Starting as the mastermind behind Naruto

Chapter 212 Fortunately, Lord Hanzo supports me.

The situation is quite urgent.

Uehara Naraku could only hurriedly enter Amegakure and explain his plan to Konan.

In this battle to reclaim the Kazekage, only Deidara, Sasori, and Nagato remained at Akatsuki's base, unless they used the Transformation Technique to create more puppets.

But that would be too much trouble.

So this time, Deidara will still be in charge of transporting Gaara's body, and will find an opportunity to return the Kazekage's body to them. As for intercepting other reinforcements, that will have to be done by Nagato and Sasori.

Before leaving, Uehara Naraku specifically instructed that Sasori must not act alone, lest the guy lose his life in a moment of impulsiveness.

Because Kakashi Hatake and Temari were anxious to rescue Gaara, they hurriedly brought Uehara Naraku, their reinforcement, back to the meeting point of their group of ninjas who were responsible for pursuing the Akatsuki organization.

Uehara Naraku really wanted to advise them not to rush things.

Really, there's no need to rush.

Shukaku had already been extracted from Gaara's body, and the corpse was already cold; this was witnessed by Uehara Naraku himself. Moreover, the Akatsuki organization would definitely return the corpse to them, and this would be an operation personally directed by Uehara Naraku.

When the three of them arrived at the meeting point, Uehara Naraku looked everyone over. They were all old friends of his, except for Sai, who was a little unfamiliar.

Oh, and there's also Granny Chiyo.

The old woman had probably fought a fierce battle with her grandson, Sasori of the Red Sand, and thought she could still be of use, so she came along.

"Uehara, it's been a long time!"

Naruto Uzumaki smiled broadly and extended his fist towards Naraku Uehara, greeting him warmly.

"Ha, Naruto's all grown up!"

Uehara Naraku chuckled and bumped fists with him.

Naruto Uzumaki stretched out his fingers and smiled confidently, "Now I'm really strong too! We can have a good fight sometime!"

"I'm really looking forward to it."

Uehara Naraku narrowed his eyes slightly and revealed a kind smile, just like a senior who has watched his junior grow up.

Sakura Haruno, standing next to Naruto Uzumaki, had grown a lot since a few years ago. She nodded politely and said, "Uehara-senpai, it's been a long time."

"Sakura is much prettier than before."

Uehara Naraku nodded rather casually. It was really hard for him to feel any goodwill towards Haruno Sakura, who had ruined his plans several times back then.

Seeing this woman still makes me angry!

Sakura Haruno's face had just flushed slightly, and she was about to say something modest when she saw Naraku Uehara's gaze turn to Sai.

Sakura Haruno: "..."

Complimenting her on her looks was definitely just a perfunctory remark!

"I am Sai."

Sai extended his palm, squinted at Uehara Naraku, and smiled, "I just joined Team 7 not long ago."

Uehara Naraku narrowed his eyes. At that moment, he felt he had met a kindred spirit, so he ruthlessly exposed Sai: "I can't tell you're a member of Team 7 because your smile is too fake."

Sai: "..."

"Hey, hey, hey, they're your junior!"

Kakashi Hatake couldn't help but tap Naraku Uehara on the shoulder and gesture, "Go say hello to Guy and the others!"

The next moment, Uehara Naraku turned his head, looked at Might Guy's Team 3, and gave him a hearty smile: "Mr. Guy, Lee, it's been a long time!"

"Mr. Uehara!"

Rock Lee gave a thumbs-up, revealing eight teeth that gleamed in the sunlight: "Long time no see!"

Might Guy gave a thumbs-up, laughed heartily, and as always, called Uehara by the wrong name: "Long time no see, Kitahara Naraku-sama! I really want to have another passionate, hot-blooded battle!"

"Um…"

The smile on Uehara Naraku's face gradually became subtle.

If Might Guy were by his side during every battle, he could steal all of Might Guy's Eight Gates secret techniques indefinitely. By now, Guy should be able to open the Eighth Gate and use Night Guy and Evening Elephant, right?

Infinite Night Kai, just thinking about it makes the scene incredibly beautiful.

Even Madara Uchiha couldn't withstand a barrage of kicks from Night Guy and Evening Elephant!

Tenten, being rather simple-minded, waved to Uehara Naraku upon seeing him and then kindly handed him a glass of juice: "Senpai, I remember you really like chilled juice! This was specially prepared for you!"

"Thank you, Tian Tian is still as adorable as ever!"

After accepting the juice, Uehara Naraku sincerely praised it and then greeted Tenten with pleasantries: "I remember two years ago during the Chunin Exams in Sunagakure, we were fortunate to have your help in taking care of our village's hydrangeas."

"It's alright, it's nothing!"

Tian Tian scratched the back of her head sheepishly and smiled, "I've learned a lot from her too..."

Uehara Naraku looked at Tenten with a puzzled expression: "Hmm? Is there anything else worth learning from Hydrangea? I haven't found anything... Don't be fooled by her!"

day by day:"……"

You're making me sound stupid by saying that!

Hyuga Neji's thoughts were rather complicated. After seeing Uehara Naraku, he simply nodded slightly at him as a greeting.

After all, Uehara Naraku injured Hyuga Hiashi, the previous head of the Hyuga main family, and now Hyuga Hiashi can only move around in a wheelchair. The Hyuga clan has no choice but to let the young Hyuga Hinata succeed him as head of the clan.

Because Hinata's strength has never been great, the burden of the entire Hyuga clan for the next few decades will fall on the shoulders of Hyuga Neji, the clan head and his cousin.

To be honest, Hyuga Neji should probably thank Uehara, since it was because of Hinata's rise to power that he, as the cousin of the branch family, finally had a chance to shine.

"Alright, let's not waste any more time."

Kakashi Hatake took out a map, placed it on the ground, and said in a deep voice, "Let's start discussing serious matters now! How exactly should we search for the location of Akatsuki and the Fifth Kazekage? Uehara, do you have any intelligence?"

"There are some."

Uehara Naraku nodded solemnly and began to introduce the Akatsuki's information: "In recent years, members of the Akatsuki organization have often infiltrated Amegakure, but without exception, they have all been repelled by Lord Hanzo."

On a few occasions, when I was ordered by Lord Hanzo to pursue them, I observed a pattern in their escape: they frequently retreated in two directions.

Uehara Naraku pointed to a direction on Hatake Kakashi's map with his finger: "One of the directions is to escape to the Land of Earth. This is quite normal, after all, during the Grass Country incident a few years ago, the Third Tsuchikage of Iwagakure, Onoki, colluded with the Akatsuki organization."

Uehara Naraku then pointed to another direction on the map: "The other direction leads to the Bird Country to the west of our Rain Country. It is speculated that they may have a base in the Bird Country."

"And according to the intelligence I've received..."

Uehara Naraku slowly turned to look at Granny Chiyo and asked in a deep voice, "Did Sunagakure suffer an attack from a terrifying giant beast with a strange appearance, four limbs on its underside, and wings on its back?"

"That's right."

Granny Chiyo nodded with a grim expression and replied in a low voice, "The Akatsuki members rode that giant beast into Sunagakure, causing us heavy losses."

"Then they might very well be in the Bird Country."

Uehara Naraku touched his fingers and whispered, "At least they passed through the Land of Birds. A few days ago, one of our intelligence units, directly under Lord Hanzo, discovered a giant beast landing in the mountains of the Land of Birds, with several Akatsuki members on board..."

Later, after news of the Akatsuki's attack on Sunagakure arrived, I believed that the Akatsuki members had attacked the village. They most likely returned to the Land of Birds riding that giant flying beast, which was what gave them their incredible speed.

"In the mountains of the bird kingdom?"

A glint of hope flashed in Temari's eyes: "Then let's hurry to the Land of Birds to find Akatsuki's base and locate Gaara!"

Granny Chiyo looked at Uehara Naraku with a puzzled expression: "Where did your intelligence unit find the location? Why did they go to the Land of Birds?"

"Well…"

Uehara Naraku chuckled awkwardly, "There's nothing to be embarrassed about. We've already given up on that idea anyway. After all, the Land of Rain is a small country, and Lord Hanzo hopes we can become a great power, so regarding land..."

"So you want to invade the Bird Country?"

Grandma Chiyo's voice suddenly rose an octave.

Uehara Naraku's face also turned extremely ugly. He looked coldly at Granny Chiyo and said, "What's the difference between Sunagakure and us? You invade other countries at will just for a piece of land. This has happened many times in history!"

From the First Shinobi World War to the Third Shinobi World War, Sunagakure almost always invaded Konoha or the Land of Rain. If it weren't for your village's Fourth Kazekage trying to seize our Land of Rain's land, I wouldn't have killed him!

Moreover, our desire to occupy the Land of Birds was to spare the civilians there from the fighting between your Sunagakure and Iwagakure villages! Not long ago, Lord Hanzo also abandoned this idea and focused on protecting the Land of Rain. What right do you have to criticize us?

"Oh, right, so it's because you're a big country that you can invade other small countries at will, right? You can't even protect your own village, your own village chief has been captured, and you still want to seize the land of your neighboring countries?"

Uehara Naraku's series of questions left Granny Chiyo completely bewildered.

Clearly, Uehara Naraku became very agitated after hearing Granny Chiyo's accusations, and his indignation was palpable.

Everyone present looked rather serious, and Kakashi Hatake and Temari looked a little embarrassed.

After all, they were the ones who invited Uehara Naraku, but before they even started the actual operation, Uehara Naraku and Chiyo got into a fight.

"alright."

Uehara Naraku coldly stared at Granny Chiyo and said in a deep voice, "Alright, then go and rescue them, you ninjas from the Great Ninja Village! We lowly ninjas dare not get involved with you..."

"Uehara!"

"Uehara-senpai!"

"Lord Uehara!"

The group hurriedly stopped Uehara Naraku, who was trying to leave.

Kakashi Hatake looked even more embarrassed and explained softly, "Uehara, Chiyo-sama, now is not the time for us to quarrel. The most important thing is to strike at the Akatsuki and rescue the Fifth Kazekage, isn't it?"

What the hell is going on?!

How did the conversation turn into a discussion about large countries discriminating against small countries?

When did they ever say they discriminated against small countries? Why did the topic veer off like this? Weren't they discussing Akatsuki intelligence in a friendly and harmonious manner just a few minutes ago?

Kakashi Hatake felt a bit of a headache.

Not only Kakashi Hatake, but everyone else was also a bit of a headache. They didn't quite understand why the topic had gone completely off track and caused such a big conflict.

"Sorry, there's no need for that."

Uehara Naraku glanced at Hatake Kakashi, looking like he was about to turn hostile: "You can deal with it yourselves. I'm going back to our little village!"

After saying that, he actually turned around and was about to leave.

"sorry!"

Granny Chiyo suddenly called out to Uehara Naraku in a loud voice, and slowly bowed to him, saying, "I was being too sensitive. I shouldn't have doubted you."

"Uehara-senpai!"

"Uehara!"

A group of people also hurriedly stopped Uehara Naraku.

Naruto Uzumaki went even further, saying, "Uehara, we never thought that way. We've always considered you a friend!"

"Yes, Uehara-senpai."

"Lord Uehara."

Temari bowed respectfully, her face pleading, "Regardless of any conflicts we may have had, haven't we chosen to forgive each other?"

"..."

Uehara Naraku was silent for a while, then nodded and said, "I am willing to understand and am willing to make my efforts for peace. I also hope that you can forgive my emotions, perhaps because my emotions were not good enough!"

To say something that might be considered a leak of confidentiality, the day before I left Amegakure with Temari and Kakashi, I was insulted by radical militant factions because I chose to continue investigating and hunting down the Akatsuki organization and opposed Amegakure's attempt to use this as an excuse to attack the Land of Wind.

Uehara Naraku sighed deeply and said, "If it weren't for Lord Hanzo's foresight in recognizing the many harms that such a dangerous organization as Akatsuki could bring, I might already be forced to resign by those radicals."

"..."

Granny Chiyo and Temari stared at Uehara Naraku in disbelief.

Sweat dripped slowly down the cheeks of the two women from Sunagakure, one old and one young. Clearly, they hadn't expected that someone from Amegakure would actually want to attack the Land of Wind!

However, this is actually quite normal...

Such a good opportunity for expansion, even an ordinary Rain Ninja wouldn't let it pass, right?

Granny Chiyo slowly lowered her head and said earnestly, "I'm very sorry, Lord Uehara Naraku, I was unaware of your situation in Amegakure."

"I'm sorry, I didn't control my emotions."

Uehara Naraku shook his head and sighed, "Fortunately, my teacher still holds some status in Amegakure, and considering his previous achievements in the Land of Grass... Alas, everyone has their difficulties, but thankfully, Lord Hanzo is on our side..."

(End of this chapter)