Chapter 132: Blondie!
In the deep void of space, a massive tree-like creature stood tall. From a distance, at the ends of its root system below, numerous dots could be seen.
Looking closer, those dots were individual planets, each with roots piercing into them.
They looked just like newly sprouted bean sprouts.
The roots eventually extended upward, converging into a single tree.
"Someone, come!"
A voice pierced through the emptiness of the universe, echoing in the ear.
"King!"
"A new long-lived race has been born. The target is at coordinates East XXX. Go and destroy them!"
"Yes!"
"Who are the clansmen closest to that area?"
"It is Kaguya and Isshiki, followed by Momoshiki, Kinshiki, and the others."
"Contact them and have them investigate!"
"Yes!"
"King! Is there any information on this new long-lived species?"
"...Blond hair!"
[???]
[That's it?]
"Go, quickly!"
"Yes!"
...Allied Forces Camp.
Inside the command tent.
There were still seats for four people.
However, three of the people had already been replaced.
For no other reason than they couldn't be saved.
"The situation is as it is. That person who suddenly broke in defeated three Kage in an instant, and then they were taken away by the Explosion Girl. Since they could fly, I couldn't catch up."
"Dammit! Who exactly was that intruder? Why were they so strong? Even Father..."
"Now is not the time to focus on that. The most important thing right now is how to ransom the Kage back."
"Ransom them back! How? By signing a surrender agreement? How will we explain that to the Daimyo?"
"How do we deal with the Rinnegan? Who could withstand that final ultimate move! Besides, the various hidden villages have suffered heavy losses now..."
"In this battle, Hidden Sand Village was simply too well-prepared. All the opponents we encountered were hard counters to us!"
"Hmph! That damn puppet hag, who brings over ten sets of the Ten Puppets of Chikamatsu to a battlefield! And the surface of the puppets actually contains Chakra Metal; they can't be cut through at all."
"The losses on my side are also severe. Only three of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist came back alive..."
"The losses on the Hidden Stone Village side aren't small either, and..."
Halfway through, Kitsuchi turned his head toward Tsunade, who was nearby.
"Is Hatake Sakumo really dead? And what exactly is the deal with that green Kappa monster!"
"I went to see Sakumo at the time, and I indeed couldn't feel any Chakra fluctuations from him. But because the situation was special then, I didn't get close to examine him. I don't know the specific details. As for that green-skinned Kappa... his wife was a beneficiary of Sage Art, and the condition was for him to join Hidden Sand Village."
"So Konoha just let him join?"
"...Yes, at the time, Sensei thought he was just... a mere Ninja who only knew Taijutsu..."
"Hahaha... 'mere' Taijutsu? Do you have any idea that he shattered a whole squad's Earth Release defense with a single kick?"
"Do you know the defense of Earth Release: Rock Armor? Ordinary C-rank Ninjutsu can't even scratch it, but against that Kappa, a single punch's wind pressure dismantled it. And Hatake Sakumo was right behind him, taking one life with every strike! I can't even kill chickens as fast as they killed us!"
"Then go find the Old Man now and ask him why he let the man go in the first place!"
"..."
...Hidden Sand Village, inside the hospital.
Three... no, four old men with their Chakra sealed were lying on hospital beds, covered in bandages.
"Enma, are you alright?"
"I'm fine, Hiruzen!"
"Can you release the summoning and go back now?"
"No, a Space-Sealing Formula has been carved onto me. I can't go back at all."
"Sigh~ I wonder how Tsunade and the others are doing? I hope the losses aren't too great!"
"Lord Hokage should worry about himself instead! Now that we are in Hidden Sand Village, who knows what will happen?"
"What? Does Hidden Sand Village really think they can get Konoha's secrets out of my mouth? My brain has Sealing Jutsu placed on it; no one can probe any information."
"You underestimate Hidden Sand Village too much!"
"How so?"
"Based on my understanding of Hidden Sand Village and the Third Kazekage... he will hang the three of us on poles and then threaten our respective hidden villages!"
"What! He dares? If Hidden Sand Village dares to do that, I will be the first to bite my tongue and commit suicide!"
"Heh! I'm afraid it won't be up to you by then!"
"Then what should we do now! Are we just going to lie here like this? Wait for Hidden Sand Village to use us to threaten our villages!"
"Oh~, does the Raikage have some good idea?"
"Let's commit suicide!"
[???]
"As Kage! There are only Kage who die in battle, never Kage who are taken prisoner! Now that the villages know we've been captured by Hidden Sand Village, they will surely be very cautious and unable to use their full strength. But once we commit suicide and die... the villages will surely believe Hidden Sand Village murdered us, turn that grief and indignation into strength, and attack Hidden Sand Village again!"
After listening to the Third Raikage's explanation, the two old men and the monkey all fell into silence together.
While what he said made some sense... did they really have to die?
"Ahem... I'm just a summoned monkey. I imagine Hidden Sand Village won't make things difficult for me, so I won't say anything. Hiruzen! Every year on this day, I will miss you!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi [...]
"Ahem, my Hidden Stone Village is facing a gap in talent. I haven't even properly trained the next Tsuchikage. Unlike your Hidden Cloud Village, where your son has already inherited the name of A. Nor like Konoha, where the fame of the Sannin spreads across the Ninja World, and any one of them could serve as Kage. Therefore! It's not that I'm afraid of death, it's that I carry too much on my shoulders! For the future of Hidden Stone Village, what do a few hardships matter!"
After speaking, Onoki turned his head toward Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Hiruzen Sarutobi [???]
Looking at the three pairs of expectant eyes, Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't even know how to open his mouth.
[What? Does one of us have to die today?]
"Ahem, I accepted my post at a time of crisis, saving Konohagakure from the brink of collapse and the Land of Fire from falling. For twenty years, day and night... I haven't dared to relax for even a moment! Only then did I bring Konohagakure into the ranks of the most stable and strongest hidden villages. Now... Hidden Sand Village is powerful, and Konoha is in danger of falling. This is my fault to begin with! How can I just leave now and let the younger generation bear my mistakes! This matter... let us speak of it no more!"
[...]
[If you're afraid of death, just say so. No need to be so flowery!]
"Lord Raikage, when are you going to die?"
"Hmph, originally it was going to be now, but after hearing the Hokage's speech, I feel the Hokage is right. We cannot let the next generation bear the mistakes of our generation! So I'll wait a bit!"
[...]
Well, after talking for so long, not a single one died.
"Then what do we do now!"
"I don't know! Go to sleep!"
"..."
"Knock, knock, knock!"
Just as the hospital room fell into silence, the knocking at the door attracted the four inside, and four heads turned in unison.
"The Kazekage is here!"
"Oh! The coward who hides in his shell is here!"
"Exactly! Nowhere to be seen on the battlefield, but now he comes to act all high and mighty in front of me."
"Exactly!"
Thump... Thump...
The sound of shoes stepping in the hallway clearly drifted into the room.
But unlike the Raikage and Tsuchikage who were whispering to each other, Hiruzen Sarutobi appeared somewhat bewildered.
[This footsteps... hiss~... why does it sound so much like...]
With a violent shake of his head, Hiruzen Sarutobi threw all the unrealistic thoughts out of his mind.
What a joke, a prisoner becoming the Kazekage!
That's about as likely as his sensei giving New Year's gifts to the Uchiha family—completely impossible!
"Hiruzen! Long time no see!"
"Dan... Dan... Danzo!"
Seeing Danzo wearing a green hat appearing before his eyes, Hiruzen Sarutobi was so shocked he couldn't speak.
This commotion also caught the attention of the other two old men who had turned their heads away.
The two turned their heads simultaneously, and then... "The darkness of shinobi!" x2.
"Everyone! Long time no see!"
"I am... Danzo Shimura!"
"'darkness of shinobi' isn't wrong either! However..."
"In Hidden Sand Village, I prefer others to address me as... Lord Kazekage!"
... "If all else fails, let's use the Tailed Beasts."
After a long silence in the command tent, someone finally spoke up.
But these words, in the hearts of the other three, were no different from throwing in a thousand exploding tags.
"No! The power of the Tailed Beasts is too great; it's very likely to cause damage to our own side!"
"Then you tell me what to do?"
"..."
... "Lady Tsunade! What's the situation!"
"Minato... sigh!"
Looking at Minato Namikaze who had come forward anxiously to ask, Tsunade let out a long sigh.
"After our discussion... we have decided to dispatch the Jinchuriki to Hidden Sand Village and then release the Tailed Beast!"
"What! Then Kushina, she..."
"I'm sorry, Minato, I can't change this!"
After saying this, she ignored the stunned Minato Namikaze standing there and walked straight into her own tent... "Lord Madara! Lord Madara! I've found something good!"
"Hmm?"
"It's Black Zetsu! Why have you come back instead of watching the situation on the battlefield!"
"Lord Madara! Because I discovered a big secret!"
"What secret?"
"I discovered that Chiyo of Hidden Sand Village has become young!"
"What! Is there such a thing!"
Hearing what Black Zetsu said, Uchiha Madara's already bulging eyes widened even more; he was clearly shocked.
"It's absolutely true, Lord Madara!"
"After the fighting stopped, I followed behind Nagato, and then Chiyo of Hidden Sand Village returned. I saw her release her Transformation Jutsu, and she had clearly become younger!"
"And then?"
"Afterward, I paid close attention to this matter. I thought that if Lord Madara could also become young, then the Eye of the Moon Plan could be realized sooner. So I went to find Obito!"
"Obito?"
"Yes, Obito! Lord Madara, you have no idea! Obito is a traitor; he put a lot of effort into the construction of Hidden Sand Village! He..."
"I know about that! Get to the point!"
"Yes! The point is that the Kazekage of Hidden Sand Village, Saito, has mastered a type of Sage Art. The ability of that Sage Art can make a person young."
"Sage Art... did you find out what kind of Sage Art it is?"
"Uh... no."
"Hmm?"
"But I brought back something else."
"What is it?"
"It's this potion. It's said to contain a trace of the Kazekage's blood. I brought back all the potions that were in the Hidden Sand Village storehouse."
"As long as we can extract the Kazekage's blood from it and cultivate it, we can find out what type of Sage Art it is."
"Don't be so troublesome. Just inject it directly into my body!"
"Uh... Lord Madara, would that be..."
"I could even withstand Hashirama's cells! Why would I fear a mere trace of blood from a junior?"
"Inject it!"
"Yes!"
Hearing Uchiha Madara's command, Black Zetsu obediently picked up a test tube and injected the liquid inside into Uchiha Madara's body.
"Hmm? This is... Hashirama's scent!"
As the potion was injected, Uchiha Madara first felt a familiar aura, but in the next second, he denied it.
"No! Hashirama wasn't that weak! This is... Obito's aura!"
"And also..."
"So this is the Kazekage's blood. Hmph! To think it's so weak! It's not even a ten-thousandth of mine and Hashirama's!"
"Black Zetsu! Inject more!"
"Yes! Lord Madara!"
... "More! More!"
"Yes!"
The liquid from test tube after test tube was injected into Uchiha Madara's body, and they soon ran out.
Of course, the effect was also very obvious.
Under the accumulation of energy, Uchiha Madara's withered body actually began to fill out visibly to the naked eye.
"This is! My old injuries are actually slowly healing!"
"A pity..."
Uchiha Madara looked at his filled-out palm and then at his still-gray hair... "This energy is ultimately too weak! If there were twice the amount, perhaps I really wouldn't have to wait anymore!"
"There is! There is! Lord Madara, I heard this potion is one of the regular cultivation resources for Hidden Sand Village Ninjas, and it comes in many models. The one I brought back is the one with the highest concentration. There are also several with lower concentrations. I have already sent White Zetsu to get them; I believe they'll be here soon!"
"Good! You've done well!"
"Serving Lord Madara is what I should do!"
"By the way, Lord Madara, I also brought back a Mangekyo for you this time."
"Hmm? Where did you get it?"
"In reply to Lord Madara, it belongs to the current head of the Uchiha, Uchiha Fugaku. Unfortunately, he reacted too quickly, and I only managed to gouge out one."
"Good job!"
After praising Black Zetsu, Uchiha Madara took the Mangekyo from Black Zetsu's hand and installed it directly into his own eye socket.
"Hmm, not bad. The ocular power is very abundant."
[Nonsense, of course it's abundant; I worked hard to replenish it.]
"Hmm? Why is the Gedo Statue reacting?"
"My eye... is evolving again..."
"I see, it's just a one-time ocular power. But that's normal; if the Rinnegan were really that easy to achieve... then wouldn't I have become a joke!"
Looking at the Rinnegan in his left eye socket in the water mirror, Uchiha Madara murmured.
"Black Zetsu! Quickly go and bring back the remaining solutions. My goal is about to be realized!"
"Yes! Lord Madara!"
... "Hahaha, Hashirama, we'll be able to meet soon!"
"Phew~ That was close. Fortunately, Madara has already given birth to the Rinnegan, and the power of all creation remains in his body. Otherwise... relying on the Gedo Statue alone might not have been successful!"
"Mama-san, wait for me! I'll take you to the ends of the earth soon!"
Loving Book So Far Check Out 50+ Chapters In Advanced At Pa Treon:
patreon.com/FictionsTL