The world I hear is completely different from yours.

"Understood, but just in case, should I take some men to keep an eye on things as well?" Silver Horn asked after thinking for a moment.

“No, our opposition to the Raikage’s peace proposal at the meeting did not violate the village’s rules, but if you directly kill people from Konoha, it would clearly violate the Raikage’s orders. Unless absolutely necessary, we should not break ties with the Raikage. Let these mercenaries handle this.”

"Yes."

Watching Silver Horn quickly walk out, Gold Horn got up and re-hung the windproof cloth—instantly, the howling cold wind was kept out, and the hot spring returned to its calm and warmth—but Gold Horn had no interest in soaking in the hot spring anymore. Why negotiate peace? Had all the blood shed by Cloud Village over the years been shed in vain? Gold Horn still remembered the screams of his relatives and comrades before they died; their faces, filled with despair and death, were still vivid in his mind. They constantly reminded him not to forget to avenge them.

Besides, it's not like Kumogakure is weaker than Konoha now. After so many years of fighting, both sides are very familiar with each other's strong shinobi. In Konoha today, Madara Uchiha is dead, Hashirama Senju is dead, and the only one who can be considered a Kage-level shinobi is Tobirama Senju. His brothers and the Raikage could easily handle that. Moreover, Konoha is under attack from all sides; how many troops does it have left to stop Kumogakure's army? In this situation, isn't the Raikage, who insists on peace talks, betraying the village's interests? What right does such a person have to continue being the village's leader?

Kinkaku shook the wine jug vigorously and realized that he had unknowingly drunk all the wine. So he threw the jug away forcefully, as if he wanted to smash someone with it. Then he shook his slightly drunk head, and his thoughts drifted in a direction he had never thought of before: Should I kill the Second Raikage and become the Third Raikage?

On a distant mountain peak, a ninja who had been hiding for a long time watched Ginkaku emerge from the camp and hurriedly sent a pre-arranged signal to his companions: "Quickly inform Lord Raikage that Ginkaku has just met with Kinkaku, and we're about to begin our operation!"

As typical hardliners in the village, how could the Second Raikage possibly trust Kinkaku and Ginkaku? Therefore, before the Second Raikage set off for the front lines, he ordered his trusted confidants to monitor Kinkaku and Ginkaku day and night to prevent them from sabotaging the peace talks between the Land of Lightning and the Land of Fire.

The Second Raikage knew very well that the Land of Lightning's national strength had been depleted to its limit during the First Shinobi World War and was on the verge of collapse. Therefore, the sooner peace talks were held, the faster the Land of Lightning could recover from the war. As long as the Land of Lightning regained its full strength first, the so-called peace treaty with Konoha would be nothing but a piece of waste paper that could be torn up at any time.

PS: Second update, some settings have been improved.

Chapter Eleven: Battle (Part One)

At dawn, Squad 308 quietly ate breakfast around the campfire. This was their last hot breakfast within Konoha's territory. Soon they would cross the border of the Land of Fire. In the days to come, to ensure their safety, they would not light the campfire again to prevent the light from attracting the enemy. Instead, they would eat the soldier rations they had brought to restore their strength.

Before setting off, Sarutobi Aoyama pointed to the map and, in the morning light, explained the route plan for this mission to the team members once again: they would leave the Land of Fire, then travel straight through the Land of Hot Water and the Land of Frost, and finally arrive at the Land of Lightning.

However, since the peace treaty signed between Konoha and Kumogakure has been agreed to by both daimyo and announced to other major ninja villages, any overt acts of sabotage will provoke joint retaliation from Konoha and Kumogakure. Therefore, according to the deductions of Konoha's General Staff, the enemy will only launch attacks outside the borders of the Land of Fire and the Land of Lightning, that is, within the territory of the Land of Hot Water and the Land of Frost.

"So, are you ready?" Sarutobi Aoyama put away the map and asked with a serious expression.

"Ready!" *3

"Then, Team 308, let's go!" Four figures began their energetic sprint.

The Konoha Anbu members following behind looked at each other in bewilderment: What are these rookies doing running so fast so early in the morning? What will they do if they don't have the stamina for the battle later?

However, the Dark Division's worries did not come true. Just half a day later, when Squad 308 was passing through a dense grove of trees, the enemy appeared.

Hyuga Kagetsu, who had been keeping his Byakugan active the whole way, was the first to issue a warning: "Enemies are approaching rapidly. There are 3 on the left rear and 2 on the right rear. Judging from their chakra levels, they are all elite Jonin!"

As soon as they finished speaking, several humanoid puppets suddenly emerged from the ground, opening their mouths wide to reveal the dark muzzles of cannons inside, from which a faint red light emanated.

"Scatter!" Sarutobi Aoyama shouted upon seeing this.

In the blink of an eye, several thick clouds of fog exploded violently between the four people, instantly engulfing the forest with choking black mist.

"Smoke bomb?"

In order to quickly evade the artillery fire, the four of them burst into their maximum speed and scattered in all directions, creating a certain distance between each other, making it impossible for them to provide assistance to the others for the time being.

Before anyone could react, the puppets fired several more shots, this time with live ammunition, targeting the explosive traps the enemy had already set up in the trees. "Boom! Boom! Boom!" The numerous explosive traps detonated one another, causing a chain reaction of explosions that forced everyone to scatter and run out of the woods.

"Something's not right!" Tianqing felt that the enemy's attack was too targeted. "The enemy didn't use a chakra jutsu trap that's easy to control remotely. Instead, they used an explosive trap that only activates when a shell hits. Was it to prevent our Byakugan from seeing it? Why do the enemy know so much about us?"

However, Tian Qing didn't have time to issue a warning, so she could only run out of the woods while avoiding the explosions.

Sarutobi Aoyama leaped out of the woods, and at that moment he realized that something was wrong with the enemy's attack. "It feels like these explosive traps are intentionally designed to lure us out of the woods? Could it be that the enemy is deliberately separating us because they are concerned about the coordination between the Sharingan and Byakugan?"

At that moment, two enemies dressed in samurai attire rushed forward, brandishing long swords: "Sarutobi Aoyama, your bounty is yours, the Iron Blade Brothers have taken it!"

*Swoosh!* The longsword clashed with the kunai, sparks flying. The lead enemy didn't waste any words, immediately launching a fierce attack on Sarutobi Aoyama, each strike aimed at Aoyama's vitals. Even when Sarutobi Aoyama tried to create distance by using a mutually destructive fighting style, the lead enemy risked injury to entangle him. Another enemy assisted in the attack, focusing on Sarutobi Aoyama's other hand to prevent him from forming hand seals and using ninjutsu.

They knew that they couldn't quickly defeat a veteran Jonin like Sarutobi Aoyama, so they decided to use delaying tactics beforehand, waiting for the others to deal with the Chunin before ganging up on Sarutobi Aoyama together.

PS Chapter 3

Chapter Twelve: Battle (Part Two)

On the other side of the forest, a thick white mist shrouded the hillside. This was the signature ninjutsu of the Water Village: Water Release - Mist Concealment Technique. Within the mist, three rogue ninja dressed as mist ninja stared at Hyuga Kagetsu with ill intent: "We didn't expect the Hyuga clan to actually send out their main branch. We've hit the jackpot this time!"

After a sinister laugh, the several Mist Ninjas slowly disappeared into the mist, leaving only their gloomy laughter echoing in the air, and a chilling killing intent emanating from them.

"Eight Trigrams Empty Palm!!" Hyuga Kagetsu was startled and immediately activated his Byakugan, his palms flying out to deflect the needles shot at him from the shadows. "Before my eyes, all invisibility techniques are meaningless!"

"Oh? These kids are pretty arrogant these days." Seeing that his silent killing technique couldn't hide from Hyuga's Byakugan, a Mist Ninja stepped forward with a displeased look. "You guys don't need to do anything yet, I'll play with her for a bit."

After saying that, the other two Mist Ninja took a few steps back, one in front and one behind, watching Hyuga Kagetsu to prevent her from taking the opportunity to escape.

"A battle of attrition?" Hinata Kagetsu smiled sarcastically, without replying, simply getting into a fighting stance, ready for battle.

Deception is a basic skill for ninjas, and Hyuga Kagetsu knew very well that the opponent's so-called "gauntlet" was just a low-level deception. The opponent had simply realized that as the team's scout, he needed to keep his Byakugan active for a long time while moving to prevent enemy ambushes, so he had already consumed a lot of chakra. Therefore, he had the idea of ​​slowly depleting his chakra in order to capture him alive, since a living Byakugan was dozens of times more expensive than a dead one.

And do you really think the other two Mist Ninja won't attack just because they say they won't? Hyuga Kagetsu isn't a three-year-old. I'm afraid that the moment I show any signs of exhaustion, they'll all attack at once.

"I will never let the Hyuga Byakugan fall into the hands of others. Even if I die, I will pierce my own eyes first!" Hyuga Kagetsu made up her mind. This was her resolve as the head of the Hyuga family.

"Bang!" A signal flare rose into the sky in the distance. This was a pre-arranged distress signal to notify the Konoha Anbu to come to the rescue! In order to send out this signal flare, Sarutobi Aoyama risked not dodging the Iron Blade Brothers' attack, and a long wound was torn open on his body, with blood gushing out!

Then, at that moment, the Konoha Anbu following behind Squad 308 drew their weapons and stared coldly at the suddenly appearing enemy—a masked ninja wearing a Long Ninja headband—Kakuzu, who had just defected from the village.

"A rogue ninja from Tsurumura? You actually dare to show your face alone in front of Konoha's Anbu?"

"So you're the famous Konoha Fire and Wind duo, right? Perfect timing, I haven't even tried this technique since I ran away from the village." Before he could finish speaking, Kakuzu's body began to tear apart, countless black threads gushing out from the cracks. "Secret Technique—Earth Grudge Fear!"

Instantly, Kakuzu transformed into a gigantic black tentacle monster, with several tentacles thrusting towards the two ANBU members like spears!

However, this speed wasn't too fast for the Fire and Wind duo. After dodging with a Body Flicker Technique, the two instantly formed hand seals: "Wind Release - Great Wind Break!" "Fire Release - Fire Bullet!"

The wind fueled the fire, and the fire intensified the wind's power. The combined power of the two ninjutsu far exceeded that of a single ninjutsu. Furthermore, the tacit understanding and cooperation between the two users further enhanced the power of the ninjutsu. A huge fire tornado slammed into the tentacle monster, and everything it encountered along the way was sucked into the fire tornado, making it grow larger and larger, like a small mountain pressing down on the enemy.

"Well done!" Kakuzu shouted, gathering all the black tentacles together and slamming them into the fire tornado like a giant hammer!

"Boom! Boom! Boom!" The clash of the two ninjutsu techniques produced a series of explosive sounds, as if mountains were collapsing and the earth was splitting. Hearing this tremendous noise, everyone in Squad 308 felt a chill in their hearts; it seemed reinforcements wouldn't arrive anytime soon!

P.S. My new book is still seeking your collection and recommendations. Your collection and recommendations are my motivation!

Chapter Thirteen: Battle (Part Three)

"Huff~ Huff~ Huff~" Uchiha Haruno knelt on the ground, panting heavily. His left arm was limp and bleeding profusely. His right hand gripped his last kunai tightly and pointed fiercely at the enemy not far away, a large group of humanoid puppets slowly approaching.

The enemy clearly knew how to counter the Sharingan, having deployed a high-level puppeteer capable of manipulating a large number of puppets. The Sharingan's reconnaissance abilities are inferior to the Byakugan, making it impossible to clearly see the puppets' chakra control lines. Therefore, they couldn't immediately locate the puppeteer's true form and could only helplessly allow the large group of puppets to continuously drain their chakra. The Sharingan's genjutsu was meaningless against the puppets, and its ninjutsu copying was even more of a joke. It was quite remarkable that Uchiha Haruno had managed to hold out this long.

"Am I going to die? I'm so unwilling." As a ninja who had been through many battles, Uchiha Haruno had long been prepared to die in battle. However, before she died, she had to do one last thing: activate the explosive tag hidden on her body. Every bloodstained ninja dared not imagine what would happen to their corpse if it fell into the hands of the enemy, so if possible, they would leave an explosive tag to send themselves off.

"Yuanye, stop!" a voice shouted from afar.

"That voice? Is that Tianqing?" Uchiha Haruno shouted hurriedly, "Don't come any closer! You're no match for him! Run!"

Tian Qing suddenly tore open the scroll: "Quick Sage Mode!"

"Boom!" Tian Qing's speed increased dramatically, and in an instant he rushed in front of Uchiha Haruno. Holding a kunai in each hand, he used his skills of slashing, pointing, hooking, and stabbing. In the blink of an eye, more than a dozen puppets collapsed to the ground with their joints shattered.

Uchiha Haruno looked on in disbelief: "That speed was definitely Jonin level! And the chakra on Tensei was full of life force. I've never seen chakra with this kind of quality before!"

"Huh? What's going on?" Puppet master Sato, hiding in the shadows, was filled with disbelief. That Chunin named Tenharu was clearly described in the intelligence as just an ordinary civilian Chunin, so how could he have such speed?

Then he witnessed an even more unbelievable scene: Tian Qing was actually talking to her puppet.

"Tell me, where is that puppeteer hiding?"

Huh? Has this girl named Tianqing lost her mind? Who's going to answer her questions now? Even her friend doesn't know where I'm hiding!

"Okay, thank you. So there's only one puppeteer."

Huh? Has anyone actually answered? Are you insulting my intelligence with this kind of scam? Do you really think I'd believe my puppet told you my hiding place?

The next second, Tian Qing kicked the puppet away and charged straight towards Sato's hiding place.

"Hmph, just a low-level trick!" Sato activated a few puppets that happened to be blocking the road, launching an attack, while the other puppets calmly continued to surround her, forming a circle. She was simply choosing a direction randomly to gauge my reaction based on whether I showed any panic!

In the second second, Tian Qing instantly killed the puppet blocking her way and continued charging forward without changing direction at all!

"Hmph, a woman's intuition? You're lucky!" Sato's face was ashen. His hands moved rapidly, and the swarm of puppets, no longer moving slowly, charged towards Tian Qing at full speed. Then, a puppet resembling Sato leaped from the nearby bushes and quickly ran to the side. "Watch this Sato-style Substitution Technique closely! I've carefully adjusted this puppet's meridians, chakra, and flesh. Even a Jonin's Hyuga Byakugan was fooled by me back then!"

In the third second, Tianqing slammed a heavy punch into the ground: "Sage Art - Wind Pressure!" The unique physical attack in Sage Mode can fully utilize the natural energy around him, making it a part of his body, thus forming an "invisible" attack! This punch directly stirred up an invisible airflow, slowing down the speed of the charging puppet. Tianqing took the opportunity to accelerate and rushed out of the encirclement. Then, ignoring the substitute puppet, he continued to charge straight towards Sato's hiding place!

"Impossible!" Sato was both shocked and terrified, almost shouting out loud, "Impossible! The intelligence clearly stated that she wasn't a sensory ninja, and there was no blood on her. I don't believe she could find me!!"

In the fourth second, "Bang!" A large hole was punched in the ground, revealing a dumbfounded Sato. Before he could react, a kunai slashed across his throat. Sato tried to say something, but because his trachea was cut open, he could only make a "gurgling" sound. He struggled a few times and then stopped moving.

As if time had stood still, all the puppets stopped moving in that instant.

P.S. Please recommend and favorite this post! Your recommendations and favorites are my motivation.

Chapter Fourteen: Battle (Part Four)

Seeing that the puppet had stopped moving, Uchiha Haruno knew that Tensei had dealt with the enemy, so he began to struggle to bandage himself, while gesturing to Tensei that he didn't need to come and help, and should go find the others.

Having overheard the enemy's prior personnel arrangements from the puppet, and knowing that the only enemy here had been eliminated, Tianqing immediately rushed towards Hyuga Kagetsu after confirming that Uchiha Haruno still had the basic ability to protect himself.

"There are about 2 minutes left in Sage Mode, you must hold on!"

When Tian Qing caught up with the group of Mist Ninja, they had already captured Hyuga Kagetsu and were preparing to leave.

"Sage Art - Wind Pressure!" By listening to the sound of the clothes on the Mist Ninja's body, Ameyo easily located their position using the Mist Concealment Technique. Combined with the explosive power of Sage Mode, she quickly eliminated these Mist Ninja.

Unfortunately, the weather cleared up too late.

Before being captured, to prevent Hyuga's blood from falling into enemy hands, Hyuga Kagetsu pierced her Byakugan. Now, although she has survived, as a Hyuga without the Byakugan, she can no longer be a ninja.

As Tianqing bandaged up Hyuga Kagetsu, she couldn't help but feel a little resentful of herself. If only she had been a little faster just now.

Perhaps sensing Ameyo's guilt, Hinata Kagetsu forced a smile: "Don't be sad. This way I can retire early. Anyway, with the family supporting me, I can enjoy a free life to the fullest from now on."

Soon after, Sarutobi Aoyama arrived as well—after the Iron Blade Brothers fought with him for a while, they realized that no other enemies were coming to reinforce them, so they retreated on their own initiative.

After learning what had happened, Sarutobi Aoyama looked at Hyuga Kagetsu and Uchiha Haruno with a grim expression: the Sharingan and Byakugan hadn't even had a chance to demonstrate their combined power before being severely injured, with the Byakugan even going blind. Not only had the Hokage's plan fallen through, but the team's mission might not even be completed. What to do? Didn't the Hokage say he'd specifically arranged for the Anbu to ensure safety? Why hadn't they arrived yet?

At this moment, far behind, the small hill where the secret forces had fought had been completely leveled, leaving only a huge crater and scorched earth around it.

"Ugh!" Kakuzu spat out a mouthful of blood-soaked fragments of internal organs, staggered, and barely managed to stand. Looking at the two Anbu corpses on the ground, he said, "As expected of Konoha's Fire and Wind Duo, they actually forced me to this point! But if I can get your two hearts, I will definitely become stronger in the future! But right now I am in very poor condition, so I should retreat and recuperate first."

Considering that both team members were seriously injured and Tensei was also exhausted from consuming too much chakra, Sarutobi Aoyama decided to lead Team 308 to a nearby village to recuperate for a few days. Anyway, there was still plenty of time for the mission to the Land of Lightning, and Sarutobi Aoyama dared not risk going any further now.

"Why are you suddenly so interested in puppets, Tenji?" Sarutobi Aoyama asked, seemingly casually.

During her days of recuperation, Tian Qing kept scavenging puppet parts and cores from the previous battlefield, and even began assembling puppets herself, showing a strong intention to become a puppeteer. But the problem is that she had never had this intention before.

In the past few days, Sarutobi Aoyama learned from Uchiha Haruno and Hyuga Kagetsu that Tensei had displayed unexpectedly strong strength in the previous battle. However, since every ninja has their own secrets, no one asked any further questions. It was only because Sarutobi Aoyama saw that Tensei was now spending a lot of time on puppetry that he was worried she might go astray, so he asked her one more question.

"Because I feel very close to these puppets, as if I can talk to them," Tian Qing said with a smile.

Sarutobi Aoyama: "...Has he had another episode?" But then Sarutobi Aoyama thought again, what ninja doesn't have some quirks? Compared to his habit of always sticking out his tongue to lick himself, talking to puppets is a more acceptable quirk. So he walked away with a wry smile.

Chapter Fifteen: Future Plans

There's a reason why Tian Qing chose puppetry.

As a listener, she is an expert in intelligence gathering, possessing excellent support and logistical abilities, but her direct combat capabilities are poor. However, to complete the mission given by the system and become the Third Hokage, she must possess strong combat power and outstanding achievements; intelligence work alone is not enough.