The environment of the Hidden Rock Village is quite uniform, mostly appearing as barren land.
Although it doesn't have the sandstorms of the Hidden Sand Village, staying outside for too long will leave you covered in dust; but if you linger outside the Hidden Rock Village for a while, you'll also be covered in dirt.
"Lord Hokage, this way, please, the Tsuchikage has already arranged accommodations."
The Hidden Rock Ninja picked up the Uzumaki Naruto group at the Thunder Station and led them inside the Hidden Rock Village; however, once they arrived, a Hidden Rock Ninja approached Uchiha Yoichi and asked, "Excuse me, are you the invited Yoichi, Konoha's Yin Yang Master?"
"I am Yoichi the Yin Yang Master, but I'm not from Konoha, I just reside there."
Uchiha Yoichi corrected him, then took out the invitation sent by the Hidden Rock Village: "This is the invitation your village sent me."
The Hidden Rock Ninja took it, checked it, and confirmed it before saying to Uchiha Yoichi, "Sorry for the oversight, Tsuchikage is in a meeting today, and she plans to see you tomorrow. Do you..."
"I have time, but you should know my purpose for coming to the Hidden Rock Village, it's because of the exotic beast from the other world...."
Uchiha Yoichi asked, "When can I see the two exotic beasts killed by the Hidden Rock Village, or what can I purchase?"
"I'm sorry, you will have to wait until you've met the Tsuchikage, I can't decide on that."
Fearing Uchiha Yoichi might leave displeased, the Hidden Rock Ninja followed Kurotsuchi's instructions, hinting ahead of time, "This time we're not only bringing out the bodies of the two exotic beasts but also selling the treasures brought by the exotic beasts. If Yoichi can stay longer, there will be opportunities....."
The Hidden Rock Ninja managed to persuade Uchiha Yoichi with flattering words, though somewhat naive. However, it was unexpected to Uchiha Yoichi that they were willing to sell the treasures brought by the exotic beasts.
But upon thinking further, he somewhat understood; although they were treasures, they were from another world, like the Storage Ring. Without any contact with things from the Dou Qi Continent, they wouldn't be recognized, thus becoming useless to him.
The Hidden Rock may have researched for a long time without any clues, so they thought of selling the treasures brought by the exotic beasts. However, it also couldn't be ruled out that the Hidden Rock wanted to deceive people with fake goods.
"Alright, if Tsuchikage has the time, please notify me immediately, I don't have much time."
Uchiha Yoichi finished speaking and was then taken to a resting room by the Hidden Rock Ninja.
Meanwhile, Kurotsuchi, the Tsuchikage of the Hidden Rock Village, indeed had no time, as they were summoned to the Five Kage Summit after Uzumaki Naruto's arrival. Naruto was the last to arrive.
Exchanging research on exotic beasts was secondary, the Five Kage Summit's primary focus was discussing matters that posed a threat to the Ninja World.
Upon arriving at the Five Kage Summit room, Uzumaki Naruto saw that the other four Kage were already in place and said, "Sorry, I'm late."
"No worries, we just arrived as well, please take your seat, Lord Hokage."
Mizukage Chojuro said, and after he spoke, Uzumaki Naruto took his seat; upon seeing everyone gathered, Kurotsuchi spoke, "Now that we're all here, let's start the meeting. Recently, matters in the Ninja World have mostly been related to Konoha, so let's have Lord Hokage share the information with us."
"Hey, hey, saying it's related to Konoha sounds weird..."
Uzumaki Naruto chuckled and then became serious, saying, "The disaster of beasts from the different space-time has seemingly come to an end, but there are still five beasts from those incidences undiscovered in the Ninja World. Should we dispatch ninja squads to search for the whereabouts of these beasts?"
"Although the Hidden Mist Village wants to search for those sea creatures, it's currently impossible, so we'll just set up more guard points near the Land of Water."
The Sea Kings that nearly submerged the Land of Water were hated by the entire region and the Hidden Mist Village; yet nothing could be done, even with Water Release Ninjas, it's inconceivable to search the deep sea.
"It's safer to set up defenses at the borders, exploring beyond the Ninja World is virtually sacrificing our ninjas... During the Third Raikage's time, such actions were attempted, but even elite ninjas suffered losses."
Upon hearing Darui's words, Kurotsuchi remembered something. She recalled her grandfather Onoki mentioning that the Third Raikage suddenly appeared in the Land of Earth with an elite squad....
Kurotsuchi agreed, "The Hidden Rock Village shares this sentiment; right now, our priority is recovery, we can't indulge in large-scale ninja dispatching."
"Since you've all decided, let's proceed with that plan, but maintain a collaborative communication channel so that any situation can be quickly addressed...."
Uzumaki Naruto said, resting his chin on his hand, the Land of Fire surrounded by the other four great countries, preventing any solo exploration; within Konoha, there is someone exploring externally, Uchiha Sasuke, but that's due to his Space-Time Eye Dojutsu.
"Hokage, is the Yin Yang Master still in Konoha? His value is immense. I think he should be made part of the Five Great Countries." Darui spoke up, "He can predict disasters. Although he can't predict them often, he seems capable of refining many secret medicines... Hokage, we shouldn't just let him roam free, should we?"
"Hahaha, Lord Raikage, it's a time of peace now..."
Uzumaki Naruto had an awkward smile on his face. Everyone present understood Darui's words; it was nothing more than using various means to control Uchiha Yoichi. Probably everyone except Konoha and the Hidden Sand Village shared this thought.
The types and effects of the secret medicines have been shared with the other four Ninja Villages by Konoha. Although the price is very high, the effects are quite tempting; however, the economic power of the four negotiating Ninja Villages is inferior to Konoha, making it difficult for them to afford any.
So the Hidden Cloud Village is falling into old habits, and since Uchiha Yoichi isn't a ninja, Darui believes that even without using force, there are other ways to bind Uchiha Yoichi to the Five Great Ninja Villages, which would lower the requirements for obtaining the secret medicines.
"Let's forget about other methods. That shopkeeper has a somewhat firm personality, and his abilities are quite unique..."
Uzumaki Naruto advised. He had already learned from Sakura about the treasure ability that Uchiha Yoichi had acquired after the first Exotic Beast arrived, allowing him to turn himself into flames, completely unafraid of physical attacks.
Coupled with the mysterious abilities of the Yin Yang Master, to be honest, he didn't want to become an enemy of Uchiha Yoichi, and the current cooperation model wasn't bad either.
"Let's talk about another thing, which I think is what we should really focus on. Konoha was previously robbed of the Hashirama Cells from the First Generation Hokage. After investigation, it was discovered that their goal was to cultivate the Divine Tree..."
Uzumaki Naruto's face was serious as he spoke, and upon hearing about the Divine Tree, the faces of the other four Kage changed dramatically. The devastating impact of the Fourth Great Ninja War, even after ten years, couldn't be forgotten.
Uzumaki Naruto then talked about the intelligence gathered by Konoha and also mentioned that Sai and Sasuke went to the Land of Valleys to investigate, emphasizing the importance of the Divine Tree in relation to Otsutsuki Kaguya and her enemy.
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A day later, a ninja finally approached Uchiha Yoichi and took him to meet the Tsuchikage.
The Hidden Rock Village wasn't very interesting to explore—nothing like treasure-hunting housewives; the food was just so-so. If no one came to find him soon, Uchiha Yoichi was considering stealing something and heading back to Konoha.
Once in the Tsuchikage's office, Uchiha Yoichi immediately remarked, "I thought you would take a lot longer. If it had been two more days, I was planning to leave already."
"Sorry, there was a lot to discuss, so it took a bit of time."
Although the nearby Hidden Rock Ninja looked furious, Kurotsuchi wasn't angry and instead continued to ask, "Have you been to the Hidden Rock Village before? If it's your first time, you'll still find many interesting places..."
"Lord Tsuchikage, no need to try and deceive me. I wandered around the Hidden Rock Village yesterday and didn't find anything..." Uchiha Yoichi shook his head, then said, "Let's get to the point. When will you take me to see the Exotic Beasts and their treasures? If the Hidden Rock Village is waiting for other wealthy merchants and nobles, that's unnecessary because my bid will definitely be the highest."
"...Alright, I'll take you to see the Exotic Beasts defeated by the Hidden Rock Village."
Kurotsuchi paused in silence for a while before speaking, then stood up to lead the way for Uchiha Yoichi.
After leaving the Tsuchikage's office, Kurotsuchi kept chatting with Uchiha Yoichi, but all the conversations were hints aimed at gathering intelligence. Uchiha Yoichi's answers depended on his mood, sometimes answering one out of three questions.
During the journey, Uchiha Yoichi pretty much figured out Kurotsuchi's intention—to make him stay in the Hidden Rock Village.
Uchiha Yoichi scoffed inwardly, thinking Kurotsuchi was overthinking it.
After they left the Hidden Rock Village, arriving at an underground corridor, Kurotsuchi finally started talking to Uchiha Yoichi about the Exotic Beasts: "...After the Hidden Rock Village killed the Exotic Beasts, a closed underground space was created to store their bodies. Otherwise, the toxins emanating from the Exotic Beasts' bodies would endanger the Hidden Rock Village..."
After heading underground and walking a bit further, Uchiha Yoichi arrived at a room where, through the glass, the corpse of an Exotic Beast and several researchers in protective suits around it could be seen.
Uchiha Yoichi asked, "Is this the Exotic Beast slain by the Hidden Rock Village?"
"This is just one of them, but it's also the Exotic Beast that caused the most casualties among the Hidden Rock. As for the treasure found near the Exotic Beast, it's probably that glowing item."
Kurotsuchi pointed to an area about twenty meters away from the Exotic Beast's corpse, where a large sphere was placed that was currently glowing with white light.
And this Exotic Beast was very peculiar, with many characteristics even Uchiha Yoichi couldn't recognize; likely, information could only be found from the glowing sphere.
After watching for a while, Uchiha Yoichi spoke up, "Name a price, Lord Tsuchikage. As long as the demand isn't excessive, I want to buy both this Exotic Beast's body and the glowing sphere."