Avengers of the Whirlpool Family.

Chapter 392: Different Choices

Even though the Hikari Village seems to still be in the small piece of land that once belonged to the Takigakure Village and the Kusagakure Village, the leaders of these small ninja villages have sufficient reasons to believe that as long as the Hikari Village is integrated and fully adapted to all the problems after the merger of the two villages, the Hikari Village will definitely embark on its own path of expansion.

This has been fully proven in the past few decades. Which of the five major countries in the current ninja world did not come this way? This does not only refer to the five ninja villages of Konoha, Kirigakure, Kumogakure, Iwagakure, and Sand Village, but also refers to the Fire Country, Wind Country, Water Country, Earth Country, and Lightning Country. Their territories have not been owned since ancient times, but have been expanded step by step. Even if we don’t mention what happened hundreds of years ago, in the past hundred years alone, some small countries have collapsed and then merged into the territories of major countries.

The largest country and ninja village is none other than the Uzumaki Country and Uzushio Village, which was once Konoha's largest and most steadfast ally. As a country and ninja village established by the Uzumaki clan that has been passed down for nearly a thousand years, weren't they directly destroyed in a war?

It was even directly swallowed up by the Land of Water and the Hidden Mist Village.

The remaining small countries and ninja villages that were destroyed are countless.

The present Hikari Village is the five great countries of the past.

How could these small ninja villages bordering Hikari Village not feel terrified? Is the country special? The status of the daimyo and nobles is much higher than that of the ninja?
Do not make jokes.

That's just polite talk.

There were more than tens of millions of nobles assassinated by ninjas?
How many countries have been destroyed?

The current daimyo of the Kingdom of Grass and the Kingdom of Taki are both wary of their so-called newly established sixth great country.

But they can only worry and are unable to take any meaningful action. After all, this is a world with extraordinary powers, and those who can use chakra are the only ones who can control the direction of this world.

The Hikari Village has become an existence that they must look up to.

This is a special celebration.

This also established the status of Guangyin Village as a great power.

Tianying officially became an existence comparable to the previous five Kage.

from now on.

It is a pattern of six major countries and six shadows coexisting.

While the small country's ninja village could only be passively drawn into this huge vortex, the shadows of the big country made different decisions after their respective delegations returned, carefully listened to and understood the information fed back by their subordinates.

The Sand Village is the most single one.

After Maki clearly learned about the current strength of the Hikari Village, and that Shikaku would represent Konoha and the Hikari Village and obviously have more in-depth negotiations, he made the decision to remain dormant without hesitation.

The Sand Village is no longer the great power it once was that could influence the situation in the ninja world.

Not only is there a serious lack of high-end forces, the training of mid- and low-level ninjas is far less than in the past. Not to mention the quality issues, even the most basic growth in quantity has reached a bottleneck.

The reason.

It's because we are too poor.

The training of ninjas does not require expensive materials, but the most basic supply of materials still needs to be guaranteed. The special mechanism at the beginning of the establishment of the ninja village also determines that the acquisition of funds, equipment, and items must rely on the country behind it.

The Kingdom of Wind is not only a poor country, but also a country that is most wary of its own ninja village. In addition, the Sand Village has repeatedly been the losing side in the three Ninja World Wars, which has given the Kingdom of Wind and those nobles an excuse to cut funds, equipment and supplies.

The reason why life in the Sand Village is getting worse year by year.

This is also one of the most important reasons.

In the past, the Sand Village could still rely on the magnetic escape technique of the third and fourth Kazekages to dig gold from the vast desert to supplement the village's finances, but the current fifth Kazekage Maki can't do that, and his personal strength is even lower than the level of the previous two Kazekages. Although the Kages of the five major ninja villages basically show a trend of being inferior to the previous generation (if we look at it purely from the perspective of strength).
But Machi is definitely the one with the most serious gap in strength.

Because at best he can only be considered an elite jonin to the quasi-kage level. The most crucial point in the original work is why Gaara became the Fifth Kazekage and as the One-Tail Jinchūriki, he possessed the strength of the Kage level.

It's just that in this time and space, Gaara was captured once by the Hidden Leaf Village, and there were some "stains" on his identity.

It's really not easy for Chiyo and Ebizo to directly push Gaara.

Even if I still have to support Gaara.

We'll have to wait at least a few more years.

For example, for Gaara to fully grow up, he would have to make great contributions to the village. Maki came to power under such circumstances and was truly a transitional "substitute Kage". Maki himself was well aware of this.

Based on this point, Maki does not expect that the Sand Village can be revived in his hands, but at the very least he has to ensure that no problems arise and that it can steadily recover its vitality over time. That would be enough.

Don’t seek merit, but seek no faults.

This is Machi’s mentality now.

"Is this really okay? Master Kazekage."

In the Land of Wind, in the Sand Village, or in that slightly quaint office belonging to the Kazekage.

A young man looked at Maki, who was wearing the divine robe, sitting on the main seat with a questioning look, and asked softly, as if he found it a little hard to accept.

"That's all. What we in the Sand Village need most right now is time. Also, remember to send a copy of all the information here to Master Chiyo and Master Ebizo."

Maki nodded calmly and said.

"Yes, Lord Kazekage."

The young Sand Ninja bowed in response.

He immediately dodged and disappeared from the spot.

Whoever wants to dominate, let him do it.

At least it would be impossible for the Sand Village to rise again in their generation. The final desperate attempt of their own Fourth Kazekage was already the biggest lesson.

Maki now only hopes that God can give their Sand Village more time. As long as the next generation grows up, perhaps their Sand Village still has a chance to turn things around.

Machi's Choice
It represents the surrender of the Sand Village.

This kind of retreat is not just a small step or a short-term thing. It is calculated in units of at least three to five years, or even longer.

This is a choice that the Sand Village has no choice but to make.

At this point.

The Hidden Cloud Village is in a similar situation, but unlike the completely declining Sand Village, the Hidden Cloud Village, under the leadership of the Fourth Raikage, still has the strength to fight. This is not only because the Fourth Raikage Ai is stronger than the average Kage, but also because it has the support of Killer Bee, the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki who can be regarded as reaching the super Kage level.

This is something that the Sand Village can only dream of.

Not to mention.

The current basic combat strength of the Cloud Ninja is also much stronger than that of the Sand Ninja.

The Sand Village represented by Maki has to take a big step back and save as much time as possible for development. The Cloud Village led by Ai still has the qualifications and ability to compete on the chessboard, but only this once.

Once hit hard again.

The fate of the Hidden Cloud Village might be even worse than that of the Hidden Sand Village.

The Fourth Raikage Ai also attached great importance to Dodai's mission.

By the time the Konohagakure delegation represented by Shikaku was still staying in the Hikari Village, Dodai had already rushed back to the Hikari Village day and night and reported everything he saw and heard during this trip to his own Fourth Raikage.

In particular, it was highlighted that Menma intended to release the Two-Tails Jinchuriki in the next few days - at Bokuto's will.

"What did you say!? Dodai, is this a confirmed matter!? Are you kidding me?"

When the Fourth Raikage Ai heard this, he suddenly stood up from the main seat, stared at the platform opposite with his eyes wide open, and asked loudly.

"That Uzumaki Menma, do you really agree to return Yubokuto to us!?"

It wasn't that Ai thought Tutai would deceive him about such an important matter.

But such a development is really too incredible. You have to know that those are tailed beasts, which are terrifying existences that can at least defeat a thousand enemies alone. Even if they can only borrow the chakra of the tailed beasts, the strength of the Jinchūriki is among the best among the jonins, not to mention the Jinchūriki who can fully transform into a tailed beast.

The average Kage-level person can indeed rival the Jinchūriki from the One to the Seven-Tails.

But if we talk about strategic value.

That is something that cannot be compared with it.

By the fall of the wooden man.

It was the biggest loss for their Hidden Cloud Village.

The Fourth Raikage Ai had already prepared himself for the fact that he would never get Yumoto back, but now Dodai actually told him.

Will Menma be released by the wooden man?

This is not just an ordinary shock, but a great shock.

Even the Fourth Raikage felt that his three views were a little shattered.

On both sides, Mabui and Samui, the full-time secretaries of the Fourth Raikage, also showed varying degrees of shock.

"Yes, Lord Raikage, this is what Uzumaki Menma admitted to me personally. Yukito can be brought back before the end of this month at the latest. Although it is not 100% certain at the moment, in my opinion, Uzumaki Menma will not play tricks on us on such a matter. So, based on a series of previous intelligence, this should be Uzumaki Menma's attempt to win us over so that we can deal with the alliance between Konoha and Iwagakure Village that is likely to come!"

In the bottom position.

Tutai analyzed with a serious expression.

"Konoha and Iwagakure? Are they really joining forces? If that's the case, then it does explain it."

When the Fourth Raikage heard Dodai's words, his eyes flashed, and he nodded subconsciously and continued speaking.

The contact between Konoha and Iwagakure Village.

This is actually not something that can be considered as the ultimate secret.

The specific content, or process, is of course something that the outside world cannot learn about in a short period of time, but a large ninja village like the Hidden Cloud Village may still be able to capture a little bit of clues.

As long as there is just a little sign or indication.

People like Tutai, who can be called a wise man, have a high probability of being able to analyze it.

"If this is the case, then God is helping our Hidden Cloud Village. We can just sit back and watch the fight!"

A hint of fierce murderous aura suddenly appeared between the brows of the Fourth Raikage Ai, and he spoke with a slightly ferocious look.

This time the war.

It really brought unforgettable memories to the Fourth Raikage. The defeat in the Third Ninja World War was so miserable that their Hidden Cloud Village had never experienced such a miserable situation. Of course, the death of the Third Raikage was the biggest loss of the Hidden Cloud Village.

But judging from various data.

This "fake" Fourth Ninja World War was the most tragic war in the history of the Hidden Cloud Village.

The number of ninjas that died and the amount of controllable territory that was lost.

The Fourth Raikage himself was seriously injured.

And the loss of the Two-Tails Jinchuriki.

All of this tells the tragic situation of their Hidden Cloud Village.

Why would the proud Fourth Raikage choose to send Dodai to negotiate with Menma and even attend his inauguration ceremony, an option that would have been considered a disgrace in the past! ?
It’s because the current situation is pressing.

This forced the Fourth Raikage to bow his head.

Not only was they defeated by Menma in the previous battle, but the Iwagakure Village also took advantage of the situation and almost made the Kumogakure Village unable to hold on.

If it weren't for that old guy Ohnoki who didn't give his all.

Otherwise, the Fourth Raikage would really have to doubt whether their Hidden Cloud Village could maintain the current front line.

For this reason, he really bowed his head for once, which was extremely rare.

He just wanted to buy his own ninja village the necessary time to recuperate, and also to see if he could further encourage other ninja villages to start another war.

Now it seems that everything is developing as I expected.

if you can.

The Fourth Raikage Aiba couldn't wait to see the Hikage Village go into direct war with Konoha and Iwagakure.

"Excuse me, Lord Raikage, if Uzumaki Menma is really willing to return the Yobokuto to us, our Cloud Village still needs to stand on the side of the Hikari Village. It's not that we need to fully assist, but at least we must divert the attention of a small part of the family at the critical moment. The current situation in the ninja world is very clear. The Hikari Village is the strongest one on the surface, but considering the foundation of the ninja village and other conditions, both the Iwagakure Village and Konoha will not really lose to the Hikari Village by too much. Once we really wait and see, when the Hikari Village is defeated, it may be the kind of collapse. By that time, if we still want to do something, it may be too late."

Dodai shook his head solemnly and said this while looking directly at the Fourth Raikage who was sitting on the main seat.

It’s not that Tutai has a narrow vision.

It’s not that Dodai still underestimates Menma and the Hikari Village.

But this is the powerful inertia that has existed in the ninja world for decades.

Plus, Menma himself was still somewhat disguised, especially with this unexpected choice.

It is really easy to make some deviations in the judgment of the platform.

The Fourth Raikage frowned as well. From the bottom of his heart, he really didn't want to do this, including his previous submission to the Hidden Light Village. This was contrary to the character of all previous Raikages, but he still did it.

Because everything is still based on the interests of the village and the safety of the village.

He is the Raikage, so he must not act recklessly!
(End of this chapter)