Chapter 184: What Kind of Allied Army
Before he finished speaking, the Raikage loudly mocked: "Haha, is the Hokage planning to use others as pawns?"
"What does the grudge between your Konoha Village and the Akatsuki organization have to do with our Kumogakure?"
"I heard that shinobi called Nagato—his parents were killed by your Konoha Village's shinobi."
"Ah, right, there's also a rumor saying he's still Jiraiya's student. Is that true, Jiraiya?"
Having his painful spot mentioned, Jiraiya's expression couldn't help darkening.
Though war had kept him trapped in Konoha Village, never meeting Nagato and the others, the events from back then had long been deliberately released by Yasushi—the causes and effects explained clearly.
Especially Danzo's "contributions" in all this were heavily emphasized, not missing a single detail.
Jiraiya had genuinely trained Nagato and the others as disciples. To prevent them from being tainted by Konoha Village's filth, he deliberately left the three in the Land of Rain, not bringing them back to Konoha Village.
But even a place like the Land of Rain couldn't escape Danzo's claws.
His claws were truly long—even reaching across an entire country to exert influence, even dispatching Root personally to do things that brought Konoha Village no benefits whatsoever.
Danzo was already dead. With Jiraiya's personality, he still couldn't understand—how exactly was that guy's brain wired?
"What? He really is Jiraiya's student!"
The Raikage had spoken casually, not truly believing this intelligence. But now seeing Jiraiya's expression, he immediately knew this matter was true.
"So there's no such thing as shinobi world terrorists—it's clearly just your Konoha Village's shinobi engaged in internal strife!"
Watching his longtime rival suffer, Onoki felt quite pleased inside. He also joined in laughing loudly and mockingly.
With their own Kage laughing, subordinates naturally had to support the show. Immediately, mocking laughter filled the entire conference hall.
Only Yagura currently looked utterly bleak, appearing utterly dejected.
Even the Mist shinobi behind him were all depressed, unable to laugh at all.
Yagura wasn't someone who shirked responsibility. After the genjutsu was dispelled earlier, he'd privately told those around him about his situation.
A village's Kage being controlled by genjutsu for years, committing countless atrocities in the village—this was no longer a problem that could be solved with a dogeza apology.
Even if Mei Terumi and others wanted to exonerate him, they couldn't find any justification.
Yagura had already resolved to die. He just waited to return to the village, complete all handovers, then commit suicide in atonement.
His will was naturally detected by those around him, so naturally their emotions showed on their faces.
The Mist shinobi's abnormal behavior immediately caught everyone's attention.
The Raikage frowned, his gaze sweeping over Yagura and the others as he asked strangely:
"Mizukage, what's going on with your Kirigakure?"
"From just now, you've all looked half-dead. Did something happen?"
"The genjutsu wasn't dispelled, was it?"
Yagura glanced at him, not wanting to air dirty laundry. He shook his head:
"I think what Lord Hokage said makes sense."
"Although the Akatsuki organization's rogue ninja mainly come from Konoha Village, once they betrayed, they have no more connection with Konoha Village."
"Since the Akatsuki organization claims they'll use military might to intimidate nations and establish a new peaceful order, then all shinobi villages are their enemies."
"If Konoha Village organizes an allied army to attack the Land of Rain, the Land of Water is willing to participate."
"Hmm?" The Raikage was immediately surprised. He carefully examined Yagura and the Land of Water's people, discovering that Mei Terumi and others all showed expressions of united hostility on their faces—eyes containing only fury and hatred, without any opposition.
"So you also have a grudge with the Akatsuki organization." The Raikage spoke thoughtfully: "Is there intelligence we don't know about?"
At this moment, Rasa, who'd maintained a low profile from the start, suddenly spoke:
"That Uchiha Yasushi once invaded Sunagakure, seized the One-Tail Shukaku, and destroyed the Land of Wind's capital oasis, forcing the capital to relocate—crimes of the utmost severity."
"If Konoha Village organizes an allied army to attack the Land of Rain, count the Land of Wind in too."
Considering the daimyo's dignity, the outside world only knew Uchiha Yasushi slaughtered massively in the Land of Wind, but specific intelligence remained unclear.
Rasa naturally wouldn't bring up these shameful matters either. Just relying on publicly known events was enough to make the Land of Wind's people hate Uchiha Yasushi to the bone.
"Tch!" The Raikage clicked his tongue, exchanged a glance with Onoki beside him, and decisively withdrew to leave. "Years of continuous war—Kumogakure suffered heavy casualties. We won't participate in your allied army."
"You three nations play by yourselves!"
Onoki also clutched his old back, coughing dryly: "I'm too old."
"I only want peaceful retirement now, to live a few more years. I genuinely don't want to fight anymore."
"Don't count our Iwagakure for the allied army matter."
"However, if you need war supplies, we can sell them to you—just the prices naturally won't be cheap."
Seeing this, the Raikage also quickly interjected:
"Since you're continuing war anyway, those village missions definitely won't get done. Why not have those merchants come to our Kumogakure instead—we can give them a discount."
"Hmph!" Seeing the Raikage and Onoki profiteering from disaster, the other three Kage's expressions immediately darkened. They snorted coldly, none speaking.
The Raikage and Onoki didn't care. They immediately stood up, dusting off their pants to leave.
After returning to their villages, they still needed to arrange people to receive territories in the Land of Fire. They had no time to waste here.
After both villages' people had all left, Sarutobi Hiruzen finally sighed deeply, speaking with a bitter expression:
"With great enemies before us, the shinobi villages still refuse to cooperate wholeheartedly, only knowing how to scheme against each other. I fear everyone will suffer in the future."
Yagura glanced at him with displeasure, extremely disgusted by his hypocritical pretense, speaking directly:
"If your Konoha Village acted even slightly human, treating your own village's shinobi a bit better, there wouldn't be so many rogue ninja appearing, much less let the shinobi world's situation deteriorate to this state."
One sentence left Sarutobi Hiruzen speechless. His lips opened and closed, stuttering for a long while without producing a single word of refutation.
"Five nations makes an allied army. Three nations' allied army is nothing."
"We can't possibly damage our own national strength while the other two nations watch from the sidelines."
"The Akatsuki organization's threat poses the greatest threat to your Konoha. Let your Konoha bear responsibility first!"
"Hope your Konoha can quickly resolve the Akatsuki organization. Stop causing trouble for other shinobi villages!"
Relations between the three nations were tense. If not for official business, they wouldn't even speak a sentence to each other.
Yagura dropped this statement, then stood and led his subordinates to leave. Rasa opened his mouth, ultimately saying nothing, also leading people away.
Only Konoha's people remained, looking at their own Third Hokage, waiting for him to decide.
Sarutobi Hiruzen took a deep breath from his pipe, exhaling the smoke in a long stream, speaking resolutely:
"Even without the nations' allied army, that Uchiha Yasushi still can't be allowed to remain. He must be completely eliminated."
"Jiraiya, Itachi—after returning to the village, you two select elite shinobi, formulate battle plans. We must kill that criminal."
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