Naruto: Starting with Tsunade

Chapter 296 Trading Aokiji's Life for an Alliance x Trading the Five-Tails for the Six-Tails

Ten minutes later, the four looked at the spot where Hanzo had disappeared and couldn't help but sigh, "He's gone..."

Even with the combined strength of four people, they still couldn't defeat Hanzo. On the contrary, Hanzo couldn't kill them either, so it was a draw.

However, according to Hanzo, if he hadn't defeated the four of them within ten minutes, then he would lose, and in a sense, they would be the victors.

However, all four of them were proud and arrogant, and they were not very able to accept this result.

Tsunade was the first to express her strong dissatisfaction:

"You really messed up just now..."

Tsunade complained like this.

"oh."

Aokiji echoed "girlfriend," then looked at Jiraiya with a reproachful glare, and said:

"Jiraiya, what's wrong with you just now? You couldn't hit anything, and you've done it so many times, wasting such good opportunities."

Jiraiya silently lowered his head.

Aokiji was right to scold him; his behavior just now was indeed poor, and he was indeed a bit reckless in some aspects.

Tsunade denied it, saying, "I wasn't talking about him."

Aokiji continued to say "Oh," then looked at Orochimaru and scolded him, "Orochimaru, why was your teamwork so bad just now? When an opportunity arises, seize it boldly and don't hesitate."

"Your problem is that you sometimes overthink things. With me here, what are you afraid of? Go for it! If anything goes wrong, I, Aokiji, will be your backup, won't I?"

In the past six months, he has risen to fame, becoming a prominent figure in the ninja world by virtue of his three bloodline limits and the power of the tailed beasts.

If you encounter him during a mission, you can simply abandon the mission without being punished.

Aokiji's Ice Release technique left a very deep impression, and the title "Absolute Zero" is the best proof of that.

Of course, before long, this title may need to be changed to the Four Ninja of Konoha.

Aokiji makes a lot of sense.

Orochimaru silently lowered his head, his face showing shame.

He is sometimes overly cautious.

Seeing that Aokiji had misunderstood, Tsunade quickly said, "I wasn't talking about the two of them, I was talking about myself."

Aokiji was startled, then snapped back to reality, patted Tsunade's cute little dorky face, and said affectionately with a warm expression:

"It's okay, girls are cute when they're a little silly."

"Besides, failure is the mother of success."

"No one is born knowing how to do something. Let's just consider this experience as learning from it, and we'll definitely be able to do better next time we're together."

After saying that, Aokiji made an encouraging gesture: j_):

You fucking...

This time, Orochimaru and Jiraiya stood together for the first time, and Orochimaru was criticizing him.

Aokiji sometimes applies double standards when it comes to dealing with Tsunade.

If they could, Orochimaru and Jiraiya would really like these two bastards to go back to the way they used to bicker with each other, instead of having to constantly endure this couple's PDA.

Although these two still bicker frequently, the focus has shifted from words to physical confrontations.

Realizing he was being a bit too hypocritical, Aokiji coughed twice:

"Just kidding, I was just trying to lighten the mood. But just to be on the safe side, I suggest we move our injured companions to a safe place first."

Upon hearing this, the three nodded.

There is a demon kingdom nearby, but it is a neutral country.

They can move their injured comrades there and wait until they recover before returning to Konoha to avoid being attacked by the enemy on the way.

The four of them weren't afraid; even a demigod in the ninja world couldn't do anything to them. Their main concern was their injured and immobile companions.

Furthermore, the medical supplies available to us are insufficient, and we need to go to the Land of Demons to replenish them.

The only concern is whether the neutral Kingdom of Demons will accept them.

After all, the Land of Demons is a neutral country, and in principle, it should not interfere in the battles between nations. Naturally, it does not want these Konoha ninjas to appear again, lest they get burned.

However, these are extraordinary times, and the four of them can't care about this rule now; they'll decide later.

……

……

Located between the Land of Fire and the Land of Whirlpools, there is a country where, due to its unique climate, snow covers the land year-round, with snow drifting for thousands of miles.

At this moment, Hiruzen Sarutobi, leading the Konoha ninja, stepped onto this land. Seeing this snowy landscape, he pulled down the brim of his hat and couldn't help but sigh:

"No matter how many times I come here, it always snows."

This is the land of iron, with a unique climate and year-round snow cover, making it extremely beautiful.

Because this is a neutral country, ninjas don't fight here, so some wealthy people come here specifically for sightseeing, where they don't have to worry about safety and can enjoy the beautiful scenery.

Of course, Hiruzen Sarutobi's presence here couldn't possibly be for any recreational purposes.

He came here for a very important matter, a matter that could determine the fate of Konoha.

Therefore, he had to come here, even at great risk.

"Lord Hokage, are you worried about an ambush?"

The guards around him looked around, remaining highly vigilant.

Hiruzen Sarutobi reassured him, "Don't worry, since it was initiated by the Land of Earth and the Land of Water, and with the Land of Iron as witness, there won't be any problems."

I guess so……

He wasn't really confident when he said that.

Back then, the Land of Lightning also used the pretext of an alliance, but unexpectedly, the two brothers, Kinkaku and Ginkaku, launched a coup, leading to the deaths of both the Raikage and the Hokage.

Now, with the alliance being mentioned again, Hiruzen Sarutobi couldn't help but think of the past, and sighed inwardly, hoping he wouldn't follow in his teacher's footsteps...

Hiruzen Sarutobi shook his head, brushing off the snow from his body as if shaking off his confusion, and led his guards toward the castle of the Land of Iron.

They left a trail of footprints along the way, and before they knew it, they had arrived at the main city of the Land of Iron.

There were many armored guards patrolling around the castle.

They are soldiers of the Land of Iron, and in addition, they are also samurai.

Before the rise of ninjas, they were the symbol of military power in the world.

However, with the rapid rise of ninjas, the status of samurai declined, from having a high social status at the beginning to becoming a miserable existence who couldn't even afford to eat.

They couldn't compete with ninjas in terms of both robbing and fighting, which made the samurai's status particularly awkward. The Land of Iron was born from this group of samurai banding together for mutual support.

Upon seeing Hiruzen Sarutobi and his group arrive, they were quickly stopped by someone.

Hiruzen Sarutobi politely introduced himself and asked them to inform their general.

Their presence here is a secret, and the little Karami are unaware of it.

"Understood, please wait a moment."

The minor leader, wearing a helmet with bull horns, nodded and turned to leave.

Although I'm not happy about these ninjas who have taken my job, I still have to treat them with the proper respect.

Hiruzen Sarutobi waited in the cold wind for a while, and soon the small leader returned. Unlike before, when he stood in front, this time he stood behind several people.

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at the leader in front of him from afar. The leader had a headband, wore a kimono, and had a samurai sword at his waist.

This is a middle-aged man, stern and unsmiling, with sharp eyes like arrows and a mustache at the corner of his mouth.

It was none other than Mifune, the general of the Land of Iron and the leader of the samurai.

Although he is a samurai, he is extremely strong, comparable to a Kage, and is a man not to be underestimated.

Hiruzen Sarutobi had met him before; they were old acquaintances.

Mifune saw Hiruzen Sarutobi standing in the cold wind and said in a low voice, "I'm sorry to have kept you waiting. I'm truly sorry for not greeting you properly."

After saying that, he glanced to the side and saw the little leader behind him. His sharp eyes seemed to be blaming the other party for making the Hokage stand outside in the cold wind for so long.

The underling shrank back and took a few steps back after being glanced at.

Mifune was an extremely upright and incorruptible person. It was precisely because of this respect for his character that the alliance was formed in the Land of Iron, with him acting as guarantor.

Of course, this guarantee doesn't come out of nowhere. The person being guaranteed needs to pay a certain amount of money.

It wasn't that Mifune was greedy for money, but rather that he wanted to use the money for national development.

"Don't do that again next time," Mifune said sternly.

"Yes, yes..." the foreman readily complied.

Hiruzen Sarutobi chuckled and smoothed things over, "Lord Mifune, he didn't mean it; he just wanted to inform you as soon as possible."

The underling looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi, his eyes beneath the mask filled with gratitude.

I had long heard that the Third Hokage was a very upright person. Now that I think about it, I only left them in the cold wind for half a day because of my own selfish desires. The other party not only did not blame me, but even pleaded for me. He was a really good person.

Mifune nodded: "I truly admire the Hokage's character."

Hiruzen Sarutobi shook his head, indicating that he was the one who should respect Hiruzen's character.

After a round of mutual flattery, and with the groundwork laid, Hiruzen Sarutobi, standing beside Mifune, spoke up about the information regarding their alliance partners: "Besides me, have the other two arrived yet?"

As the guarantor, Mifune knew without a word who he was referring to and replied, "Lord Mizukage has arrived, but Lord Tsuchikage has not yet arrived."

Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded in understanding and followed closely behind. Before long, they entered the city and came to a room. The room was circular, with a fireplace on the side and a round conference table in the center. A middle-aged man with his eyes closed sat beside it.

He looked a little older than him, but Hiruzen Sarutobi actually knew his opponent's age very well.

This middle-aged man was a contemporary of the First Hokage. He was a bodyguard who accompanied the First Mizukage during the first Five Kage Summit.

All the guards behind him at that meeting became the second generation, except for one person, the man in front of him.

He lost the competition with Hozuki Gengetsu and failed to become the Second Mizukage as he had hoped.

After the Second Mizukage and the Second Tsuchikage perished together, he is now active in this world as the Third Mizukage.

She looks so young only because she has a secret to preserving her youthful appearance.

Seemingly noticing Hiruzen Sarutobi's arrival, the Third Mizukage turned his head and glanced sideways, but with his eyes closed.

The other party was not blind, but rather it was a habit that he had retained due to years of training in sensory ninjutsu.

"Hokage, you've arrived." The Third Mizukage spoke slowly.

Hiruzen Sarutobi asked, feigning ignorance, "Where is Lord Tsuchikage?"

The Third Mizukage said calmly, "The Tsuchikage hasn't arrived yet..."

Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded, his inner canthus narrowing as he silently sized up the man, pondering why he was there.

He could still find clues about the Tsuchikage's side, but why would the Mizukage get involved in this mess? Does Konoha have something that the Mizukage's side covets?

As he pondered this, Hiruzen Sarutobi casually found a spot, sat down leisurely, and waited for the Third Tsuchikage to arrive.

Despite his casual demeanor, he is actually constantly on guard. He doesn't want to repeat his mentor's mistakes, but he puts on a calm and composed appearance to maintain the demeanor of a great power.

Unlike Hiruzen Sarutobi, his guards were very vigilant, barely daring to breathe, constantly observing their surroundings, ready to retaliate at the slightest disturbance.

The tragedy of the Second Hokage was still fresh in their minds, and these guards did not want the Third Hokage to repeat the same mistake.

The people inside were mostly silent, and for a moment, the atmosphere became extremely tense; you could hear a pin drop.

Fortunately, the atmosphere didn't last long, as someone entered the room, breaking the awkward silence.

Everyone turned their attention to him. He was a short, middle-aged man with a distinctive feature on his face.

He had a huge, red, bulbous nose, which made his otherwise passable facial features look terrible. Combined with his extremely short stature, it was quite amusing.

However, judging a book by its cover would be a huge mistake, since the person in front of him was the Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, also known as the Two-Tai, who possessed the extremely rare Kekkei Tota, which surpassed even Kekkei Genkai.

Onoki looked around at the people and said obliviously, "Looks like I'm the last one."

After saying that, his body floated up and landed on the chair.

After a brief opening remark, Onoki got straight to the point: "Hokage, the main reason I called you two here today is to discuss the alliance between the three nations of Water, Fire, and Earth."

Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded. An alliance was exactly what Konoha, currently troubled by war, desperately wanted but could not obtain.

If we could form an alliance with the Land of Water and the Land of Earth, we wouldn't even need to fight; the war could end instantly.

However, neither the Land of Water nor the Land of Earth has any connection with Konoha, and they even have a history of enmity. Clearly, the other party's proposal is not for charity, but rather for some other purpose.

Hiruzen Sarutobi already had a general idea in mind, but he still specifically asked, "Lord Tsuchikage, what does Konoha hope to gain through this alliance?"

Seeing Hiruzen Sarutobi's directness, Onoki dropped the pretense and cut to the chase, stating his request directly: "It's really nothing much. I just want to take back something from your Konoha that rightfully belongs to our Land of Earth."

"What is that?" Hiruzen Sarutobi narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Five tails."

Ōnoki was short in stature, but his attitude was extremely tough; those two words alone were full of unyielding intent.

As expected… Hiruzen Sarutobi's face showed bitterness: "Tsuchikage, you really are asking the impossible. You should know that when a Tailed Beast is extracted, the Jinchuriki will die…"

Hiruzen Sarutobi doesn't like Aokiji much now, but it's undeniable that Aokiji is an indispensable fighting force for Konoha.

Without him, Konoha's overall strength would drop by a level.

"Of course I know that..."

Onoki's face was grim. He lowered his voice and finished speaking, then raised his tone: "Of course, don't forget what you promised me back then!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi: ...

"You told me that Aokiji doesn't have the Sharingan."

"..."

"That's why I felt at ease leaving the Five-Tails in your Konoha. But you, three years later, gave me a huge surprise."

Onoki's words made perfect sense, and Hiruzen Sarutobi couldn't refute them.

After a long silence, he squeezed out a sentence through gritted teeth: "Actually, I only found out about Aokiji's Sharingan about half a year ago..."

Well, even Hiruzen Sarutobi himself didn't quite believe what he was saying.

Sure enough, upon hearing this, Onoki felt insulted and flew into a rage, calling out his name: "Hiruzen Sarutobi, do you think I'm short, so my brain capacity is also small?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi quickly denied it: "That's not what I meant."

Onoki pressed on aggressively, his eyes seeming to devour someone: "So what do you mean?"

"..."

Onoki retorted indignantly, "Do you think I'm stupid? You, as the Hokage, don't know that Aokiji possesses the Sharingan?"

"..."

Hiruzen Sarutobi wanted to cry but had no tears; he was like a mute eating bitter melon.

He genuinely didn't know.

Who knows how long Aokiji has kept the fact that he possesses the Sharingan a secret?

Onoki's attitude was extremely firm: "In short, if you don't return the Five-Tails to me, I will lead Iwagakure to attack your Konoha. If you don't give it to me, I'll take it by force!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi wasn't easily intimidated. He gritted his teeth and said in a rough voice, "Onoki, don't go too far! What do you mean by 'return'? In the end, your Five-Tails was originally given to you by our First Hokage. Not only the Five-Tails, but all four of your tails actually belong to Konoha."

Onoki said coldly, "You mean you're willing to go to war with Iwagakure for the sake of Jinchūriki, is that it?"

"I didn't say that; you're just being too aggressive."

Hiruzen Sarutobi sneered, "But if you keep pushing your luck, we in Konoha won't be afraid of having another Iwagakure village like you."

His protection of Aokiji wasn't for Aokiji's sake, but for the sake of Konoha's overall interests.

This is why, even though he dislikes Aokiji so much, he still has to send Aokiji to the battlefield to earn merits.

Aokiji is too strong. Wherever he stands, he can reduce Konoha's losses. Enemy countries are wary of his strength and dare not act recklessly.

If Hiruzen were to hand over Aokiji now, he wouldn't be willing to cut off his own arm; he wouldn't be that foolish.

And even if you do pay, what reason can you give for doing so?

Do you really think Aokiji would just stick his neck out without fighting back?

Furthermore, Aokiji's family wouldn't just watch him die.

Not to mention, Aokiji is Tsunade's boyfriend, and Lady Mito and the Uzumaki clan she represents have high hopes for him.

Aokiji can't just act whenever he wants now; he has to consider the strength behind him.

Therefore, he would rather fight another Iwagakure village than hand over Aokiji.

Neither side was willing to back down, and the air was thick with tension; even the guards on both sides seemed poised to start a fight at any moment.

At this moment, the Third Mizukage stepped in to smooth things over: "Alright, alright, calm down."

"I remained calm throughout."

Onoki snorted and went down the steps.

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at the Third Mizukage and said politely, "Your Excellency Mizukage didn't come here just to listen to us argue, did you?"

The Third Mizukage gave a mysterious smile: "Could you two, for the sake of your age, at least let me say one sentence first?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at him, a puzzled expression on his face: "Go ahead and tell me."

The Third Mizukage crossed his hands and rested them on his chin: "Indeed, handing over the Five-Tails directly is a huge blow to Konoha. How about this, our Land of Water will step in and offer some compensation."

Hiruzen Sarutobi was even more confused, not quite understanding what the other party was up to. How could the affairs of their two countries be related to the Land of Water?

"How about you return the Five-Tails to Iwagakure, and we, Kirigakure, will compensate Konoha with a new Tailed Beast?"

"What!?"

"How's the Six-Tails?"

"Wh-what..." Hiruzen Sarutobi was so shocked he couldn't speak.

"But the number of tails is one more than the Five-Tails!" The Third Mizukage's voice was laced with sarcasm.

Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyes widened: "What exactly do you want to do?"

"Iwagakure wants the Five-Tails inside Aokiji, while we Kirigakure want Aokiji."

"Wh-what?"

"To be precise, all we need is the body."

(End of this chapter)