Naruto Online: Hyuga Branch Family? Let's go all out!

Chapter 222 Returning Home to Iwagakure Village

Inside a small tent of the Guining Army on the border of Yunyin Village

"Kumakushi Village has invited us to peace talks tomorrow. How should we respond?" Yahiko asked after passing down the information and waiting for Nagato and Konan to finish reading it.

Nagato and Konan exchanged a glance, then asked, "How much sincerity is there in this peace negotiation?"

They have a psychological aversion to peace talks, and according to the General Staff's analysis of Kumogakure, it is unlikely that Kumogakure will surrender.

At least not until signs of defeat appear.

"Not a single cent!" Yahiko shook his head. "The intelligence department has sent word that this peace talk is a trap."

Nagato Konan was speechless. It really was a trap!

"However, this trap isn't entirely insurmountable!" Yahiko added. "For the weak, it's a trap, but for the strong, the fish won't die, but the net will certainly break!"

He then took out another document, in duplicate, and gave one to each of them.

Nagato took it and saw that it contained the conversation between the Third Hokage, A, and Zaku, printed word for word on the document.

"This intelligence department!" Nagato and Konan exclaimed in unison. Such military secrets should be discussed in the most heavily guarded places, but the intelligence department managed to eavesdrop on every single word.

After reading the contents, the two of them laughed.

"They're planning to send three Kage-level experts to take us down? Isn't that underestimating us?"

Yahiko said, "This shouldn't be considered underestimating us. After all, logically speaking, a few young people who are just over 20 years old, no matter how talented, are at most at the level of a newly minted Kage!"

Nagato and Konan smirked, but the core members of their Ning organization were known for their unconventional ways!

Not to mention that the three of them were geniuses to begin with, and that they were able to reach the Kage level by developing their own ninjutsu even though they only learned some basic ninjutsu and did not learn any ready-made ninjutsu.

After joining Ning's organization, they also read a lot of Ning Yuan's Orochimaru's chakra theories, learned a lot of ready-made ninjutsu, and even learned the true qi cultivation method developed by Ning Yuan.

That is: the method of chakra storage!

Although they hadn't been cultivating for long, and their internal energy reserves were only about two years' worth, the people opposite them had only been cultivating for a day!

Just by stacking up chakra, you can overwhelm the opponent.

Moreover, a ninja's fighting power is not only composed of chakra and ninjutsu; the Guining Army also has explosive tags!

"So the question now is, should we go to the appointment, take them down, and quickly end the battle, or should we go to the appointment but not deal with the three of them?"

The former means very simply: eliminate the Third A, the Fourth A, and Zaku I. Whether by killing them or capturing them, the remaining Cloud Village ninja will be leaderless. Without a leader, the rest will be much easier to fight.

The latter, instead of taking down these three, first showed off his strength in front of them before winning a few more battles.

Once they've witnessed the strength of the Guining Army, Kumogakure might surrender under the leadership of the Third Hokage, A.

The advantage of the former is that it can quickly resolve the situation, but it is easy to arouse the hatred of the entire Hidden Cloud Village and cause great casualties.

The latter might retain most of the fighting force of the Cloud Village's high-ranking officials, while the lower-ranking officials would easily suffer heavy casualties in the war.

After a moment's thought, Nagato spoke first: "I suggest the first option: capture all three on the spot!"

"What's the reason?" Yahiko asked.

"Kumogakure is different from other villages!" Nagato said. "The Land of Lightning isn't as poor as the Land of Wind and the Land of Rock. Relying on the sale of minerals, the Land of Lightning is, if not the richest, the second richest. Therefore, Kumogakure has absolutely no need to wage war over economic issues!"

"But Kumogakure remains the most active village in waging war. It not only attacks Konoha and the Land of Rain, but also the neighboring Land of Earth and Land of Water. It even went all the way to destroy the Land of Whirlpools during World War II!"

The Land of Whirlpools is Nagato Uzumaki's home country, but Nagato spoke of this in a calm tone. He had no memory of living in the Land of Whirlpools, and naturally had no intention of avenging the Land of Whirlpools.

His desire to kill the high-ranking officials of Kumogakure was entirely out of public interest!

Whether others believe it or not, that's what he thinks.

"Without economic problems, yet launching a war to become a powerful nation, the village's leadership is clearly a fanatical war enthusiast. Why keep such war fanatics around?"

Yahiko tapped the table, neither confirming nor denying, then turned to look at Konan.

"I agree with Nagato's opinion, but I have a different view!" Konan said, "Whether it's the Third or Fourth A, their lightning armor is extremely difficult to deal with. On the battlefield, unless Nagato constantly uses Universal Pull, he simply can't keep an eye on them!"

"And everyone knows the consequences of not keeping an eye on him!"

Yahiko and Nagato nodded in agreement. They were confident that they could fight against the Third and Fourth Generation A, but their soldiers could not withstand the attack.

If there's even a single moment when they can't be held back, dozens or even hundreds of people could die.

These two are just as lethal as Minato Namikaze.

"Although taking them down will incite hatred throughout Kumogakure and may require the deaths of many Kumogakure ninja to quell the war, the deaths of the enemy are better than our own. We are still at war; it's premature to mourn the lives of the enemy!"

Yahiko and Nagato nodded in unison.

"Furthermore, while taking them down will breed hatred, it will also breed fear!" Konan continued, "If we can easily capture these three, perhaps the Hidden Stone Village's fear of us will outweigh their hatred, and they'll surrender immediately?"

Yahiko and Nagato seemed to be thinking about this, and indeed, such a possibility existed.

The ninjas of Kumogakure were well aware of the strength of the Third and Fourth A.

If these two are easily captured, what will the other Cloud Village ninjas think? Will they still have the will to fight against their Guining Army?

"Since you all agree to take down these three first, then we'll go participate in the peace talks!" Yahiko said. "However, just in case, let's leave one of our agents in the camp!"

In case the other side launches a major offensive while the peace talks are underway, the clones can also help fight the war.

As long as it isn't broken, the Shadow Clone Technique is very strong; it's estimated that the opponent would need a Jinchuriki to stop it!

There was no fighting that night, neither on the Iwagakure front nor the Kumogakure front.

In Iwagakure, the 10,000 copies of the book haven't been printed yet, but they've already started circulating in the village. However, due to the limited quantity, a large number of people still can't read them.

Upon seeing this, the Guining Army sent over a large number of books.

Ōnoki started giving away books openly in the village, and the ninja below naturally understood his intention. So, instead of refusing, they started reading the books right there on the front lines, and boldly asked the soldiers on the other side if they had any questions.

And the soldiers on the other side actually provided the answer.

At this moment, the two sides no longer resembled opponents in a battle.

Meanwhile, outside Iwagakure, in the Daimyo's mansion in the Land of Earth, Kakashi had just stormed in.

The Daimyo's mansion also had its own ninja forces, but they were nothing compared to the elite ninjas led by Kakashi.

The Ning organization has a mild attitude towards ninja villages and doesn't mind recruiting war fanatics like those from the Hidden Cloud Village, but it has a completely different attitude towards nobles like daimyo.

Those who committed heinous crimes were killed on the spot, all their property was confiscated, and the books and texts hidden in their homes were taken away and stored by a team of professionals.

Ning Yuan knew that the key to completely unifying a country was to unify its language and script.

Moreover, what he wanted was not just consolidation and rule, but also transformation.

He wanted to transform a Japanese-style world into a thoroughly Chinese-civilized nation.

If it were a time traveler from another country, such an operation wouldn't even be possible. Even if it were from an English-speaking country, it wouldn't work, because with their limited knowledge and experience, they simply couldn't do it.

In contrast, Chinese civilization is known for its strong assimilation ability.

Even if Ning Yuan is just a time traveler and possesses only one ten-thousandth of Chinese culture, it is already enough.

Moreover, in this life, he studied literature from elementary school and also pursued archaeology and paleography.

He could easily use the guise of archaeology to transplant and translate the world's culture, ultimately transforming it completely into something of Chinese civilization.

Even stories written in a language that do not conform to the spirit of Chinese civilization can be transformed by him through changing the angle and direction of description to conform to his values.

With his skill level, let alone now, even if the locals were given another hundred or a thousand years, no one would be able to overturn his conclusions.

Moreover, Ning Yuan also crammed a large number of cursed individuals into the archaeological system, completely taking control of it.

Once Chinese civilization is deeply ingrained in people's minds, there will be no need to do this.

Students back then would probably be proud of Chinese civilization, and even if they unearthed something new or made a new discovery, they would actively try to associate it with Chinese civilization.

Killing a problematic nobleman is not a big mistake, but those who enjoy the benefits of noble status are marked with a curse and become cursed people, destined to serve the Ning organization for the rest of their lives.

After that, the Land of Fire will send a large number of reserve officials and cursed people with transferred memories. They will take over the administration of the Land of Earth, build bridges and roads, develop education, and so on, and then gradually integrate the Land of Earth and the Ning Organization.

Having been tempered by the Land of Rain and the Land of Wind, the Ning organization is quite familiar with this process.

The next day, early in the morning, Onoki convened a meeting of elders.

That's right, Iwagakure also has elders, and far more than Konoha.

There are eight elders in total, who are in charge of all aspects of the village's affairs except for military matters.

"That's the situation now!" Onoki said, sitting at the head of the table and tapping the table. "So let's discuss whether we should surrender!"

"Surrender? How could we!" No sooner had Onoki finished speaking than someone eagerly stood up: "Our Iwagakure is a ninja village that has been established for over forty years! Even before Iwagakure was founded, our Fujiki clan was a prestigious family that had been passed down through generations in the ninja world for over seven hundred years! How could we possibly surrender to an ignorant junior like this!"

"The Ning Organization isn't made up of ignorant juniors; its founder, Hyuga Ningyuan, is from the Hyuga clan!" Onoki said. "The Hyuga clan is a thousand-year-old family!"

"What's wrong with the Hyuga clan!" the elder said irritably. "We've clashed before, and my ancestor even killed a member of the Hyuga main family!"

Onoki rubbed his forehead, then looked at the others.

It's impossible for all eight people to be against it.

"I'd like to ask, if our Iwagakure joins that Ning organization, what will happen to us? Will we still be able to remain as elders?" asked an elder in charge of the economy.

Onoki shook his head: "That's naturally not going to work. Given the size of our Iwagakure village, it will probably be reorganized into a town or city. In the future, town affairs will be handled by the town hall or secretariat. We people are getting old, so naturally we'll have to retire!"

"That won't do!" The elder immediately objected. "I'm only 66 years old, why am I retiring? Besides, do those newcomers even understand the situation in Iwagakure?"

"My opinion doesn't count on this!" Ohnoki said.

"You're the Tsuchikage, even if you surrender, you should still be a high-ranking member of the Ning Organization!" another elder said irritably. "I don't believe you have no say at all! Besides, I heard that Konoha has been reorganized into Konoha City, so why are we just a town? And what's with all this talk about being on equal footing with the Five Great Shinobi Villages? They're clearly lying to us!"

Onoki was speechless. The Ning organization only looks at ability, not seniority!

Look at Chiyo and Ebizo, they were also high-ranking members of Sunagakure, what are they doing now?

Chiyo is currently working as a propswoman at the Kyoto Performing Arts Troupe in the Land of Fire!

And

"Konoha has 100,000 people, while we in Iwagakure only have 40,000," Onoki said irritably. "Besides, Konoha is surrounded by plains, making expansion very easy. We in Iwagakure are surrounded by mountains, so there's no way we can continue to grow. If we want to develop, we'll have to build a new city. By then, let alone Iwagakure City, we might not even be able to keep Iwagakure Town; we'll still be a dilapidated village!"

He read that book extensively and studied it most deeply.

From a military perspective, Iwagakure is easy to defend and difficult to attack, making it a suitable place to build a military fortress.

But from the perspective of economic development, Iwagakure is simply a bottomless pit.

Surrounded by mountains, the area has poor transportation and a shortage of water resources.

Moreover, this mountain is not the kind of treasure mountain that is full of trees and plants, but a rocky mountain. Not only can nothing be grown on it, but there are no decent minerals either.

Without special government support, if Iwagakure loses its function as a military fortress, it is destined that no one will stay.

If all the young people go out to earn money, how many people will be left in Iwagakure?

I still have 30,000 now, but I'm afraid I won't even have 3,000 left in the future!

"That's it!" Onoki suddenly realized that Iwagakure was definitely out of the question, but Daimyo's mansion should be a possibility.

Daming Prefecture was built on a plain, next to a wide river, and close to the sea.

This means that there is no shortage of land, sea, and river transportation. According to the book's description, it fully meets the conditions for establishing an economic center.

Perhaps I can buy a house there in advance, or acquire some property.

"Onoki, by speaking up for the Ning organization like this, have you already reached an agreement with them?" another elder asked.

Onoki was speechless: "What conditions did I discuss? I was just trying to reason with you!"

He used to think these elders were quite good, that they knew how to care about Iwagakure.

Now he suddenly realized that these people weren't thinking about Iwagakure at all; they were all thinking about themselves!

However, Iwagakure used to be an independent village, so this characteristic was not obvious.

When Iwagakure changed its ways, this situation immediately became apparent.

"And don't you even look at the time! Iwagakure is no match for Ning's organization. We're surrendering now, not negotiating. I can't possibly offer many conditions!"

The elders remained unconvinced.

The youngest among them was fifty years old, and the oldest was over seventy. They had managed Iwagakure for many years and boasted that they had seen all sorts of storms.

Even the God of Shinobi couldn't conquer Iwagakure, so how could a small organization that's only been established for three or four years do it?

I don't believe it at all!

They preferred to believe that this was a play staged by outsiders, commissioned by Onoki in order to seize power.

The meeting gave Onoki a terrible headache.

It felt like I'd been arguing with a contrarian for two hours.

"I'm not young anymore, so why am I able to keep up with the times?"

Originally, Onoki was still hesitant about whether to surrender or not, and was thinking of discussing it with these elders. But now, after witnessing the elders' illogical and unreasonable ugly faces, he felt that he had to surrender immediately.

I've been working diligently every day, so why can't Iwagakure grow stronger?

So it turns out you guys were the ones holding us back!

Surrender! We must surrender!

However, if he doesn't get the support of the elders, even if he surrenders, they will still cause trouble later.

Ohnoki had no idea how the Ning organization would deal with those villages that caused trouble after surrendering, because there was no precedent, so it wasn't written in the book.

But if it were him, he would definitely be ruthless.

Those who directly instigate must be killed, those who indirectly instigate must also be killed, those suspected of being behind the scenes must also be killed, and those who may have connections must also be killed. It is necessary to eliminate all traces and leave no possibility behind.

If that's the case, countless people in Iwagakure will die!

For some reason, Onoki thought of a line from the book.

It is used to explain why war is used to eliminate war.

It's better for one family to cry than for an entire nation to cry.

The same applies to Iwagakure (Hidden Stone Village).

The weeping of the families of the eight elders is better than the entire village of Iwagakure draped in mourning!

A fierce glint flashed across his face, and Onoki said, "You guys discuss it first, I'm going out for some fresh air!"

Then he got up, left the meeting room, and went to the corridor outside the Tsuchikage office building.

Looking down at Iwagakure below the office building, Onoki's eyes were filled with love.

I once promised my teacher that I would protect everyone in Iwagakure, but I don't know if that counts as a form of protection.

But under Ning's leadership, Iwagakure will surely develop even better!

"Akatu!" Onoki suddenly said.

The Earth Shadow Guard, Akatsuchi, immediately appeared beside him.

"Summon the guards and secret agents, surround the conference room!"

"Yes!" Akatsuchi didn't know what the Tsuchikage was going to do, but he sensed the killing intent in Onoki's tone.

Without daring to ask any further questions, Chitu immediately went to work.

A moment later, gasps of surprise rippled through the conference room.

"Oonoki, how dare you!"

"Tsuchikage, you actually betrayed your own village!"

"Oonoki, you'll die a horrible death!"

"You shorty!"

Onoki raised his arm and said that he would do it himself.

Even Madara Uchiha never called me short!

At noon, Onoki led a group of elite ninjas out of Tsuchigakure and presented Iwagakure map and government documents to Minato Namikaze, commander of the Northwest Army of the Guining Army, in the valley.

From then on, Yan Yin Village returned to peace.

(End of this chapter)