our efforts have gained the support and recognition of the Rain Shadow-sama. They want us to go to the cities to continue promoting our ideology."
Nagato frowned. "Yahiko, I always feel things aren't that simple. And the location is remote, an abandoned factory..."
"Relax, relax. We are all citizens of the Land of Rain. Would Hanzo, the Shinobi Demigod, attack his own citizens." Yahiko was mysteriously confident.
Seeing this, Nagato stopped advising, but his right eyelid kept twitching.
Konan held Nagato's hand. "Don't worry, the three of us are invincible. Even if they try to double-cross us, Nagato, you will protect us, right." Konan blinked, saying with a smile.
"..... Ah. Yes, Konan. I will protect you, and Yahiko." Nagato's face blushed slightly.
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