A flipped the table again.
Mifune was terrified, begging them not to start a fight in the Land of Iron. If anything went wrong, wouldn't the responsibility fall on him, the host?
Yagura and his subordinates very sensibly declared, "We'll follow Konoha."
They said they'd do it, and they did.
After pledging their loyalty, Yagura took Mei back to gather his troops.
After a symbolic farewell ceremony, representatives from all sides, with different intentions and agreements that could never be implemented, embarked on their return journeys.
In a hidden valley far from the core area of the Land of Iron, A, Ōnoki, and the representative of Sunagakure secretly gathered.
Ōnoki had witnessed Konoha's development through various periods. For various reasons, he had always viewed Konoha as a great menace.
Two years ago, after Hiruzen's sacrifice, Satoshi inherited the position of Hokage.
Actually, he had thought Konoha would just be mediocre.
An eighteen-year-old child, without the guidance of a senior, shouldn't be able to pull off any tricks.
Even with the public announcement that he inherited the will of Tobirama, Ōnoki was still half-skeptical.
A ruthless and exceptionally talented fellow like Tobirama was hard to find a second of in the entire Ninja World, let alone in a single village.
However, through today's direct contact, Ōnoki gained a completely new understanding of Satoshi.
This guy was very troublesome, at least more troublesome than that softie Hiruzen.
This also made Ōnoki want to curse, "Why does Konoha get all the good things?"
Since the era of Hashirama, Konoha seemed to never lack talent.
They finally managed to outlive a few, and outlasted several generations, and just when it looked like there would be a gap, this white-haired kid appeared.
It would be one thing if they just had a lot of talent, but Konoha also occupied a favorable geographical location and possessed the richest resources.
Just thinking about it made them seethe with hatred.
If it were just that, it would be fine. Now that their three parties were cooperating, they weren't afraid of Konoha monopolizing anything. But this meeting exposed Konoha's ambition.
Satoshi probably really wanted to control them, just like he controlled Kirigakure.
Ōnoki didn't like this feeling of being controlled by others. But he also didn't want to start a war.
After all, he wasn't sure if Konoha would produce another talent in the middle of a fight.
But he was also worried that the Land of Fire would grow larger and larger, constantly squeezing their living space. They didn't want to be like Sunagakure, constantly being beaten repeatedly.
Iwagakure and Kumogakure must not follow in Sunagakure's footsteps.
Finally, Ōnoki slowly spoke, "Gentlemen, shouldn't we take some action to make Konoha restrain itself?"
Ōnoki's suggestion naturally received the agreement of A and Ebizo.
A felt that solving problems with fists was a very reasonable thing. If they couldn't agree, then they'd fight.
Ebizo, on the other hand, felt that it would be great to cling to two strong allies and deal with Konoha. Their village was really suffering. Just scraping a little from Konoha would be enough for them to survive.
So the three hit it off immediately and quickly formulated a plan targeting Konoha. Konoha was unaware of their plan.
After Satoshi returned to the village, he merely told everyone that the three villages seemed a bit off, and that everyone should be careful when acting.
However, Naruto and Sasuke, those two fools, didn't take Satoshi's words to heart.
A week later, they took on an escort mission and were ambushed when they entered the border of the Land of Lightning. Several masked men surrounded the two of them.
"Konoha ninjas entering the territory of the Land of Lightning without authorization, what are your intentions?"
Naruto was stunned when he heard this. It wasn't wartime, and missions inevitably involved other countries' territories.
What's more, they were escorting a ninja from the Land of Lightning.
"Hey, are you mistaken? We're just completing a mission, we don't have any other ideas."
The leader, wearing a black mask, snorted coldly. "You are still quibbling. I think you're not a Konoha ninja at all, but a spy from Akatsuki."
"As for your talk of escorting, I think you threatened a resident of the Land of Lightning and forced him to bring you in."
Hearing this, Naruto almost gritted his teeth.
What was this guy saying?
Was I, Uzumaki Naruto, a member of Akatsuki?
He knew there was only one Akatsuki member left on the surface, and that was Obito. And Obito, that big bastard, was the culprit who had killed his parents.
How many fake drugs would he have to take to go crazy enough to impersonate his enemy?
Damn it, it was a good thing Obito wasn't here right now, otherwise he'd just slam a Rasengan on his head and let him know the power of a murderous Naruto.
Naruto clenched his fists. "Bastard! You're Akatsuki! Your whole family is Akatsuki!"
Hearing this, the man sneered. "Have you become enraged after being exposed by us?"
As he spoke, he waved his hand, and several masked men slowly surrounded them.
"You!"
Naruto was about to speak but was stopped by Sasuke.
"Idiot, these guys are clearly trying to frame us."
"Huh?" Naruto blinked.
So that's what it was?
Then how did Sasuke figure it out?
Two years of cooperation had created a good understanding between them.
Naruto lowered his voice. "Then what should we do? Retreat or..."
"Retreat?"
Sasuke sneered, his right hand resting on his Kusanagi Sword.
"Konoha ninjas encountered bandits while on a mission and had no choice but to act to protect the safety of the personnel."
Before he finished speaking, the tomoe in Sasuke's eyes slowly spun.
Sasuke was actually seething with anger inside. His goal in becoming Satoshi's disciple was to gain enough power from Satoshi and then defeat him in front of everyone. However, he was still far from it.
He had challenged Satoshi countless times, and each time he was thoroughly beaten.
In his extreme thirst for power, Sasuke had forcefully activated his Three-Tomoe Sharingan earlier. This made him a bit overconfident.
He couldn't beat that man, but couldn't he beat these rabble?
Today, I, Sasuke, will use you to gain some experience.
As for the subsequent troubles, let that man solve them himself.
"Let's go, Naruto."
"Got it."
Shadow Clone Jutsu!
Naruto successfully borrowed Chakra from Kurama.
Two surges of wild Chakra soared into the sky.
"Chidori!"
"Rasengan!"
In the blink of an eye, Naruto and Sasuke successfully dealt with the provocative individuals.
Sasuke stepped forward a few paces, using his Kusanagi Sword to pry open their masks. He saw the familiar forehead protectors.
"Hmm? These guys are ninjas from Kumogakure."
"Isn't that a bit bad? I remember a teacher in the village once said not to easily attack ninjas from other villages, otherwise it would cause a lot of trouble."
Naruto rubbed his messy blond hair. "Oh no, did we cause some trouble for sensei?"
Sasuke merely chuckled, patting the escort's shoulder. "We've delivered you this far. Let's go."
After speaking, Sasuke turned to leave. "Hurry up, you idiot. Are you waiting for the ninjas from Kumogakure to come for revenge?"
"Oh." Naruto quickly followed.
"Let's take that small path, the one we took last year when you almost got killed."
"Shut up, don't mention such things."
"Hehe..."
Naruto and Sasuke sounded relaxed, but they were actually running exceptionally fast.
Upon arriving at Konoha, they immediately reported the incident to Satoshi.
(End of Chapter)
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