Chapter 321: Flow of Wind

"I know, but there is something more interesting going around as well, which may alter something you are planning on doing," Zetsu said with a mysterious smile on his face.

"What is it?"

"Uchiha clan is slowly integrating in Konoha," Zetsu said.

"What do you mean? It has been almost 70 years, and you think they can integrate in Konoha now? The thing that didn't happen in 70 years is going to happen now?" Tobi asked.

"Hahaha, why do you think Uchiha were never able to integrate in Konoha?" Zetsu asked.

"Because of that Senju-Uchiha scenario and this whole Uchiha evil thinking," Tobi said in a frustrated voice, not liking Zetsu playing with his important time.

"No, it was because of individuals like Tobirama Senju and Danzo Shimura. They were always in power, and because they didn't want Uchiha to share that power, they always kept them in check. That's why Uchiha were never able to assimilate in the village. But now with Danzo dead, and Hiruzen who is, though against clan getting too much power, fair toward all of the clans, the Uchiha can finally integrate in the village."

"This will make things more complicated in the future," Tobi said. Initially, when Zetsu told him about 4 possible S-rank ninjas from Uchiha clan in Konoha, he was concerned but still at ease. Konoha always discriminated against Uchiha, so even the S-ranks from the Uchiha clan didn't usually show their full potential in the village.

But if they get integrated into the village, Konoha would get 4 S-rank ninjas along with their already high reserves, and this is not a small number in any case. Along with hundreds of jonins and ninja army, Konoha will become very stable, and getting the Nine-Tails from them will become highly difficult, especially with Uchiha protection. If it came down to it, they could become all-seeing eyes for Konoha along with Hyugas.

"You said two ninjas can become S-rank, but they are still not at that stage, right?" Tobi said.

"Yes, both of them are above Elite Jonin level, but still not among S-rank level," Zetsu confirmed.

"Keep a watch over them. When I am ready, I will reduce some of the troubles," Tobi said, going back to his meditation.

'Troubles you say,' a small smile formed on Zetsu's face, and it went back into the ground.

…

(Kumogakure…)

"Raikage-sama, we can't continue this any further. Sending ninjas to Fire Country as rogue ninjas is now becoming a suicide mission, and even the threats we had given to others had produced results. As much as possible, we were able to retain 3 merchant firms, but continuing it any further will just increase our losses," one of the council members and elders of Kumogakure said.

"So what do you want? Let Konoha develop normally? After suffering from the 3rd Great Ninja War and Nine-Tails attack, it was assumed that they will at least need 10-12 years to recover, but they were able to recover so much in just 5 years. If allowed to develop openly, them returning to their peak strength in just a couple more years is not impossible," another elder said.

"So to stop their development, you want to throw the lives of our ninjas?"

"Who said we are throwing away their lives? And it is not like Konoha had not suffered any casualties."

"Enough!" A shouted, with his fist slamming on the table.

"Is this our council meeting hall or children's playground? sigh Call our ninjas back. We are not calling off this bandit façade and all," A said.

"Raikage-sama, this will let Konoha..."

"You want to challenge Konoha in recovery speed. If both us and them take the same damage, it will be our loss. They will recover much faster because of that treasure trove of talent they have. Also, attacking from behind is never our style. We have to do something to send a message to Konoha that their wings are spreading too wide," A said.

Listening to that, all of the elders nodded.

Similar meetings also happened in Iwagakure, with Kumo falling back. The amount of attacks Iwa ninjas were facing was too much for them, and Onoki also decided to call off the mission for now.

Though he also planned to not stop everything at that. As for Sunagakure, they never were in the attack in the first place, after all, they were 'allies' of Konoha.

…

While the whole world was walking on landmine-filled land, Kaida and family were simply preparing for the construction of the stadium. With Hokage's permission done, all that was left was getting all clans onboard before the plan started.

Negotiating all of the profits, rewards, and additional benefits a clan ninja will get in the stadium was a monumental task to say the least.

But at last, when all guessed the revenue, all clan heads agreed to the proposal, though some tried to refuse as a ploy to get more percentage of profits.

Uchiha family simply backed down and decided to not include the clan altogether. With all three royal clans onboard, even if some clans decided not to participate, there would not be any loss for the stadium. At last, the percentages pre-decided by the family were finalized.

With only an interesting case being the Nara clan.

"We don't want 3 percent," Shikaku said in a firm voice.

"Please, Shikaku-sama, if you want, we can increase it to 4 percent. Heck, even 5 percent," Kaida said to the shock of Hae and Shisui.

"You don't understand, boy. I am too busy with all of the tasks given to me by Lord Third, and other members of my clan don't want to move a single finger aside from the tasks that were forced on them by Lord Third. So how could I assign some of them for the stadium?" Shikaku asked.

"At least let me have a talk with them, please," Kaida said.

Sigh

"As you wish. I will let you have a meeting with the top 30 ninjas from my clan, with their intelligence vouched by me, but they are lazy at the same level as well," Shikaku said.

"Fine by me," Kaida smiled.