Chapter 309: A Conspiracy Within a Conspiracy
The Third Raikage looked speechlessly at Hashirama Senju prostrating on the ground. He said in a deep voice, "You are, after all, the First Hokage who established a village..."
In a sense, he had grown up listening to the legends of the God of Shinobi.
Truly, if one lives long enough, one can see anything.
Living to this age, not only did he have the privilege of leading troops to besiege Konoha, but the God of Shinobi crawled out of the Pure Land just to kowtow to him.
Tobirama Senju was already resigned to his brother's personality. He didn't help him up but said to the Third Raikage, "Since the establishment of the ninja village system, the Five Great Villages have both competed and relied on each other. Third Raikage, do you really intend to completely erase a Great Ninja Village?"
The Third Raikage replied, "What you speak of is in the past. The relationship between ninja villages today is far from what it was when the First Kages founded them. Moreover, as the initiators of this war, what right do you have to beg the Cloud for mercy? Do you think after fighting to this extent, mere words can stop the war?"
Tobirama said, "We can negotiate! And if the person you mentioned, named Blue Bee, is the 'B' of the A-B Combo, surely you want to exchange for him!"
The Third Raikage narrowed his eyes. "Are you threatening this old man?"
The Communication Snail continued to coordinate. Having gathered some intelligence beforehand, the Third Raikage had already summoned ninja proficient in Sealing Jutsu to rush over.
Tobirama said, "Not a threat, but at least we can talk, right? How about a temporary ceasefire? Konoha is already surrounded by you anyway."
Just then, a figure appeared beside Hashirama and Tobirama. It was a disheveled Sakumo Hatake.
"First Hokage-sama! Second Hokage-sama!"
To cover the retreat of the surprise attack force, Sakumo had blocked Yotsuki Dana all the way—accurately speaking, he was chased all the way from the Land of Hot Water back to the Land of Fire.
Under his cover, barely over a thousand members of the surprise attack force managed to escape back. He himself was near his limit.
If not for the Flying Thunder God, it would have been impossible for him to return to the village smoothly.
Because Dana's sensory range was immense, the thousand-plus surprise attack troops had to scatter and flee. since they were in the Land of Fire, they planned to disperse first and regroup later. Sakumo teleported directly back to the Hokage Building, listened to the two elders' explanation, and then rushed here.
Tobirama lowered his voice and asked, "Are you the Fourth? Where is the Cloud's 'Blue Bee'? Is he still alive?"
Sakumo whispered, "In Sunagakure."
"Why in Suna?"
"It was one of the conditions for Suna to deploy troops..."
At this moment, a figure descended from the sky and landed beside the Third Raikage, attracting the attention of Hashirama and Tobirama.
It was Yotsuki Dana, who had chased Sakumo all the way here.
Before arriving, Dana had been communicating with the Third Raikage via Communication Snail, so he didn't need an introduction to the situation. He said directly, "Hand over Blue Bee, or no deal."
Tobirama said, "Presumably, you are Yotsuki Dana. Acceptable. But how about both sides cease fire first?"
Dana and the Third Raikage discussed the consequences of refusing negotiation and leveling Konoha directly.
Dana occasionally glanced at the two Edo Tensei bodies, estimating their strength.
From their desire to negotiate, they probably didn't have the power of the Fourth Great Ninja War in the original timeline. Dana boldly predicted they were at most at the level of the "Konoha Crush" rooftop battle.
Um... without being forcibly restrained, their strength might be slightly higher.
But even so, it was still within a controllable range. With himself, his Old Man, and Sealing Jutsu, dealing with them wouldn't be hard.
However, next, all remaining Konoha forces within the walls, losing hope, might launch a desperate counterattack—most likely a breakout attempt.
There were still several thousand people of varying strength in the village, including many Genin and Academy students. Konoha would suffer heavy losses in this process, but if they completely abandoned defending the village, quite a few could escape.
Then, the 1,000+ surprise attack troops scattered outside, who were more elite, would also support from the outside, attacking the encirclement.
The opponent had three Flying Thunder God users; important people and items would definitely be moved.
Finally, the Cloud would completely level Konoha, setting a precedent in the ninja world.
This was roughly the subsequent development of not negotiating.
There might be interludes, such as individual clans unwilling to go down with Konoha, or how to deal with civilians, but it wouldn't affect the general trend.
The two deduced for a while and finally decided to find a way to exchange for Blue Bee first, no matter what.
After a long while, the Third Raikage said, "You have 4 hours. I believe this time is sufficient no matter where you hid Blue Bee. But only one person can use Flying Thunder God to leave and fetch him. You three cannot leave our sight!"
Currently, Suna had been beaten black and blue by Little Brother Rain Village. The war on the Southern Front in the Land of Hot Water had completely ended. The Konoha surprise attack force was dead or scattered. The 600 Cloud ninja following them had pushed back to the border to hold the line.
Conversely, on the Western Front, the team led by Arashi was under immense pressure. The Iwa vanguard led by Onoki was indeed hard to deal with. The Cloud had paid a considerable price there, and the reserve forces in the Land of Lightning base camp were starting to run thin.
If Konoha ceased fire for a moment, the freed-up Heavenly Transfer capacity could send reinforcements to the Western Front.
Once Arashi on the Western Front could stabilize completely, the war would become clear.
Unfortunately, the Temporary Transmission Structures were used up; otherwise, it would be safer for either Dana or the Third Raikage to fly over and support.
After reaching a temporary ceasefire agreement, the rainbow lights in the sky gradually ceased, no longer bombarding Konoha.
Numerous Heavenly Transfer bases in the Land of Lightning began sending reinforcements to Arashi on the Western Front. With air support, the situation on the Western Front turned around immediately, but that is a story for later.
Konoha began clearing the ruins and rescuing buried people, but they couldn't do much more. Although the Ninja Hospital was protected by a barrier, it was already overflowing, and they had run out of bandages.
The Cloud ninja, having fought all day, returned to the fortresses to rest. The wounded were treated with ample Healing Talismans.
Hashirama, Tobirama, and Sakumo were required to sit in the open space under surveillance to prevent secret plotting.
The three sat cross-legged on the ground, their faces uglier than the next.
Tobirama said helplessly, "The disadvantage is too great. Even if we negotiate, Konoha's fate won't be good..."
The Cloud would definitely propose very harsh conditions. Tobirama knew well that however miserable it was on the battlefield, it would only be worse at the negotiation table.
Hashirama was more relaxed. "It seems the 'Ninja Village' system I built indeed has problems... If Madara knew, he'd probably mock me again."
Tobirama was speechless. What he had seen since awakening overturned many of his beliefs.
Just then, Tobirama noticed a nearby fortress being repaired to brand new by the Cloud, recalling the news he heard earlier, and formed a conjecture about this special ability of the Cloud.
"Brother, if you used Wood Release at full power now, what is your range?"
Hashirama said, "One or two hundred meters?"
"Truly weak..."
"True Several Thousand Hands? Top Transformed Buddha?"
"Impossible... This Edo Tensei body doesn't support releasing ninjutsu of that magnitude. Aren't we already negotiating peace?"
"We must always prepare for the worst. The disadvantage on the battlefield is so great; even with peace talks, Konoha might not be able to bear the opponent's demands. If things really become impossible, we can consider breaking out, and then..."
Tobirama stated his backup plan.
Hashirama said, "Although I really don't want to interfere in the affairs of the living... this time, I'll listen to you..."
Northern Land of Rivers.
The Suna vanguard was resting.
The 1,500-man vanguard encountered a well-prepared ambush and suffered heavy losses, with hundreds of casualties.
Most importantly, the Third Kazekage lost to Hanzo the Salamander and was poisoned by Hanzo's potent toxin. Fortunately, Suna had some research on poisons and managed to keep the Kazekage alive, but he remained unconscious.
Sasori's arms were cut off and lost on the battlefield. He had to disassemble two of his puppets' arms to temporarily replace them, a sight that made Pakura weep.
The accompanying Elder Ebizo immediately ordered a retreat, returning to the Land of Wind's interior to rest and discuss countermeasures.
This battle shattered Suna's morale.
Meanwhile, Minato Namikaze, having barely recovered, appeared in Sunagakure as Konoha's envoy, finding the Elder Chiyo who had stayed behind.
"Negotiation? Has Konoha reached this point...?"
Although Suna had lost face, compared to Konoha being besieged in their own village...
With the Third Kazekage poisoned and unconscious, Chiyo, as the highest-ranking elder, indeed had thoughts of ending this war.
The war had just begun. Since they didn't achieve the desired effect, cutting losses was a good choice. Moreover, Suna participated in the Three-Nation Alliance driven by profit—the Land of Earth and Land of Fire offered enough chips. They didn't have that much conflict with the Cloud themselves.
Seeing someone paralyzed made the one who just tripped feel less miserable.
"The Eight-Tails Jinchuriki was captured by the joint efforts of three villages, yet now he's being used for Konoha's benefit..."
"Elder Chiyo... if Konoha is destroyed, how can Suna resist the Cloud alone...?"
While the two discussed, unbeknownst to them, a conspiracy within a conspiracy was unfolding deep within Sunagakure.
Sunagakure, a Hidden Space.
A tall Suna ninja carried a tray, walking slowly down a dark corridor. He was wrapped tightly in Suna-style sand-proof robes.
This was one of the most heavily guarded places in Suna, protected by barriers.
As soon as the tall ninja reached the gate, several ninja stepped forward to question him.
He revealed his face. "It's me... Elder Chiyo ordered me to feed him the medicine again; otherwise, he might wake up."
The special poison the Third Kazekage used on the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki was concocted by Chiyo herself. It could keep him unconscious and temporarily sever the connection between the Jinchuriki and the Tailed Beast.
The guards verified his identity, password, and appearance. Finding no issues, they nodded and let him through the gate.
Behind the gate was a spiral staircase leading down. The tall ninja walked down slowly with the tray.
Before long, he saw a man chained to the wall with shackles as thick as a bowl.
A sinister voice spoke.
"Hehehe... I didn't expect the three major villages to be so useless. Orochimaru wasn't fast enough either... Fortunately, I prepared early. Sunagakure has been infiltrated like a sieve... A war of this level cannot weaken Kumogakure."
The tall ninja tore off his sand-proof robe. Below the neck, his body was entirely pale white. On his shoulder, a second face, half black and half white, appeared.
The flesh twisted, and the black face took dominance.
"Let me see... Yes... this is it..."
Black Zetsu was indeed here to feed medicine, but not Chiyo's coma poison.
"Riot! Fight! The more chaotic this erroneous ninja world becomes, the better."
Black-purple liquid was poured into the unconscious Blue Bee's mouth.
Simultaneously, thousands of miles away in the Land of Earth.
In a hidden underground space, an old man was processing official documents.
Sitting beside him was the Iwa Elder Ishikawa.
Documents were annotated and sent out one by one. Servants shuttled in and out. From the traces around, it was clear they had been hiding here for a long time.
Although the old man holding the pen had white hair, his eyes were bright and piercing. If Yotsuki Dana were here, he would find that this man bore a 90% resemblance to the "Earth Daimyo" he had captured—only that one looked more debauched.
After a long while, the old man looked up and asked a servant, "What time is it?"
"It is already evening, my lord."
"I mean, calculating from the start of Onoki's attack."
"About... three and a half days."
The old man stood up and rubbed his back. "Then my double should be dead by now. I raised him for decades, and he finally served his purpose... The death of a 'Daimyo' should be enough to make the nations of the ninja world soberly realize the danger of the Cloud..."