219

The Land of Thunder, Kumogakure!

As the secretary of the Fourth Raikage, Samui was in a panic.

Her messages to Kirigakure had been slow to respond.

That also meant that the other party had rejected the request to form an alliance with their Kumogakure.

Wouldn't it have been better to deal with Konoha together?

Was it so difficult for the Mist Shinobi to get involved in the war?

Kumogakure thought the Land of Water would be the easiest country to ally with their Land of Thunder.

But they never expected that even the Mist Shinobi would remain silent when it came to dealing with Konoha.

The Land of Fire is vast, and in terms of resources, it is second to none in the ninja world.

Everyone wants to share the spoils, but right now, Mist Shinobi doesn't want to get their hands dirty.

The Raikage looked at a table of documents and couldn't calm down at all.

Now his mind was occupied with how to deal with Konoha.

"Samui, has there been any response from the Mist Shinobi?"

"Yes, Lord Raikage!"

"Tch, that cowardly and incompetent village; this alliance doesn't matter."

The Land of Water was secluded, keeping its village's activities a mystery.

The Raikage had lost patience with this mysterious ally hiding in the shadows.

"Samui, is there any way to deal with Konoha now?"

The matter of the Land of Frost, where the Two-Tails Jinchūriki was killed by a Wooden Golem at the hands of Konoha Shinobi, had always troubled the Fourth Raikage.

"Lord Raikage, now is not the time to start a war. There's something else related to Konoha that has been rumored in the ninja world."

"Oh? What is it?"

As long as it's related to Konoha, the Raikage was quite interested.

It was about an organization composed of S-rank rebels from various countries: Akatsuki!

Two members of this group were attempting to capture the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki.

They had a conflict with Konoha's ninjas and died at their hands.

What?

The Raikage's expression changed suddenly.

To become S-rank rebels, these individuals must possess strength rivaling Kage-level powerhouses.

These Akatsuki members were all scum ninjas produced by the lax management of other ninja villages.

In Kumogakure, aside from the Golden Horns and Silver Horns during the Second Raikage's era, there had been no rebellions.

There were no ninjas from Kumogakure in the current Akatsuki organization.

They were all comprised of ninjas from other villages.

The most notorious of these was Konoha.

First, there was Orochimaru, one of the Sannin, and then there was Uchiha Itachi, who slaughtered his entire clan.

This was one reason why the Raikage resented other ninja villages.

If even the ninjas in their own village couldn't be managed properly, what kind of garbage village was that?

If all Shinobi villages were like Kumogakure, with no betrayals, wouldn't the world be at peace?

But Konoha's ability to take down two members of Akatsuki was enough to highlight their strength.

Even if the Raikage was angry, all he could do was endure it.

Moreover, Akatsuki's high-profile actions to capture tailed beasts were no longer secrets in the ninja world.

They seemed to be declaring war on the nations of the ninja world.

It was like they were saying: "The tailed beasts in the world, even we know about them and can't escape; it's better to accept your fate."

Akatsuki had revealed their purpose to the world.

The Four-Tails was an example; Iwagakure's Four-Tails Jinchūriki was captured alive by Uchiha Itachi and Kisame.

But in the Land of Fire, the Akatsuki organization was at a disadvantage.

The Fifth Hokage, Tsunade, even made a declaration after Konoha killed two Akatsuki intruders.

Whether it was Akatsuki or ninjas from other countries, they dared to invade the Land of Fire.

Konoha would see one and kill one!

This declaration was quite bold.

As the first female Hokage, Tsunade was also the first female ninja to hold the title of "Hokage" in the history of the ninja world.

This boldness was comparable to that of her grandfather, Senju Hashirama, the God of Shinobi.

In a way, Konoha was the first village to declare war on Akatsuki.

The other ninja villages were still in a state of silence.

Even Iwagakure, where the Jinchūriki was captured, had received no statement from the Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki.

Konoha was at the forefront of the fight against the Akatsuki organization.

Some villages with tailed beasts and Jinchūriki were all in a panic, fearing that the Akatsuki group would suddenly attack.

Of the five major countries, the weakest was the Land of Wind.

The Fourth Kazekage, Luo Sha, once proposed forming a ninja alliance to deal with the Akatsuki organization together.

But the other four countries did not respond.

The declaration of an alliance is issued by the weak.

Everyone in the world knew that Akatsuki wanted to capture the tailed beasts and Jinchūriki, but they didn't know what to do when the tailed beasts were caught.

The tailed beasts are the standard for balancing the strength of the ninja villages, and such a terrorist organization would only bring chaos if they sought to gain the power of the tailed beasts.

In the Land of Fire, Konoha Village!

In the Hokage's office, Tsunade smiled smugly.

"Boy, my declaration was not bad!"

"Well, very Hokage-like."

It had been a while since Nanaya killed Hidan and Kakuzu.

Kakashi had been discharged from the hospital due to overuse of his pupil power.

The seriously injured Asuma had almost recovered.

In addition to the Nine-Tails, Konoha now had the Three-Tails.

Of course, the fact that Neji was the Three-Tails Jinchūriki was only known to Tsunade, Uchiha Nanaya, and Shizune.

"Boy, what does the Akatsuki organization want with the tailed beasts?"

"I don't know; it's not a good thing anyway. It should be to rule the world or find peace or something."

If Nanaya explained to Tsunade and the others that Akatsuki wanted to realize Project Tsuki no Me, it would be quite troublesome for the whole world to fall into the Infinite Tsukuyomi.

So it was better not to talk about it and just let it develop.

As long as he was there, it wasn't up to Akatsuki to decide whether their Project Tsuki no Me would succeed.

It could be said that he was the mastermind behind Akatsuki and the selfish desire of the masked man, Uchiha Obito.

The other Akatsuki members were merely Obito's tools.

Obito was a tool for Madara, and Madara was a tool for Black Zetsu.

This farce was just a game to see who was who.

Outside Sunagakure, Sand Shinobi's Jōnin Yura took out a photo.

With panda-like eyes and a love mark on his forehead, it was the One-Tails Jinchūriki, Gaara.

"Lord Sasori, Lord Deidara, this is the One-Tails Jinchūriki, the son of the Fourth Kazekage, Gaara."

Deidara glanced at the photo.

"It's just a little brat; it couldn't be easier, eh!"

Boom—

A huge clay white bird appeared beneath Deidara's feet.

"Sasori-senpai, I'll attack from above. As for the rest, I'll leave it to you."

As soon as he finished speaking, Deidara stepped onto the clay white bird and took off.

He joined Akatsuki to show the world his unparalleled art.

First, let's start with the Land of Wind, one of the five great nations.

Sasori in the puppet form complained quite a bit.

"I don't like waiting last. Yura, let's go!"

The sand was blowing, and Sasori also entered the interior of Sunagakure.

A large white bird hovered over Sunagakure and was soon spotted by the ninjas on duty.

Inside the Kazekage Office!

"It's not good, Lord Kazekage; there are intruders above the village!"

Luo Sha put down his Kazekage hat, and the gold dust around it was just about to move.

Seeing the big cloak with the black robe and red clouds, Luo Sha's eyes narrowed.

"Akatsuki, they've finally arrived!"