Konoha: Tsunade, I am the Hokage

A few minutes later, at a corner with a road sign, Yahiko and Konan stopped, looked around, and then continued on their way.

Not long after crossing the bridge, the four of them vanished in an instant.

"Hello, I am..."

"We know that you are Yahiko from Amegakure, and this must be Konan, right? The Hokage has already explained the situation."

"I just didn't expect you to go to Tanabata Street."

Hideaki Tsukikage sized up the two of them, his tone slightly strange.

Kyohiko was worried that Yahiko and Konan might get into trouble, so he specifically instructed him to secretly take care of them, but—

Well, at least he's an adult.

He coughed lightly.

"Gentlemen, what insights have you gained from this investigation?"

"The Land of Fire is indeed very prosperous!"

Yahiko coughed lightly, looking rather embarrassed.

Hideaki Tsukikage chuckled, "The ninja world hasn't been very peaceful lately, so I'll take you all to Konoha."

"Is the ninja world in turmoil?"

Yahiko was slightly startled.

He had been in the Land of Fire for several days, but he hadn't received any information from Amegakure or the Land of Birds, so he lacked knowledge about the outside world.

He wanted to stop talking.

But then I thought about it again.

If the other party is unwilling to disclose, why bring it up in the first place?

Yahiko immediately asked, "What happened?"

"Iwagakure has sent a large number of ANBU and intelligence ninjas into the Land of Rain and the Land of Wind, and some of our Land of Fire have also infiltrated."

"Iwagakure Village..."

Upon hearing this, Yahiko was initially startled, then his expression turned serious as he understood why Onoki had reacted so strongly.

Once the Land of Fire, the Land of Wind, and the Land of Rain form an alliance, the Land of Earth will face immense pressure.

but.

The Land of Rain had no choice.

Given the current situation, if we don't cooperate with Konoha, we can only cooperate with the alliance formed by Iwagakure, Kumogakure, and Kirigakure.

Regardless of which option they choose, they are both central to the Three Kingdoms battlefield, and Amegakure can only choose the lesser of two evils.

"Please take us to Konoha."

Yahiko immediately lost interest in visiting.

……

Outside Minato's house in Konoha, Rasa eagerly awaited his arrival.

Unfortunately, after waiting for a long time, the figure I was looking forward to did not appear.

inside the house.

"Temari, aren't you really going to go out and meet them?"

"We just met, what's there to see again?"

Temari is cold and ruthless.

Kushina sighed helplessly.

She understood Temari's feelings, but regardless of her previous experience with Mito Uzumaki, or the lessons she had learned...

The sealed tailed beasts' most effective method is to transfer their negative emotions to Jinchūriki using chakra.

To combat the emotional pollution of the tailed beasts, one must possess an extremely strong heart.

Temari is in a very dangerous situation!

but.

It was obvious that she hated Luo Sha.

Kushina thought for a moment, then walked out the door, her gaze gradually turning cold. She said to Rasa with a hint of annoyance, "You'd better leave. You're not welcome in my house!"

"Temari..."

"She doesn't want to see you. Your presence here will only annoy her more."

Kushina was very impolite.

Luo Sha's eyes dimmed, but then he forced a smile and said, "I understand. Thank you for helping to convey the message. Also, thank you very much for being willing to take her in."

He said this while bowing deeply.

As the Kazekage, Rasa could not be said to be an expert on human nature, but he was by no means completely ignorant of it either.

He could tell...

Kushina really likes Temari, otherwise she wouldn't have gotten angry about it.

It's truly a blessing for Temari to be able to stay with such a family in Konoha, but—

Konoha!

Luo Sha sighed deeply, his mood growing heavier.

On his way back to his lodgings, he looked at the bustling streets, with caravans coming and going, more than ten times more prosperous than Sunagakure.

Do these children really want to go back to the village?

He was unsure of himself.

but.

If we don't send a few people over to hold Temari back with bonds of friendship and other connections, Temari will only drift further and further away from Sunagakure in the future, fueled by hatred.

He had no choice in this question!

……

Outside Orochimaru's base, Kyohiko formed hand seals and pressed them onto the ground.

In an instant, trees sprouted and changed shape under the control of chakra.

soon.

Under the control of chakra, a tortoise-like puppet appeared before them.

The next moment, steel rods were quickly pierced into the puppet's body under Jingyan's control.

In just a few minutes, a puppet was completed.

Orochimaru couldn't help but exclaim in admiration, "Even though it was just a casual creation, your puppetry skills are already quite remarkable!"

"It was just a casual experiment. This kind of puppet is very simple; it can only perform basic manipulation, transformation, and hiding mechanisms."

As Jingyan spoke, his fingers moved, and the puppet began to move with a "click-clack" sound—

Its head suddenly stretched out and lunged at Orochimaru.

Orochimaru retaliated with a strike.

can.

The turtle's tail suddenly transformed into snakes that flew out, spewing chakra from their mouths.

Growth suddenly appeared beneath its feet, and its abdomen opened up...

This is a demonstration of how to use a puppet.

but.

Orochimaru, however, knew that Kyohiko meant more than just that.

His eyes lit up: "An earth-遁 (earth-遁 is a type of magical puppet)?"

"Earth Release is the foundation. Fire Release and Wind Release can be added on top of Earth Release to form a fusion of the three elements, but that is the ultimate state..."

Jingyan explained his ideas.

Earth Release is its basic defensive and teleportation abilities, while Wind Release and Fire Release are its offensive abilities.

"Three attributes, indeed. If this puppet armor were any larger, one person simply wouldn't be able to control it."

Orochimaru nodded. "And what about this one now?"

"We should give something in return for the little girl from Sunagakure who was given this gift. Yamato shattered her puppet, so we should at least do something in return."

Jingyan grinned.

Orochimaru said, "Is it really necessary to care so much about those people from Sunagakure?"

"This is a necessary step in order to unify the ninja world."

Jingyan put away the puppet. "Unification is not just about unifying territory, but also about unifying their thoughts and consciousness."

"Perhaps."

Orochimaru remained noncommittal.

Orochimaru didn't care much about Kyohiko's grand ambitions; in his view, unifying the ninja world was just an unnecessary effort.

Such unstable things, even if they are unified and integrated for a time, will eventually separate.

"I'm gone."

……

"Give me?"

Rina looked at Maki with a blank expression.

Maki couldn't understand Jingyan's thoughts either.

Send a Sand Village ninja puppet?

He's still a child...

"This is just to express our apologies. After all, it was our ninja who shattered your puppet yesterday, and it was also a symbol of the friendship between our two villages."

Jingyan smiled.

Rina dared not accept.

At that moment, a voice came from behind.

"Take it."

"Kazekage-sama!"

Maki breathed a sigh of relief.

Luo Sha is back!

Finally, he no longer needs to make the decision.

Luo Sha nodded slightly, indicating that Rina should accept the gift, and then told her to bow and thank Jing Yan.

Jingyan nodded slightly and left.

Maki scratched his head: "He really came to deliver a gift?"

What do you think?

Luo Sha glanced at it.

Maki lowered his head: "I thought he was trying to gather information..."

"We don't have any information to be probed about, and you need to understand that you will be living in Konoha long-term from now on."

Luo Sha paused slightly at this point, "You will encounter many difficulties, Maki. You are their leader, and you must have sufficient discernment and decision-making abilities."

"yes!"

Machi bowed his head.

Luo Sha sighed softly, understanding that he was putting Ma Ji in a difficult position.

Even he couldn't handle such a situation well, let alone Maki?

He looked at the puppet scroll.

"Take a look."

Reopen!

Soon, a tortoise-shaped puppet appeared before them.

Maki looked puzzled.

Can……

Luo Sha's expression turned serious.

As a ninja who controls Magnet Release, he can clearly sense the distribution of metal within.

This puppet is incredibly sophisticated!

Its construction and craftsmanship are extremely exquisite, almost on par with the Scorpion's pieces. The reason it's not as good as...

It's not that the other party can't do it, but that they don't want to.

The puppet-making technology of Konoha has actually reached such a terrifying level!

Rina moved her fingers, and chakra threads attached to them, and soon the puppet began to move with a clattering sound.

however.

After a while, the parts came out one by one, and she had to use all her strength to put them all back together.

"Lord Kazekage, this puppet..."

"Keep it, but remember to study and learn its techniques carefully. If you can understand it one day, the puppet-making technology of Sunagakure Village may be able to improve significantly."

Luosha Road.

Rina paused for a few seconds, then looked at the puppet in front of her and realized that this thing might be very valuable.

Konoha's puppets...

In the past, she always thought that the puppetry of Sunagakure was the strongest, and that puppetry geniuses like Sasori of the Red Sand were born in Sunagakure.

Even after yesterday's defeat, she still believes this.

Those in Konoha weren't puppets at all!

But today—

This puppet shattered her illusions.

It's not that Konoha doesn't know how to make puppets; they genuinely disdain making such puppets, otherwise their technology would be no less advanced than theirs.

She bit her lip, feeling all the pride and confidence she had as a Sand Village ninja vanish in an instant, as if her beliefs had collapsed.

It wasn't just her.

Maki was also somewhat disillusioned and found it difficult to calm his mind.

Konoha had never studied puppets before, but in such a short time, they were able to surpass the decades of research conducted by Sunagakure.

This only covers puppetry.

Poison, medicine, ninjutsu...

It seems there's nothing Konoha can't do if they set their mind to it.

The power of Konoha far exceeded his imagination, making him unable to even entertain the thought of becoming an enemy of Konoha.

To be an enemy of such people and such a village...

Is there really a future?

He suppressed his sadness, looked around, wanting to say something, but couldn't find any encouraging words in his heart.

Judging from the current situation, the gap between them and Konoha is indeed so large that it cannot be described in words.

Luo Sha saw everything.

He himself was also in despair, as if the repeated defeats of the past were still fresh in his mind.

Available at the same time.

He had to pull himself together.

Because he is the Kazekage!

"Children, you must face the gap squarely. Konoha is indeed strong, much stronger than us, which is why we need you to come here to learn."

"Sunagakure awaits your return. Rebuild the village and make it great again!"

Luo Sha's voice was impassioned.

Maki and the others were moved to tears.

At this moment, they truly harbored the idea of ​​returning to rebuild Sunagakure after completing their studies, and even imagined the scene of their future return to the village.

As Rasa continued to recount the importance of Sunagakure to the village, the children's faces turned red.

"To make Sunagakure great again!"

……

"It's done!"

"Successfully? Third Generation Lord, what a coincidence, I succeeded too!"

Jingyan smiled and handed over the puppet's blueprints, along with some basic parts. "All that's missing is yours."

"what?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi paused for a moment, then took it and looked at it.

Good guy!

Earth Release, Wind Release, Fire Release.

Three combinations.

He's only just figured it out, and he's only just finished researching it, while Kyohiko has already raised the requirements to three levels?

Hiruzen Sarutobi remained silent: "Kyohiko, your design is good, but researching armor patterns isn't that simple..."

"Lord Third Generation, we really don't have any talent in this area. The next generation is still being trained, so please bear with us. As for the puppet, let's make a defensive earth-escape technique first."

Let's get the wool first!

Kyohiko took Hiruzen Sarutobi's armor and skillfully fitted it into the pre-reserved slot.

Ordinary puppets are not Hashirama cell versions, so they don't need such sophisticated protection at all.

Installation complete.

Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded, then created a shadow clone that entered the "turtle".

soon.

A layer of yellowish-brown covered the turtle's body.

Earth Release: Hardening Technique!

then.

With a flick of his foot, the soil beneath him quickly turned into quicksand, and the enormous puppet vanished without a trace, soon emerging from beside Jingyan.

Although it was Hiruzen Sarutobi's first time using it, he controlled it with ease.

"You have enough chakra now. Release the middle area of ​​it."

"What is this?"

A sound came from inside.

Seal it, release it!

The next second, a burst of chakra erupted from within.

boom!

The soil surged and quickly rose up, forming a high wall.

Hiruzen Sarutobi canceled his clone and asked, "Is that the Yin Seal?"

"Similar, but a completely idiot-proof version."

With the Yin Seal of Master Jingyan, it is not difficult to improve and optimize it. A similar seal was planted on Yecang before.

It can absorb a portion of the user's chakra, accumulating it over time, and then releasing it all at once during battle.

With no living organisms providing additional energy and the seal in place, there is no need for it to expand and erode uncontrollably.

"good!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi couldn't help but marvel at the sight and felt immense admiration.

As expected of Kyohiko!

"Is this considered a success?"

"Yes, the basic part is successful. All that's left is to add more features. This is much simpler than Yamato's."

Jingyan nodded.

Hiruzen Sarutobi stroked the puppet, then smiled and said, "I'll take it!"

Jingyan glanced at the system panel.

[Your research team has successfully overcome the Earth Release Amplified Armor and completed the construction of the Earth Release Puppet Armor.]

[Reward: Earth Release: Weighted Rock Technique (Grandmaster)]

The Technique of Weighted Rock?

This thing...

nice one!

If he could master it, it would greatly improve both him and Jiraiya and Kakashi.

The point is-

Knowing what it is all about, we can research more derivative techniques based on this ninjutsu.

Kyohiko's eyes lit up, and his gaze toward Hiruzen Sarutobi was filled with fervor.

Such a reward is given for just one type of puppet armor; imagine if all types were manufactured, or even if the ultimate Five Elements structure were completed...

That would be terrible!

"Third Generation Lord, you'd better keep it up!" (End of Chapter)