This Naruto is a player

However, the three dared not gamble, and Konoha dared not gamble either.

The consequences of losing a genius like Naruto are unimaginable.

Although all three of them roughly knew that Naruto was definitely acting out of spite because of the Fourth Hokage incident, no one ignored his attitude just because he was young.

It's all because of his strength and talent!

The 12-year-old Naruto Uzumaki is surprisingly difficult to handle.

At that moment, Koharu Utatane suddenly came up with an idea, "How about we use the Impure World Reincarnation to revive Minato once? Let Naruto's biological father persuade him?"

When this idea came up, Mitokado Yan was quite interested. Compared to putting in countless efforts, this method was the simplest.

He looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi, anticipating the Hokage's answer.

Upon hearing this, Hiruzen Sarutobi paused for a moment. He took a deep drag on his pipe, and the smoke rings he exhaled blurred his cloudy eyes.

If they do that, how are they any different from Orochimaru, that villain?

Orochimaru disturbed the rest of the First and Second Hokage, so are they going to disturb the Fourth Hokage because of this?

“The dead should not be disturbed from their rest.” Hiruzen Sarutobi rejected the suggestion with a single sentence.

"That Hitsuji, take this money."

"We should be able to use some of the remaining funds from the village; the rest..."

Hiruzen Sarutobi hesitated for a moment, but before he could finish speaking, he was interrupted by Homura Mitokado.

"Hiruzen, that money in the village is meant to be used for unforeseen circumstances. With the Fourth Shinobi World War imminent, can we still use that money?"

"Naruto is more important than the war!" Hiruzen Sarutobi's tone left no room for argument.

With a determined look in his eyes, Hiruzen Sarutobi continued, "As for the remaining prisoners from Sunagakure, it's only a preliminary agreement, and no contract has been signed yet. We'll just have to make things harder for Sunagakure!"

“Hiruzen and Sunagakure are our allies! Besides, they were just misled by Orochimaru and Obito; they weren’t the masterminds this time.”

Mitokado Homura wasn't trying to excuse Sunagakure; he only cared about one thing: "And with another war about to break out, if we keep pushing like this, a war between Konoha and Sunagakure will probably be unavoidable! Will Konoha then face a situation of fighting four against one again?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi turned his head in surprise and glanced at his old friend.

The young and robust Mitokado Yan, whom I remembered, now had gray hair and a face full of wrinkles.

I'm really getting old; even my mind is getting muddled.

"Yan, times have changed!"

Chapter 149 Konoha is going too far!

The Land of Wind, Sunagakure Village.

The blazing sun hanging in the sky scorched the earth like a furnace.

At noon, the sweltering heat of the desert makes Sunagakure Village a place where few people are active.

However, things are different now.

A figure was crossing the street and running towards the huge spherical building in the middle.

Inside the Wind Shadow Pavilion.

The atmosphere here is completely different from the deathly silence outside the window.

A few people were gathered in the high-level conference room, and the air was filled with a long-lost sense of anticipation.

Several days have passed since the disastrous failure of the Konoha Collapse Plan. Since more than half of the village's fighting force was captured by Konoha, Sunagakure has never had a peaceful day. It has been on guard day and night, and its strength has been greatly depleted.

Only now does this heavy pressure seem to be able to be relieved.

The agonizing negotiations finally came to an end, with the final price being five hundred million taels.

Although enormous, it is still within the limits of what can be sustained.

The person in charge of the handover set off early this morning, and the news should be back by now.

"The contract was signed this morning. The news should have arrived by now, right?" An elderly Jonin with a veiled face broke the silence, his voice trembling almost imperceptibly.

"Barring any unforeseen circumstances," the person beside him whispered in agreement.

As soon as they finished speaking, their eyes turned to an old woman sitting in the main seat.

The person sitting there is Advisor Chiyo.

With the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, dead and the village's elite forces captured by Konoha, this legendary puppeteer, who had long since retired, was forced to return to the scene to take charge.

At this moment, she lowered her head, closed her eyes to rest, and her face, etched with the marks of time, showed no joy or sorrow, only a lingering weariness.

Gaara is coming back soon, along with the Sand Village ninja.

She silently repeated the words to herself, trying to suppress the inexplicable unease.

Konoha has changed.

That old bastard Hiruzen Sarutobi is no longer as "reasonable" as he used to be!

In the past, a simple excuse and an apology could usually resolve a major issue.

What about now?

Not only did they have to formally admit defeat, cede territory, and pay reparations, they were also forced to pay an additional 500 million taels of so-called "war fines"!

Five hundred million taels!

The Sand Village went to great lengths, begging and pleading, and even selling off a significant portion of its assets, to barely raise the money.

This huge sum of money nearly emptied the village's already weak foundation.

Call ~

She slowly exhaled a long breath, and Chiyo sighed.

The older I get, the more afraid I become of change, and the ninja world is changing too fast!

Whether it's that old bastard Hiruzen Sarutobi suddenly making outrageous demands, Danzo Shimura's defection as a loyal retainer of Konoha, Obito Uchiha's sudden emergence as a rogue ninja, or the recent upheavals in the Land of Lightning.

The series of changes were completely unexpected.

The ninja world! Even she, with her old bones, couldn't quite understand it anymore, and she was increasingly feeling powerless.

The only consolation was that as long as the money was paid, their hostages would be able to return.

The money from this morning has already been sent over, and the contract should have been signed this morning as well.

At this time, Gaara and the more than eighty captured Sand Ninja should already be on their way back!

"Urgent report!!!"

"Urgent report!!!"

A piercing shriek suddenly ripped through the air, approaching from the hallway outside! The next moment,

boom--

The conference room door was flung open, and a Sand Ninja practically rolled in.

He was drenched in sweat, his face was deathly pale, and his lips were trembling as he rushed straight toward Chiyo, who was in the main seat.

"What happened?" the ninja near the door shouted.

But the communications ninja ignored him. With an almost frozen panic, he rushed straight past the astonished gazes to the head of the table and shoved a small scroll, damp with sweat, into Chiyo's hand.

Chiyo took the scroll with surprise, a hint of ominous gloom flashing across her cloudy old eyes. Had something else gone wrong?

Unroll the scroll; there's not much content, just a single line of text.

However, upon seeing the above content, Chiyo's aged body suddenly stiffened, and her pupils contracted violently in an instant!

boom--

In the next instant, Chiyo could no longer suppress her anger and slammed her hand on the conference table in front of her.

The sudden loud noise instantly silenced the otherwise packed conference room, which had been filled with the unexpected arrival of a guest; you could hear a pin drop.

Konoha!!! This is outrageous!!!

At this moment, Chiyo recalled the tragic deaths of her son and daughter-in-law, and the deep resentment she felt towards Konoha.

“Sister.” Ebizo’s voice was filled with surprise and doubt.

Chiyo's chest heaved violently, and without uttering a word, she hurled the scroll at her younger brother.

The content is simple: Konoha unilaterally tore up the "treaty" and once again made exorbitant demands, raising the previous 500 million ryo twentyfold and demanding 10 billion ryo!

Even though Ebizo was old and considered himself mature and prudent, his breathing quickened upon seeing this news, and he almost couldn't catch his breath.

One hundred billion taels?

Sunagakure could barely manage 500 million ryo, but even if they sold everything they owned, they couldn't come up with 10 billion ryo!

Konoha wants Sunagakure to die!

As the scroll was passed around, the message was seen by the few high-ranking officials and top-tier combatants in the entire conference room.

"This is outrageous!!! Konoha is outrageous!!!" a ninja said through gritted teeth.

"How dare they demand 10 billion?!" A hot-tempered Jonin's eyes were bloodshot, his gaze filled with rage.

"Where is the spirit of the contract?! The five hundred million was just agreed upon this morning!" The other person's voice was hoarse, full of disbelief.

"Even if we sold our entire village, we still couldn't raise the money!" An elder in charge of logistics grabbed his hair in despair.

Another hot-blooded ninja suddenly stood up, his eyes burning with rage as he looked at Chiyo and pleaded, "Lady Chiyo, let's go to war with Konoha! We have nowhere else to go!"

Upon hearing that the war had begun, Chiyo's hand on the table tightened, but in the end, it opened weakly.

The Sand Village had considered the path of going to war with Konoha before.

However, the village's jinchūriki, including most of its fighting force, had already become prisoners of war.

How do we fight this?

And then there's Naruto Uzumaki.

Although this person is just a little kid, his strength is terrifying.

The newspaper article was not exaggerated in the slightest!