The Avengers of the Uzumaki Family

"Yes, I understand."

Shikamaru took a deep breath and replied.

The necessary opportunity for change.

The change in mindset under different circumstances is not only true for Shikamaru, but also for Ino, Choji, Neji, Shino, Kiba, and others.

Will Naruto undergo a change?

That's something we can't know for sure.

Because this Naruto seems to be the Naruto from the original work.

But they are fundamentally different.

While innate conditions are important for human growth, the environment in which one grows up is fundamental. Without the experiences in the original work, Naruto Namikaze would not be Naruto Uzumaki.

Will he stick to his own ideas and continue down the path he set before?

That remains to be seen.

Konoha's actions.

This also attracted the attention of spies from various ninja villages in the surrounding areas.

Each of them quickly and faithfully recorded what they saw and immediately sent it back to their own ninja village through the relevant channels.

However, before their message could be relayed back...

All the major ninja villages should have received the message from Konoha long ago.

Because of this operation.

if you can.

At Shikaku's suggestion, the goal is to involve as many other ninja villages as possible. It's still uncertain about Sunagakure and Iwagakure, but Konoha definitely needs to bring Kumogakure and Kirigakure into the fray.

Acting alone?

That's absolutely impossible.

In fact it is.

When the Konoha ninja army was in action, the members of the dispatched delegations had already relayed the relevant information to their respective ninja villages.

Or to be more precise.

These high-ranking members of the ninja villages had already obtained some information in advance through various channels.

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 288 Gazes Gather

PS: I had nothing to do today, so I stayed home and wrote a little more to make up for the updates I missed during my previous leave. I will write more whenever I have time to make up for it. Thank you all for your support. Although the average number of subscriptions is increasing very slowly, it is still heading towards 1300. I will continue to work hard!

"Hmm? The Six-Tails fell into the hands of that Uzumaki Menma, not Orochimaru? And it was an alliance between Takigakure and Kusagakure?"

The Land of Water, the Hidden Mist Village.

Inside a mansion with a very ancient and rustic style.

On the left side of the inner courtyard, along a long corridor.

Yuan Shi, who was dozing with his eyes closed, suddenly opened his eyes upon hearing the report from his trusted subordinate. A look of surprise appeared on his aged face as he looked at the Mist Ninja in front of him and asked.

"Bi, you're not kidding, are you?"

"Yes, Master Yuan, this is not only information obtained by our frontline scouts, but also intelligence from Konoha. The Fifth Hokage has officially requested a joint operation from us."

As a trusted confidant of Master Yuan, this Mist Ninja has undoubtedly held a pivotal position in Kirigakure over the years, representing Master Yuan on many matters. The most important reason why he is trusted by Master Yuan is that this Mist Ninja is very reliable and steady. He is meticulous in even the smallest matters, and has remained consistent for decades. When reporting anything to Master Yuan, he rarely uses speculative words such as "probably," "maybe," or "perhaps," and he never adds any personal subjective opinions.

All intelligence was reported to Master Yuan objectively and truthfully, and then we strictly followed Master Yuan's orders.

Master Yuan did not ask any questions.

He never said a word.

So meticulous, it's like a machine.

Therefore, among Yuan Shi's many trusted subordinates, Bi has always been the most special one, a position that no one can replace.

"Let me take a look."

"Yes!"

After answering with her head bowed, Bi immediately stepped forward and handed the scroll in her hand to Master Yuan.

The old man's trembling right hand reached out to take the scroll, which he slowly opened and read word by word. The space instantly fell silent, but Bi still stood calmly to the side.

After slowly reading through all the information recorded in the scroll, Master Yuan fell into a long silence.

It took more than an hour.

"It seems that's really the case..."

A deeply emotional expression appeared on Master Yuan's withered face.

"Oh, I'm so sorry to make you wait so long every time, Bi. You're getting old, your mind isn't working as fast as it used to..."

"No, Master Yuan, you flatter us. So, how should we reply to Konoha? And what about the Six-Tails? How should we deal with it?"

Bi remained calm, slightly raising her eyelids to face the Yuan Master before her, and asked softly.

"Although I am reluctant to make a big fuss, it does involve the interests of our village after all. Go and call Mei Terumi and Ao over. Our Hidden Mist Village has been out of the ninja world for too long. It is time for us to return to the ninja world."

Master Yuan spoke in a very slow but extremely firm tone.

In the Third Shinobi World War more than a decade ago, Kirigakure was the defeated side, and the number of Kirigakure ninja who died or were injured was already countless. Later, their own Mizukage was even controlled by outsiders, which led to one bloody incident after another.

This led to countless comrades dying at the hands of their own people.

The three great ninja clans that once struck fear into the hearts of the ninja world.

They withered away one after another.

Even though the recuperation and development in recent years has allowed the village to recover to some extent, it is still far from enough.

Otherwise, Kirigakure would have already dispatched a large force to capture the lost Three-Tails and Six-Tails.

Why would they just wait like this until now?!

If possible, Master Yuan naturally hopes that the ninja world can transition smoothly for a while longer, not too long. Just another four or five years, and Kirigakure, if not returning to its peak, can at least reach a point where it can compete head-on with other ninja villages.

However, accidents happen so suddenly.

Continuing to remain silent is certainly an option.

But that would mean that Kirigakure itself tacitly gave up a series of interests that originally belonged to them, such as the current Six-Tails.

This has always been the unspoken rule in international relations.

If you don't fight for it, everyone will assume you've given up.

This is an outcome that Master Yuan absolutely cannot accept.

Therefore, even if the timing is not right, Kirigakure has no choice but to take action.

"Yes, Master Yuan!"

After Bi bowed her head in response, she leaped away to inform Terumi Mei and Ao.

'Konoha, Kumogakure, Orochimaru, Menma Uzumaki, and what about Takigakure and Kusagakure? This really isn't giving the old man any peace of mind...'

Master Yuan slightly opened his extremely cloudy eyes, and a look of helplessness appeared on his aged face.

The Ninja World War.

This is something that could easily cripple a ninja village.

Whether victorious or defeated, the five great ninja villages paid an extremely heavy price in the three Shinobi World Wars.

This is a devastating loss that would take five or six years, or even longer, to recover from.

But Kirigakure is doing well.

In the years following the end of the Third Shinobi World War.

It has always been in a state of endless internal strife.

It's either someone assassinating the Mizukage today, or a ninja clan being destroyed tomorrow.

Even Yuan Shi himself encountered several assassination attempts during those years. The number of attackers he killed and the guards who died protecting him were all over three digits. These were all Mist Ninja.

Among these.

The most horrific casualties were the destruction of the three great clans: Kaguya, Yuki, and Hozuki. These three clans together had nearly two thousand ninjas, and Kirigakure paid an almost equally heavy price to destroy them.

Other ninja villages are recovering their strength.

Their Hidden Mist Village has been constantly weakening itself.

It wasn't until Ao used his Byakugan to discover the abnormality of his Fourth Mizukage and completely resolved the root of the problem that Kirigakure returned to normal and began to recover. But it has only been a few years since then.

It's simply not enough to restore Kirigakure to its former glory.

Otherwise, how could Master Yuan have allowed his Three-Tails and Six-Tails to wander outside? Isn't it simply because he lacked the strength to reclaim them?

Their Hidden Mist Village is currently lacking not only top-level forces, but also mid-level forces, and even bottom-level forces.

Even a weak village like Sunagakure could easily field a ninja army of ten thousand if they really fought desperately.

But if Kirigakure really wanted to field a force of 10,000 ninjas, it would mean draining their entire resources and completely emptying all other border defense lines.

Even their own ninja village could become an empty shell.

Is that even possible?

The answer is obviously no.

Therefore, Master Yuan really did not want to face a new round of clashes in the ninja world right now. Not only would it interrupt the recovery of Kirigakure's vitality, but it could also suddenly cause Kirigakure to fall into permanent ruin.

But Master Yuan had no choice.

That's just how things are.

'Time is truly against us...'