Starting with the Uchiha clan, they began cultivating demonic arts.

Chapter 193 Iwa Ninja Surrenders

The 30-strong army of the Land of Earth was naturally wiped out, and not many people even knew how they were wiped out.

Later, when the people who cleaned up the battlefield found some weapons, tents, supplies and provisions left behind by these people, but they had no idea where the soldiers had disappeared to.

It is said that the daimyo of the Land of Earth fainted on the spot in the main hall after hearing the news and almost could not be saved.

Even after being rescued, this daimyo was like a walking corpse, completely lacking the spirit and energy he had when he had a large army at his command. Instead, without saying a word, he immediately sent several letters to Iwagakure pleading for help.

After suffering successive blows from Uchiha Tou and Uzumaki Nagato, Iwagakure was almost completely wiped out in terms of its high-level strength. Fortunately, after eight years of development, Iwagakure finally had its own Kage-level ninja again.

This Kage-level ninja isn't very reliable...

"Brother Deidara, have you figured out how to resolve the Akatsuki issue?"

Seeing Deidara sitting in the Tsuchikage's seat with a bitter face, Kurotsuchi turned her chair around, looked at her childhood friend, and asked.

Deidara, looking listless and annoyed, said:

"How to deal with it? Hmm, we definitely can't win in a fight. Forming an alliance with other ninja villages... Hmm, that doesn't seem very reliable either. I always feel that other countries and ninja villages don't really like to involve us, the Land of Earth and the Iwa ninja, in their actions. Whenever there's something big, it seems like we Iwa ninja are always a step behind the rest of the world..."

Hei Tu blinked and said:

"Really? Aren't you being a little too sensitive, Deidara? I think our Iwagakure is fine!"

Deidara rolled his eyes. It was precisely because the Hidden Stone Village was full of such a bunch of idiots that he couldn't leave the village to pursue his art!

Given Deidara's personality, he didn't really want to stay in Iwagakure. In the original story, he was just a disciple of the Tsuchikage, so leaving Iwagakure would have been easy for him. After all, at that time, Iwagakure still had Onoki, Kyoto, and Han holding it together.

However, in this timeline, almost all of these people died, leaving only Deidara, who was still weak at the time, alive.

Iwagakure was already lacking successors, and now all the elderly and middle-aged people who were supposed to be leading the village have died. The remaining Iwagakure leaders are not fools, and almost all of them have pinned their hopes on Deidara.

This explosives expert was the last disciple of Onoki, the two great ninjas, and was recognized as a ninja of the younger generation who would definitely become a Kage-level ninja. At that time, Deidara was regarded by the higher-ups of Iwagakure as the only promising young talent in the entire village, and was the focus of everyone's attention. His treatment was completely different from that in the original work.

Under these circumstances, Deidara couldn't possibly sneak out of Iwagakure even if he wanted to. Furthermore, with no successor in Iwagakure, Deidara still had some affection for the village and couldn't possibly abandon it under these circumstances. As a result, he eventually became the Fourth Tsuchikage.

Even after becoming the Fourth Tsuchikage, this guy was still an explosion fanatic and art enthusiast. Back when Iwagakure and Akatsuki were cooperating, he once showed his "art" to Nagato. As for the result... well, ever since then, Deidara has been quite obedient to Nagato.

It was precisely because Deidara was well aware of Nagato's strength that he did not believe his Iwagakure could stand up to the Akatsuki.

Other ninjas could only estimate Nagato's threat level based on the damage he caused, and occasionally they might fantasize about killing him through a sneak attack or a strange ninjutsu. Deidara, however, knew very well that Nagato had almost completely overcome the shortcomings of ordinary ninjas.

Or it can't be said that he completely got rid of the ninja's glass cannon flaw, but at least there is a dimensional gap between him and ordinary ninjas. It can be said that no matter how many ordinary ninjas there are, they can't be Nagato's match.

Putting everything else aside, the Preta Path ability alone is enough to make Nagato immune to all ninjutsu. In this situation, assassination is completely useless.

"Given the current situation, our daimyo even dispatched his prized 30-strong army, which I've heard has been completely annihilated. Hmm, I really don't know what to say about this daimyo."

"Back when they were cutting our Iwagakure's funding, they were always bringing up their massive ninja army, saying the ninja village was useless now. And now, after their entire army was wiped out, they're urging us to protect them, huh!"

"Does our lord not know what shame is? Hmm!"

"Deidara, what should we do? Should we refuse this daimyo's request?"

Kurotsuchi frowned and asked, while Deidara nodded first and said:

"Even if we all joined forces, we might not be able to deal with Nagato Uzumaki. We're not in the mood to protect him right now. Let him protect himself! Doesn't he still have 10 troops?"

"Besides, I think if our Iwagakure village isn't a match for Nagato, this daimyo will probably have to flee the Land of Earth immediately, or simply surrender to the Akatsuki! Hmm!"

"Uh... even a daimyo isn't that timid... right?"

"Who knows? Judging from this daimyo's consistent behavior, I don't think he'll resist to the end; he's more likely to run away or surrender... Hmm, I have a way to deal with the Akatsuki!"

A hint of joy appeared on Heitu's face as he saw his childhood sweetheart:

"Really? How are you going to deal with that Rinnegan ninja? I've seen the ruins of his battle. Putting everything else aside, if he hadn't held back and had used that gravity ninjutsu on our Iwagakure village, we would have been wiped out long ago!"

Back then, Nagato Uzumaki used Shinra Tensei on a mountain near Iwagakure. It was that Shinra Tensei that made Iwagakure fully realize the power of the Rinnegan. The immense gravity not only leveled the mountain but also made Iwagakure's foundation unstable, forcing them to choose to establish a base there.

If this had been done in his own village, the entire Iwagakure village would have been wiped out. Tragically, Nagato's Shinra Tensei wasn't some kind of super ultimate technique; it was just a powerful basic attack, the kind of move that could be casually unleashed after a few seconds of preparation.

In other words, if Nagato Uzumaki wanted to, he could wipe out the entire Iwagakure village ten times in a minute!

In this situation, Kurotsuchi racked her brains and could only come up with some ways to deal with Nagato Uzumaki, such as sneak attacks or assassinations, hoping to get lucky. As for a head-on battle, that was out of the question; Iwagakure would definitely lose.

"Hmph, hmph! Since we can't win, we might as well join them! Let's surrender to Akatsuki! Hmm!"

Deidara stood directly on the table, stretched out his arms, and struck a pose like a saint with a smug look on his face. Kurotsuchi, who had just heard the "explosion" declaration, was also dumbfounded, her mouth slightly open, seemingly stunned by Deidara's plan.

After a long while, Kurotsuchi finally snapped out of her daze under Deidara's "See how smart I am!" look. Without another word, she jumped onto the table and grabbed Deidara by the collar:

"Deidara, what are you thinking?! Who surrenders without even fighting?! Have you forgotten the Will of Stone of Iwagakure?!"

Deidara, feeling dizzy from Kurotsuchi's shaking, quickly grabbed her hands and shouted:

"What 'Will of Stone'?! Hmm! Even if we had a will as hard as stone, it wouldn't change the fact that we're just an egg against the Akatsuki. Kurotsuchi, be reasonable. Fighting the Akatsuki is like throwing an egg against a rock!"

"And even if I wanted to start a war to test the waters before surrendering... with Nagato's strength, he could probably wipe out all the ninjas in our Iwagakure village in just a few minutes. So-called testing would be suicide! Yeah!"

"hateful……"

Kurotsuchi loosened her grip, gritted her teeth, and showed an expression of resentment on her face. What resented her the most was that everything Deidara said was actually the truth.

Lies don't hurt, the truth is the sharpest knife!

To Deidara's surprise, it took him a long time in the Tsuchikage's office to barely persuade his childhood friend. He had thought it would take even more time and effort to convince the stubborn old guard of the other Iwagakure villages.

To his utter surprise, those old men, who were usually as stubborn and unyielding as turtles, actually raised their hands and feet in agreement when they heard that he wanted to surrender. To be honest, Deidara couldn't hold back anymore. He felt that these old guys' personas had completely collapsed!

So when Nagato appeared at the gates of Iwagakure, he didn't see the Iwagakure army waiting in full battle, but Deidara waving his arms like a golden retriever husky, greeting him.

Behind Deidara, the Fourth Tsuchikage, stood a group of high-ranking Iwa ninja, as well as Kurotsuchi and others. Some of them were expressionless, some forced a smile, and others simply lowered their heads and remained silent.

Seeing this, Uchiha Tobi, who was controlling Nagato, was also completely bewildered. He slowly walked over and asked:

"Fourth Tsuchikage, what is Iwagakure trying to do? You should have already received our Akatsuki's declaration of war, right?"

"Ah, we received the declaration of war long ago. After careful consideration, our Iwagakure village has finally decided—to surrender!"

"For the sake of world peace, the ninja community truly needs to be unified. In that case, our Iwagakure village is willing to be the first to make the sacrifice and join the Akatsuki!"

After these words were spoken, Nagato, who was being controlled by Uchiha Hiu, was stunned and speechless. He never expected that the once tough and smelly Iwagakure would become so flexible.

However, Uchiha Touyu had a change of heart. Since Iwagakure had surrendered, he could lead the Iwagakure ninjas to fight against the other four great ninja villages, which would also be part of his plan.

Thinking of this, Nagato's expression, which was being controlled by Uchiha Tobi, relaxed considerably, and he nodded slightly.

"In that case, Iwagakure will join me!"

"As far as I know, the other four ninja villages and the four nations of wind, thunder, water, and fire are also forming an alliance. Once all the enemies are gathered together, I will crush them directly. This is the most convenient and least casualty-free solution to unify the entire ninja world."

"You're quite confident, Nagato-sama. But if it's you, dealing with the Allied Shinobi Forces wouldn't be difficult at all."

Deidara muttered a couple of words and then agreed to Nagato's request. In his opinion, with Nagato's strength, he could take care of all the other ninja armies himself, without needing any other ninjas to lift a finger.

Even if their own Iwagakure village sends out a large force of ninja, once they get to the battlefield, they'll probably only have a chance to shout a few times, and it won't be easy for them to even get close to the enemy.

The Iwa ninjas probably only get a chance to appear when cleaning up the battlefield and maintaining order—they don't need to fight, and they have a chance to get their hands on spoils of war, so Deidara naturally wouldn't resist such a good thing.

For Uchiha Touyu, the surrender of Iwagakure was not exactly a pleasant surprise, but it saved him a lot of trouble, as he didn't have to wipe out 90% of the Iwagakure ninja right now.

Of course... this only slightly postpones the time when the Iwagakure ninjas become sacrifices. When the final battle begins, Uchiha Touya will naturally take down all the ninjas and the army in one fell swoop.

Some of the ninja seeds will definitely be left behind, probably around two or three tenths. As for the rest, they will naturally become sacrifices for Uchiha Touyu.

Even the Akatsuki organization was not spared by Uchiha Touyu. After all, he could not truly control Nagato to rule the entire ninja world. In order to better reap the benefits in the future, the ninja world could be manipulated in secret, but it would be more convenient to divide it into several major countries in name.

According to Uchiha Touyu's plan, the "ambitious" Rinnegan ninjas will be defeated by the combined efforts of many ninja villages. With the ninjas suffering heavy losses, the Akatsuki organization will naturally be eradicated, becoming Uchiha Touyu's new sacrifice.

"Very well, since Iwagakure has agreed, let's make some arrangements! I'll take charge of the other ninja villages and the army. You guys help me gather intelligence and determine the final battlefield. Once you complete the mission, this place can be designated as the Akatsuki's Land of Earth branch. Missions related to the Land of Earth can still be entrusted to you."

Deidara nodded. If Nagato's explanation was true, Iwagakure had simply changed its name and recognized Akatsuki as its leader, which wouldn't have a significant impact on its actual interests.

"Yes, I understand, Nagato-sama! Can I go to the battlefield then? That's the best platform to promote my explosive art!"

(End of this chapter)