Analyzing the Ninja World Starting from Konoha

Chapter 189 Defeat Without Defeat, Victory Without Victory

Inside Bunpuku's body, Shukaku clearly heard the conversation between the two people outside.

Its massive body lay silently in the spiritual world, its golden pupils shimmering with complex light.

Although nothing seemed to have changed on the surface, at this moment when the old monk was about to depart.

Shukaku, whose heart was sealed by humans and filled with mad hatred, inexplicably felt a surge of indescribable bittersweetness and emotion.

"Shukaku, after I'm gone, I have a favor to ask of you."

"What is it?"

"Please don't seek revenge on humans, okay?"

Shukaku was stunned.

It gave a haughty snort, turned its huge head away, and refused to look at Fenfu.

"Hmph! As long as those foolish humans don't bother me, I won't bother looking for trouble!"

Hearing this answer, Fenfu smiled with satisfaction.

In reality, Aoba looked at Bunfuku's gaze, remained silent for a moment, and finally nodded.

"Can."

Aoba said calmly, "I'm not interested in catching a grumpy tanuki to keep as a pet, but in exchange, I want some of Shukaku's chakra. I'm very interested in the power of Magnet Release and need to study it."

"Thank you, young Konoha ninja."

Fenfu slowly extended his withered right hand.

The next second, a dark red tailed beast chakra overflowed from his palm, condensing into a dark red chakra ball in the air.

Without any hesitation, Qingye quickly pulled out a blank sealing scroll and formed hand seals.

"seal up!"

The One-Tailed Beast's chakra was successfully sealed into the scroll.

"Thank you very much, Master Fenfu."

Aoba carefully put away the scroll, bowed slightly to Bunfuku, then turned and walked towards Konoha without hesitation.

What happened next was no longer his concern.

Not long after Aoba walked away.

boom!!!

A massive burst of chakra suddenly erupted behind him, and a gale carrying a cloud of yellow sand howled in.

With a deafening roar, Shukaku's massive body reappeared amidst the swirling sandstorm.

This time, however, it was no longer bound by the Jinchūriki.

Shukaku raised its massive head and let out a long howl towards the sky.

In that howl, there was the joy of regaining freedom, and also a trace of barely perceptible sorrow.

The fierce wind whipped up yellow sand, gradually burying Shukaku's massive body.

When the sandstorm subsided, the giant sand raccoon had completely disappeared into the vast desert.

Only the spot remained, where an old monk, long since lifeless, sat quietly cross-legged on the sand, a peaceful smile on his face.

The front line of the Land of Rivers, the defense line of Konoha.

While Aoba was fighting a major battle with Rasa and Shukaku, the Hidden Leaf Village was in an uproar.

After all, it's hard not to notice such a commotion.

The ground was shaking, the sky was changing color, and a sandstorm was visibly rising into the sky in the distance. Any ninja with a little experience could tell that a very high-level battle was taking place there.

"Captain Saltwater! That direction leads to the Sand Village base, Lord Aoba—"

"I know."

Nara Shizuku stood in front of the command tent, arms crossed, staring expressionlessly at the distant horizon stained red.

Behind him, a dozen ninjas looked tense, some of them already holding kunai in their hands, ready to attack at any moment.

"Captain Saltwater, should we send a team over to provide support?"

"Need not."

"But----"

"I said, no need."

Nara Shizuku's voice wasn't loud, but his tone was undeniably authoritative: "Everyone, return to your posts and guard your respective areas."

"But that commotion was clearly not from an ordinary battle!"

Nara Shizuku was silent for two seconds, then said in an extremely calm tone, "Who else but the Commander-in-Chief could cause such a commotion in that direction?"

The tent fell silent instantly.

"If even the commander-in-chief can't stop the enemy—"

Saltwater paused for a moment, its gaze sweeping across the faces of everyone present. "Then we'd just be throwing our lives away if we went. We might as well stay put."

Although the words were harsh, no one present could refute them.

this is the truth.

The entire defense line of the river has been reduced to a precarious state, and the ninjas remaining here, apart from Aoba, are only a few special Jonin with the highest combat strength.

If even Aoba can't handle the opponent, then rushing in would only make things worse.

Nara Saltwater made the most rational judgment.

Apart from sending out a few sensory reconnaissance ninjas, the rest remained in place, waiting for news.

If the worst-case scenario really occurs, at least he can send the information back to Konoha immediately.

Fortunately, the worst did not happen.

Soon after, the dust in the distance gradually dissipated, and the sky returned to its normal color.

After a while, a familiar figure slowly flew back from afar.

"Oh, everyone's here. Are we having a meeting? Why does it feel so serious?"

Seeing that Qingye was still in the mood to joke, Yanshui was completely relieved.

Saltwater quickly glanced at him.

Aside from having no obvious injuries and looking a little disheveled, he seemed to be in good spirits.

"Alright, everyone, go home and do what you were doing."

Salt Water waved his hand, dismissing the other ninjas.

Back at the command tent, Aoba walked unceremoniously to Yanshui's desk, plopped down in the chair, picked up the teacup on the table, and gulped it down.

"Ah—I'm finally alive! My throat is practically burning."

"Aoba smacked his lips contentedly.

Salt Water stared at her beloved teacup, her eye twitching slightly. Suppressing the urge to curse, she gritted her teeth and asked, "What happened? Why was there such a commotion?"

"It's nothing serious."

Aoba leaned back lazily in his chair, sprawling out like a starfish. "I just got into a fight."

"I can tell."

Saltwater asked in a flat tone, "With whom?"

"The Fourth Kazekage".

Salt water nodded upon hearing this, its expression remaining calm.

Sure enough.

With such a huge commotion, I can't think of anyone else but the Kazekage himself.

After all, Aoba frequently goes to the Sunagakure stronghold to "provoke" them, so the Kazekage has no choice but to respond. Also, there's the grudge from Kikyo Mountain last time, so it's only natural that he would seek revenge on Aoba.

Just as Salt Water breathed a sigh of relief and was about to say something, Aoba added another sentence.

"Oh right, there's one more."

"6

'

The tent fell into a deathly silence.

A full three seconds passed.

"What did you say?!"

Saltwater's voice suddenly rose eight octaves, his eyes almost bulging out of their sockets, "One-Tail?! Sunagakure actually deployed a tailed beast to the battlefield?!"

The salt water became very hot instantly.

You should know that even when Sunagakure launched a large-scale invasion of the Land of Fire, they didn't send out any tailed beasts. Why are they suddenly using tailed beasts now?

This is so unreasonable!

This thing is an important strategic weapon for all the major ninja villages, and it is not used lightly.

Why did Sunagakure suddenly pull out their trump cards?

Is this the start of another war?

Saltwater's brain was racing, with all sorts of worst-case scenarios flashing through its mind.

"I must immediately write to the village requesting reinforcements, in case the Sand Village launches a surprise attack on our defenses with the One-Tailed Beast—"

He quickly walked to the table, picked up his pen, and was about to write an emergency letter to Konoha, requesting reinforcements.

"Don't worry about the tailed beasts."

Aoba's voice came from behind, still in that lazy tone.

"The Jinchuriki of Sunagakure is dead, and the One-Tailed Beast has escaped."

Salt Water's hand, holding the pen, froze in mid-air.

He slowly turned his head, looked at Qingye who was leaning back in the chair with an indifferent expression, and his lips twitched several times.

If Aoba weren't his commander, Salt Water would have really wanted to rush up and strangle him—couldn't you just finish what you were saying at once?!

"—So, the Sand Village dispatched the Kazekage and the One-Tailed Beast just to fight you?"

Saltwater forcefully suppressed the irritation in her heart and tried to sort out the matter logically.

"More or less."

Aoba waved his hand, clearly not wanting to dwell on the topic any longer. "This time, they're targeting me directly, it has nothing to do with the war, so you don't need to be too nervous."

"Moreover, since the One-Tailed Beast has escaped, Sunagakure is probably even more panicked than we are. Without the Tailed Beast as our trump card, they are even less likely to cause trouble."

Salt Water stared at Aoba for several seconds, and finally could only sigh helplessly.

"However, such a big matter needs to be discussed with the higher-ups."

After all, since it involves such an important strategic weapon as the Tailed Beast, even if it belongs to the enemy, we must always pay attention to its movements.

Qingye did not stop him, but simply lay there quietly with her eyes closed, resting.

Time was drawing to a close in Konoha's 49th year.

After several rounds of negotiations, Iwagakure and Konoha officially signed a ceasefire agreement.

The agreement is roughly as follows.

As the victorious party, Konoha voluntarily relinquished its right to demand war reparations from Iwagakure. Iwagakure accepted this ceasefire condition and withdrew all attacking forces. After the agreement was signed, the two sides ended their state of hostility.

When the details of the peace agreement were relayed back to the front lines in the Land of Rivers, Aoba stared at the intelligence scroll in his hand, speechless.

To be honest, Aoba really hated Danzo and would definitely kill him if he had the chance, but this time, he unusually stood on Danzo's side.

How many people died in Konoha because of this war? How many families lost their breadwinners?

Now that we've finally won, the third generation of the government waved his hand and, in order to demonstrate the so-called "great power style" and "will of fire," directly exempted the defeated country from paying reparations!

Isn't this just "losing without losing, winning without winning"?

No wonder there's such a huge uproar in Konoha right now, with Danzo and other militant factions even pointing their fingers at Hiruzen Sarutobi and accusing him of "conceding to a defeated nation."

"This kind of bizarre operation is truly mind-boggling."

Aoba sighed helplessly.

He genuinely couldn't understand the thought process of the third generation.

Oh well, it's not the first time anyway.

However, what he found even more ironic was another piece of intelligence.

The Land of Wind and the Land of Fire have also officially signed an alliance agreement.

That's right, Aoba almost killed the Kazekage's Land of Wind twice, and now they've become allies again.

Interestingly, the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, did not appear at the contract signing ceremony. Instead, he sent his advisors, Chiyo and Ebizo, to sign the contract on his behalf.

>