They're promoting the "Konoha threat" theory, and spouting nonsense about the Hidden

Chapter 245 We Lost a Ninja

"The Hidden Mist Village has proposed convening an alliance conference?"

In Kumogakure, the Third Raikage looked at the handwritten letter from Hozuki Shingetsu in his hand and gently stroked his beard.

"Indeed, Lord Crescent believes that our alliance's current strength is sufficient to crush Konoha. Therefore, to avoid any unforeseen complications, the plan to march on Konoha should be implemented as soon as possible."

The Hidden Mist Envoy stood before the Third Raikage and answered with neither arrogance nor servility.

"When to launch an attack is none of Kirigakure's business, is it?"

Upon hearing this, the future Fourth Raikage, the young Yotsuki Rai, immediately stepped forward.

The right to convene an alliance meeting has always belonged to the alliance leader, even though no one acknowledges it. However, as the second-best ninja village in the world for a long time, Kumogakure naturally considers itself the leader of the anti-Konoha alliance in the absence of Konoha.

The proud and arrogant Yotsuki Rai naturally could not tolerate Kirigakure's attempt to encroach on this right, even if it was just a suggestion.

After all, regardless of who the leader of the alliance belongs to, the Third Raikage has used Hozuki Shingetsu to attack Yotsuki Raikage quite a bit over the past ten years, which has led to the future Fourth Raikage having an instinctive aversion to Kirigakure.

The Third Raikage did not react to his son's words.

The timing of the alliance conference, and even when to attack Konoha, are all negotiable for him now.

As a man who considered it his life's duty to make Kumogakure surpass Konoha and become the number one ninja in the world, he naturally had some ambitions for the position of leader of this anti-Konoha alliance.

In his view, the anti-Konoha alliance was not only a tool for Kumogakure to suppress Konoha, but also an excellent way to expand its own strength.

If he could become the leader of the alliance and gain unified command of the Allied Shinobi Forces, he could rightfully send ninjas from the other ninja villages to the most dangerous front lines.

When Konoha faces a life-or-death crisis, it will naturally not hide anything, so in the early stages of the war, Konoha will inevitably rise up in resistance.

At this point, his idea was naturally to have the armies of the other ninja villages hold the front line, while the Hidden Cloud Village rested in the rear. Then, once the enemy's forces were exhausted, he would seize the opportunity to take over Konoha and plunder its wealth.

If things really go according to his plan, then after this battle, Kumogakure will not only be able to defeat Konoha, but also greatly weaken the strength of the other ninja villages, making Kumogakure the undisputed number one ninja village after the war.

To achieve all this, one must become the leader of the alliance and gain unified command of the allied forces.

In the Third Raikage's mind, the Hidden Mist Village and the Hidden Sun Village were far inferior to his own. The only one who could compete with him for the position of leader was the old fox Onoki of the Hidden Stone Village. Therefore, he naturally had to start by getting support from these two villages.

Therefore, he not only showed no dissatisfaction with his son standing up against the Mist Envoy, but instead smiled slightly and sat there silently watching the show.

"Hmm... Judging from what Lord Yotsuki is saying, you value the internal rules of the alliance more than letting Konoha grow stronger by missing a good opportunity, is that right?"

The Mist Envoy smiled and secretly set a trap for Night Moon Thunder.

However, since Yotsuki Rai was able to become the future Fourth Raikage, he was naturally not completely mindless and ignored the Kirigakure messenger's words.

"On the contrary, what I am doing now is precisely for the purpose of better waging war against Konoha... As the saying goes, to fight external enemies, one must first secure internal stability. The biggest weakness of the alliance right now is its weak cohesion and its fighting each other. If this is the case, it will be easy for Konoha to defeat them one by one."

"Only by clearly defining the rules, strengthening rewards and punishments, and enhancing discipline, can we truly unite all forces into one, preventing Konoha from taking advantage of the situation. Only by leading a righteous army to perform the duties of mourning the people and punishing the guilty can we follow the right path."

The Third Raikage looked at his son with a gratified expression. It seemed that his years of using Hozuki Shingetsu to spur him on had finally had some effect. At least his son's words would have been unthinkable a few years ago.

The Hidden Mist Envoy looked at the expressions on everyone's faces, smiled slightly, and uttered three words: "Rinnegan".

Seeing the puzzled looks on everyone's faces, he emphasized, "A ninja in Konoha has awakened the Rinnegan."

!

Upon hearing this, the smile on the Third Raikage's face vanished instantly, and the nonchalant expressions on the faces of the others present immediately turned serious.

"How did you know? Is your source reliable?"

These two questions revealed the Third Raikage's inner turmoil.

There's nothing we can do about it; it's the Rinnegan after all!

This Rinnegan is not only the foremost of the three great dojutsu in the ninja world, but it is also the legendary eye of the Sage of Six Paths.

Although there is no clear record of the power of the Rinnegan in the history of the ninja world, the power of the Rinnegan can be inferred from the rumors that have been passed down for thousands of years and the power of the Byakugan and Sharingan.

As the leader of Kumogakure, he knew about the existence of the Mangekyou Sharingan, and he also knew that Madara Uchiha was invincible in the ninja world with the Mangekyou Sharingan. If he hadn't encountered Hashirama Senju, Madara Uchiha could have pacified the chaotic world by himself.

Now that a Rinnegan has suddenly appeared in Konoha, if we speculate based on the rumors, if he has fully grown up, he would at least be a master like Madara Uchiha.

In this modern era, without Hashirama Senju, who can withstand such a threat?

but……

How did the Rinnegan, which hadn't appeared for a thousand years since the Sage of Six Paths, suddenly appear at this time, and why did Konoha obtain it at just the right moment?

Faced with the Third Raikage's question, the Hidden Mist Envoy smiled calmly and replied:

"The Rinnegan user is named Nagato Uzumaki, a member of the Uzumaki clan, fifteen years old, and a student of Jiraiya, one of the Legendary Sannin of Konoha. He is currently traveling the ninja world with his master."

Upon hearing this detailed information, including his name, age, background, and lineage, the Third Raikage's doubts dissipated considerably.

Given the level of detail in the information, the Hidden Cloud Village's intelligence-gathering capabilities would allow them to quickly verify its authenticity.

"In that case, there's no need to hold any alliance conference!"

After pondering for a while, the Third Raikage made a decision immediately.

"Dad, we..."

Upon hearing this, Ye Yue Lei immediately stood up to refute it.

As a member of the younger generation, although he knew about Madara Uchiha and the Mangekyou Sharingan, he had never personally witnessed Madara Uchiha's earth-shattering strength.

They believed that the records in books were merely exaggerated accounts of their predecessors.

After all, in his mind, his father was already the top ninja in the ninja world, but his father's strength was far from the level recorded in the books. Therefore, even if the Rinnegan was strong, it wasn't that strong.

If 30,000 people can't kill it, then use 40,000. As long as they are human, they can always kill that Rinnegan.

Compared to this, it is more important to convene an alliance conference to discuss how the alliance leader can use this anti-Konoha alliance to attack Konoha, weaken allies, and improve himself.

The Third Raikage turned to look at his son, his sharp gaze causing the son to involuntarily shut his mouth.

After seeing him shut up, the Third Raikage's gaze immediately fell on the Hidden Mist Messenger.

"Now that the Rinnegan has been revealed, eliminating Konoha is indeed more important than internal conflicts within the alliance."

"I will write a letter by hand and give it to the other leaders of the ninja villages to express my meaning."

"Lord Raikage is wise."

The Mist Envoy bowed slightly, his face full of flattery.

"Let's skip the unnecessary words. In order to make the most of our respective strengths and avoid internal strife caused by unnecessary trouble, I propose that our four forces attack from four directions."

"In other words, Sunagakure will attack the southwest of Konoha, Iwagakure will attack the northwest of Konoha, your Kirigakure will attack the southeast of Konoha, and we, Kumogakure, will attack the northeast of Konoha."

"As for the timing... let's set it for one month from now, with our four forces launching a joint attack!"

Since the decision had been made to seize the time, denying the Rinnegan any chance to grow and denying Konoha any chance to react, the Third Raikage naturally did not hesitate and immediately put forward his opinion.

The Third Raikage's intentions and Hozuki Shingetsu's opinion reached the hands of Iwagakure and Sunagakure under these circumstances.

-

"Tailed Beast Sealing Technique?"

Onoki looked at the Konoha envoy in front of him, his face calm on the surface, but in reality he was very tempted by the deal with Konoha.

There's no way around it; the Tailed Beasts are the strategic force of a village, and the Jinchūriki of those Tailed Beasts are second only to the Kage in terms of strength within the village.

However, due to the imperfections in sealing technology, currently only the Jinchuriki of the Tailed Beasts in Konoha and Kirigakure have relatively strong seals.

The other ninja villages, including Kumogakure, are at risk of their tailed beasts going out of control.

The implications of having a tailed beast jinchūriki that can be fully controlled for a ninja village are self-evident.

Not to mention that the Five-Tails of Iwagakure is still in Hozuki Shingetsu's hands, so Konoha's proposed trade for a tailed beast sealing technique really hit Onoki's sweet spot.

"The Tailed Beast Sealing Technique is indeed a good thing, but we can obtain it from Konoha after defeating them. There is absolutely no need for Iwagakure to risk heavy losses by betraying the alliance."

"So...we have to pay more!"

Onoki remained calm and made an outrageous demand.

"If you want my Hidden Stone Village to risk such a great deal to betray the alliance, then Konoha must offer an equal price... Konoha must hand over the Scroll of Sealing, and in addition, the Hyuga main clan and the Uchiha clan must also send ten boys and girls."

Even though the Konoha envoy had anticipated that Onoki would ask for an exorbitant price before his arrival, he was still shocked by Onoki's appetite.

What is the Book of Seals?

In the world of cultivation, the Book of Sealing is the Jade Slip of Inheritance.

In a fantasy world, the Book of Sealing would be the legacy of a demigod.

In the urban world, the Book of Seals is the key to wealth.

In Jackie Chan's world, the Book of Seals would be a furniture store;

……

In short, the Book of Seals is the foundation of Konoha and should never be handed over to outsiders.

There were also ten boys and girls from the Hyuga main clan and the Uchiha clan. Wasn't this a blatant attempt to steal Konoha's bloodline limit?!

Such conditions would be impossible for even Hiruzen Sarutobi after the Nine-Tails' rampage, let alone Danzo Shimura.

Therefore, the Konoha envoy coldly quoted Shimura Danzo's original words, "Iwagakure has no choice but to agree to this deal, whether they like it or not."

"Even if Konoha is in danger of collapse with the combined efforts of the four ninja villages, there are still dozens of ninja clans and thousands of Jonin in the village. They can still drag Iwagakure down with them before they die."

Upon hearing this, Onoki's expression immediately changed.

He was well aware of Danzo Shimura's madness; he was capable of such a thing. So his expression immediately changed from gloomy to sunny.

"Hehe, now that I think about it carefully, it's not that we can't agree to these conditions..."

Just as Onoki was thinking of tricking him into giving up the Tailed Beast Sealing Technique, there was a knock on the door. An ANBU ninja walked in and presented Onoki with a note.

When Onoki saw the contents of the note, his expression hardened. He glanced at the Konoha envoy, pondered for a moment, and then casually made up an excuse to hand over the matter of trading with the Konoha envoy to someone else. He then left the office and went to another room.

"Are you sure they're talking about the Rinnegan?"

Onoki went to another office, turned around and looked at the Anbu behind him with a serious expression.

"That's right, it's the Rinnegan!"

The ANBU member nodded and then relayed the words of the Kirigakure and Kumogakure envoys.

"Jiraiya's disciple, huh...?"

Having witnessed Madara Uchiha's power firsthand, Onoki was naturally extremely wary of the Rinnegan, a dojutsu ranked above the Sharingan, and couldn't help but marvel at Konoha's incredible luck.

So after a moment's thought, he immediately agreed to the Third Raikage's suggestion to attack Konoha a month later.

"Lord Tsuchikage, what about the Tailed Beast Sealing Technique from Konoha...?"

The advisor standing next to Onoki hesitated for a moment before asking.

"Let's agree to Konoha first, and then we'll see how things go!"

Ōnoki thought for a moment and then gave instructions.

If the Rinnegan is truly as powerful as legend says, or if it is truly like Madara Uchiha reincarnated, then if the situation turns against them, Iwagakure can naturally turn against them.

But if the Rinnegan's power is just average... then Iwagakure will naturally pretend this doesn't exist and continue as before.

As for the threat from Shimura Danzo... if all else fails, just have the main force stop here and he can fly over and join the battle alone!

On one side, Iwagakure agreed to Kumogakure's proposal, and on the other side, Sunagakure would have no objections whatsoever.

At this point, even if Sunagakure wanted to rebel, it no longer had the strength—because the Third Kazekage of Sunagakure, Aogan, had been missing for many days, and the village's higher-ups were already in an uproar over the matter.

Therefore, they are now more eager for a war than the other ninja villages, hoping to use war to divert attention from the internal conflicts within the village.

Thus, the four ninja villages reached a consensus. A month later, the Hidden Cloud Village demanded that the Hidden Leaf Village open its borders to allow the Hidden Cloud ninjas to search, citing the reason that "a ninja who went out on a mission went missing in the Land of Fire."

Konoha, of course, was unwilling to give in, so Kumogakure, citing Konoha's domineering attitude and its arbitrary arrest of Kumogakure ninja, launched a surprise attack on Konoha.

At the same time, the three forces of Iwagakure, Sunagakure, and Kirigakure responded to Kumogakure and simultaneously launched an attack on Konoha.

Konoha, of course, would not sit idly by and immediately launched a counterattack.

Thus, the Third Shinobi World War officially began on March 21, 1946!

(End of this chapter)