Ninja Pot Shadow

Then came the division of the spoils.

Asuma's father is a ninjutsu expert. He can ask for any kind of ninjutsu he wants, and he can even get him ninjutsu of the level of Yamata no Nagare. Asuma doesn't even care about the ninjutsu that Raiga Kurosuki has collected.

Choji doesn't care about these ninjutsu either. When have you ever seen Choji standing in the back making hand seals with his carrot-like fingers? That means the end of the world is not far away!

Choji's "seal" isn't just low, it's extremely low! It's comparable to Naruto and Rock Lee. Naruto was dragged out by Jiraiya to "build a foundation" and trained hard for three years, and his "seal" increased from 2 points to 3 points. But what about Choji? The fat guy ate and drank for three years, and his "seal" dropped from 3 points to 2 points!

Aside from figures like the Third Hokage and Granny Chiyo, whose physical attributes declined drastically due to old age and physical weakness, Choji was the only ninja whose individual attribute decreased instead of increasing after three years.

Mastering the family's secret techniques is a victory in itself; he has absolutely no interest in things like fire or lightning techniques.

Shikamaru selected several high-level Lightning Release and Water Release techniques. He didn't intend to learn them, but rather to copy them and take them back to enrich his clan's ninjutsu library.

The Nara family's accumulated knowledge of ninjutsu was far inferior to that of the Yamanaka family, who spent their days prying into other people's heads to uncover their secrets.

Of the five million banknotes, Asuma took two million, while Ino and the other two each took one million.

The remaining jewelry and jade would take too long to be converted into money, and seeing that Ino was very interested, they all went to her.

While they were dividing the spoils, Ranmaru kept tearing off his sleeve to stop the bleeding of Raiga Kurosuki. Ino didn't volunteer to use her medical ninjutsu, worried that her rudimentary medical ninjutsu would kill Raiga Kurosuki. She just handed him some bandages and ointment.

"Thank you," Ranmaru said politely.

Ino laughed: "You don't hate us? You should know that it was our arrival that disturbed your peaceful life."

Ranmaru's expression was very calm: "I don't hate. Raiga said it before: dying on the battlefield is the fate of a ninja. We can kill others with violence, and others can kill us. It's fair."

He bowed and continued to clean the wounds of the unconscious Raiga Kurosugi.

Seeing a six or seven-year-old boy talking about destiny stirred something within Ino. Sigh, this damned world!

The Kurosuki family consists of nine people. Apart from Raiga and Ranmaru, the other seven are all low-level henchmen.

After asking around, they discovered that one of the young men was the grandson of Granny Sansho.

This guy thought there was no future in making curry rice, and since the Kurozuki family was recruiting thugs, he came.

Without further ado, we'll beat them up first, then give them a lecture, and then send them back.

Shikamaru took him back to the Curry House of Life to find Granny Sansho, and also bought some food for Choji. For the fat guy, as long as there is food, even the most serious injuries can be healed.

Ino went to rest under the shade of a tree.

With an increased total amount of chakra, the so-called "chakra regeneration" speed will increase. Powerful characters like Naruto and Hashirama Senju seem to have endless chakra during battle. This is partly because they do have a lot of chakra, several times or even dozens of times more than ordinary ninjas, and partly because their recovery speed is fast. They can regenerate their chakra to full in just a few seconds after using a B-rank ninjutsu.

Ino wasn't at that level. She unleashed a whole bunch of B-rank ninjutsu in a row, which consumed a lot of her chakra. If it were wartime, she would need to eat soldier rations to recover her strength and then forcibly extract energy from her cells to restore her chakra.

This method is extremely harmful to the body. It is basically overdrawing potential and physical health. Many ninjas, such as Itachi Uchiha, Shin Sai's brother, and Mangetsu Hozuki, contracted terminal illnesses at a young age because their bodies were overdrawn.

Kakashi was the same. In order not to disgrace his family, he went to the battlefield to fight at the age of six. How many injuries did he suffer? How much potential did he overdraw? How many dark things did he see? In the end, he still had 6 points of "essence". To be honest, that is already a gift.

Ino doesn't exploit resources to the point of exhaustion; she doesn't need to sacrifice her health to gain chakra. She sits quietly in the shade of a tree, slowly recovering her strength and chakra.

Asma finished writing the mission briefing, then tied the entire document, including the sealing scroll of the Thunder Blade, to the leg of the carrier hawk before releasing it.

The tenth squad stayed at the Oxalis Mine that day, waiting for the village's opinion on how to handle Kurosuki Raiga, Ranmaru, and the whole incident.

Chapter Seventy-Five: The Village's Decision

The following day, the Konoha Village Cipher Team received urgent letters from the Land of Waves and the Land of Rivers. After successfully deciphering them, they handed them over to the Hokage without delay.

Since the matter was of great importance, the Third Hokage could not act unilaterally. He summoned three advisors—Danzo Shimura, Koharu Utatane, and Homura Mitokado—as well as Shikaku Nara, the Hokage's strategist, and the five of them discussed the matter together.

Because the letter contained Asuma's mention of the missing gold, the Third Hokage did not show the letter to the four of them. Instead, he dictated the events: "...That's how it happened. Kakashi's Team 7 encountered Zabuza Momochi, a rogue ninja from Kirigakure, in the Land of Waves, while Asuma's Team 10 encountered Raiga Kurosuki from Kirigakure in the Land of Rivers. One in the Land of Waves, the other in the Land of Rivers."

The Third Hokage was quite proud of his son's achievements, and his tone became slightly lighter: "Kurosuki Raiga was captured by Team 10, and as for Zabuza Momochi... Kakashi believes that Zabuza Momochi only faked his death and there is a high chance that he was rescued by his comrades. Team 7 is currently searching for Zabuza's whereabouts in the Land of Waves."

The Third Hokage coughed and said, "I called you all here to discuss this matter: how should we deal with Raiga Kurosuki and Zabuza Momochi, these two rogue ninjas from Kirigakure?"

Danzo was the first to raise doubts: "Asuma can capture Raiga Kurosuki of Kirigakure with just three newly graduated genin? Hiruzen, your information is too fake."

The Third Hokage smiled slightly and tossed the Thunder Blade, which he had brought back along with the letter, in front of Danzo: "You say that again? Is it fake?"

Danzo had been proven wrong so many times that he was used to it. He inspected the Lightning Blade and confirmed that it was genuine; it was indeed a ninja sword from Kirigakure.

He immediately changed his tune: "Kurosuki Raiga and Momochi Zabuza are both members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, so they must know a lot of secrets. Have Asuma and Kakashi take the prisoners back to the village and hand them over to Root. I will extract all the information from the heads of these two rogue ninjas."

To be fair, Danzo's approach was very ninja-like. In wartime, this would be perfectly reasonable. He captured an elite Jonin of the enemy; shouldn't he use some methods? Are you kidding me?

The problem is that this is not a time of war. Kirigakure and Konoha are not allies, but they are not enemies either.

Even one rogue ninja of this caliber is difficult to deal with, let alone two. The Third Hokage was very worried about a chain reaction.

As a confidant of the Third Hokage, Shikaku naturally knew his thoughts and spoke up for him at this moment.

"Lord Hokage, three advisors, I believe that since the rogue ninja from Kirigakure has been captured by our side, it would be more appropriate to hand him over to them for the sake of the friendship between the two villages."

Koharu Utatane said with a forced smile, "Friendship? Have we ever had any friendship with Kirigakure? Shikaku, I remember Raiga Kurosuki killed one of your relatives during the Third Shinobi World War?"

Shikaku nodded: "Yes."

"Don't you want revenge?"

"My esteemed advisor, the war is over."

The old woman didn't speak again, but Mitokado Homura raised another issue: "Kurosuki Raiga has already fallen into our hands. Even if we return him, won't Kirigakure think that we have stolen some information?"

The Third Hokage and Shikaku both fell silent. They were worried about the same thing. You say that this prisoner is in our hands, and we didn't secretly check the intelligence or do anything? Who would believe that!

Everyone's bottom line is actually very low, and the level of trust between them is almost zero...

Konoha's overtures could easily backfire.

Shikaku pondered for a moment: "Actually, Raiga Kurosuki and Zabuza Momochi are not important. Even if they return to Kirigakure, they will not be able to gain enough trust. They may be monitored or even imprisoned for life."

He looked at the four elders: "The future of the village is actually the most important thing. For Kirigakure, which is in a period of transition, the two children that Kakashi and Asuma mentioned, Haku and Ranmaru, are the most valuable... Master Genji is far-sighted and single-mindedly focused on keeping Kirigakure away from the Fourth Shinobi World War. Even if the radicals in Kirigakure have objections, with Master Genji's prestige and the support of the conservatives, they can suppress the opposition. We might as well take advantage of this opportunity to improve relations with Kirigakure."

The "Master" he mentioned is the actual ruler of Kirigakure today.

Genji was once a subordinate of the First Mizukage and later became an elder in the village.

The old man is already 90 years old this year! Apart from Kakuzu of the Akatsuki, there is no ninja in the current ninja world older than Genji.

The Third Hokage is 69 years old this year, making him a true elder in the ninja world, but he is still a generation below the Master.

The older a person is, the more they value seniority.

Shikaku's words aligned with his own thoughts, and the Third Hokage spoke up in support of his trusted subordinate: "If we hand those two children over to Kirigakure, Master should have enough wisdom to judge our goodwill. Kirigakure has also abandoned its previous cruel rule. In the long run, we can try to cooperate with Kirigakure."

In closing, he expressed his hopes: "If we can form an alliance with Kirigakure and join forces with Sunagakure, the three great ninja villages will be able to remain invincible even if Kumogakure and Iwagakure encounter changes in the future."

Danzo snorted; he had disagreed with the Third Hokage's alliance strategy from the very beginning.

With Konoha being so strong, is it necessary for them to form an alliance with the weak Sand Village?

He said, "Hiruzen, I still believe that it would be more beneficial to the village to extract the information from the minds of those two rogue ninjas. Your alliance is just wishful thinking and will not ultimately succeed. Even if Kirigakure allies with us, they will still betray us when they see more benefits."

This time, Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado did not stand on the same side as him. If Konoha, Sunagakure, and Kirigakure had formed an alliance, there might not have been another Shinobi World War in the future. A war would be too cruel. They are advisors to the village and do not have to go to the battlefield, but their clans cannot. If a war breaks out, all the younger generation of their clans will have to go to the battlefield, and no one will be an exception.

If possible, it's best to avoid fighting.

The current political structure of Kirigakure is quite interesting. The Fourth Mizukage has passed away, and the Fifth Mizukage has actually been elected, but he has not gained real power and is at most a figurehead. All the power in the village is in the hands of the 90-year-old Genji.

It wasn't until just before the Five Kage Summit that Genji handed over the straw hat representing the Mizukage's authority to Mei Terumi and officially retired. Now, Genji, as an elder, holds real power in Kirigakure.

Mitomon Homura thought for a moment and said, "We can try to express our goodwill to Master Gen."

He looked at the Third Hokage, Koharu Utatane, and Danzo Shimura: "I had dealings with Master Genji twice back then. If none of you object, I will represent the village and take the Lightning Blade to Kirigakure."

Chapter 76 Mission Change

Konoha Village experienced three Shinobi World Wars, and on many occasions it was surrounded and beaten by the other four great ninja villages. Although it won the battles, the losses were enormous, with countless elites of the village dying.

The Third Hokage waived most of the war reparations and formed an alliance with Sunagakure. This was largely the Third Hokage's idea, but it also had the support of two advisors.

Even though Orochimaru carried out the Konoha Crush plan, and Sunagakure immediately turned against him, leading to the death of the Third Hokage, the two advisors still supported Tsunade and maintained the alliance with Sunagakure.

They all wanted Konoha to be besieged again, so finding allies was imperative.

Forming an alliance with the weaker Sunagakure village to fight against the other three ninja villages is a long-term strategy.

Now they see another opportunity to try to bring the weakened Kirigakure into the alliance.

The two rogue ninjas are not really important. Raiga Kurosuki is already useless, and Zabuza has been reduced to working as a henchman for a merchant. According to the general opinion in the ninja world, this person's "capacity" is limited, and his achievements in this life will probably end there.

The key is Bai and Lan pills.

There was no need for Konoha to kill them; Kakashi didn't go all out against Haku, and Asuma didn't make things difficult for Ranmaru either.

They couldn't keep them; the bond between the two boys and the two ninja swordsmen was too deep. Sending the four of them back to Kirigakure, a village facing a shortage of talent, was like providing timely help in a crisis.

In the ninja world, the title of genius is both important and unimportant; a genius who hasn't grown up isn't a true genius.

To talk about an alliance now is wishful thinking. The Third Hokage needs someone to represent Konoha on a mission to Kirigakure to convey his goodwill.

Sending just any soldier won't work.

Kakashi and Asuma were the Fourth Hokage's disciple and the Third Hokage's son, respectively, but that didn't matter; their status wasn't high enough, and they weren't qualified to represent Konoha.

A high-ranking official needs to go to Konoha. The Third Hokage can't be touched. Danzo? If Danzo goes, the two villages will definitely fight. He can create conflict even if there is none. Koharu Utatane has a deadpan face. Shikaku doesn't have enough seniority. Homura Mitokado thinks he is the most suitable.

The Third Hokage also believed that he was the most suitable candidate.

Having made up his mind, Mitokado Homura did not delay. That same day, he left the village with two Jonin guards and a Raito (lightning blade) to make initial contact with Kirigakure.

The Third Hokage then issued orders to Asuma: the original C-rank mission was changed to B-rank due to Raiga Kurosuki. After completing the original mission, Team 10 would escort Raiga Kurosuki and Ranmaru to the Land of Waves to join Kakashi's Team 7 in capturing Zabuza. Afterward, they would wait for news from Homura Mitokado before heading to Kirigakure together.

This mission involves the relationship between the two major ninja villages, and both Team 7 and Team 10 are rated as A-level missions.

Mitokado Homura represents the older generation, Kakashi and Asuma represent the middle-aged and younger generation, and Ino and Naruto represent the younger generation.

The Chunin Exams are meant to demonstrate one's strength and reduce the likelihood of war.

The same is true now.

Most of the older generation are unlikely to fight. 69-year-old Mitokado Homura versus 90-year-old Master Yuan? Konoha has a huge advantage!

With Kakashi among the younger generation, none of the Jonin in Kirigakure could rival him.

Following the meeting, the focus shifted to the younger generation.

The Third Hokage hoped to showcase Konoha's strength to Kirigakure by leveraging the talent of the younger generation. He had great confidence in the abilities of genin like Ino and Naruto. "Look," he said, "our Konoha genin are all at this level! There are plenty of chunin and jonin stronger than them in the village. Aren't you thinking of forming an alliance?"

The Third Hokage stopped Danzo, and after the other three left, he asked in a low voice, "Does the matter of the wood sorrel mine have anything to do with you?"