Chapter 682: Joint Confrontation
The news of Mugetsu's succession as Hokage spread rapidly not only within Konoha and the Land of Fire, but also quickly reached the surrounding large and small nations.
The Five Great Ninja Villages generally had intelligence networks stationed in various parts of the Ninja World, so when the news broke, the other four Great Shinobi Villages successively received reports from their intelligence ninja.
Land of Earth, Iwagakure.
"The Hokage election was completed so quickly. No wonder Konoha remained inactive. So this was their plan," Ōnoki realized after reading the intelligence.
The news of Hiruzen being defeated by Sōsuke had spread throughout the Ninja World in a short time, and Iwagakure had played a significant role in that.
For the current Iwagakure, Konoha was a big problem, while Ninshū was a smaller problem.
It would be best if these two problems clashed with each other.
Unfortunately, things did not go as planned.
Konoha showed no reaction, even though the news was being heavily discussed by the people of Konoha.
"Although it can reduce the impact to some extent, the cost is too high. Did that battle leave Hiruzen with an incurable severe injury?" Ōnoki fell into thought.
Having Mugetsu, who currently had the greatest momentum, succeed as Hokage was indeed a good move, but that was from the perspective of Konoha as a whole.
For Hiruzen himself, this decision was a huge loss.
He had not only lost the power of the Hokage, but also created the impression that he was resigning to take responsibility.
If it were Ōnoki, he would most likely choose to play dead, do nothing, not respond, and not transfer power.
Ōnoki thought for a moment, then carefully reread the intelligence collected by his ninja, trying to analyze something new from it.
He wanted to know the details of the battle between Hiruzen and Sōsuke, but because the number of accompanying personnel was small, and all of them were elites from their respective forces, there were no spies among them.
Even though Ōnoki had instructed the intelligence department to vigorously collect relevant information, they had only obtained some fragmented reports from Six Paths City.
As for Konoha, probably because they were the losing side, they had issued a strict order of secrecy, and Iwagakure could not find any related news from within Konoha.
"There's still too little intelligence. It's hard to judge," Ōnoki sighed, shaking his head slightly.
"Konoha probably has no intention of engaging with Ninshū. Is there any other force that can be utilized…"
Ōnoki thought for a moment and took out a map of the Ninja World, marking the Land of Grass and the Land of Wind.
The Land of Rain bordered six countries, three large nations and three small nations.
The three large nations were the Land of Wind, the Land of Fire, and the Land of Earth.
The three small nations were the Land of Birds, the Land of Grass, and the Land of Rivers.
Among them, the Land of Birds and the Land of Rivers were small countries without Ninja Villages. The Land of Birds already had a Ninshū branch, which Ōnoki implicitly considered to be within Ninshū's sphere of influence.
Undoubtedly, Ninshū was a very ambitious organization.
If Iwagakure had not been keeping an eye on Ninshū, they probably would not have known that Ninshū had already completed the integration of the Land of Rain's ninja forces, bringing the Land of Rain's ninja power to its historical peak.
In the eyes of those who did not understand, Amegakure and Ninshū were two separate entities.
But Ōnoki knew that after Hanzō's death, Amegakure belonged to Sōsuke, even if the apparent leader of Amegakure was not Sōsuke.
Having completed the integration of internal forces while still maintaining the appearance of two separate entities, they must have some ulterior motive.
Ōnoki estimated that it would not be long before Ninshū made a move on the Land of Rivers.
The Land of Rivers was similar to the Land of Birds. It had no Ninja Village, but it did possess some ninja clans. However, the ninja power of the Land of Rivers was much stronger than that of the Land of Birds.
Ōnoki did not want to see Ninshū continue growing.
When Ninshū had been causing trouble in the Land of Birds, Iwagakure had been at a critical point in the war, and Ōnoki had no time to deal with it.
Now that the war was over, how could he continue watching Ninshū grow stronger?
At this time, the Land of Grass and the Land of Wind, which also bordered the Land of Rain, became natural allies for the Land of Earth.
Ninshū becoming the sixth major ninja power would not only take a slice from Iwagakure's share. Sunagakure would also be affected.
As for the Grass Ninja Village, well, it simply meant that another enormous elder brother had appeared, almost completely encircling it.
While Ōnoki wanted to use Sunagakure to deal with Ninshū, Rasa, on the other side, was also thinking about similar matters.
"This Ninshū must be difficult to deal with. Otherwise, how could Hiruzen have been playing dead all this time, and even directly transfer power to Hayate Mugetsu?" Rasa thought as he put down the intelligence.
The rapid spread of the news of Hiruzen's defeat throughout the Ninja World also included Sunagakure's contribution.
Rasa himself had nearly been killed by Mugetsu, so he was naturally extremely displeased with Konoha.
If he had been able to defeat them, Rasa would have wished to immediately send troops to attack Konoha's homeland.
Therefore, upon learning of this negative news about Konoha, Rasa exerted all his effort to help spread it, extremely worried that some ninja might not know about Konoha's shocking scandal.
"If only I had known, I wouldn't have let the intelligence ninja help spread the news. It actually helped Hayate Mugetsu," Rasa thought, his face darkening.
Normally, Mugetsu should not have succeeded as Hokage so quickly.
It was clearly because something had happened to Hiruzen that Mugetsu had the opportunity to take office early.
This greatly displeased Rasa.
He felt that all his efforts had not caused much trouble for Konoha. Instead, they had helped his enemy get promoted, directly reaching the pinnacle of power in the Ninja World.
When Rasa became Kazekage, he had no idea how much effort he had expended, stabilizing the internal situation and repelling external enemies in order to firmly secure the Kazekage position.
Yet Mugetsu was practically carried into the Hokage position while lying down.
How could Rasa be in a good mood?
"Konoha can't be provoked. We can only try Iwagakure. We must disrupt any cooperation between Iwagakure and Ninshū."
Rasa composed himself, no longer thinking about Mugetsu. Instead, he began pondering how to curb Ninshū's development.
After all, he was a Kage, and he could not let too much personal emotion influence his work.
Retaliating against Mugetsu was unrealistic.
Preventing Ninshū from growing stronger was the top priority.
Theoretically, it should be very easy for a large Ninja Village like Sunagakure to deal with a small country's ninja force.
However, Konoha's attitude made Rasa wary of Ninshū.
One Village alone would not be enough. At the very least, Iwagakure had to be brought in.
Rasa had enough confidence to turn Iwagakure and Ninshū against each other.
There was no eternal friendship between Ninja Villages, only eternal interests.
Rasa did not believe that Iwagakure would be willing to have a portion of its interests taken away by the rising Ninshū.
Then Rasa remembered something and called his trusted subordinate, asking, "Does Pakura have some connection with Ninshū?"
"It seems so. She once took some ninja to Six Paths City twice to listen to Sōsuke's lectures, and it seems she even sought his guidance on Ninjutsu," the Sunagakure jonin replied after thinking for a moment.
Rasa's eyes lit up, and he immediately said, "Gather some relevant intelligence and closely monitor Pakura's actions."
Rasa was truly annoyed by Pakura.
As Kazekage, he had only made a slight misjudgment at the very end, yet Pakura had publicly rebuked him without mercy, showing him no respect at all.
If he had not personally replaced Pakura on the battlefield, Pakura would surely have died there.
He had used Magnet Release to create a double defense and was still almost sent flying by one of Mugetsu's punches. Pakura's Scorch Release did not have such defensive capabilities.
Although his intention in removing Pakura had not been to save her, that was the factual outcome. Yet Pakura had still turned around and rebuked him.
Since he was going to deal with Ninshū anyway, he might as well take care of Pakura at the same time.
After all, Pakura could not be used by him, and keeping her around was a hidden danger.
…
Land of Lightning, Kumogakure.
"How strong is this Sōsuke? He actually forced Hiruzen to such an extent," the Third Raikage said after reading the intelligence, developing a strong interest in Sōsuke.
Originally, he had not been interested in Ninshū.
First, the Land of Rain, where Ninshū was located, was quite far from the Land of Lightning.
Second, Ninshū had too few ninja, which the Third Raikage considered to be only minor skirmishes.
Therefore, when Ninshū held the Youth Martial Arts Tournament in the Land of Rain earlier, the Third Raikage had not sent ninja to participate.
Now, the Third Raikage realized that he might have underestimated this Ninshū leader, known as the Ninja Master.
Speaking for himself, in a one on one situation, he was not absolutely confident in defeating Hiruzen, let alone beating Hiruzen to the point where he no longer wanted to be Hokage.
"It's hard to say. Perhaps Sōsuke might be the strongest in the Ninja World right now," Dodai analyzed.
"Since Sōsuke appeared, he has never suffered a defeat. Whether his opponents were renowned masters like Kakuzu or legendary ninja like Hanzō, none of them made him struggle. His true strength is an unknown variable."
After the news of Sōsuke defeating Hiruzen spread throughout the Ninja World, Sōsuke's reputation reached a new peak.
Initially, most people questioned it as a rumor, and even the intelligence ninja of the major Ninja Villages thought so.
However, when Konoha remained silent and did not respond, their thoughts changed.
Sometimes, not answering was also a form of answer.
If it were truly a rumor, how could Konoha remain indifferent, especially when it concerned the Hokage's reputation?
"Creating Ninshū, Six Paths inheritance… Is he truly the legitimate successor of the Sage of Six Paths' Ninshū?" the Third Raikage showed a thoughtful expression.
In the eyes of many ninja, the Sage of Six Paths was merely a mythical figure from legends.
But the Third Raikage knew that the Sage of Six Paths had truly existed as the ancestor of ninja, not a fictional mythical character.
Because there were descendants of the Sage of Six Paths in Kumogakure, and they even possessed the Sage of Six Paths' ninja tools.
The Third Raikage was aware of the power of the Six Paths ninja tools.
Back then, the descendants of the Sage of Six Paths had used the Six Paths ninja tools to stage a coup, and even the Second Raikage had been killed by them.
If the ninja tools left by the Sage of Six Paths alone possessed such power, then if the Six Paths inheritance in Sōsuke's hands was the Sage of Six Paths' Ninjutsu, how powerful would it be?
The Third Raikage found it difficult to imagine.
However, there were too many suspicious points.
If there was a legitimate successor to Ninshū, why had someone like Sōsuke not emerged to restore Ninshū during its thousand year decline?
Ninshū had truly faded for too long.
Some ninja even thought that Ninshū was a new force created by Sōsuke, unaware of the Ninshū created by the Sage of Six Paths in ancient times.
Even if the Ninshū created by the Sage of Six Paths was the origin of ninja.
However, the Third Raikage felt that this was normal.
According to ancient records, ancient ninja and modern ninja were not the same thing at all.
Ancient ninja did not need to accept commissioned missions. Their duty was to maintain world peace and create a world without war, where everyone could coexist peacefully.
As for modern ninja, war was almost one of their important sources of funding, and war commissions were the most expensive.
…
Land of Water, Kirigakure.
Mizukage's office.
"Yagura, what do you think Kirigakure should do in the current situation?" the Third Mizukage asked with a smile, putting down the intelligence while sitting in his office chair.
"Do nothing?" Yagura replied uncertainly.
"It seems your last defeat brought you some insight," the Third Mizukage nodded slightly.
If it were the old Yagura, he might have tried to seize this opportunity to join other Ninja Villages in causing trouble and weakening the strongest Konoha.
"During the Third Shinobi World War, we severely offended Iwagakure, Sunagakure, and Kumogakure."
"They need Kirigakure's strength, but that does not mean they will forgive our past actions. Therefore, we cannot immediately unite with them again to deal with Konoha. Even if we succeed in the end, Kirigakure will not have a very good outcome."
"At the same time, we cannot truly greatly assist Konoha, because Konoha's development momentum is too good. Konoha can be strong, but not too strong."
The Third Mizukage knew very well that alliances between Ninja Villages were unreliable.
Today, he could sell out the Land of Wind, the Land of Earth, and the Land of Lightning for profit, and tomorrow, Konoha could likewise act against Kirigakure for profit.
If Konoha truly became strong enough to take on four opponents, would Konoha still need Kirigakure as an ally?
Clearly not.
Why would someone share a piece of the pie when they could have it all alone?
Yagura nodded thoughtfully.
He had considered this point, but not as deeply as the Third Mizukage.
"Of course, we don't have to help, but we can put on a show. I've already had someone contact Konoha, and you will serve as the envoy to observe the ceremony in Konoha," the Third Mizukage said.
Konoha and Kirigakure were still in their honeymoon period. Showing no indication at all would make their intentions too obvious.
"Alright," Yagura agreed without asking any questions.
Yagura had already come to terms with losing to Mugetsu.
After all, the Fourth Kazekage had almost been killed by one of Mugetsu's punches, and Mugetsu had used more than one punch against him.
By that calculation, he was stronger than the Fourth Kazekage.
"Are we not taking action against Ninshū either? Sōsuke alone has great value, right?" Yagura asked curiously.
If they could successfully set up a plan using Ninshū, they might be able to leverage a major Ninja Village.
"Let's wait and see. Ninshū will soon have trouble, and it might become the eye of the storm," the Third Mizukage shook his head.
The news of Hiruzen's defeat had brought Sōsuke and Ninshū into the spotlight.
It was hard to say whether this was a blessing or a curse for Ninshū.
Although the Five Great Ninja Villages often attacked one another, if there was truly a force attempting to challenge their status, they might prioritize suppressing that force.
Just like Amegakure back then.
No matter how much the Five Great Ninja Villages fought among themselves, the overall pattern of the Ninja World was ultimately dominated by the Five Great Ninja Villages, and this had not changed since the era of the Ninja Villages began.
If it became six major ninja powers dominating the Ninja World, then the loss would not be limited to just one party.
The Third Mizukage felt that no major Ninja Village would want such a drastic change in the Ninja World's power structure.
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