"Alright."
At Orochimaru's command, Nawaki finally stopped using Deep Forest Emergence.
Nawaki let go of his hands. His face wasn't red and his breathing wasn't heavy. He clearly still had energy left.
Orochimaru leaped up and landed beside Rengoku. Rengoku held onto Orochimaru with one hand so he could look over the range of Nawaki's Deep Forest Emergence this time.
Orochimaru's expression clearly showed satisfaction.
A moment later, Rengoku and Orochimaru both landed back on the ground. At that time, Sasuke, who had been lying nearby like a corpse, also ran over.
He looked at the new forest in surprise. The huge number of trees had basically filled the entire ground.
And every tree was extremely thick, with almost no gaps between them.
A lot of these artificially grown trees would still die later. They were packed too tightly, and the land couldn't provide enough nutrients.
"Nawaki, how did your Wood Release become this strong?"
After being revived, Nawaki wasn't much older than Sasuke. They were basically the same age.
Nawaki also never put on airs. They were friends.
Nawaki himself couldn't explain Sasuke's question either. Seeing his Wood Release become this powerful left him confused too.
He had used the same amount of chakra as before, but the Wood Release he created was several times stronger.
"I... I don't know either."
Nawaki scratched his head, looking both puzzled and happy.
Orochimaru and Rengoku came down. Rengoku smiled and said, "Perfect. This adds another piece to my plan."
"Nawaki, while you were asleep, Konoha was attacked. Rasa, the One-Tail Jinchuriki, was among them."
"Konoha has officially declared war on Sunagakure now."
Nawaki's expression changed immediately, "Sunagakure actually dared to attack us?"
Rengoku patted Nawaki on the shoulder.
"It's fine. Konoha prepared thoroughly, so the losses weren't serious."
Nawaki let out a breath, "Then how far have we gotten in the war?"
Rengoku laughed loudly, "We declared war, but we haven't set out yet."
"I'm still waiting for our allies."
———
[The Sacred Land, Hole]
This was actually a very isolated town. After all, the surrounding area was entirely desert, making travel extremely difficult.
Moryo arrived at the border of the Sacred Land and stared at the clearly divided boundary line.
The Sacred Land itself was a massive basin. Inside the basin, trees grew thick and lush. Each tree was so large that it took five people to wrap their arms around it.
Water resources here were abundant, and a huge amount of spring water could even be transported outward.
But outside the basin was nothing but desert. Not even a blade of grass could be found.
It felt as though the basin had gathered all nearby resources into itself.
Moryo scooped up some spring water and drank it. A look of enjoyment appeared on his face.
The special trait of a Leyline Energy Collector was that it drained underground energy from nearby areas.
So the water here contained a massive amount of energy.
Ordinary people couldn't sense it, but Moryo noticed it the moment he drank it.
'That wasn't easy. I didn't expect it to actually be here.'
After staying at the edge for a while, he didn't linger and directly headed toward the center of the basin.
At the center was a place surrounded like a treasure vault.
Moryo didn't go inside to investigate because he sensed guards nearby.
He didn't want to alert anyone.
Moryo knew what a Leyline Energy Collector looked like. Just by looking at the layout here, he had already confirmed it.
'Looks like they extracted leyline energy here last time, but shut it down afterward.'
'The Leyline Energy Collector overflowed with energy, which is why the surrounding area became so fertile.'
Now that he had found the location, the next step was taking it.
The thing was still sealed. It needed to be activated first, and once activated, the disturbance would be huge.
He probably couldn't take it alone.
———
[Iwagakure]
[Tsuchikage's Office]
Onoki thought for a long time before asking, "Did Konoha mention the alliance terms?"
Deidara shook his head, "The Fourth Hokage only told me to come ask what you think first."
After returning to Iwagakure, Deidara immediately came to see Onoki.
Onoki hadn't expected Konoha's appetite to be this large. They actually wanted to swallow the entire Land of Wind.
Rengoku's proposal was for Konoha and Iwagakure to form an alliance and attack Sunagakure together.
After taking the territory, both sides would split it evenly.
Although most of the Land of Wind was desert, it still covered a huge area and was the largest of the Five Great Nations.
Most of the top-level fighters had already been wiped out, but they still had close to twenty thousand ninja.
If Konoha only wanted to strike once and withdraw, there would be no need to involve Iwagakure at all.
But Konoha's appetite was obviously much larger. They wanted to swallow all of Sunagakure.
The problem was that Konoha was currently the strongest ninja village in the world. No exceptions.
If Konoha and Iwagakure formed an alliance, they naturally could take Sunagakure faster.
Once Konoha fully absorbed the Land of Wind, their strength would definitely rise greatly.
For Iwagakure to ally with Konoha against Sunagakure right now was no different from making a deal with a tiger.
But when it came to Konoha's high-end combat strength, even without allying with Iwagakure, taking the Land of Wind was only a matter of time.
"Old man, think it through before making a decision. They're going to move after Konoha's Chunin Exams in seven days."
"I'm going to improve my Dust Explosion Technique."
Deidara looked completely carefree. He neither asked too many questions nor tried to persuade anyone. He simply focused on doing his own thing.
"Wait."
Onoki also hadn't expected Konoha to make a move like this.
It caught him somewhat off guard.
"What is it, old man?"
Seeing how unconcerned Deidara looked left Onoki speechless.
"This is something important for the village. Give me your thoughts too."
Onoki was already hesitant about the matter. He had always viewed Deidara as his successor, so naturally he wanted to hear his opinion.
Deidara stopped walking toward the exit.
"If we do nothing, then we get nothing. But if we attack Sunagakure together with Konoha, the situation changes."
Onoki's expression shifted. He could tell Deidara wasn't finished.
"Mm... continue."
Deidara continued, "If we do nothing, then Pakura will definitely ask us and Kumogakure for help."
Onoki nodded slightly. That was true. Kirigakure was close to the Uchiha and had a deep grudge against Sunagakure, so they definitely wouldn't help them.
That meant Sunagakure could only ask Iwagakure and Kumogakure for support.
"If we choose to help Sunagakure, then it'll become the same situation as five years ago."
Five years ago, the three villages joined forces against Konoha, only to be completely crushed by them.
But the current situation wasn't the same as it was five years ago. Rengoku wasn't there now. (At least that's what Onoki believed.)
"With Fourth Hokage Namikaze Minato's strength, the best result would be us ending in a draw against Konoha. Aside from losing people, we wouldn't gain anything."
"And the worst result would be the same as five years ago. Iwagakure suffers a crushing defeat."
Information about Konoha activating a super-large sealing barrier after the recent attack had already appeared on the black market.
After all, Konoha now had too many people, and too many spies.
Although Konoha only used one barrier, a formation at that level required a powerful core to provide chakra.
A single person sustaining a formation large enough to cover all of Konoha's inner city represented strength beyond imagination.
The most likely explanation was that Konoha was hiding the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.
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