Chapter 475: The Fickle Elders
"To Lady Tsunade, Fifth Hokage of Konoha.
"I plan to visit the Land of Fire soon, seek out an old friend, and stop by Konoha to pay my respects at the graves and mourn the deceased. Please do not overthink this.
"Amamiya Kenichi."
Looking at the simple letter in her hand, Tsunade's wounds, which had only just begun to heal, showed signs of reopening.
She breathed heavily in anger.
Even so, it felt as if her lungs were about to explode, driving her almost mad. She gritted her teeth, stared at the letter, and slammed her hand on the table.
"Is this guy provoking us?"
Tsunade felt like she was about to die from anger.
Shizune stood silently beside her, ready to use medical ninjutsu the moment Tsunade fainted.
"It doesn't quite fit his personality. Amamiya Kenichi never notified us before when he entered the Land of Fire or Konoha's sphere of influence, but this time, he did."
Shikaku shook his head.
He did not think this was a provocation. It seemed more like an attempt to build a relationship.
Tsunade clenched her fists in resentment.
Kenichi had now annexed the Land of Water and the Land of Lightning.
The Land of Iron and other small nations no longer dared to speak loudly, fearing they would be the next to be swallowed.
The biggest news in the Shinobi World recently was Kenichi and the newly established nation named the Land of Flame.
This nation occupied the territories of two former great countries, making its landmass vast and its threat level extremely high.
Yet the Daimyo of the Land of Fire remained completely silent, as quiet as a quail.
The scene where the Daimyo of the four great nations had jointly issued a mission with great vigor to crusade against Kenichi and the newly born Land of Flame had vanished.
They seemed to have suddenly learned humility and become much more restrained.
All issued missions had been canceled, and they even dealt perfunctorily with the Konoha ninja sent to request financial subsidies for the war.
The money they gave was less than half of what had been requested, making Tsunade so furious that she wanted to rush over and kill the Daimyo of the Land of Fire directly.
As for the Daimyo of the Land of Lightning, he was likely already dead.
They did not know what the Daimyo of the Land of Wind and the Land of Earth were thinking, but it was probably not much different.
Did Tsunade not understand what those people were thinking?
Weren't they simply seeing that the combined forces of the four great nations had been toyed with by the Land of Flame, and that the four Kage had been severely injured, so they wanted to wait for a better offer?
After all, if they could not resist, those people would quickly find a way to continue enjoying their current special status.
Tsunade felt that if Kenichi entered and occupied the Land of Fire at this moment, perhaps in the very next second, every town in the Land of Fire outside Konoha's sphere of influence would voluntarily change its name to the Land of Flame.
"This guy... just notify them about this. For now, don't inform the Fourth Raikage, A."
Tsunade hesitated for a moment, then waved her hand.
Currently, the Fourth Raikage, A, was in Konoha.
He had brought all of Kumogakure's remaining forces to seek refuge with them.
Tsunade knew what A intended to do.
He definitely planned to fight Kenichi to the end.
Otherwise, there would be no reason for him to come directly to Konoha in the Land of Fire.
Coming here also meant that he wanted to unite with Konoha to resist the Land of Flame's annexation.
However, because their numbers were too large, they had not been fully integrated into Konoha. Instead, they had settled in the town nearest to Konoha.
Even so, A and Killer Bee often came to Konoha to find her, discussing how to deal with the madman Kenichi.
"I understand."
Shikaku nodded knowingly.
He knew what Tsunade meant.
The Hokage-sama already had some other thoughts in her mind.
At this point, it was not a huge problem to say that Kenichi, that madman, was now commanding the entire Shinobi World.
The four Ninja Villages had suffered heavy losses in the previous war and had almost no ability to resist.
Kenichi had swept through the Land of Lightning, yet Kumogakure and the hot-headed Fourth Raikage, A, did not dare to utter a single word.
Instead, they had fled to the Land of Fire, hoping to unite with Konoha and resist the Land of Flame's annexation.
But the problem was that on that previous battlefield, the invincibility of the Land of Flame ninja had been suffocating.
In Konoha, only a few members of the Uchiha Clan could awaken the Mangekyo Sharingan, and they were elites among elites.
But in the Land of Flame, Mangekyo Sharingan seemed to be as common as dirt.
Almost everyone had one.
How were they supposed to fight that?
They would be controlled by a barrage of Mangekyo Sharingan genjutsu before they could even make a move.
By the time they regained consciousness, they would already be gone.
Even elite ninja would find it incredibly difficult to face so many Mangekyo Sharingan users at once, especially when their ocular abilities were bizarre and unpredictable.
If they tried to probe, they might only get one chance before they disappeared.
Even the Five-Tails had been suppressed and left completely unable to resist.
Add Orochimaru, Kenichi, and the other Akatsuki members into the equation, and even a ninja like Shikaku would feel despair when facing such a force.
The opponent's direct power was too strong.
It crushed them with an open and overwhelming approach, leaving no room for schemes or tricks.
I won't fall for your schemes. I'll just sweep through everything.
What can you do?
If you have the strength, resist.
If not, surrender.
It was that simple.
Moreover, Tsunade and Raikage A had not fully recovered yet, so clashing with Kenichi again would be even harder.
The fact that Kenichi could even use Edo Tensei on Uchiha Madara made him even more insurmountable.
After thinking about it again and again, it seemed there was only one path left.
Otherwise, Konoha in the Land of Fire would likely suffer the same fate as Kirigakure in the Land of Water.
"..."
Tsunade clenched her fists with a conflicted expression, lost in thought.
Shikaku had some guesses, but he could not say anything about such matters.
He could only let Tsunade come to her own conclusion.
After all, Tsunade was Konoha's Fifth Hokage, and she was responsible for the entire village.
Such major decisions regarding Konoha's direction were beyond the interference of others.
However...
Shikaku walked out and went downstairs.
There, he saw the anxiously waiting Konoha elders, Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado.
The two elders seemed to have been waiting for a long time.
When they saw him, they hurried over.
"Shikaku, what has Tsunade decided?"
Koharu asked eagerly.
Shikaku knew what they wanted to ask, so he shook his head.
Koharu and Homura sighed.
They said nothing and turned to leave.
Shikaku watched the retreating figures of the two elders in silence.
Lady Tsunade, while you are still considering Konoha's honor, these two elders are practically eager to surrender Konoha directly and join the Land of Flame.
"This is truly... something to behold."
Shikaku chuckled self-deprecatingly.
Konoha, the number one Ninja Village in the Shinobi World, was actually beginning to consider how to surrender after the reigns of five Hokage.
If the First Hokage knew, he would surely be surprised, wouldn't he?
But what did that have to do with Shikaku and the others?
Although a Ninja Village was called a village, it was essentially a collection of interests.
Various families in the Shinobi World gathered together due to common interests, forming a Ninja Village. Then they elected a Hokage to maintain the interests of the Ninja Village and the families.
The Ninja Village and the families were both partners and competitors.
Everyone had seen the suppression of the families by the Second and Third Hokage.
Their balancing acts had been very skillful, and the various families could only grudgingly accept them for the sake of their own interests.
After all, the continuation of the family was the most important matter.
Even if Konoha ceased to exist, as long as the families remained, their lineage would continue.
The only difference would be that their leader changed.
The Ino-Shika-Cho clans and the Hyuga Clan were already prepared to pledge loyalty to the new ruler.
This was the fundamental method of ensuring the continuation of their families.
As for the Will of Fire?
It was merely a slogan the Third Hokage had used to consolidate morale.
"It's a good thing we didn't get involved in the methods Kumogakure tried to use earlier. Otherwise, we might be held accountable later."
Shikaku rubbed the back of his head, then turned and walked back to his home.
It was time to prepare.
—-
"Hey, have you heard? They say all the big men in our village now have a bug in their heads!"
In the Land of Flame, a strange rumor spread.
The skinny man spreading the rumor swore that he had personally seen a bug crawl out of those people's heads.
"Oh."
A big man wiped the sweat from his forehead, responded indifferently, then continued carrying cargo unloaded from the freighter, quickly heading toward the warehouse.
The scorching sun beat down, and the man's sweat continuously dripped onto the ground, leaving damp marks behind him.
"Hey, aren't you curious? That's a bug! Do normal people have bugs in their heads?"
The skinny man asked suspiciously.
The thought of a bug in his own head made him feel uncomfortable all over, as if something were crawling in his brain, making him constantly reach up to scratch.
"What does that have to do with me? I just want to make money right now."
The big man walked back.
He still wanted to move more goods while there was cargo here.
After that, he had to go home and help with the farm work.
The elders said that this year, the Land of Flame would not plant the old crops, but instead, better "immortal" crops.
They were supposedly cultivated by the ninja masters using chakra, and they were amazing.
666 km of land could yield much more rice.
Moreover, the masters had exempted many taxes.
His wife had calculated at home that they would pay much less money in a year.
That meant more food for the family, and even spare money to buy new clothes for their son.
Their son was already eight years old and was still wearing clothes patched together from things they had found in the trash.
That would not do.
The little guy was about to go to school and could not be looked down upon by others.
The thought that his hard work could buy his son an extra set of clothes and add a piece of pork to their dinner table filled the big man with motivation.
The masters were good masters.
Ever since the Land of Water became the Land of Flame, the Daimyo had disappeared, and the new masters treated them very well.
Various tax policies were set very low, and there were other welfare subsidies.
Now, they no longer had to worry about ninja masters killing people arbitrarily.
The country had laws prohibiting ninja from casually killing ordinary people like them.
This was great news.
Before, whenever they saw a ninja master, they would tremble all over, fearing that the ninja master would kill them if they were in a bad mood.
Now things were good.
They finally did not have to be afraid.
"You idiot! You deserve to have bugs gnawing at your brain!"
The skinny man angrily spat.
This guy.
This was explosive news he had heard from others!
As he was speaking, the man felt someone hit him.
He turned his head and saw an old man with white hair behind him, panting as he struck him with a cane.
"I'll beat you to death, you shameless thing! The new masters are so good, and you dare say they have bugs in their heads? I think you're the one with bugs in your head!"
The enraged old man chased after the skinny man.
The man ran away while covering his head.
But there was nothing he could do.
This old man was too senior.
He could not even curse him back.
Watching the skinny man flee in disarray, the old man stopped, panting heavily and leaning on his cane.
"You bastard! If I see you again, I'll beat you to death, you son of a bitch! This is what you call living! I'd even wish to live a few more days just to enjoy this peace!"
The old man grumbled, and the surrounding people burst into laughter.
People worked diligently at the sun-scorched dock, their eyes filled with longing and hope for the future.
"The old man is right! This life now is much better than before! So what if bugs rule us?"
The big man shouted.
He used to work himself to death every day just to barely get by.
This life now was something he could not even dream of before.
In a house in the distance, a man stood by the window, watching the scene outside.
"Sir, do you need us to arrest the person spreading the rumor?"
A Land of Flame ninja asked softly.
He could easily apprehend an ordinary person.
"No need. Sir sent you here to prevent invading ninja, not to bother with these brainless hooligans."
The town's governor calmly shook his head.
These fools were not worth wasting time on.
He knew there was something in his head, but it did not affect him in any way.
It even helped him train ninjutsu.
He was content.
Moreover, the master had increased their wages.
They only needed to work honestly to live a prosperous life, and they did not have to do those shameful things against their conscience.
He had nothing to be dissatisfied with.
As for those who spread rumors, even if their rumors spread throughout the Land of Flame, they would not cause any ripples.
"When you hold the people in your heart, the people will hold you high."
The thought of this sentence filled the man's heart with excitement and emotion.
This nation, this newly born nation, was destined to stand at the pinnacle of the world.
.....
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