People in Demon Slayer: The Journey That Began with Demon Slayer

Mikoto enthusiastically led Tsunade and Jiraiya on a tour of Kagerou Village, her words brimming with pride.

Because this is her home, her real home.

Moreover, under the leadership of his son Itachi, the village of Kagerou has grown from a few dozen members to its current state of increasing prosperity.

As a mother, how could Mikoto not be proud?

"Aunt Mikoto!"

Uchiha Izumi, who was shopping with Shion, saw Mikoto and ran up to her enthusiastically to greet her.

Mikoto had long regarded Izumi as her daughter-in-law, and asked her affectionately, "Izumi, are you and Shion shopping?"

Izumi nodded, then noticed the unfamiliar Tsunade and Jiraiya and asked in confusion, "Aunt Mikoto, who are these people?"

"They are guests from Konoha: the Fifth Hokage, Tsunade, and Jiraiya."

Shion glanced at Tsunade curiously. She remembered that the Hokage she saw last time she went to Konoha was an old man, so how did he become a young woman again?

Upon hearing that they were from Konoha, Uchiha Izumi's face immediately darkened, but remembering that they were guests, she forced a smile and said, "Is that so... Welcome to the Village of Blazing Suns."

Mikoto sensed Izumi's emotions and considerately said, "Izumi, you and Shion go play. I'll take the guests from Konoha to see Itachi."

"Okay, then Ziyuan and I will be going now."

"Lady Tsunade, Lady Jiraiya, I'm sorry, Izumi didn't mean it."

"It's alright. Is this child one of the Uchiha clan members from back then?"

"Yes, her name is Uchiha Izumi."

Tsunade sighed deeply in her heart. The actions of Konoha in the past had caused the Uchiha to harbor a natural hatred towards Konoha.

Mikoto brought Tsunade and Jiraiya to the Kagerou Building.

Itachi, the village chief, was already waiting at the door to greet them.

Upon seeing Tsunade and Jiraiya, Itachi welcomed them, saying, "Welcome, Hokage, to our Village of Blazing Sunlight."

Guided by Itachi, the group arrived at the office.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Tsunade began to state the purpose of her visit: "This time, Konoha has come to Kagerou with sincerity, hoping that Konoha and Kagerou can reach a cooperation agreement."

"We can deeply feel Konoha's sincerity. So, what kind of cooperation do you hope to have?"

Tsunade explained to Itachi the plans that she and Jiraiya had discussed in Konoha.

After Itachi patiently listened to everything, he discovered that the cooperation proposal put forward by Konoha was very generous.

Itachi originally thought that Tsunade would want to cooperate with the village of Kagerou in the mining of chakra metal, but Tsunade did not mention it at all.

"Your cooperation proposal is simply irresistible to us, but isn't it too demanding for Konoha?"

Tsunade's proposed plan would yield substantial benefits for Kagerou, but far less for Konoha.

If Itachi proposed this plan, then there is absolutely no problem, because as the village chief, he should seek benefits for the village.

But it was Tsunade who proposed this plan, which Itachi found somewhat unbelievable.

"Our current goal in Konoha is to achieve an equal partnership with Kagerou Village, so it's okay if we take a smaller share of the profits. What we want is a long-term partnership with Kagerou Village, so Village Chief Itachi doesn't need to worry about us having any additional conditions."

In Tsunade's view, the rise of Kagerou Village was inevitable. Look at Iwagakure, the first village to cooperate with Kagerou Village; it has already made a fortune, not only money but also people.

Konoha is already a step too late and can't afford to wait any longer. Although the initial profits will be much smaller, as the Village of Blazing Sun continues to develop, Konoha will be able to reap considerable benefits.

Itachi had no reason to refuse such a cooperation proposal. After discussing the details, he and Tsunade signed a cooperation agreement.

Chapter 325 proceeded smoothly.

The cooperation agreement was signed smoothly. After everything was completed, Jiraiya looked at Yosuke, who had been silent the whole time.

Now that things have been settled in Konoha, Jiraiya wants to learn some of the truth from Yosuke.

Jiraiya asked seriously, "Yosuke, the Akatsuki is currently capturing Tailed Beasts on a large scale, which is now threatening the entire ninja world. I think they must be plotting something huge. Do you know why the Akatsuki is capturing Tailed Beasts?"

Despite Jiraiya's thorough investigation of the Akatsuki organization, he still couldn't find any information about the purpose of this mysterious organization.

Yosuke said tactfully, "Don't worry, Konoha is not Akatsuki's target and will not be attacked."

Jiraiya wanted more detailed information, not this ambiguous answer, so he pressed on: "I know that the Akatsuki's target is Naruto. Naruto has already left, and Konoha has no other tailed beasts for the Akatsuki to capture. But this concerns Naruto. Naruto is my student, and I don't want him to be in danger."

I once investigated the leader of the Akatsuki organization and discovered that their leader was very mysterious, possessing the Rinnegan, one of the legendary Three Eyes. This reminded me of a disciple I once recruited in Amegakure, one of whom also possessed the Rinnegan. However, when I wanted to continue my investigation, I discovered Madara Uchiha capturing the Tailed Beasts, and I had no choice but to return to Konoha.

"The Akatsuki's apparent leader is named Pain, but he is just a puppet. There are not just one puppet, but six, each with the Rinnegan. The true leader is behind the scenes."

Jiraiya's expression turned somewhat grave: "You really do know a lot about the Akatsuki organization. Was one of those puppets red-haired?"

"No, but the person behind it all used one of the Pain's identities, named Tendou, as his representative."

"Can you tell me the characteristics of that Pain puppet?"

Yosuke described Pain's appearance in detail to Jiraiya.

Jiraiya's hands trembled slightly: "As expected, it was Yahiko..."

Jiraiya described Konan's appearance to Yosuke, hoping that Yosuke could recall whether Konan was among the six puppets.

"Are you talking about Konan, the ninja who uses a special paper-based ninjutsu?"

Jiraiya nodded: "That's right, it's her."

"She is not Pain, but a formal member of the Akatsuki organization, and she is with Pain almost every day."

Jiraiya's breathing became heavier.

He had already guessed who was behind the Akatsuki organization. With the Rinnegan, Yahiko, and Konan, the identity of the mastermind was becoming increasingly clear.

Jiraiya pictured Nagato in his mind.

Jiraiya remained silent for a long time, his expression somewhat weary: "I didn't expect you, Yosuke, to know so much about the Akatsuki. Knowing so much means..."

You're right.

Jiraiya thought to himself, "Just as I thought. If someone knows so much about Akatsuki, then excluding the possibility that Yosuke himself is a member of Akatsuki, then there must be someone in Akatsuki who is Yosuke, and this person must be of a high rank, possibly a formal member of Akatsuki."

Tsunade immediately suggested, "In that case, we should unite and stop the Akatsuki's plot!"

Yosuke countered, "How can we form an alliance? Each of the five great ninja villages has its own agenda. If Konoha is willing to ally with Sunagakure, would Sunagakure be willing? During the Third Shinobi World War, the Third Raikage was besieged and killed by tens of thousands of Iwagakure ninja. Would Kumogakure be willing to ally with Iwagakure then?"

"Are we just going to let them keep capturing the Tailed Beasts like this?"

Yosuke sarcastically said, "Only when everyone shares the same goal can everyone work together. The war hasn't reached those ninja villages yet. Even if they forcibly unite, they'll just be a disorganized mess. Instead, because of their own selfish motives, they'll fall apart internally. It's very possible that you yourselves will start the Fourth Shinobi World War."

Tsunade fell silent. Yosuke was right. If their goals were not aligned, forcibly uniting them would only exacerbate their conflicts.

The atmosphere in the office was somewhat somber.

Jiraiya said, "I'll find an opportunity to go to Amegakure again. Nagato and Konan are my students, so I should be able to persuade them."

"I advise you not to do this. If you go to them now, all you'll do is try to persuade them to stop collecting the Tailed Beasts. Going to them alone is like courting death. Although the Akatsuki members aren't very close, their goal is clear and consistent: to collect the Tailed Beasts. And they've already collected more than half of them. What makes you think that if you try to persuade them, they'll give up on their long-standing plan?"

"but..."

Yosuke interrupted Jiraiya, saying, "I'm only advising you this once for Minato's sake. If you insist on going, there's nothing I can do. If just talking could stop them, the ninja world wouldn't be in such chaos."

Jiraiya remained silent.

The meeting and negotiations are almost over, and we've covered everything that needed to be discussed.

Seeing that things were almost done, Tsunade and Jiraiya set off back to Konoha.

Before leaving, Jiraiya asked Yosuke about Naruto and Minato's situation.

"Don't worry, Naruto is safe. Minato and Kushina are with him."

"Is that so...that's good."

Jiraiya was relieved. With Minato by Naruto's side, no one could stop them from leaving if they wanted to.

When Tsunade returned to Konoha, Guy immediately went to find her.

"Lord Hokage, Neji never returned after completing his mission."

Tsunade was shocked and immediately went to the Hyuga clan's territory.

According to information obtained by Hyuga Hiashi, Neji is very likely to have defected.

After the Chunin Exams, while Neji was receiving treatment, Hiashi Hyuga told Neji the so-called truth about Neji's father's death, hoping that Neji would continue to serve the main branch of the clan.

However, after that day, Neji stopped living with the Hyuga clan and instead stayed at a Konoha inn, severing all ties with them.

To prevent Neji from doing anything wrong, the Hyuga clan dispatched a large number of ninjas to monitor him.

Until Neji accepted a mission to go outside the village.

The Hyuga clan's main ninja warned Neji that he must return to Konoha before evening, or they would use the Caged Bird Seal to pinpoint his location. If anything went wrong, the Caged Bird Seal would be activated.

But Neji still didn't return to the village the next day.

When the elders of the main family tried to use the Caged Bird Seal to locate Neji's position, they discovered that their connection with the Caged Bird Seal had been severed.

Tsunade immediately issued a mission to Guy's team: to find Neji and bring him back.

When the mission was issued, Tsunade did not immediately label Neji as a defector, but rather as missing.

Tsunade knew in her heart that this mission was very likely impossible to complete.

The ninja world is so vast; finding someone who has gone missing is no easy task.

However, no matter which village it is, a ninja defection is a major event.

Moreover, the Byakugan is a bloodline limit that is extremely important in strategy.

Therefore, it is still necessary to demonstrate the necessary importance.

Tsunade's expression was gloomy. The Hyuga clan's system was extremely problematic; it practically treated the branch family members as slaves.

However, Tsunade was powerless to do anything about it. Konoha was made up of various ninja clans, and even the Hokage could not interfere in their internal affairs.

Chapter 326 Capturing a Tail

Sunagakure Village.

In the air, Luo Sha stood on a gold-flecked mat, gazing solemnly at the scene below.