Chapter 321: A Softens, Plotting Against Ōnoki Together
"Justice, what an interesting word."
"You sent spies to infiltrate the Land of Waves, they were captured by us, and then the Kage of a village leads a team to attack me."
"Is this your so-called fairness?"
Facing Akiyama Makoto's question, A snorted and said, "We are one of the Five Great Nations of the ninja world, and the Cloud Village is the number one ninja village in the ninja world. Our dignity must not be insulted."
"Do I still need to teach you about this kind of thing?"
A sneer appeared on the corner of Makoto's mouth, and he said, "Why don't you just say that whoever has the bigger fist is right?"
"Just right, now my fist is bigger than yours, so whatever I say is right, isn't it?"
Raikage A was not afraid at all and said, "Brat, kill me if you have the guts, no need to be so long-winded."
"You want to die so much?"
"You don't have the guts."
Makoto clapped his hands, cheering for A.
A indeed made a lot of sense, and he also grasped Makoto's mentality.
If Makoto really wanted to kill him, he would be dead by now.
Facing Makoto who didn't want to kill, A became very tough, keeping the word "death" on his lips every second, just not giving Makoto a chance to set conditions.
This situation was indeed difficult to deal with, but it was meaningless.
Makoto, who mastered the big fist, would naturally use his fist to make A shut up obediently.
The next second, Makoto rushed towards A again.
A was not afraid at all, and continued to attack Makoto with his remaining arms and legs.
A minute later, A's limbs were all broken, and most of his teeth were knocked out by Makoto, becoming a crippled person.
In fact, A had indeed become a crippled person.
Unless Makoto treated him, even if A could survive later, he wouldn't have any combat power.
A still glared at Makoto aggressively, but deep sadness showed in his eyes.
He mourned not only for his current situation but also for the future of the Cloud Village.
Having offended a super strongman like Makoto who would strike ruthlessly, what should the Cloud Village do in the future?
At this moment, a terrifying chakra erupted from a distance.
Then a large amount of blue flames ignited the surrounding trees, and the scorching heat wave turned into a storm blowing towards them.
Makoto looked in the distance, and a trace of movement flashed in A's eyes. He naturally knew that this was Yugito erupting.
But would Yugito be Makoto's opponent?
Makoto wasn't in a hurry either, but observed all this calmly with his perception.
Three minutes later, with a beast's wail, the scorching heat wave slowly disappeared, and the entire forest quieted down.
A smile appeared on the corner of Makoto's mouth. He didn't make a move.
One of his shadow clones was watching on the side. Karin and Temari took the lead, plus the help of other girls, and finally defeated Yugito.
In fact, with the ninjutsu configuration of the two of them, defeating Yugito wasn't that difficult.
After all, Karin's own chakra was comparable to a small Tailed Beast. Plus the cooperation of partners' ninjutsu, as well as various healing abilities and chakra recovery abilities, it would be strange to lose to Yugito.
It was just that they lacked experience in fighting strong people like Jinchūriki, and now they made up for this experience very well.
Only then did Makoto speak, "Did you hear that? Your backup has lost, lost to my subordinates."
"And none of your subordinates will escape. The entire Land of Waves is under my control."
"Also, you may not know that I have a close relationship with Ōnoki's granddaughter. Do you know what this means?"
"A, you fell into a trap."
A's pupils constricted suddenly, and a horrified look appeared in his eyes.
He looked at Makoto in disbelief, reviewing everything about Makoto today in his mind, and suddenly had a very terrifying thought.
"Is... is all this targeting our Cloud Village?"
Makoto sighed secretly. Sure enough, worthy of being a smart person.
Makoto nodded. There was nothing to hide at this point.
Only by making A admit defeat could Makoto continue to advance the next plan.
Otherwise, if he really killed A, Makoto would become a recognized demigod-level powerhouse in the ninja world, and it would be impossible to develop quietly for a while.
"Why, why is this!"
A suddenly became excited, and bloody tears flowed from the corners of his eyes.
He was really scared.
He wasn't afraid of dying himself, but afraid that the next generation of the Cloud Village he cultivated would be wiped out today.
He was even more afraid that Makoto had even united Ōnoki. In this way, Makoto would have Konoha, the Rock Village, and the Sand Village behind him. With the power of these three villages, they could indeed cause a devastating disaster to the Cloud Village.
Although the Cloud Village still had the Eight-Tails Jinchūriki and many strong people.
But Konoha also had the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki, not to mention that the Rock Village and the Sand Village also had Jinchūriki.
If it was really one against three, A felt that the Cloud Village would definitely lose.
"Want to know? It doesn't hurt to tell you."
Makoto snapped his fingers. The next second, Hinata was teleported into Makoto's arms.
Hinata was startled. Makoto's shadow clone came to her side and said the main body was looking for her.
Before she could get ready, she was sent over.
At this time, she had just finished the battle. Relying on her exquisite Revolving Heaven as the main tank, she helped the team block many attacks from the Two-Tails Yugito, and now her little face was still red.
However, after feeling the familiar temperature and smell, Hinata immediately relaxed and leaned into Makoto's arms.
Then she discovered A, who had become inhuman, looking at him in shock, and then a complicated look appeared in her eyes.
"Makoto-kun, is it him?"
Makoto hugged Hinata's waist, wiped the dust off her face, kissed the corner of her lips lightly, and then said, "That's right, he instigated it."
"Back then, the Cloud head ninja actually dared to go to your house and try to steal the three-year-old you. It's ridiculous no matter how you think about it."
"Later, your father killed the Cloud head ninja, which was also legitimate self-defense to protect you. As a result, the Third Hokage's faction actually colluded with him for peace and wanted to push your father out to die."
"In the end, it was your uncle, Neji's father, who took this responsibility instead of your father."
"However, in the final analysis, this is also the conspiracy of the Cloud Village. If you want revenge, you can deal with him yourself."
Makoto patted Hinata's shoulder.
Only then did A understand everything, and madness and a trace of regret flashed in his eyes.
The Cloud head ninja indeed did this under his orders back then, but there were also insiders in Konoha at that time, and even Danzō's support.
But saying these things now was meaningless, because Danzō was dead, and the Cloud head ninja was also dead. The only person who knew the inside story of this matter was himself.
Even if he said it now, no one would believe it. It was better to die at the hands of this little girl to end this hatred. Maybe Makoto would stop attacking the Cloud Village because of this.
Hinata clenched her fists tightly, her face pale, stepping forward step by step.
A sneered, and even raised his chin, exposing vital points that could be attacked by Gentle Fist to Hinata.
Hinata assumed a stance, ready to end the opponent's life at any time, but as time passed, Hinata finally put away her stance.
"Kill me, I order you to kill me!"
A immediately became anxious and said, "A life for a life. After I die, the hatred between the Hyūga family and the Cloud Village will be written off."
"I can write a letter telling all Cloud Village ninja not to take revenge on the Hyūga family for this matter from now on."
The more A showed this expression, the more Hinata extinguished the thought of killing him.
Hinata turned back to Makoto, hugged Makoto's arm, and said, "Makoto-kun has his own considerations, right? Killing him is just the most brainless way to deal with it."
Makoto patted Hinata's head, expressing appreciation.
If Hinata really wanted to kill A, Makoto wouldn't stop her, but Makoto believed Hinata wouldn't do it.
Hinata was naturally kind and lacked sufficient aggression, and if A was really to be killed, it should be done by Neji.
So Hinata gave up the plan to kill A and handed A over to Makoto to deal with.
Only then did Makoto look at A with a smile and say, "Let's talk?"
A responded with silence.
Although he still wanted to maintain a tough posture, he had to bow to Makoto now.
Makoto's current actions became justified. Coupled with his strength, even if he really launched a war against the Cloud Village, no one in the ninja world would oppose Makoto because of this.
Facing the crisis of national subjugation and village destruction, even unable to end all this with death, he could only live and endure humiliation.
"Speak, what are your conditions?"
Seeing A finally soften, Makoto curled his lips and said, "Since Hinata gave up killing you for revenge, then I will propose conditions to you."
"First, one billion ryō as war reparations."
"Second, leave Yugito and Samui here as hostages. At the same time, any Cloud Village ninja entering the Land of Waves in the future must obediently go through the customs channel."
"Finally, you yourself must continue to be the Raikage and cannot give this position to others. I can also guarantee not to use the past incident to threaten you again. We can pretend that today's incident didn't happen."
A looked at Makoto in confusion. This reason—why was it somewhat lenient?
Although Makoto proposed three reasons, in the final analysis, it was ending all this with one billion ryō, and the Cloud Village could even leave decently.
The only thing that confused him was why Makoto demanded him to continue being the Raikage—did he leave a Flying Thunder God mark on him, so that he, the Raikage, would be manipulated by Makoto from now on?
Thinking of this, Raikage A wanted to refuse this condition.
But thinking carefully, this condition wasn't actually that strict.
Because he could continue to be the Raikage on the surface, but gradually transfer major affairs in the village to others, trying not to become a puppet leaking intelligence and being controlled.
As for if Makoto exposed this matter in the end, or threatened him to betray the interests of the Cloud Village, it wouldn't be too late for A to commit suicide to apologize to the world then.
At least today he wanted to bring all the Cloud Village elites here back alive.
As for Yugito and Samui, Samui didn't matter, just a Jōnin.
Although the Cloud Village always valued brotherhood, the situation was stronger than people. Didn't they force a Konoha Hyūga family Jōnin to death back then?
The only trouble was Yugito. Losing a Jinchūriki was also a huge loss of interest for the Cloud Village.
But if he didn't agree to this condition, obviously Makoto wouldn't let them leave easily.
The Makoto in front of him was obviously not a cowardly old immortal like the Third Hokage, and obviously wouldn't easily hand over things obtained on the battlefield at the negotiating table.
Therefore, even if A had great dissatisfaction, he couldn't refuse this condition.
After thinking it over, he said, "I want to add a condition."
"Speak."
"Yugito can stay, but she cannot attack Cloud Village ninja, nor become a Konoha ninja. She can at most serve you."
Makoto pondered slightly and said, "Okay."
Seeing Makoto agree so readily, A breathed a sigh of relief.
It seemed that Makoto indeed didn't belong to Konoha. Keeping Yugito was also to protect and strengthen the Land of Waves, so that the Land of Waves' ninja village would have its own Jinchūriki in the future.
In that case, A had no reason to refuse.
Perhaps in a few years, the Five Great Nations of the ninja world would remove the Land of Wind and add a Land of Waves.
At that time, no matter how much connection Makoto had with Konoha in the past, one day in the future, conflicts would erupt between the two sides. That day would be the day for the Cloud Village to rise again.
"Then I agree. Can you let me go now?"
A exhaled softly. Tough guy as he was, he couldn't help but relax now.
Makoto smiled slightly and said, "Don't rush. Since you are here, act a scene with me."
A originally wanted to refuse, but as Makoto's chakra injected into his body, making him visibly recover, A's eyes became lively.
Unfortunately, Makoto wouldn't let A recover just like that. He only gave A enough treatment for free movement and superficial health. To recover internal injuries and strength, A would have to rely on years of bitter cultivation after returning to the Cloud Village.
A took a deep breath, amazed by Makoto's healing ability.
At the same time, he said very sensibly, "Thank you for your treatment. What price do I have to pay?"
"The Cloud Village has become a friendly ally of the Land of Waves, but Ōnoki is still hesitating. Why don't you help make him bleed once too?"
A was slightly stunned, then a crafty smile flashed in his eyes, and he said, "So that's it. Tell me, what should we do?"
He found it funny, not only because Ōnoki had to bleed.
But also because Makoto doing this meant that he and the Rock Village could hardly become truly trusting allies.
This meant that the future pattern of the ninja world would still be a confrontation between various villages, just with the addition of a newly rising Land of Waves in the confrontation.
The ninja world was still the familiar ninja world, and the Cloud Village hadn't declined directly to the point of needing to save itself, which meant that he, the Raikage, wasn't completely useless.
A just flashed these thoughts in his mind, and his thoughts were all seen through by Makoto.
Unfortunately, what A didn't know was that his self-righteous cleverness was exactly what Makoto wanted him to think.
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