Chapter 486: Obito and Nohara Lin Pokémon Hatching

“What will the Land of Rain become in the future?”

Leaving the Rain Country Daimyo’s palace, Hanzō, who had successfully persuaded the Daimyo, looked up at the gloomy sky, a hint of confusion arising in his heart.

This was hard for Hanzō to imagine; he, the venerable Demigod Hanzō, was actually feeling confused about his own decision.

He had always believed himself to be a Ninja of firm conviction, so whenever he encountered a Ninja with conviction, even if they were an enemy, he would admire their belief and persistence and let them live.

But at this moment, Hanzō didn’t know if his actions could be called right, or if they embodied his convictions.

To avoid further conflict with the Shinobi Sect and to no longer worry about Sōsuke’s attacks every day, he used his prestige in the Land of Rain and the Daimyo’s trust to smoothly get the Daimyo to agree to the Shinobi Sect’s terms.

While persuading the Daimyo, Hanzō was also persuading himself.

He told himself that the Shinobi Sect did not kill Iwagakure Ninja, and that the Shinobi Sect was as peace-loving as the rumors claimed.

He told himself that with the power of the Shinobi Sect, the Land of Rain would become stronger, and the country would then be more peaceful and secure, not more chaotic.

Would it really be like this? In truth, Hanzō didn’t know; all of this was just him self-hypnotizing himself into believing the best outcome.

Once the cooperation officially took effect, the Shinobi Sect was essentially another Amegakure, with the right to represent the Land of Rain in wars with other countries.

This meant that the Shinobi Sect’s actions would largely influence the future of the Land of Rain.

For Hanzō, the Land of Rain was his home, and today, he entrusted the future of his home to others.

“I truly did not uphold my convictions.” Hanzō simply couldn’t continue to deceive himself.

When the words “I don’t know” surfaced in his mind, he already knew what his actions meant, but he was unwilling to admit it.

After all, he was the revered Demigod Hanzō, and he shouldn’t make such a big mistake.

He couldn’t remember when he started liking to find excuses for himself.

His excuse for failing to encircle and kill Sōsuke and retreating was for the Amegakure; his excuse for everything that happened with the Shinobi Sect was Iwagakure’s mistake and Danzo Shimura’s mistake; he now seemed very adept at finding all sorts of excuses.

“It has come to this; I can only continue forward.” Hanzō sighed softly.

Although he was reflecting now, asking him to go back and explain all the pros and cons to the Daimyo and then change the order was something Hanzō couldn’t do.

Because he was no longer the Demigod of firm conviction; now, he was just a Leader of Amegakure who wanted to live until a natural death.

Upon returning to Amegakure, Hanzō dispatched Ninja to accompany Iwagakure in responding to the Shinobi Sect.

Hanzō was willing to meet the Shinobi Sect’s demands, but he also had one request: the cooperation talks must be held near Amegakure.

The Shinobi Sect’s credibility with Hanzō was even lower than Iwagakure’s; the two sides had truly formed a mortal enmity.

Hanzō was very worried that the Shinobi Sect would stage a fake cooperation and a real ambush, mimicking his previous ambush of Sōsuke to ambush him.

Near Amegakure, Hanzō had no such concerns; no matter how strong Sōsuke was, he couldn’t possibly wipe out the entire Amegakure alone; he didn’t have that much stamina and Chakra.

Regarding Hanzō’s request, many Ninja from the Shinobi Sect raised objections, because Hanzō’s request made it seem too much like the previous ambush.

“Why should it be near Amegakure? It should be in the middle ground between the Shinobi Sect and Amegakure.”

“The choice of this location, Hanzō definitely has ill intentions.”

The Shinobi Sect Ninja showed extreme distrust towards Hanzō.

Yahiko opened his mouth but ultimately said nothing; he bore a great responsibility for falling into the ambush trap last time, and if he were to fall for a trick again because of his words this time, Yahiko would truly be ashamed to face his Shinobi Sect companions.

Kakuzu’s expression was indifferent; this time, he felt that Hanzō had no other intentions, but was simply frightened by the Shinobi Sect.

Because it was too easy for the Shinobi Sect to break an ambush; if Muzuki only brought Kakuzu and Nagato, what would Amegakure use to ambush them?

If it really came to a fight, they could even kill a group of Rain Ninja and then leave calmly.

“It can be relatively close to Amegakure, but the specific location and time must be decided by us, the Shinobi Sect. You Rain Ninja can bring as many Ninja as you want during the discussion.” Muzuki did not agree to Hanzō’s request, but instead proposed a compromise.

He wasn’t worried that Hanzō would play an ambush again like last time; as long as his main body was there, breaking out with the Shinobi Sect Ninja wouldn’t be difficult.

Muzuki wanted to convey something to Hanzō by refusing: the Shinobi Sect would not agree to any unreasonable requests from Amegakure; don’t think that just because “must” is added, the Shinobi Sect really has to comply.

Hanzō could sense Muzuki’s confidence and mockery in Muzuki’s reply; the Rain Ninja could bring any number of Ninja, which was almost like saying to his face, “I have no intentions against you, bring more people if you’re afraid of dying.”

Although somewhat annoyed, Hanzō felt much more relieved in his heart, because this meant that this cooperation discussion was highly unlikely to be a conspiracy against him.

Of course, highly unlikely wasn’t one hundred percent, so Hanzō still brought eighty percent of Amegakure’s Ninja to participate in the cooperation discussion.

At noon on Sunday, Hanzō led a large number of Rain Ninja, Muzuki led eight Shinobi Sect Ninja, and Kitsuchi led a portion of elite Iwagakure Ninja; the three parties held cooperation talks near a flat village on the ground.

This time was carefully chosen by Muzuki; firstly, he had the day off on Sunday and didn’t have to train Anbu, and secondly, if it was held at noon, he could still rush back in time to make dinner at Tsunade’s house.

Hanzō looked at the somewhat familiar Shinobi Sect Ninja, his heart a mix of emotions.

If he had truly cooperated with the Shinobi Sect that time, instead of ambushing them, what kind of scene would it be now?

“Let’s start by exchanging each other’s opinions,” Muzuki said calmly, sitting across from Hanzō.

Hanzō had originally thought that upon meeting again, Sōsuke would be disdainful and mock him due to hatred, but Muzuki didn’t target him and immediately began to discuss business.

“After cooperation, Shinobi Sect Ninja and Amegakure Ninja must not harm each other; both sides should jointly protect the peace of the Land of Rain; if foreign enemies invade, they need to jointly resist…” Hanzō had his subordinate take out the documents and handed the prepared materials to Muzuki.

Muzuki also had Nagato take out their prepared materials and handed them to the Rain Ninja.

Perhaps he truly no longer wanted to be an enemy of the Shinobi Sect, Muzuki found Hanzō surprisingly honest this time, not even playing word games, and largely consistent with the Shinobi Sect’s general intentions.

“This cooperation will only last for five years; after five years, the Shinobi Sect will decide whether to continue the cooperation based on the performance of Amegakure.” Muzuki set a time limit for the cooperation.

Hanzō was somewhat surprised but agreed to Muzuki’s plan.

He felt that this was better than unlimited cooperation; if the Shinobi Sect truly made the Land of Rain worse and worse, he would still have a chance to salvage it.

“The spring of the Land of Rain is finally coming.” Yahiko was very excited.

He hadn’t expected the cooperation talks to progress so smoothly; the two sides, who had been mortal enemies just days ago, now reached an agreement so smoothly.

Yahiko was already eager to eliminate all the factors that caused chaos in the Land of Rain and restore peace to the country.

Nagato’s face also showed a sincere smile; although he couldn’t revive his deceased parents, his actions would prevent more people from losing their parents.

“Sōsuke-sensei is really making the Land of Rain better.” Konan gave the paper flower she folded to Muzuki.

Although they had been working for peace ever since they founded the Akatsuki Organization, they had only protected a few villages with their own strength.

But Muzuki was different; Muzuki, with his personal charisma, quickly rallied the Shinobi Sect to travel through the Land of Rain, helping people in many places solve various difficulties.

Because of Muzuki’s powerful strength, even Amegakure dared not provoke the Shinobi Sect after the failed ambush, treating them as an equal force, and finally reached cooperation with the Shinobi Sect, giving the Land of Rain hope for peace.

“We are all working together to make the Land of Rain better,” Muzuki replied.

The perfect conclusion of the cooperation between the Shinobi Sect and Amegakure left all three participating parties very satisfied.

Hanzō and Amegakure no longer had to worry about the unparalleled Fire Release user Sōsuke; the Shinobi Sect could finally develop peacefully and deal with the problems of the Land of Rain; Kitsuchi finally completed the mission Ōnoki had given him.

“Next is to provoke conflict between Konoha and the Land of Rain.” Kitsuchi looked at the mission scroll.

Iwagakure expended its effort not to develop the Land of Rain, but rather to disgust Konoha, which was Iwagakure’s true objective.

However, Ōnoki, with his extensive experience as a seasoned instigator, knew that such matters could not be rushed; rushing would lead to flaws. Therefore, the plan to provoke conflict did not need to be executed immediately, only prepared for.

After Kitsuchi read the complete plan, he was utterly impressed by his father, finding him truly Ninja-like.

Finally, to provoke conflict between the Shinobi Sect and Konoha, Ōnoki even intended to exploit the existing animosity between Hanzō and the Shinobi Sect, starting from their old grudges to collaborate with Hanzō in setting up the Shinobi Sect.

“Sōsuke, in this chaotic world, having no one to rely on is a tragedy.” Kitsuchi shook his head, feeling a bit sorry for Sōsuke.

He genuinely liked Sōsuke’s character and personality; if it weren’t for Iwagakure’s needs, Kitsuchi believed he could have become a very good friend with Sōsuke.

But before being Kitsuchi the person, he was first a Ninja of Iwagakure.

After specifically visiting the Shinobi Sect’s station and bidding farewell to Sōsuke, Kitsuchi headed to the Land of Grass to continue his mission.

He wasn’t originally supposed to go to the Land of Grass, but the Grass Ninja there believed that the Iwagakure Ninja they were speaking with could not represent Iwagakure’s will, so they had to trouble Kitsuchi, the Tsuchikage’s son and a renowned Iwagakure strongman, to make the trip.

Upon Kitsuchi’s arrival in the Land of Grass, the Iwagakure Ninja executing the mission quickly briefed Kitsuchi on the current mission progress and intelligence.

“The newly appointed Leader of Grass Ninja Village is the leader of the Grass Core, a typical radical Ninja. His desire to cooperate with Iwagakure is very strong, but he is worried about being used as cannon fodder by us Iwagakure.”

“Is there no movement from the Grass Flower side?” Kitsuchi asked.

The Grass Core and Grass Flower are the two major factions of Grass Ninja Village; the Grass Core is the radical faction, while the Grass Flower is the conservative faction.

“We have been very secretive. The Grass Flower does not know that the Leader of Grass Ninja Village has the idea of cooperating with Iwagakure to deal with the Konoha Ninja Force in the Land of Grass,” the Iwagakure Ninja replied.

Kitsuchi nodded slightly. If the cautious Grass Flower knew, they would definitely try every means to disrupt the cooperation, and then it would be difficult to make the Leader of Grass Ninja Village see reason.

…

Konoha Village.

South Border Forest.

Today, Kakashi was not in a hurry to start training; instead, he tried to teach Rockruff Earth Release Ninjutsu.

In his opinion, since Rockruff could master Earth Release Chakra Nature Transformation without a teacher, it must have extremely high talent in Earth Release, making Earth Release Ninjutsu the most suitable for it to learn.

“Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall!”

Kakashi’s hand quickly formed seals, and under the effect of Earth Release Chakra, an earthen wall rose from the ground. In the middle of the wall, a dog’s head remarkably similar to Rockruff was carved.

“Woof!”

Rockruff barked excitedly at the sight, jumped onto the earthen wall, stood on the large dog head, and then jumped onto Kakashi.

“Don’t play yet. Try it as I just told you,” Kakashi said, grabbing Rockruff and placing it on the ground.

Rockruff scratched its head with its paw, trying hard to imitate Kakashi’s earlier movements. However, its dog paw couldn’t complete the hand seals like Kakashi’s, and despite some chaotic attempts, the ground didn’t rise successfully.

Kakashi showed a thoughtful expression; it seemed a bit difficult for Rockruff to use Ninjutsu like this.

After trying a few more times, Kakashi thought of the hard stones around Rockruff’s neck.

“You don’t need to learn how I use Ninjutsu. See if you can use Chakra to control the stones on your body to move,” Kakashi said.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!!!

As soon as Kakashi finished speaking, the stones around Rockruff’s neck flew out rapidly like Shuriken, embedding themselves into the large tree in front of Rockruff.

“Those stones are indeed not simple, are they?” Kakashi hadn’t expected Rockruff to succeed on its first try.

Given the power of Rockruff’s flying stones just now, it wouldn’t be difficult to instantly kill a Genin if caught off guard.

However, Rockruff’s subsequent performance made Kakashi realize that Rockruff still couldn’t participate in battle.

Rockruff couldn’t control the direction of the stones, only throwing them randomly by luck, and after a few throws, it looked utterly exhausted.

Kakashi sat on the ground, stroking the tired Rockruff to comfort it. At this moment, a voice full of youth and passion came.

“If you don’t cross the finish line in time, you’ll have to run a hundred more times!”

Might Guy was excitedly having a timed race with Riolu.

Might Guy was leading the run, while Riolu gritted its teeth and chased behind Might Guy.

Whoosh!

Just as the distance between them grew wider, Riolu suddenly burst into high speed, moving rapidly for a short distance before returning to normal speed.

“Body Flicker Technique?” Kakashi felt that Might Guy’s Nin-Beast’s talent might be focused on Taijutsu.

Riolu possessed visibly strong stamina and formidable perseverance, and now it had mastered a technique similar to the Body Flicker Technique, making it naturally suited for Taijutsu training.

“Rin, you don’t need to envy them. In general Ninja novels, characters who appear later are more powerful. Our Nin-Beast, hatching later, will definitely be more powerful than theirs,” Obito said comfortingly after seeing Rin Nohara approach and continuously look at Rockruff and Riolu.

‘Rin Nohara’ gave Obito a strange look.

“Obito, I’m not envious, and I’m right here,” Rin Nohara, holding a Pokémon Egg, said with a chuckle.

Obito was stunned and quickly looked around again. Rin Nohara’s figure had disappeared, and in her place was only a sly-eyed red-furred fox.

“How rude! My name isn’t Rin,” Zorua said, puffing out its chest.

Obito’s fists hardened.

This naturally evil red-furred fox dared to make him look foolish in front of Rin; it had a death wish.

“I told you to train your Genjutsu, not to play tricks on people,” Shisui said helplessly, grabbing Zorua by the scruff of its neck and lifting it up to look directly into its light blue eyes.

“Is this called playing tricks? Zorua didn’t know,” Zorua said, batting its big eyes adorably.

It was just a baby, born just over ten days ago; it didn’t know complicated things.

Shisui stared at Zorua for half a minute, then finally put it down. Expecting a half-month-old child to be sensible seemed a bit demanding.

“You’re just pretending. Foxes in Ninja novels are never good; they’re all incredibly deceptive,” Obito said, expressing his disbelief.

A dark red light flashed, and Rin Nohara appeared before Obito again, hands on her hips, looking displeased. “You’re not a good thing!”

Looking at Rin Nohara’s never-before-seen stance, Obito was surprised. So, being angry could also be this cute? If Rin Nohara herself had said it, Obito felt that such words were not unacceptable.

Obito quickly suppressed the distracting thoughts in his mind and dispelled the Genjutsu. This red-furred fox truly could not be underestimated.

“Let’s focus on training your physique first.” In the end, Shisui still held Zorua by the scruff of its neck and put some distance between them and Obito.

Although he didn’t know who it learned it from, Zorua inexplicably liked pranks or tricking people.

No, not just tricking people, Zorua also tried to trick Rockruff and Riolu.

However, none of them succeeded. Rockruff sniffed out Zorua’s scent, and Riolu discovered it even faster than Rockruff, but Shisui couldn’t figure out why.

“When will you hatch?” Obito sighed inwardly as he held the Pokémon Egg.

Seeing Kakashi and their Nin-Beasts already training and possessing a certain level of combat power, Obito was incredibly anxious.

He had always been slow to start, which made him unable to hold his head high in front of Kakashi for a long time. He didn’t want his Nin-Beast to follow his old path.

As if hearing Obito’s thoughts, the Pokémon Egg in Obito’s arms suddenly burst into dazzling white light, completely enveloping Obito’s entire body.

Obito’s previous disappointment instantly vanished. His Nin-Beast egg had finally hatched.

“May Muzuki the Sage protect me. It must be a strong and handsome Nin-Beast,” Obito silently prayed for Muzuki the Sage’s protection.

Just then, suddenly, the Nin-Beast egg in Rin Nohara’s hand also erupted in dazzling white light.

The two sudden bursts of white light attracted everyone’s attention.

“Rin’s Nin-Beast egg hatched so quickly?” Kakashi was a little surprised.

Obito’s Nin-Beast egg hatching was quite normal; it had been a while. Rin Nohara’s Nin-Beast egg had only been acquired recently, making it the fastest to hatch among the disciples.