Chapter 371: Spent Two Lives at Once
Land of Lightning, Hidden Cloud Village, Raikage's office.
"Bang!"
A dull yet violent explosion, accompanied by the harsh sound of wooden structures shattering, suddenly erupted inside the Raikage's office!
Wood chips and dust scattered everywhere.
Behind the desk, the Raikage's secretary, Mabui, pushed up the glasses on the bridge of her nose with an expressionless face, her gaze sweeping over the pile of solid wood debris that had once been a desk.
This was the third one this month.
The Raikage's anger was truly growing by the day.
Perhaps next time, she should order a metal one?
In the center of the office, the Fourth Raikage, A, stood like a furious thunder demon, his body radiating visible Lightning Release Chakra, with blue electric snakes slithering across his sturdy frame.
On his thick, bronze-colored arms, veins bulged like coiling dragons.
A bent down and rudely rummaged through the ruins of the desk with his large hand, pulling out a slightly damaged letter. It was the "declaration of war" that the Hokage of Hidden Leaf Village had just sent!
He gripped the scroll tightly, as if intending to crush it, his eyes burning with raging fury and unbelievable humiliation!
A's voice rumbled like muffled thunder as he growled through gritted teeth, "A wet-behind-the-ears brat, acting this arrogant?!"
He shook open the scroll, revealing the concise, or rather "arrogant," text written on it.
The gist was: The Sixth Hokage of Hidden Leaf Village, Uzumaki Naruto, hereby notifies the Hidden Cloud Village. Hidden Leaf Village will officially launch a full-scale military operation against the Hidden Cloud Village.
"Ha!"
A laughed in extreme anger, though his laughter was filled with cold killing intent and mockery, "Telling us to evacuate all villagers to a safe place within four hours? Who does he think he is?! The Six Paths Sage?!"
"Pretentious!"
A slammed the scroll he had just picked up onto the ground.
"Hmph!"
He snorted heavily through his nose, as if trying to suppress all his fury, "I shall avoid his edge!"
Mabui spoke up at the right moment, attempting to douse the Raikage's raging fire while pointing out the reality: "Lord Raikage, please calm down."
"According to our latest confirmed intelligence, Hidden Stone Village and the Hidden Sand Village were swiftly defeated and effectively controlled by Hidden Leaf Village's military forces not long ago. Although the specific process is not entirely clear, the result is indisputable. Hidden Leaf Village is currently at its peak, and its strength far exceeds our previous estimates."
Actually, it wasn't that there was no news, but those reports sounded like they were fabricated by Hidden Leaf Village to boast about their Hokage.
Like, Uzumaki Naruto single-handedly toppling the entire Hidden Stone Village? Or that after the First Hokage and the Sixth Hokage arrived in the Land of Wind, Chiyo and Ebizo bowed to them immediately? What kind of roadside pulp fiction plot was this?
Why not say that the Sixth Hokage's mere presence made the world submit, and Hidden Leaf Village unified the entire Ninja World! Even if the Six Paths Sage were alive again, it wouldn't be this ridiculous.
"For our Hidden Cloud Village, the wisest choice at the moment is not to confront them head-on." Mabui pushed up her glasses, the lenses reflecting a calm light.
"The most urgent priority should be to immediately and fully facilitate an Alliance with the Hidden Mist Village in the Land of Water. Only by uniting with the Hidden Mist can we possibly have the capital to contend with Hidden Leaf Village in the coming situation, or at least... secure bargaining chips for negotiations."
A listened to Mabui's analysis, his heavy breathing calming slightly, but his brow furrowed even deeper. How could he not know this logic? But...
"I know that!"
A waved his hand irritably, interrupting Mabui, "But that old geezer, the Elder, has long since had his courage scared out of him!"
Mentioning the Elder, the actual power holder of the Hidden Mist Village, caused A's anger to flare up again, "I previously sent envoys to make secret contact and propose a joint effort to resist Hidden Leaf Village. And what was the result?"
A was so angry his dark face turned red, and he panted heavily, "That old fox pretended to be sick and refused to see them. Later, when he finally sent a reply, he said something about 'the Hidden Mist has long suffered from internal strife, is in need of reconstruction, and is unable to participate in external disputes,' and 'we should value peace'..."
"Does he not know that after the Hidden Cloud Village is destroyed, it will be the Hidden Mist Village's turn?! What good does it do the Hidden Mist Village to just stand by and watch the Hidden Cloud Village be destroyed?"
The Hidden Mist Village was full of short-sighted people.
Didn't they know this was the last opportunity for the Hidden Mist Village to have any strategic value?
Once the outcome of the battle was decided, the only value the Hidden Mist Village would have was to be occupied.
The Hidden Mist Village certainly knew, but the person in charge of the Hidden Mist Village had already changed.
Land of Water, Hidden Mist Village.
The outside world was changing rapidly, and the Hidden Mist Village was not unaware of Hidden Leaf Village's expansion and the Hidden Cloud's desperate situation.
On the contrary, they knew it very clearly.
But the current Hidden Mist Village was no longer in the era where the conservative Elder was in charge.
The shift in power had already been completed amidst silent yet bloody internal struggles.
The Elder was old and easily controlled by the Sharingan.
At this moment, inside the Mizukage's office.
Sitting on the large chair that originally belonged to the Mizukage was not a Hidden Mist Ninja, but a bizarre figure with a blurred form, seemingly woven from light and shadow. Half of his body was pitch black, while the other half was a ghastly, bone-like pale.
This Yin-Yang being was none other than Black Zetsu.
At this moment, Black Zetsu was flipping through a newly released book with great interest.
In the author's signature section, there was a strange pen name: "Wen Chaogong."
This book had unexpectedly caught Black Zetsu's attention.
He was reading the end of the first volume, "The Strategist's First Use of Troops at Bowang Slope."
The strategies, maneuvering, Alliances, and manipulations of human hearts depicted in the book made Black Zetsu read with great relish, even giving him the urge to visit the author.
Compared to the grand battles involving hundreds of thousands of troops depicted in this book... excitement couldn't help but well up in Black Zetsu's heart.
The struggles he had planned and experienced over the past thousand years—inciting the Reincarnations of Indra and Asura, inducing hatred between the Uchiha and Senju, pushing the Ninja World Wars from behind the scenes, guiding Uchiha Madara toward the Eye of the Moon...
This book seemed to have opened a door to a new world for him, showing him what true "strategy" and "political struggle" were.
But at the same time, it also soothed the frustration within Black Zetsu.
Black Zetsu had been frantically reading various books recently; rather than thirsting for knowledge, it was more that he was using this method to desperately suppress the monstrous fury and frustration that were almost consuming him.
Nothing else, because the Rinnegan was lost! A thousand years of planning, racking his brains!
After finally waiting for Uchiha Madara to awaken the Rinnegan, what was the result? After Nagato and Obito went to Hidden Leaf Village, he didn't come back!
That trash Obito also failed to bring back the Rinnegan.
A crucial link in his thousand-year plan was ruined just like that!
How could Black Zetsu not be angry? How could he not hate? After the hate, Black Zetsu had no choice; after all, who could have known this era would produce a monster named Uzumaki Naruto?
The office door was pushed open.
A tall man wearing a Hidden Mist Village Anbu mask, carrying a chilling Ninja sword, walked in with slightly heavy steps.
The newcomer had two Sharingan; it was Uchiha Obito, who had just finished changing his eyes.
Obito set the Ninja sword in his hand casually against the wall.
He walked to the opposite side of Black Zetsu, did not sit down, and just stood in silence for a while.
Then, he opened his right hand, revealing two gray eyeballs.
Obito held these two dim eyeballs and placed them gently on the desk in front of Black Zetsu.
"If I hadn't set up a delayed Izanagi in my body beforehand, I fear I would have truly died at the hands of Uzumaki Naruto. Even so, it cost me two Sharingan to save my Mangekyo."
Fortunately, he had been prepared, fearing that two lives wouldn't be enough if he encountered Uzumaki Naruto, but he hadn't expected to spend both lives at once.
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