Chapter 185: Sunagakure Really Took a Massive Hit This Time
After intense negotiations lasting a considerable time, Konoha and Cloud ninja signed a mutual non-aggression peace treaty. Both sides began simultaneously withdrawing their armies stationed at the Land of Hot Water and Land of Frost border in batches. This also marked the Third Shinobi World War's final curtain call.
Though Rock ninja and Sand ninja continued clashing over the Land of Stone, Rock ninja and Cloud ninja competed covertly with each other, and Mist ninja and Cloud ninja likewise had occasional conflicts at sea, these were all minor skirmishes. Conflict scales were controlled to under ten people—roughly the level of two or three squads brawling, completely falling short of major war standards.
So overall, the protracted Third Shinobi World War had truly concluded in the real sense. The shinobi world entered a peace period of uncertain duration.
Of course, the peace period only meant no large-scale wars. In fact, various troubles and crises hadn't necessarily decreased. Setting aside friction and conflicts between villages, just Konoha's Missing-nin Anonymous alone was already a major malignant tumor in the shinobi world.
The tragedy that occurred in Sunagakure wasn't exactly universally known, but at minimum the other four great ninja villages—Konoha, Cloud, Mist, and Rock—had all received the news. They knew Fourth Kazekage Rasa had been slain by Konoha missing-nin Anonymous, and Sunagakure's Tailed Beast, the One-Tail, had been stolen by Missing-nin Anonymous.
Sunagakure really took a massive hit this time. Not only did their prestige in the shinobi world plummet, but the five great ninja villages' credibility dropped a notch along with it.
However—
The leadership of the other four great ninja villages didn't look down on Sunagakure because of this. At minimum, Konoha and Cloud ninja didn't dare take this lightly after hearing the news. Both sides could sign the non-aggression treaty so quickly partly thanks to this news from Hidden Cloud Village.
After learning what happened at Sunagakure, Konoha truly had no interest in further entanglement with Cloud ninja. They only wanted to settle this messy situation as quickly as possible, then concentrate their efforts on resolving the menace called Missing-nin Anonymous.
No matter how useless Sunagakure might be, they were ultimately still one of the five great villages. Fourth Kazekage Rasa was absolutely no weakling either. He'd distinguished himself gloriously in the great war against Konoha. Sunagakure's ultimate crushing defeat wasn't because Rasa and other Sunagakure experts were inferior in skill, but because Sunagakure's overall strength fell far short of Konoha's, leading to their disastrous loss.
Now Missing-nin Anonymous could single-handedly break through Sunagakure, killing Fourth Kazekage Rasa while being surrounded by hundreds of Sand ninja and simultaneously battling the puppet master Chiyo. This absolutely couldn't be dismissed by saying all Sand ninja were useless trash.
Missing-nin Anonymous had already become an undeniable critical threat!
An enemy capable of bringing enormous danger to the village!
Yesterday he could rampage freely through Sunagakure as if entering an unguarded realm. Who knew if tomorrow he wouldn't do the same in Konoha or Hidden Cloud Village?
Konoha ninja worried about the village's safety. Hidden Cloud Village, which had also recently experienced internal turmoil, needed to guard even more vigilantly against Missing-nin Anonymous's continued evil deeds.
So with both sides pursuing faster progress, the negotiation work finally concluded smoothly.
Land of Hot Water border, Konoha camp.
"Truly remarkable. The Fourth Kazekage actually died just like that..."
Hyuga Ritsu clicked his tongue in amazement while reviewing detailed intelligence about the tragedy that occurred in Sunagakure over ten days ago.
Future changes were becoming increasingly unpredictable. The Fourth Kazekage, who should have lived another ten-plus years, had died early. Even the One-Tail had been seized prematurely, and moreover, it was stolen along with the ninja tool sealing the One-Tail—the Shukaku pot.
Which meant—
Gaara, Rasa's youngest son, hadn't even had the chance to become the One-Tail jinchuriki. What Sunagakure's future would look like was now genuinely difficult to imagine.
However, this wasn't a bad thing. Hyuga Ritsu's lips curled upward. He didn't dislike this future full of unknowns and variables.
What would a Gaara who wasn't the One-Tail jinchuriki grow up to become?
He truly felt somewhat curious and expectant about this.
Across from Hyuga Ritsu, Hiruko also couldn't help sighing emotionally. "Indeed, I never expected this Fourth Kazekage to be so short-lived. If I remember correctly, he should only be a few years older than Minato. I'd thought he'd sit in the Kazekage position for at least ten or twenty years, but the result turned out to be so brief."
Hearing this, Hyuga Ritsu blinked.
Speaking of short-lived, their own Konoha's Fourth Hokage in the original historical trajectory was truly the one who died young. However, everything was different now. What the future Fourth Hokage's fate would be had already become an unknown variable.
Hiruko didn't know what his student was thinking. He was genuinely worrying about the enormous threat posed by this Missing-nin Anonymous. "Ritsu, based on this intelligence, according to your explanation, this Missing-nin Anonymous has activated that so-called Mangekyō Sharingan?"
"Definitely!"
Hyuga Ritsu nodded emphatically and laughed mockingly. "If he hasn't activated the Mangekyō Sharingan, he couldn't possibly have created from nothing a secret technique for manufacturing replicas of others out of thin air, could he?"
He and Hiruko were reviewing intelligence not collected by ANBU but provided by Sand ninja. It detailed the entire process of that battle in Sunagakure.
According to the intelligence description, Missing-nin Anonymous himself possessed both Sharingan and Wood Release Kekkei Genkai simultaneously, while also controlling replicas of numerous Cloud ninja led by genius Magnetic Release user Troy, Konoha's Root leader Shimura Danzo, and other powerful individuals. By the battle's end, he even possessed Fourth Kazekage Rasa's replica.
"Sensei, you know best how much time and effort you spent researching the Chimera Technique. Rather than believing this technique for creating replicas is something Missing-nin Anonymous invented, I'm more willing to believe this is an ocular technique possessed by the Mangekyō Sharingan."
"Within our Hyuga clan, there are quite a few records about the Uchiha clan's Mangekyō Sharingan. They document numerous Mangekyō Sharingan ocular techniques, each possessing inconceivable abilities. Speaking of which, the village should also have these records. Sensei, when you have time, you can look them up. With your authority as Hokage Assistant, most of the village's secrets are accessible to you."
After finishing, Hyuga Ritsu felt somewhat parched and picked up his cup to drink some tea.
"I know, I know. The Mangekyō Sharingan—the Uchiha clan's past reliance for dominating the shinobi world. It's just that seeing once is better than hearing a hundred times. I never expected the Mangekyō Sharingan to possess such terrifying power."
Hiruko sighed endlessly.
Originally, his Chimera Technique had also considered incorporating the Uchiha clan's Sharingan, but the consequence of attacking one's own people was evident in Orochimaru, now being pursued by Jiraiya like a homeless dog fleeing in panic.
So he ultimately abandoned this concept. He didn't plan to betray the village and become a missing-nin living like a rat in dark corners never seeing daylight.
Fortunately—
He'd now finally completed the Chimera Technique. The final Storm Release Kekkei Genkai had also been obtained. On the night Hyuga Ritsu caused havoc in the Cloud ninja camp, Hiruko, who'd rushed to the frontline, hadn't just stood there watching.
His luck was good. He'd discovered Cloud ninja possessing Storm Release Kekkei Genkai at the time. Though he couldn't act personally, arranging for Hyuga Arima and others to strike covertly amid the chaos presented no problems. They'd seized that Cloud ninja alive right then, throwing several charred corpses onto the battlefield.
The Cloud ninja side found nothing abnormal when cleaning up the battlefield afterward.
Because this situation was actually quite common. Battlefield conditions were just that chaotic. After a major battle concluded, people inevitably went missing. Not every fallen warrior's body could be recovered.
Otherwise, Uchiha Madara and Black Zetsu's actions capturing who-knows-how-many Uchiha clan youths over the years would have long been exposed. The reason no problems had been discovered was precisely because people going missing on battlefields was extremely common.
In summary, Hiruko obtained the Storm Release Kekkei Genkai. The Chimera Technique was completely perfected. He now possessed five Kekkei Genkai: Wood Release, Shikotsumyaku, Boil Release, Ice Release, and Storm Release.
Of course, due to time constraints, his development degree of these five Kekkei Genkai was all quite limited. But as long as he had sufficient time, before long, Konoha Village would produce another pillar capable of shouldering heavy responsibilities.
Hiruko turned his gaze toward Hyuga Ritsu, asking somewhat curiously, "Ritsu, if you faced this Missing-nin Anonymous now, do you have confidence you could withstand him?"
Hyuga Ritsu raised an eyebrow and smiled. "We've crossed hands before. However, at that time he'd probably only recently activated the Mangekyō Sharingan. During that battle, he didn't release any noteworthy replicas. In the end, we fought a major battle with Wood Release, and I forced him to retreat."
"However, regardless of the reasons, if I can defeat him once, I can defeat him a second time, a third time, even countless times."
His brows and eyes brimmed with confidence.
Certainly, Missing-nin Anonymous was rapidly growing stronger using that formidable Mangekyō Sharingan ocular technique, but he himself hadn't stood still either. His superpower Physical Regeneration had evolved to Level 4, his regenerative abilities enhanced to an extremely exaggerated degree. After seizing the Kaguya bloodline from the Gold and Silver Brothers' lineage, both his Byakugan and Shikotsumyaku Kekkei Genkai had been strengthened.
Moreover—
His Wind Release training these past days had also advanced by leaps and bounds. Even that new technique was seventy to eighty percent complete. Before long, he could fully perfect it.
One could say his current combat power had sufficient confidence to break through any ninja village except Konoha. Regarding Missing-nin Anonymous, who'd counter-killed the Fourth Kazekage amid hundreds of Cloud ninja's encirclement and then retreated gracefully, he felt no fear whatsoever. He wasn't afraid at all of clashing head-on with Missing-nin Anonymous.
"Very confident! Then I'm relieved."
Watching his supremely confident beloved student, Hiruko couldn't help revealing a smile. He trusted Hyuga Ritsu even more than he trusted himself. His student always kept his word—if he said he could do it, he definitely could.
He turned to look at the clear azure sky outside like a flawless giant blue crystal, shifting his thoughts to ask, "Today's withdrawal is the second-to-last batch, right?"
"That's right, Sensei. Tomorrow we can return to the village with the final group of troops."
The master-student pair still remained at the Land of Hot Water border. Though negotiations with Cloud ninja had concluded, trust between Konoha and Cloud ninja was pitifully fragile. Neither side dared easily withdraw all forces from the frontline, so they withdrew in batches. Hiruko and Hyuga Ritsu, had thus consistently held their posts.
However, even while stationed at the frontline, their information remained current and not blocked. Whenever important new intelligence emerged, the Fourth Hokage would have it transmitted over at the fastest speed.
Like this time, they'd not only received this record of the Fourth Kazekage's death battle in Sunagakure provided by Sand ninja, but were also informed of another matter—Sunagakure's envoy had already arrived at Konoha Village.
Sunagakure's situation had now stabilized. With advisor elders Chiyo and Ebizo's full support, the nineteen-year-old genius Scorch Release user Pakura had overcome all obstacles and succeeded as Fifth Kazekage.
Shortly after this newly minted Fifth Kazekage took office, she'd dispatched an envoy to Konoha. But they hadn't come to hold Missing-nin Anonymous accountable for the blood debt committed in Sunagakure. Instead, they planned to establish cooperative relations with Konoha, joining hands to hunt Missing-nin Anonymous together.
Honestly—
This move by Sand ninja truly surprised Konoha's leadership. Minato had also been caught off guard, exercising exceptional caution for the moment, not immediately replying to the Sand ninja delegation. Instead, he'd sent people to urge Hiruko and Hyuga Ritsu, master and student, to return to the village quickly to discuss together how to handle this matter.
Land of Rain—this was a small nation perpetually shrouded by continuous rain. But in this intermediate zone simultaneously connecting the three great nations of Fire, Earth, and Wind, there existed a ninja village with not particularly long history, but which had become quite famous in the shinobi world due to birthing a top-tier expert.
Wearing a black cloak, Uchiha Tatsuhata stood on the ground outside Amegakure, looking up at this village before him with its distinctive style featuring drainage pipes everywhere.
Zetsu, resembling a Venus flytrap, emerged from a puddle behind him and moved close to Uchiha Tatsuhata. White Zetsu spoke up. "Tatsuhata, be careful! This rain is Nagato's eyes. Once you charge in, you'll be discovered immediately."
The rain in Amegakure was exceptionally heavy. Though not far away, it was completely different in intensity from outside the village.
"Relax! I'm not here to cause them trouble. I'm here to discuss cooperation with them. As for being discovered immediately—that's no problem."
"The real problem would be if they couldn't detect me infiltrating inside."
After speaking—
Uchiha Tatsuhata resolutely charged into Amegakure. Inside the village, rainwater falling from the sky landed on his body.
At the same time—
Standing at a window atop Amegakure's tallest building was a statue of the King of Hell. On the tongue protruding from this King of Hell statue stood a man.
He slowly opened those eyes with rippling circular patterns, speaking slowly. "There's an intruder!"
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