Naruto: The Age of Ninja Swords Begins in Kumogakure

The Iwa ninja fled in disarray under the pursuit of the Konoha ninja. When they returned to the camp and took stock, they found that out of the 13,000 who went there, only 9,000 returned, a loss of 4,000 men.

The sight of the loss nearly made Huang Tu vomit blood, and the others were also very angry, gloomy, and somewhat frightened.

Zi, who also escaped back, received treatment while questioning the meaning of life.

Why did this happen?

"Four-Tails, why is everyone else's Four-Tails so handsome, but you're so ugly?"

Zi realized a crucial point: the monkey that others made was so handsome, but the monkey in her belly was terribly ugly.

"roll!"

These words enraged the Four-Tails, who was also questioning its own existence. With a roar, it unleashed its chakra, blasting Purple's consciousness out of the sealed space.

He was actually thinking about this issue as well, and he found it even more unacceptable that a counterfeit product could surpass the original.

Why are other people's monkeys so handsome, while mine are so ugly?

"It's all because old man Rokudo's taste is too bad."

After much thought, the Four-Tails concluded that the root of the problem lay with the Six Paths Elder, since the nine tailed beasts were created by him.

It's obviously the old man Rokudo's fault that I'm not good-looking.

"Next time, I'll definitely make that despicable human go see the Six Paths Elder."

After questioning the meaning of life, the four-tailed fox was filled with resentment and vowed to kill that despicable human next time to avenge the tragic death of King Mu.

They were just tricked this time. Next time, they just need to be careful enough. The most important thing is to get a big enough stick so they can't fight bare-handed anymore.

Tamura Hao was naturally unaware of Yotsuba's thoughts. He was currently enjoying the treatment of a hero in the camp, and the previous rumors had disappeared as if they had never existed.

After learning about this person's performance, all parties fell silent. Although the methods were despicable and shameless, the achievements were undeniable.

By withstanding the Tailed Beast Ball and defeating two fully-formed Tailed Beasts, resulting in one death and the other escape, their combat power is strategic in nature, and all major ninja villages must take them seriously.

At the same time, Orochimaru also arrived at the camp, bringing with him an order that was supposedly from Danzo Shimura.

"Go and arrest them. Don't make me do it myself; that would affect your authority here."

In the conference room, Orochimaru gave Jiraiya some face and did not personally lead the team to capture him.

After learning about the rumors that had broken out here, he used a serpent to inform Shimura Danzo and obtained this order.

The Root organization, controlled by Shimura Danzo, was responsible for monitoring espionage activities in villages and among the five great ninja villages. The presence of Iwagakure spies in the frontline camps was exactly what Shimura Danzo was in charge of, and they could use this opportunity to eliminate the people they had deployed on the front lines.

Even if only a portion can be eliminated, it will still be a severe blow to those individuals, and it can assist the three clans of Pig, Deer, and Butterfly in taking over the affairs here later.

Assisting the Ino-Shika-Cho trio is tantamount to assisting himself, so Orochimaru takes it very seriously.

"Does it really have to come to that?"

Looking at the command scroll that seemed to reveal endless bloodshed, Jiraiya felt a pang of pity.

Once those people fall into the hands of Shimura Danzo, not only will their own lives be in danger, but their families will also inevitably be implicated.

"Tsunade should be here in a few days, why don't you go and talk to her?"

Orochimaru sneered, feeling a growing aversion to his former teammate for the first time, which also strengthened his resolve to sever the bond between master and disciple.

He didn't want to become like Jiraiya, someone who was just annoying to look at.

Regardless of their identities or who is behind them, they must all die this time. This is wartime, and this is the front line of the war. Disrupting morale is punishable by death under military law, without exception.

Who are you trying to impress with this act of kindness and compassion?

"Minato, let those people go in peace."

Jiraiya's face fell, and after a long while, he signaled to his disciples to deal with those people.

Orochimaru said he would take people away, but he didn't say whether he would take living or dead people. It was better for them to execute them than to be tortured by Shimura Danzo or even to be used as test subjects for inhumane experiments.

Worse still, those people may be tortured into confessing, further implicating their families.

Dying now is actually the best option.

Minato Namikaze nodded silently, glanced at Orochimaru with a mocking expression, and turned to leave the conference room.

In fact, they had already found and detained the people who spread the rumors on the very day they started spreading them. They had also checked their identities and confirmed that they were all villagers, not spies.

But this also makes things more complicated. Although it only targets Haojun and the three clans of Pig, Deer and Butterfly, it is a manifestation of internal strife in the village.

The problem can be big or small.

"If you became Hokage, what would you do in the village?"

After his disciple left, Jiraiya asked a question, wanting to see what his old friend was going to do.

"Cleanse away all that is unreasonable and sinful."

Orochimaru's answer was very simple, summarizing it in one sentence, which was also the consensus he had reached with the Akimichi family member.

The village had to be cleaned up. He didn't want to spend every day trying to outwit those people. He'd rather use that time and energy to do more research in the lab.

Upon hearing this, Jiraiya frowned deeply, realizing that this was about to unleash a bloody storm.

"Couldn't we have used a gentler approach?"

"Back then, the teachers and others purged the Senju faction in the same way; now it's just the other way around."

They've become a cancer in the village; the next one to fall victim could be me, or Tsunade.

After leaving a single sentence, Orochimaru got up and left, too lazy to waste words on that idiot.

There are some things the other person can't understand, or rather, doesn't want to understand.

You can never wake up someone who is pretending to be asleep, especially an idiot pretending to be asleep.

Jiraiya didn't leave, sitting silently, looking quite helpless and even a little lost.

Why did it turn out this way?

Leaving aside Jiraiya's gloomy situation, Orochimaru on the other side found a certain young man wandering around the camp, trying to make his presence known.

"Snake Uncle!"

Upon seeing the woman with long, straight black hair approaching, Tamura Hiroshi quickly greeted her politely.

"You always bring surprises every time I see Haojun."

Orochimaru's appreciation for his junior disciple grew stronger, and this performance greatly surprised him.

Although the burst of power was brief, the strength was truly formidable.

Even he had to temporarily avoid the limelight in that situation.

"I am merely standing on the shoulders of giants."

Tamura Hiroshi modestly replied.

"You obtained the Kaleidoscope; is it part of the Senju family's heritage?"

Orochimaru got straight to the point. He had watched the previous battle and realized the true nature of that state; it was no longer simply similar to the Susanoo of the Uchiha clan.

"It was a remnant of the Senju family. Those eyes were almost ruined. I transplanted them onto the face formed by the First Hokage's cells. The Yang Release power of the First Hokage's cells repaired the damage to the eyes, but could not restore the pupil power."

Afterwards, I extracted some cells from those eyes and cultivated them. Using this as a medium, I resurrected the original owner of those eyes through Edo Tensei, and then sealed the pupil power within the soul into the eyes using a transcription seal.

Orochimaru, as you know, I envisioned using the chakra of the Tailed Beasts to transform that Monkey King's body into something like a Tailed Beast, so I've been guiding the power of the Tailed Beasts to merge into it.

This unexpected discovery revealed that the power of the Tailed Beasts can facilitate the fusion of the Mangekyou Sharingan's power and the Yang Release power of the First Hokage's cells, and can also enhance the Mangekyou Sharingan's power.

Tamura Hao recounted all his previous discoveries, knowing he would need this person's help in the future, so he naturally had to lay out his bargaining chips first.

"Fusion, the power of the tailed beasts."

Orochimaru was very interested in this information. Although he had studied the power of the tailed beasts, the First Hokage's cells, and the Sharingan before, he had studied them separately. He had only combined the First Hokage's cells and the Sharingan, but he had never tried to incorporate the power of the tailed beasts into them.

This is a very important discovery and it is of great value to him.

What do you want?

He was very satisfied with the information and knew that this kid wasn't the type to give gifts for nothing; his bluntness meant he must have something in mind.

"I want to cultivate those tailed beast powers into new individuals, but I'm stuck on the consciousness shaping part."

"I also want to train some summoned beasts for my family, the kind that can be cloned through cells. I hope Snake can provide some support."

Tamura Hiroshi rubbed his hands together; he knew he could only turn to the man in front of him for help in this matter.

"I'm currently researching consciousness shaping, and it's reached the point of splitting the soul, but you definitely wouldn't choose that."

You can use a curse seal of the next lower level, with the consciousness of a shadow clone as the core.

The advantage is that it has low requirements and does not cause harm to oneself. The disadvantage is that the effect is small. If it is a tailed beast, it is difficult to control it freely in battle. Perhaps you can improve it.

I have cell cloning technology, and I also have some animal cells collected.

Orochimaru readily agreed, and then summoned a large number of scrolls from his mouth, including technical record scrolls and sealing scrolls.

These things are of little use to him now, and there's nothing to trade them for. Compared to the intelligence he acquired this time, they are nothing at all.

"Thank you, Uncle Snake!"

Tamura Hao quickly packed up the scrolls, his eyebrows twitching with delight.

"It's just a fair trade."

Orochimaru liked this kind of fair trade, which was free of any scheming or plotting, unlike Shimura Danzo, who was always thinking about getting the best of both worlds and even wanted to kick him out.

Not a good collaborator.

"Haojun has reached this level, and theoretically he is qualified to compete. Adding another layer of concealment will increase his chances of success."

After saying something pointed at the end, Orochimaru turned and left.

Besides taking the opportunity to eliminate those people here and pave the way for Ino-Shika-Cho to come, the most important reason for his appearance this time was to communicate with this person, and he gained a lot.

"Should we add another layer of concealer?"

Tamura Hao seemed to be deep in thought, then quickly returned and gathered Nara Shikaku and the other two together to explain the deal with Orochimaru and Orochimaru's proposal.

"Hiruzen Sarutobi's schemes are much deeper. He often plans three steps ahead for every one step he takes. He must have calculated that we knew Orochimaru was not safe, and that after abandoning Minato, we would probably find another layer of insurance because we cannot afford to lose."

After thinking it over, Nara Shikaku agreed with Orochimaru's suggestion. After all, Orochimaru undoubtedly knew those people better than they did, and this advice had to be heeded.

"How exactly do I do it?"

Tamura Hao asked him if it was a bad idea for him to compete openly for the Fourth Hokage position, since the Fourth Shinobi World War was about to end in a year or two.

Moreover, with the Pig, Deer, and Butterfly clans operating the system, he doesn't need to worry about affecting his cultivation; he only needs to cooperate.

"We'll disappear for a while to create suspense for those people."

After some thought, Nara Shikaku decided to disappear for a while, and with other maneuvers, that would be enough to attract the attention of those people.

"Then let's go out for a walk to clear our heads."

Tamura Hao didn't think it mattered; it was all the same to him wherever he trained.

"By the way, let's find the location of the Spirit Island. I want to collect more special summoning beast materials to see if we can research the perfect summoning beast for our three families."

Thinking of that Summoning Island, I wonder if they've started research on the Ultimate Summoning Beast there, and I also wonder if Hinoka Uzumaki is still alive.

There are also some places you should visit, such as the castle with the lizard summoning beast, the Sky Ninja Village area, and the town with the Heavenly Spear.

"I'll arrange it."

Nara Shikaku nodded and got up to leave the dormitory. Now that he had this plan, he had to make proper arrangements.

Only when they leave, or more accurately, disappear voluntarily, can those people be alerted to the greatest extent possible.

These matters are handled by highly intelligent individuals like Nara Shikaku, so Tamura Hao doesn't need to worry about them. His main task, along with Yamanaka Inoichi and Akimichi Choza, is to further master the power gained after their breakthrough.

They both reached the Kage level, one following the Yin Release route and the other the Yang Release route, both of which were much more difficult than the other five attributes.

Fortunately, with the inheritance of the Senju and Uchiha clans, there is no shortage of training records for these two attributes, so they only need to learn and train step by step.

After more than ten days, Konoha and Sunagakure finally signed a ceasefire agreement, also known as a peace treaty.

Once such a contract is signed, it must be obeyed, at least during this Ninja World War. Violating it would be a major blow to the reputation of the ninja village, and no one would dare to break it.

Furthermore, Sunagakure has no reason to go to war with Konoha anymore. Even though they have an alliance with Iwagakure, Sunagakure has already created an opportunity, and it is Iwagakure that has failed them.

Back at Kikyoyama Castle, once the people sent from the village arrived, Tsunade and Akimichi Torifu led the elite of the Ino-Shika-Cho clans aboard ninja hawks to the battlefield in the Land of Grass.

Although there were quite a few people, thanks to Tsunade's Super Light-Heavy Rock Technique, Kuro was not only able to carry them easily, but also flew even more easily, arriving at the Grass Country camp that same day.

"Tsunade-sensei!"

Tamura Hao happily went to greet him, only to be met with an iron fist.

A true iron fist, imbued with steel magic.

"He's really gotten tough. He actually went and challenged the entire Iwagakure army one-on-one, and even fought against two tailed beasts."

Tsunade was furious. She had only agreed to let this traitor come here to use the battlefield to quickly plot the Five-Tails' power, but who would have thought he would cause such a big mess.

"I only have one minute. If the fight isn't over in one minute, I'll run away."

Rubbing the large bump that was rapidly swelling on his forehead, Tamura Hao offered a weak explanation.

He wasn't actually fighting desperately; he was more interested in testing the combat power of that form to prepare for the Nine-Tailed Fox's rampage.

Although it is unknown whether Obito Uchiha was rescued by Madara Uchiha, or whether there will be another Nine-Tails attack.

But those kinds of things are better believed than not; it's always better to be a little more cautious.

He even hoped that the Nine-Tailed Fox's Rebellion would break out, so that he would have an excuse to eliminate those people.

Of course, it would be even better if those people still had the guts to unleash their power when competing for the Fourth Hokage, allowing them to wipe out the entire group in one fell swoop.

"If you do this again, I'll kill you."

Clenching her steel-like fist, Tsunade gave a warning before walking toward Jiraiya and the others who had also come out to greet her.

Tamura and his three companions, along with the members of the Ino-Shika-Cho clans, settled into the pre-arranged accommodations. Finally, they arrived at the room prepared for Akimichi Torifu and explained their plans for a trip.

"Traveling through the lower ninja world would be good too."

Akimichi Torifu agreed, saying that the situation here would be relatively stable from now on, as they would only have one Four-Tails Jinchuriki left to deal with.

He wouldn't concern himself with whether the four little ones had other schemes; each generation has its own affairs, and it's not good to meddle too much.

After chatting for a while with Akimichi Torifu, the four decided to set off immediately.

Of course, he would bring some people with him. In addition to Tamura Hao's two teammates, there would be Kakashi and Nohara Rin, as well as the daughters that Mitarashi Shishou and Yuhi Maku had sent over.

After witnessing their strength that day, the two made their decision. Moreover, they had many grievances against the village itself, and now was the perfect opportunity to take sides.

Tamura Hao naturally welcomed the addition of these two individuals, as they were not only powerful Kage-level shinobi but also held high prestige in the village, which would greatly benefit their plans.

As that great man said, politics is about making as many friends as possible and as few enemies as possible.

That evening, the group left in the small black car, which attracted the attention and unease of some people.

"Isn't Kushina staying to pursue Minato-senpai?"

Tamura Hao looked at Uzumaki Kushina, whose expression had darkened. Had she been dealt another blow?

"Who would want to pursue him? Men are all unreliable bastards."

Kushina Uzumaki was filled with resentment. She was certain that Minato Namikaze, whom she had cherished for many years, had fallen in love with someone else, and that he was targeting the current Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.

In other words, what Minato Namikaze valued back then was his status as the successor to the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki and that power, not the person himself.

That's so snobbish!

"That's true, men are all unreliable bastards."

Tamura Hao wholeheartedly agreed, drawing everyone's attention. His gaze seemed to ask, "Aren't you a man?"

"I'm still a twelve-year-old boy."

Tamura Hiroshi spoke with righteous indignation, saying that he was still a child.

"I've never seen a little boy like you before."

While eating red bean dumplings, Mitarashi Anko glanced at someone's nearly 1.9-meter height and burly physique.

Whose little boy looks like this?

"Now you see it, don't you?"

Tamura Hao snatched the skewer of meatballs from the girl's hand and stuffed it into his mouth, then ripped it off, leaving only a bare bamboo skewer.

He also took a large cup of red bean soup from the girl's other hand and drank it all in one gulp.

"Give me back my meatballs and red bean soup!"

Enraged that her rations had been stolen, Mitarashi Anko lunged forward, ready to fight to the death. Unfortunately, the size difference between them was too great, and before she could even pounce, she was lifted up and her backpack was taken off. Under the girl's furious and frantic gaze, she devoured all the sweets and two large bottles of red bean soup inside.

"Uncle Zixiao said you've gained weight and shouldn't eat those sweets anymore."

Having completed the task, Tamura Hao still appeared self-righteous, stating that it was for his own good and also on the orders of Uncle Zixiao.

Red Bean hasn't been cursed by Orochimaru yet, so eating too many sweets will definitely make her fat. We'll see when we see it in the future, during the Boruto era.

This shameless behavior earned him everyone's contempt. He even stole a young girl's food and made up such a lame excuse. He really has no integrity at all.

(End of this chapter)