Chapter 22: Black Zetsu Truly Deserves to be the Top Supporter
Just as Stelle was contemplating her next move with her bounty hunter alias, Mie, a message arrived from that very clone.
She immediately unfurled the intelligence scroll. Speak of the devil. It seemed Black Zetsu was finally back to his old tricks, stirring up trouble once more.
Konoha had developed to a point where it was almost entirely independent of the Land of Fire's Daimyo. When the village was first founded, they would offer perfunctory agreements to the Daimyo's various commands while doing precisely nothing. Now, however, the village was actively expanding its borders, swallowing up the territories of nearby aristocratic forces. The Daimyo could no longer afford to sit still.
According to intelligence provided by his spies, the Daimyo had analyzed Konoha's four most prominent leaders. The unanimous conclusion was that the greatest threat, the root of the problem, was Uchiha Madara.
When Senju Hashirama was Hokage, his policies were mild, and he was disinclined to proactively provoke conflict. The nobles who had been wiped out had all, without exception, been the ones to pick the fight first.
Uchiha Madara was a different beast entirely. Since taking office, he had applied his policies with drastic and aggressive methods. So long as it benefited Konoha, the Daimyo and his court meant less than nothing to him. His very presence seemed to radiate a chilling contempt for the Daimyo's mansion.
If not for Konoha's current lack of administrative talent—a deficit that made it impossible to manage such a vast territory without inviting chaos—the Daimyo's head would have likely been removed long ago.
Under such circumstances, how could the Daimyo possibly remain calm?
And so, as if emboldened by some inexplicable courage, he made a decision: he would assassinate Uchiha Madara.
The Daimyo's mansion had been in power for generations, raising countless death-sworn shinobi and samurai. This time, they mobilized nearly every asset at their disposal. They even hired a small army of elite mercenaries from the Exchange Post. As a famous bounty hunter, Mie had naturally received an invitation.
This should have been a stage set for Uchiha Madara's personal show. But Black Zetsu, that eternal schemer, was pulling the strings from behind the curtain. His spiritual control was subtle enough to fool even Madara; manipulating a mere Daimyo was child's play.
After a series of masterful manipulations, the assassination plot remained, but the target had been shifted. Now, the crosshairs were fixed on Uchiha Izuna.
This was the classic playbook for unlocking Madara's Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan.
But that wasn't all. Black Zetsu had also possessed another expert, dressing them in a black robe and a distinctive flame-patterned mask, and slipped them into the ranks of the hired mercenaries.
Others might not recognize the significance of that disguise, but Tobirama and Izuna most certainly would.
What a guy, that Black Zetsu, Stelle thought. He played the role of the mastermind to perfection. Once this was done, Madara would awaken his Eternal Mangekyo, and all the resulting hatred would be neatly transferred to her past persona. Most, Izuna's death would drive Madara to despair, making him vulnerable to Black Zetsu's ultimate goal: tricking him into activating the Infinite Tsukuyomi.
No wonder Mie had sent the intelligence. It was time to stir the pot.
[Black Zetsu truly deserves to be the top supporter. Just when I'm running low on mood values, he goes and starts a fire. I can make a huge profit from this.]
Stelle offered him her most sincere praise. The top supporter was generous indeed.
A few days later, A, the First Raikage of the Hidden Cloud Village, initiated the first-ever Five Kage Summit. Konoha's development was simply too explosive, leaving the other great villages in the dust. They wanted to have an "exchange" with Konoha, hoping to learn from their experience and invigorate their own villages.
After the Kage of the other four villages gathered and discussed the matter, they jointly sent an invitation to Konoha. The meeting was to be held in the Hidden Cloud.
Regarding this summit, the happiest person in Konoha was, without a doubt, Senju Hashirama. He firmly believed that a good system should be shared by all. If every village developed and prospered, there would be no more war.
Uchiha Madara couldn't be bothered, but he couldn't resist his friend's boundless enthusiasm. He gave him face and agreed to attend, leaving the village's affairs in the hands of his younger brother and their disciples.
The day after Madara and Hashirama departed from Konoha, Uchiha Izuna also left the village, leading two teams of shinobi. The group's objective was to formally receive several gold mines and a large batch of property.
Since her "graduation," Stelle had been stuck in the Hokage Building day after day, buried in clerical work. The chance to get out for once felt like a breath of fresh air. Her clone got to roam the ninja world every day, while her main body was stuck grinding daily quests in Konoha just to survive. How pitiful.
She walked in the middle of the formation, her gaze occasionally sweeping over Uchiha Izuna.
Izuna, oh, Izuna, she mused. I already changed the plot and saved you once. It's not too much to ask for you to take a little nap this time, right? If you die, it's just sleeping. I can use my cheats to revive you later. But if I die, I'm really dead.
Think about it. By the time of the Fourth Great Ninja War, decades will have passed. People your age will have either died in battle or of old age. But when you open your eyes, you'll still be so young and handsome, not aged a day. It's a total win-win.
And since you'll be helping me extend my life for so long, I promise I'll keep an eye on Hiruzen and Danzo. I definitely won't let the Uchiha clan get exterminated. Whoever dares to touch the Uchiha, I'll wipe them out for you. When you're resurrected, the Uchiha will still be the number one clan in Konoha, their status untouchable.
Passing through a town, Stelle bought a large bundle of local specialties to bring back for Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others. Grinding those daily interaction points was a must.
When they passed a tavern with wine for sale, Stelle felt a familiar craving and started to head inside for a couple of drinks. But before she could take two steps, Uchiha Kagami, who was beside her, grabbed her arm and forcibly pulled her away.
"Just because you don't drink doesn't mean you should stop me," she grumbled, returning to the group with a dark expression. "At most, I'll treat you; I won't even ask you to pay. Why be so stingy?"
"Kou, we're not adults yet," Uchiha Kagami said, a gentle smile on his face that didn't quite reach his eyes. His tone, however, was firm and left no room for argument. "We can't drink."
Uh… Stelle was stunned for a moment. Although her current alias, Uchiha Kou, was several years younger than Hiruzen and Kagami, she had already killed countless people. And yet, she still couldn't have a drink.
For a moment, she didn't know what to say.
At her side, Akimichi Torifu reluctantly offered her a potato chip as a silent gesture of comfort.
The group soon reached their destination.
The gold mines and property were being offered by a destitute noble who could no longer protect his family's wealth. His only goal was to join Konoha and live as an ordinary person, to at least stay alive and not be hunted by his enemies.
A fallen noble is still wealthier than a commoner. Having received so much property in one go, the smile on Uchiha Izuna's face never wavered.
Stelle saw how happy he looked and shook her head inwardly. After such a long period of peace, his vigilance had plummeted. He hadn't noticed anything abnormal at all.
Little did he know, Black Zetsu had already circled their position several times, probing everyone's strength, just waiting for the right moment to catch them like turtles in a jar.
Soon, the group was escorting the convoy of supplies back to the village.
As the convoy entered a narrow path flanked by steep hills, Stelle's senses flared. Good grief, she didn't even need the system to remind her. With her own hyper-aware perception, she could already feel a large number of enemies lying in ambush on the hillside. There were Water Style users hidden in the nearby lake and Earth Release specialists lurking among the mountain rocks. A rough estimate put the force at an elite hunting team of a hundred shinobi, all targeting one man: Uchiha Izuna.
As expected of the Daimyo's trump card. It did indeed have some weight to it.
Just as she was calculating how best to harvest the impending wave of mood values, Uchiha Izuna, walking at the very front, suddenly sensed something was wrong.
"Fall back!" he shouted. "It's an ambush!"
At his command, the Konoha shinobi instantly reacted, leaping back.
The moment they jumped away, two massive stone pillars erupted from the ground where they had just been standing, blocking the middle of the road. They weren't meant to injure anyone, merely to block their path of retreat.
While everyone was still in mid-air, countless steel wires shot out from all directions, weaving a deadly web around them.
Explosive tags were tied to the wires. If anyone were to get entangled, they would be blown to pieces in an instant.
"Boom!"
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