From the night of genocide, marching towards the strongest.

Konoha, Hokage Building.

The Third Hokage sat in his chair, smoking his old cigarette, listening silently to Kakashi's report.

"That concludes the details of this mission, Third Hokage!"

After Kakashi finished reporting the situation, the Third Hokage nodded and said in a deep voice, "Well done, Kakashi. This mission will be rated B."

Kakashi thanked him softly, "Thank you, Third Hokage!"

The Third Hokage took a puff of his cigarette and remarked, "It seems the kids are all growing up very fast, especially Sasuke. Just as you said, he already possesses the strength of a Jonin."

Although Green Aoi was originally only a Chunin, the Third Hokage knew that.

When he defected, he wiped out a squad of Konoha's elite ANBU and defeated the Special Jonin Morino Ibiki, the head of the Torture Department.

Now that he possesses the Thunder God's Sword, it's enough to prove that his strength is no less than that of a Jonin-level ninja.

Sasuke was able to defeat Green Aoi in a one-on-one battle, which shows that Kakashi's previous assessment of Sasuke was not exaggerated at all.

"Third Hokage," Kakashi paused, then asked hesitantly, "what should we do with the Second Hokage's Thunder God Sword?"

"Let Sasuke keep it." The Third Hokage smiled and said in a relaxed tone, "Consider it a reward for him killing Green Aoi. Besides, wasn't Sasuke learning Lightning Release ninjutsu under your tutelage? It's a very suitable choice for him to use the Thunder God Sword."

Although the Thunder God Sword is a very powerful and valuable ninja tool, it is ultimately not a crucial or strategic asset for Konoha.

For the Third Hokage, the Thunder God Sword was not a particularly remarkable treasure.

Kakashi nodded: "On behalf of my student, thank you, Third Hokage."

The Third Hokage smiled and shook his head, instructing, "Enough with the formalities, go and rest, Kakashi."

"Yes!"

Kakashi bowed and then withdrew.

Chapter 63 Dazner

After Kakashi left, the Third Hokage stood up, turned to look at the light drizzle outside, and fell into deep thought.

'Hanzo, what exactly are you plotting?'

In recent years, the Land of Rain has been in a state of isolation, and very little news has been able to get out. The spies sent out by Konoha have also disappeared without a trace.

However, we still received some information that wasn't exactly very useful.

It is said that Hanzo has not shown his face for a long time, but instead claims to be a god and rules Amegakure and even the Land of Rain.

The daimyo of the Land of Rain, who had essentially become a puppet, did not show the slightest dissatisfaction.

'You claim to be a god, usurp the throne, and steal the country—have your lust for power and ambition swelled to this extent?'

'Now you're accepting rogue ninja from other villages, Hanzo, are you planning to start a new Shinobi World War?'

The Third Hokage took a deep drag on his cigarette, sighing that the ninja world was once again experiencing undercurrents of turmoil.

"Boom boom boom!"

A steady, slow knocking sound came from the door.

"Please come in!"

The door was pushed open, and a middle-aged man of medium build, wearing a Jonin vest and with his black hair tied up in a pineapple style, walked in.

Nara Shikaku!

The current head of the Nara clan, the leader of the Konoha Jonin team, and the Hokage's advisor.

Upon seeing the visitor, the Third Hokage smiled and said, "Shikaku, it seems you have something important to report."

"Yes!" Nara Shikaku nodded, handed over a scroll, and said solemnly, "Tazuna has now safely arrived in Konoha under the covert protection of our Anbu ninjas!"

Tazuna was just an ordinary old man. If it weren't for Konoha's covert protection, he would have died on the way, killed by the ninjas sent by Gato. He would never have had the chance to travel such a long distance to Konoha to issue the so-called C-rank mission.

"Hmm!" The Third Hokage took the scroll, and before even opening it, casually asked, "So what is Tazuna doing now?"

Nara Shikaku replied with a serious expression, "As soon as Tazuna arrived in the village, he went into the tavern to eat and drink, seemingly trying to drown his sorrows in alcohol."

Um! ?

The Third Hokage frowned, feeling somewhat dissatisfied.

Tazuna was chosen by them, and his idea to come to Konoha to issue a mission was also the result of their secret guidance.

After all, Tazuna came from the small country of the Land of Waves, where there were very few people who did not succumb to Gato's coercion. In their observation, Tazuna was an old man with a great sense of responsibility and courage towards his country.

That's why they chose Dazner.

The Third Hokage initially had some appreciation for Tazuna, but he never expected that this guy would immediately go out to eat, drink, and spend money as soon as he arrived in Konoha, seemingly putting the country's crisis out of his mind.

"Lu Jiu, analyze his actions."

Although he was somewhat dissatisfied, the Third Hokage did not show it. Instead, he asked Nara Shikaku about it.

Nara Shikaku thought for a moment and replied, "He did it on purpose. He wanted to portray himself as an old man from a small country who had never seen the world, was ignorant of worldly affairs, loved to drink, and was not very bright. This was so that if he was found out that he had lied about his mission level, the village would not be too angry with him."

"Then why did he do that?"

"He has no money!"

Nara Shikaku responded directly: "Although Tazuna is a famous bridge builder in the Land of Waves, he has spent most of his wealth on building the bridge connecting the Land of Waves and the Land of Fire. Now, the people of the Land of Waves are basically afraid to resist Gato. He came to Konoha without anyone's support. You could even say that this is a desperate gamble for him."

"As far as we know, he currently only has enough money to barely pay for C-level missions, so he wants to take a gamble, betting on the village's reputation, betting that even after the lies are exposed, the village will still continue to carry out missions."

(In the original work, the Land of Waves mission clearly states that after Ira's adoptive father, Kaisa, was killed by Gato in front of the people, apart from Tazuna, no one in the entire Land of Waves dared to defy Gato.)

(Regarding his lie about the mission, the original story states that he genuinely lacked funds, which is what the official sources have stated. We should adhere to the official setting. For anything not explicitly stated, we can use our imagination to fill in the gaps that align with the world-building and plot. Of course, his act of lying about the mission is indeed a flaw that cannot be excused.)

"A cunning old man, but also a patriotic old man."

The Third Hokage took a drag of his cigarette and calmly commented.

Each ninja village in every country has strict standards and assessments for classifying mission levels, so how could they just do whatever the employer says?

Lying about the mission level is irresponsible towards the lives of the village's ninjas. If an employer dares to do this, they will be blacklisted by the ninja village once discovered.

In more serious cases, such as those causing casualties among the ninja village's personnel, they might even be hunted down and killed by ninjas!

Tazuna's actions were playing with the lives of Konoha ninjas, without a doubt.

However, the Third Hokage, who already knew the inside story, would naturally not refuse the mission; instead, he would try to extract the greatest benefit from it.

It's easy to add flowers to brocade, but it's much harder to provide charcoal in the snow.

"Let's put Tazuna's matter aside for now." The Third Hokage looked at Shikaku and asked in a deep voice, "Shikaku, what do you think of Gato?"

Nara Shikaku's eyes flickered slightly, and he pondered for a moment: "On the surface, Kado is the president of the shipping company Kado Corporation, and his job is ocean transportation and international trade. In secret, he uses his position to smuggle drugs and contraband with the help of the mafia and ninjas to make huge profits."

"It is said that Kado has connections in coastal cities of various major powers, but the timing of his appearance in the Land of Waves is too coincidental. A year ago, he suddenly appeared in the Land of Waves and took control of all maritime transportation out of the Land of Waves. I suspect that he is a black glove of some powerful force!"

The Third Hokage's gaze darkened: "You mean Kirigakure!"

“Yes! Third Hokage!” Nara Shikaku nodded and continued, “The Land of Water is an island nation located outside the mainland, isolated overseas. After the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura, came to power, he implemented a bloodline extermination policy against Kirigakure, causing constant infighting within the village. It is said that the daimyo of the Land of Water has also suffered multiple assassination attempts by unknown individuals. As a result, the entire Land of Water has been implementing a policy of isolation, closing all trading ports!”

"And when Gato appeared in the Land of Waves, it happened shortly after the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura, resigned from his position as Mizukage due to health reasons!"

A year ago, Kirigakure suddenly announced that the Fourth Mizukage was unwell and no longer fit to serve as Mizukage.

Thus, the power of the entire Hidden Mist Village fell into the hands of the sole elder, Genshi, who had existed since the First Mizukage.

It is worth mentioning that although Kirigakure has not yet selected a new Fifth Mizukage, Elder Genshi promoted a young female Jonin named Mei Terumi to be the Jonin class leader and chief of staff.

Judging from the actions of that Kirigakure elder, barring any unforeseen circumstances, the next Mizukage will be Mei Terumi.

Chapter 64 Secret Talks in the Office

The Third Hokage pondered silently for a while, then heard Nara Shikaku continue, "According to our intelligence, most of the rogue ninja under Gato's command are former rogue ninja from Kirigakure. This confirms my judgment that the force behind Gato is, without a doubt, Kirigakure!"

The Third Hokage nodded and asked casually, "If, as you say, Gato's backing is Kirigakure, why would they do this?"

"After all, compared to the wealth of a small country like the Land of Waves, befriending the Land of Waves and using it as a springboard to trade with countries on the continent is what the Land of Water, which has now changed its policy and started to open its ports, urgently needs to do, right?"

Nara Shikaku shook his head, a slight smile playing on his lips: "The Third Hokage already saw it, so why ask me again?"

The Third Hokage chuckled: "I'd like to hear if there's anything I haven't considered yet, given your expertise as a strategist."

“Since that’s the case, then I’ll explain.” Nara Shikaku pondered for a moment before speaking: “Gato’s identity is essentially a black glove used by Kirigakure to quickly amass wealth. This exploitative approach can subsidize part of the Land of Water’s economy, which has been closed off due to years of internal strife. And it’s common knowledge that black gloves usually don’t end well.”

"When Gato's usefulness is almost exhausted, Kirigakure will, barring any unforeseen circumstances, kill him on the grounds that he harbored a rogue ninja from Kirigakure. This will allow Kirigakure to seize all the wealth he has accumulated over the years and also to recruit back some of the rogue ninja who defected during the Yagura period to supplement the manpower-starved Kirigakure."

"On the other hand, for political reasons, after Kirigakure kills Gato, the people of the Land of Waves, who have suffered under Gato's oppression, will be grateful. This small country will also rely more on Kirigakure, who has descended as a savior. As a transit point and trade center for trade between the Land of Water and the countries of the continent, Kirigakure can also occupy a dominant position in the Land of Waves!"

Just like what we in Konoha are doing now.

After saying that, Nara Shikaku silently added a sentence in his mind.

Kado exploited the people of the Land of Waves, and through his constant draining of their resources, the Land of Waves quickly became an impoverished and destitute nation.

Konoha, however, acted as if they knew nothing about this situation.

In reality, his plan was to fatten up the pig before slaughtering it, and then descend as a savior to gain the gratitude of the Land of Waves, thereby gaining dominance in this important trading point on the high seas.

Nara Shikaku didn't say it aloud, but both of them knew it perfectly well.

"As expected of you, Shikaku, your insight is still so profound." The Third Hokage smiled slightly, his expression turning serious.

"Regardless of which power is behind Gato, we cannot sit idly by and watch the Land of Waves fall into the hands of other forces, nor can we allow our neighboring country to be exploited and harmed by evil people like Gato. Shikaku, you can go now. I will make arrangements regarding the Land of Waves."

"Yes!"

Nara Shikaku bowed slightly and then withdrew.

After Nara Shikaku left, the Third Hokage picked up the documents he had left behind, looked at them for a while, put them in a drawer, pondered for a moment, and then gave a coded signal.

A ninja dressed as an ANBU member suddenly appeared in the Hokage's office.

"Lord Third Generation, please give your orders!"

"Go and tell Kakashi to come to my office at 8 p.m. tonight."

"Yes!"

Inside a large training room on Uchiha clan territory.

The training room is enormous, covering nearly 1,500 square meters and standing almost 30 meters tall. It was originally a large warehouse used by the Uchiha clan to store supplies.