Starting with Naruto, I'll become stronger through my own efforts.

Chapter 229 Fourth Kazekage: What else do you want?

Wherever the torrent of cutting blades went, everything was slicing and pulverizing.

Clothes, kunai, shuriken, skin, bones, muscles, blood vessels, fascia—all were evenly cut into countless small squares.

It is a standard cube with a side length of 1 millimeter.

Obito Uchiha's leg turned into a bloody pulp, and screams of agony emanated from the vortex, sounding so distorted and miserable.

Xia Zuo pulled out a stack of metal cards with his right hand and threw them using a shuriken throwing technique, sending them towards the spiraling, contracting Divine Might Space Gate.

After the metal card touched the spiral in space, it contracted synchronously with the spiral. At the moment when the spiral contracted to a point and completely disappeared, the metal card turned into a large number of metal fragments, which were ejected from that last point.

Xia Zuo let the metal shards hit him, closed his eyes, and focused intently on sensing the psychic mark engraved on the metal card.

That was the marking tool he used to unleash the Forbidden Technique: Flying Thunder God Technique. Once he could sense it, he could continuously send shadow clones and wood clones into the Kamui dimension to surround and kill Uchiha Obito.

But a minute later, Xia Zuo opened his eyes in disappointment.

He sighed, "What a pity, he couldn't sense my psychic beacon at all, so I still couldn't kill him this time."

"After being scared by me this time, it will be too difficult to lure this guy out next time."

Uchiha Shisui looked at his right hand: "Strange, it seems he deliberately let me stab his heart. Isn't the heart his fatal weakness?"

"That doesn't make sense."

Xia Zuo said, "There are two possibilities."

"Most likely, this is a tactical deception. In a situation where there is no way to dodge, he uses his powerful self-healing ability to deliberately make you attack his heart, thus creating the illusion that his heart is not a vital point, and setting the stage for the next battle."

Of course, with Obito Uchiha's intellect, he certainly couldn't have imagined something this complicated.

"The second possibility is that he has a huge hidden danger in his heart. He used you to destroy the hidden danger in his heart and then recovered through his strange self-healing ability."

[This is the most likely scenario. Once Obito discovers the talisman and seal on the heart, he will definitely try to solve this problem.]

Uchiha Izumi gasped, then asked in horror, "He can even heal himself after his heart is shattered, so how are we supposed to kill him?"

Xia Zuo pointed to his head and said, "Attack his head. As long as we completely eliminate his thinking ability, we will definitely be able to make him lose his ability to move."

"Even if his brain is destroyed, he won't die. We can slowly dispose of his body and grind him to dust."

"I don't believe that he can heal himself even when his body has completely turned to ash."

He surveyed the surroundings and ordered, "The Konoha Crush Plan is complete. You stay here to clean up the battlefield and calm the frightened spectators."

"I've gone to deal with the Fourth Kazekage; now it's time to reap the rewards."

In fact, when Xia Zuo appeared in the broken private room and felt the aura of the true Fifth Hokage, the Fourth Kazekage had already given up completely.

He sat in the chair that represented the Kazekage, looked at Xia Zuo, and asked, "Fifth Hokage, was this a trap you set?"

Xia Zuo replied, "Of course, only I can do this in Konoha Village."

The Fourth Kazekage looked somber and asked, "Then, Fifth Hokage, what do you want to get from Sunagakure?"

""

Xia Zuo said, "I need a more docile Sunagakure, a Kazekage who doesn't have the guts to betray, and—Roran."

The Fourth Kazekage smiled bitterly and said, "It's my fault. You were already the strongest in the ninja world and led Konoha to rise to prominence, but I still hoped that Sunagakure could rise again."

"Fifth Hokage, how do you intend to tame Sunagakure?"

Xia Zuo replied with a smile, "I can allow you to return to Sunagakure with the Sand Village ninja. After you return, you must gather the Sand Village ninja, tell them what you have done, and then commit suicide in front of them."

Fourth Kazekage: "—You're ruthless."

Xia Zuo didn't take it to heart: "I've been merciful enough. Although I was setting a trap, you still broke the alliance and chose to stand against Konoha Village."

"I haven't killed your entire family yet, nor have I attacked Sunagakure a second time. Do you, Sunagakure, want to experience that again?"

The Fourth Kazekage shook his head and said, "I don't want to. I will do as the Fifth Hokage asks."

"By the way, do you have any suggestions regarding the selection of the Fifth Kazekage?"

Xia Zuo smiled gently and said, "I don't care who the Fifth Kazekage is. I believe that no matter who becomes Kazekage, they won't have the guts to continue being enemies with Konoha Village."

"Even if you do manage to elect a Fifth Kazekage, I believe the newly appointed Sixth Kazekage would never dare to be an enemy of Konoha Village again."

Xia Zuo paused, then decided to be more explicit: "If all else fails, the Seventh or Eighth Kazekage, there's bound to be one that satisfies me."

The Fourth Kazekage completely gave up any intention to resist, and agreed to whatever Xia Zuo asked for.

But there was one question he still had to ask: "Fifth Hokage, Loulan is not part of the Land of Wind, and this country has already been destroyed."

Xia Zuo said, "I know that Loulan has been destroyed, and I also know that Loulan is located on the land of the Wind Kingdom."

"But what I want is not just the land of Loulan, but also a portion of the land of the Land of Wind, so that at least the Konoha ninjas can reach Loulan without having to pass through the Land of Wind."

The Fourth Kazekage remained silent for a long time before finally asking, "Can I refuse?"

Xia Zuo replied, "Of course not."

The Fourth Kazekage, his eyes bloodshot, struggled desperately, saying, "I can issue passes to the Konoha ninja, allowing you to freely enter and leave the Land of Wind, is that not allowed?"

Xia Zuo sneered, "Fourth Kazekage, given the current state of Sunagakure, you have no right to bargain with me."

"Either you agree now and you can go back to Sunagakure, or you refuse now and I'll kill you right away, then attack Sunagakure and find a Sunagakure ninja who's willing to accept my terms."

The Fourth Kazekage cried, sobbing uncontrollably, his face covered in snot and tears, but in the end he accepted all of Xia Zuo's conditions.

In fact, Xia Zuo's conditions were not cruel by the standards of the ninja world; in fact, they were quite normal.

When the Third Kazekage of Sunagakure forced Hoshigakure of the Land of Bears to cede the dams, reservoirs, and surrounding fertile lands to the Land of Wind, he was ten times more vicious than Xia Zuo.

When the Third Raikage of Kumogakure robbed Tsukishin Village of its secret technique, he didn't even offer any conditions; he simply launched a three-pronged attack: killing, destroying the village, and robbing.

The Fourth Kazekage cried his eyes out, except this time it was he who was robbed.

With such a huge incident, the Joint Chunin Exams naturally couldn't continue.

The Fifth Hokage, Natsu, hastily announced the end of the exam and issued Chunin Pass certificates to the ninjas who participated in the third round of exams.

As for formal promotions, that's a matter for their respective villages.

Next, the various departments of Konoha Village worked together in an orderly manner to send off the teams from the villages that participated in the exam, and handed over the management rights of the land to Sunagakure Village, taking over the long-abandoned Loulan Kingdom and a large area of ​​desert.

The Fourth Raikage and the Third Tsuchikage haven't returned since they left the private room.

They watched from a distance for a long time, and once they confirmed that it was the Fifth Hokage who had set a trap, the two of them dared not linger any longer and returned to the venue as quickly as possible to find their successor.

The Fourth Raikage brought Darui along because he had also mastered the Layton Chakra Mode and could withstand the additional damage inflicted when the Fourth Raikage was running wildly.

-

The Third Tsuchikage brought Deidara and Kurotsuchi along, because his [Earth Release: Super Light Heavy Rock Technique] could carry two people at high speed.

As for the other genin, there was really no time to worry about them; all they could do was hope that the Fifth Hokage wouldn't kill anyone out of spite.

The Tsuchikage and Raikage rushed side by side to the edge of Konoha Village, broke through the village's barrier together, and then ran away separately.

It's not fair to blame them for being too cowardly; the Fifth Hokage was, in their minds, a notorious demon who was always plotting to kill them.

When the Fifth Hokage revealed his plot to kill the Fourth Kazekage, the Tsuchikage and Raikage immediately realized it was a trap without a fixed target.

Who can guarantee that after the Fifth Hokage kills the Fourth Kazekage, he won't also take care of them?

They had both personally committed these kinds of random, deceptive acts, and they had tricked and killed more than one leader of a small ninja village.

After returning to Sunagakure, the Fourth Kazekage summoned the retired Chiyo and Ebizo, explaining what had happened in Konoha and the reason he had to commit suicide.

Then, he committed suicide in front of thousands of Sand Village ninja, using his life to atone for his mistake of attacking the Fifth Hokage.

The death of the Fourth Kazekage completely shattered the morale of Sunagakure.

Chiyo and Ebizo, who were appointed to the position in a time of crisis, were also disappointed to find that Sunagakure could not select a Fifth Kazekage because there was not a single qualified candidate in the entire village.

The entire Sunagakure village has only two Kage-level ninjas left. The youngest of them, Ebizo, is a retired old man over 70 years old and is no longer able to exert the combat power of a Kage-level ninja.

Sunagakure is one of the five great ninja villages, and under no circumstances should a Jonin be appointed as Kazekage.

And so, Sunagakure became the second major ninja village without a Kage.

After the Fourth Raikage returned to Kumogakure, he quickly received the genin squad he had dispatched, as well as a personal letter of reprimand from the Fifth Hokage.

The proud and arrogant Raikage opened the letter and saw Xia Zuo's impolite reprimand, with utter contempt in every word. He actually laughed.

Killer Bee and Darui couldn't understand the Raikage's laughter. Killer Bee was furious, shouting, "Big brother! How can you laugh when the Fifth Hokage has humiliated you like this?"

The Fourth Raikage wiped away the tears of laughter from the corners of his eyes and explained, "My foolish little brother, why haven't you changed your mind yet?"

-

"The Fifth Hokage's strength is beyond imagination. Although I didn't see him in person during my trip to Konoha, I felt his aura as I left the village."

The Fourth Raikage's eyes were unfocused, as if he were recalling a god: "—I finally understand why the First Raikage was in despair. It was truly despair."

Killer Bee, Tsuchikage, and Darui exchanged bewildered glances, unable to comprehend why their Raikage would be in such despair.

The Fourth Raikage guessed their question and explained, "I sensed the Fifth Hokage's aura after he left Konoha."

"At that time, I was with Darui, running at full speed in Lightning Release Chakra Mode, and we were already at least 5 kilometers away from Konoha Village."

"Considering the size of Konoha Village itself, I sensed the Fifth Hokage's aura from a distance of more than 10 kilometers."

.

"That's not the boundary of the Fifth Hokage's aura, but rather the boundary that I can perceive with my strength when his aura changes drastically."

"He's too strong, so strong that he's beyond my comprehension, so strong that I can't even sense him when I step into his aura range."

"If he hadn't encountered some accident that caused a sudden change in his aura, I wouldn't have noticed it even at that distance."

The Fourth Raikage solemnly told his three most trusted ninjas, "Remember, the Fifth Hokage is completely different from us. He can truly kill us all by himself."

Young Darui couldn't understand and could only ask, "Fourth Raikage, the Fifth Hokage demonstrated the power to wipe out a village before, why weren't you afraid then?"

The Fourth Raikage smiled wryly. "It's different."

"Back then, he used [Wood Release: Advent of a World of Trees] to trap all the prisoners of our Cloud Village army because none of us knew how powerful he was. We foolishly thought that we could flatten the forest with our overwhelming numbers, but we ended up rushing into the forest to our deaths."

"Wait until the Ninja World is reached."

"Later, the Fifth Hokage leveled all the buildings in Sunagakure and even razed Kirigakure to the ground. The buildings that could neither resist nor avoid the damage were the ones that suffered the most, but not many ninjas were killed."

"On the one hand, he intentionally held back, and on the other hand, all the ninjas knew how powerful he was, and no one was willing to fight him head-on. They all chose to avoid him, so it wasn't so easy for him to be killed."

The Fourth Raikage's mood sombered once again: "But the aura I felt from the Fifth Hokage that day was simply indescribable."

"It seems, it seems to be—"

The Fourth Raikage picked up the letter the Fifth Hokage had written to him and read aloud a sentence from it: "Before, you were blinded by arrogance and saw me as a frog in a well seeing the moon in the sky. Now that you are cautious and clear-headed, you must see me as a mayfly seeing the blue sky."

"He writes so well, that's exactly how I feel."

Killer Bee was speechless, Darui was dumbfounded, and Tsuchikage looked dazed. They looked at their Raikage, who was taking a serious look, and had nothing to say.

After a long pause, Tsuchikage stammered, "Fourth Raikage, since the Fifth Hokage is so powerful, what about our chakra cannon research—"

The Fourth Raikage sighed, "Continue, and speed things up."

Tutai: "Huh?"

The Fourth Raikage: "What? You're completely outmatched by the Fifth Hokage? That only makes it more important to find a way to kill him! The Hidden Cloud Village has no reason to give up when facing an enemy!"

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