Naruto: The Age of Ninja Swords Begins in Kumogakure

Chapter 323 If acting skills aren't good enough, dye your hair to make up for it

The Hidden Cloud Ninjas are scattered throughout the Land of Lightning. When the Third Raikage was on the run, he was discovered by Hidden Cloud Ninjas who were on a mission. They immediately rushed to his aid to stop the Daimyo's pursuers and relayed information back to the village in various ways.

"It's finally starting!"

As Tsuchikage sat in his office, Tsuchikage looked at the intelligence reports and couldn't suppress the smile on his lips.

After planning for so long, it's finally time to begin.

"S-rank intelligence, transmit it to Tamura Hao as soon as possible, and immediately proceed to the target area to rescue Lord Raikage. Let Raikage continue to lead his men to guard the ruins of Konoha."

Tsuchida's expression turned serious. He summoned an ANBU ninja and ordered him to hand over the intelligence report.

"yes!"

The ANBU ninja received the intelligence and used the Body Flicker Technique to quickly leave, arriving at the altar of the Heavenly Delivery Technique. There, the ninja on duty used a spell to deliver the intelligence, sealed in an iron pipe, to Konoha.

Black Zetsu, the Thunder God, who was far away in Konoha, received the intelligence and immediately notified Tamura Hao to go to the Land of Lightning to rescue the Third Raikage, while he himself led the ninjas of Kumogakure to strengthen their defenses.

Rasa and Onoki, who were resting and recovering nearby, noticed the unusual situation, but for a moment they couldn't figure out what had happened.

Judging from Tamura Hao's hasty use of the Heavenly Sending Technique to head north, something must have happened.

"Tsuchikage, could something have happened in the Daimyo's territory?"

Rasa quickly came to a guess. Among the five great ninja villages, Sunagakure had the worst relationship with the daimyo's family in his own country. So when he heard that the daimyo's families in the Land of Water and the Land of Fire had been destroyed, and that Shimura Danzo had announced the establishment of the Land of Fire, he was worried that something would go wrong in his own daimyo's family.

However, it seems that the first places to run into problems might be the Daimyo's residence in the Land of Lightning and the Hidden Cloud Village.

"There shouldn't be any other reason besides this. We should mobilize all our resources in the Land of Lightning and the Hidden Cloud Village to find out what's going on as soon as possible. If that's the case, we'll have to make plans as soon as possible."

Onoki guessed the same thing. After all, Konoha was crippled and it was impossible for them to go north to the Land of Lightning to cause trouble. The only place that might cause problems was the Daimyo's residence in the Land of Lightning.

Indeed, given how things have developed, even I, as the Daimyo of the Land of Lightning, would be worried.

The ninja village system has been completely dismantled and will be difficult to maintain in the future, so we need to prepare for it as soon as possible.

Both of them gave their orders, and it wasn't until the evening of the next day that they received the information from the Land of Lightning.

"The Third Raikage rushed out of the Daimyo's mansion with two headless corpses in his hands. He was also in poor condition, possibly poisoned. People from the Daimyo's mansion were chasing him from behind, led by four old monks."

After reading the intelligence that had been sent back, Onoki and Rasa exchanged a heavy glance, their hearts heavy with sorrow, realizing that the worst had still happened.

"He's just a barbarian after all, completely unprepared, he deserves to be outmaneuvered."

Muttering to himself, Rasa was quite happy, even hoping that the Third Raikage would die, so that Kumogakure would be in chaos for a while.

"The era of the Ninja Kingdom is about to begin."

Onoki sighed. He had foreseen this day when Shimura Danzo announced the establishment of the Land of Fire, but he did not expect it to come so soon.

Next came the era of the Ninja Kingdom. To establish and stabilize this era, bloodshed and sacrifice were inevitable.

However, he would rather see bloodshed in Daming Prefecture than have his own village suffer.

"Let's go, Kazekage."

Without lingering, the men that Onoki brought used the Super Light Heavy Rock Technique to fly back to the village, preparing to lead their army to destroy the daimyo's prefecture first.

Since the two sides could no longer coexist, he naturally had no choice but to lead the village to be the one that survived.

Luo Sha didn't delay. He used a sandbag to carry his men back, but he was more excited than anything else.

He had long been fed up with the fact that the Daming Prefecture had hindered the village's development in the past, and that funding was often cut under various pretexts.

This is a good opportunity to eliminate the Daimyo's prefecture, establish the Sand Village, and then control the entire Land of Wind. With the power of the whole country supporting the village's development, it will definitely be able to develop rapidly.

Leaving aside Onoki and Rasa who were preparing to rebel, Tamura Hiroshi had already found the Third Raikage, who was pretending to be poisoned, and brought him back to Kumogakure.

"Daming Prefecture is really outdated; even their poisons are pitifully weak."

As he sat down in the chair, the Third Raikage couldn't help but mutter a complaint.

The poison did have some effect, but it was quickly broken down by their bodies, forcing him to disguise himself afterward.

Acting was never his forte, and the escape was too arduous; he almost gave himself away several times.

"Could you please reattach our heads first?"

Helplessly, Ai Yotsuki manipulated her chakra to remind them that they were still separated from each other.

"Not yet. We have to go all out. We'll be putting on a long-term rescue, and you'll be in a near-death coma for a while."

Tu Tai firmly refused, as the two actors hadn't finished filming their scenes yet.

"Teacher Raikage, I think you should dye your hair white. That would better reflect your sadness and anger in this incident. That way, it wouldn't matter if your facial expressions are a little off."

Tamura Hiroshi was examining his teacher's flowing blond hair. It would be more convincing if his hair turned white overnight, which could make up for the difference in facial expressions.

This often appears in movies and TV dramas from the past. Many actors, after turning evil, lacked the acting skills, so they used smoky makeup and the like to increase the sense of evil.

"Will it have that effect? ​​Then let's dye it."

The Third Raikage was taken aback, then nodded in agreement. It was indeed a good idea, and white hair was quite handsome.

"Next is the gradual implementation of the tree-planting plan. We'll start by planting a line to the Land of Fire and take it over as soon as possible to avoid any unforeseen complications."

Tsuchida stared intently at the huge sand table in the office, his gaze fixed on the area representing the Land of Fire.

It is indeed not easy to occupy such a large territory as the Land of Fire. The Hidden Cloud Village currently has 40,000 ninjas on its payroll, plus the women brought from the Nadeshiko Village. Only 20,000 can be mobilized this time.

Twenty thousand men are nothing in the Land of Fire, and the later the firearms system is revealed, the better, as it is too easy to imitate.

In response to this, they finally devised a tree-planting plan, using the seeds from the World Immortal Tree and Wood Release to cultivate them into smaller Immortal Trees. These smaller trees were then continuously planted in the Land of Lightning and the Land of Fire, forming individual points, which were eventually networked together to cover the area. This would greatly reduce the manpower needed to conquer the Land of Fire.

First, draw a circle around the border of the Land of Fire to enclose this land, then spiral inwards continuously until it is completely occupied.

For this plan, they have been guiding all the village's ninjas to continuously inject chakra into the World Tree over the past few years, assimilating it into Wood Release chakra and storing it in a considerable quantity.

"It was Senju Orange Water who stole the Six-Tails. Should we tell Nawaki and the others?"

Tamura Hao mentioned something that he clearly sensed: the one who snatched the Six-Tails from Hyuga Hiashi was not the Second Hokage, but Senju Shuu using a transformation technique.

This proves that Thousand Hands Orange Water hasn't given up yet and will likely come back to cause trouble in the future.

"Yes, I should talk about it."

The Third Raikage felt there was nothing to hide. The theme and style of their Hidden Cloud Village was uprightness and honesty; even if there were conflicts, they could resolve them through force in the arena.

"Go and have a good talk with Tsunade and Nawaki. We'll need that kid Nawaki's help from now on."

"I'm coming right now."

Tamura Hao nodded, got up and left the Raikage Building, then found Tsunade and Nawaki.

"Konoha is gone?"

Tsunade, who was breastfeeding the baby, asked a question casually. It was clear that she was trying to appear calm, after all, it was her hometown, the place where she grew up, and the place where her grandfather had created and protected.

It's just that those people in Konoha are too reckless. Whether it's Hiruzen Sarutobi or Danzo Shimura, their ambitions are constantly expanding, and now they even want to establish a ninja nation.

They're doomed, beyond saving.

"It was destroyed by Nagato Uzumaki's Rinnegan. The entire village was condensed into a rock ball, and nothing was left."

However, the villagers were evacuated beforehand, and it's unknown where they will rebuild Konoha.

He nodded and briefly explained the situation.

"Is Hiruzen Sarutobi still alive?"

Nawaki asked, explaining that he originally wanted to join the war, but his sister stopped him.

He understood this and suppressed his desire for revenge. He shouldn't have participated in the war that destroyed Konoha, since their enemies were only Hiruzen Sarutobi and his group.

"That old guy has never shown himself; he's been hiding in the shadows, controlling the Impure Earth army in battle."

Tamura Hao thought it was good that Hiruzen Sarutobi was being so cautious, since they still needed Hiruzen Sarutobi to continue attracting hatred, which was better than having everyone's attention focused on their Hidden Cloud Village.

Of course, there's also Lord Danzo. Lord Danzo's performance this time was quite outstanding. His 500-meter-tall Dark Susanoo far surpassed the Complete Susanoo. Madara Uchiha probably wouldn't even want to dance after seeing it.

Such power will inevitably make those people wary, and they will keep a close eye on it, further easing the pressure on their Hidden Cloud Village.

"Senju Orange Water appeared before and took away the Six-Tails."

Speaking of the Thousand Hands Orange Water incident, that person is quite resilient.

"The Senju family is long gone, what he does is none of our business."

Tsunade glanced at her little man and made her stance clear.

She and Cheng Shui chose different paths back then, but they were both fighting for their families. There was no right or wrong between them.

However, while Orange Water's attempt failed, he preserved the family's legacy.

Although we have lost our clan, at least our clansmen are alive, and that is the most important thing.

As for clans, Konoha has been destroyed, so what's so strange about clans disappearing?

"I hope I won't run into Brother Orange Water."

Rope Tree sighed deeply, but he wouldn't help Brother Orange Water; he could only promise not to actively become his enemy.

I believe that Brother Orange Water wouldn't come to be an enemy of Cloud Village on his own initiative, since his clansmen are all here.

Even though Brother Chengshui was a bit radical in his actions and had a strong desire for power, his love for his people was beyond question.

Seeing that both of them had expressed their opinions, Tamura Hao took out a two-meter-diameter fairy tree seed from the Origin Sphere space.

"These are tree species formed by the World Tree. There are many of them. I need Rope Tree to use Wood Release to continuously stimulate these tree species to form smaller trees. We need to open up a Wood Release defense line from the south of Kumogakure and extend it all the way to the Land of Fire. We need to circle around the border of the Land of Fire and finally expand inward in a vortex shape until we have completely occupied the Land of Fire and formed a dense network. In this way, we can conquer the entire Land of Fire."

Patting the tree seed, Tamura Hao explained the upcoming tree-planting plan.

Now that Lord Danzo has wiped out the daimyo, powerful merchants, and wealthy landowners of the Land of Fire, the country is peaceful. They only need to deal with the Konoha ninjas, which will make things much easier.

"That requires a lot of chakra, you can't handle it."

Tsunade was surprised; this battle plan was ridiculously extravagant.

My own younger brother certainly doesn't have that much chakra, so in the end I'll have to rely on that brat to provide it with the Eight Thousand Spears Seal. The amount of chakra required must be astronomical.

"The pressure is a bit high, but it won't be accomplished immediately; this plan is a ten-year strategy."

Tamura Hao naturally knew that it would consume a lot of chakra, and even with the help of the Ten-Tails and the World Tree, he would still be under great pressure.

According to his calculations, to bring a celestial tree seed to its full potential, at least 10,000 chakra would be required.

They need to plant at least 10,000 Sage Trees within the Land of Fire, which is equivalent to 100 million chakra, which is indeed quite extravagant.

However, we can take it slowly; as long as it's done within ten years, that's fine.

Of course, the Land of Lightning cannot let their guard down either; other Wood Release ninjas will be handling this.

In recent years, they have transplanted First Hokage cells into some Senju clan members, granting them some Wood Release power, roughly equivalent to the future Yamato. However, it is enough to guide and stimulate the growth of the World Tree, since their chakra was provided by their own side through the Eight Thousand Spears Seal.

Of course, these people still have great potential. If they master the Yin Seal, they can easily use a Tree Realm Descent while the Yin Seal is active.

So, in total, it would require about 200 million chakra, which is 20 million chakra per year, or more than 50,000 chakra per day. That shouldn't be a problem.

Not to mention that as the number of immortal trees continues to increase, they can absorb more natural energy and transmit it back, which is also a great supplement to the world immortal tree and the little ten-tailed fox.

"When will it start?"

Nawaki's expression turned serious. As a qualified ninja, he would not slack off in the slightest when it came to a mission.

Not to mention this is aimed at those remnants of Konoha. I imagine Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression will be quite interesting once those people are completely driven out of the Land of Fire.

"It'll be in the next two or three days. We'll start after the Third Raikage and his men wipe out the Daimyo's prefecture."

"The Daimyo Prefecture? The Daimyo Prefecture of the Land of Thunder? You're finally going to make your move?"

Tsunade realized that Kumogakure was about to officially begin its unification plan.

Even before she arrived, she knew that the Hidden Cloud Village had great ambitions, especially after learning about their firearms plan, which was clearly aimed at unifying the ninja world.

"The Daming Prefecture made their move before us, and the third generation almost fell. When it comes to political maneuvering and ruthlessness, we are still lacking."

Tamura Hao made a perfunctory remark, implying that they were passive.

"You should have anticipated this when that madman Danzo Shimura made his move."

Tsunade didn't think much of it, only that the Third Raikage and the others had been careless.

This is the main style of the Hidden Cloud Village. Here, there is little emphasis on power struggles and tactics; people mainly rely on hard power to get things done.

It's normal for this kind of way of doing things to be taken advantage of, but the Hidden Cloud Village is indeed strong enough and can withstand any setbacks.

"Rope Tree, spend more time with Samui these next few days, you'll definitely be very busy later."

After putting the fed child into the cradle, Tsunade gestured for her younger brother to go back and spend more time with his fiancée. What lay ahead was a massive ten-year project, which would not be easy.

"I see!"

Rope Tree nodded to his sister and brother-in-law, then turned and left, preparing to go find his girlfriend and have some fun.

"The rope tree has grown up and is much better than its silly and cute appearance back then."

Watching his brother-in-law walk away, Tamura Hao couldn't help but feel a sense of accomplishment.

Indeed, pain is the best catalyst for a man's growth. After experiencing much suffering, the brother-in-law finally matured.

In fact, characters like Hashirama Senju, Nawaki, Obito Uchiha, and Naruto Uzumaki are the type who need to experience constant setbacks in reality to grow rapidly, both in terms of strength and mentality.

Such people often have many shortcomings, especially in terms of knowledge reserves.

The experience one can accumulate through their own growth is limited. They may be able to make a living, but they will run into big problems if they try to become a leader.

So Hiruzen Sarutobi was able to live a normal life when he was Hokage, and so was Minato Namikaze. But when Naruto Uzumaki became Hokage, he was so busy that he didn't even have time to go home for dinner.

Making Naruto must have been exhausting!

Only Naruto Uzumaki had the Sage Body to support him, otherwise he would definitely have been exhausted to death like Prime Minister Zhuge Liang.

So he sent his brother-in-law to an elite academy for further studies at a young age, and he finally caught up on his missed academic studies and became much more intelligent.

"It's all because of you causing trouble."

Tsunade glared at him, annoyed. Her own younger brother had been tormented to the point of near death by this brat, and in the end, he was sent to that elite academy.

At first, she didn't realize what it was until she visited that elite academy and found out what kind of place it was.

Living and cultivating in that kind of place, it would be strange if you didn't grow stronger.

"what?"

Just as she was about to close her collar, she found a paw blocking her way, and she couldn't help but glare at it.

"Those five brats were too useless. Even if all five of them went up, they couldn't help Tsunade relieve the internal pressure. I had to step in."

Tamura Hao first looked down on the five little brats who were eating and sleeping, then plunged down.

"You brat!"

Tsunade trembled, as if all her strength had been drained away in an instant.

That's her sensitive spot!

Next, Tamura Hiroshi helps his older sister release the pressure of the food supply and the fire that has been building up inside her for nearly a month.

Of course, he installed a soundproof barrier around the cradle so that he wouldn't have to worry about waking the babies.

After a fierce battle lasting more than an hour, they finally managed to send the eldest sister to the Western Paradise.

"You wretched brat!"

Looking at her drooping chest, the weak Tsunade glared resentfully.

She deliberately maintained a full figure to preserve her proud and upright posture, but that brat ruined it.

Tamura Hao, in his sage mode, smiled smugly. His combat power had increased again. Now he could completely defeat Tsunade in an hour and a half. He would definitely become stronger and stronger in the future, especially after fusing the five elemental bloodlines, which would allow his body to undergo another transformation.

"You'll have to take care of the child yourself once he wakes up."

Tsunade, unaware of someone's wicked thoughts, said a few words and then fell into a deep sleep.

She had truly reached her limit. That brat was becoming increasingly difficult to handle, and she simply couldn't take it anymore. However, the experience was indeed indescribable, and she couldn't help but feel a little infatuated with him.

While holding his beautiful wife in his arms, Tamura Hao pondered how to write a report for Lord Danzo.

First, we must deflect responsibility for Lord Danzo's defeat. Even though that last chakra cannon shot was already used in the Second Shinobi World War, I sent out intelligence before the war that Kumogakure would use all its trump cards in the final battle. It was Lord Danzo who was unprepared, so it's no wonder I, Tamura Hiten, am not to blame.

Then there are the plans of the Hidden Cloud Village, including the establishment of a ninja nation and the tree-planting plan.

Anyway, Lord Danzo will find out about all this eventually, and right now Lord Danzo is licking his wounds, so even if he finds out, he won't be able to do anything about it.

At times like these, it's even more important to demonstrate one's intelligence capabilities and make Lord Danzo realize the importance of one's henchman.

(End of this chapter)