Chapter 647 Four Shadows Surround and Kill? (6k)

Land of Earth.

A border town.

As Dodai, leading a squad of elite Kumogakure Jonin, entered the town, a Ninja in Iwagakure uniform immediately came forward to greet him.

“Please follow me,” the Iwagakure Ninja said calmly.

Iwagakure and Kumogakure had many frictions in recent years, so for him to treat a Cloud Ninja normally was already a clear conscience; as for maintaining respect throughout, that was simply impossible.

Dodai nodded slightly and followed, having no objection to the Iwagakure Ninja’s attitude.

The Iwagakure Ninja wasn’t fond of him, and he wasn’t fond of the Iwagakure Ninja either.

If not for the highly concerning intelligence provided by Iwagakure, Kumogakure would not have attended a meeting hosted by Iwagakure.

The group followed the Iwagakure Ninja and soon arrived at a building guarded by many Ninja.

Dodai noticed that there were not only Iwagakure Ninja but also Sand Ninja and Mist Ninja, which meant that three of the Four Great Shinobi Villages had arrived, with only Kumogakure remaining.

“For the order of the meeting, only two guards are allowed to enter,” the leading Iwagakure Ninja reminded them.

“You two follow me, the others stay put,” Dodai said to the two strongest members of his squad.

Logically, Iwagakure shouldn’t dare to cause trouble for three of the Four Great Shinobi Villages simultaneously, but it’s better to be safe than sorry, and stronger guards are always a good thing.

Then Dodai entered the building and was led to the conference room inside.

Upon entering the conference room, the first person Dodai saw was Kitsuchi, seated at the head of the table.

Normally, Kitsuchi’s seniority wouldn’t be enough to preside over this meeting.

However, Kitsuchi was the one who discovered the intelligence, so Ōnoki helped him secure the position.

Although he was relatively straightforward in personality, he was still his own child and couldn’t be treated unfairly.

Dodai’s gaze shifted to the right, where he saw a female Ninja with a delicate face and a Sunagakure forehead protector.

He recognized her at a glance as Pakura, the Hidden Sand Village hero, a well-known Scorch Release Ninja in the Ninja World.

Noticing Dodai’s gaze, Pakura returned a cold look.

Kumogakure’s sneak attack had caused Hidden Sand Village a great deal of trouble, costing them a considerable price to drive Kumogakure out of the Land of Wind.

Dodai didn’t mind; the Third Kazekage of Sunagakure had disappeared, leaving them without a leader and in civil war. Why wouldn’t Kumogakure seize such a good opportunity?

Next, Dodai shifted his gaze to the right again, where a Mist Ninja with a serious expression sat.

Dodai quickly searched his mind for information and soon found his details: Mizuyū, Squad Leader of the Jonin in Hidden Mist Village.

“It seems Hidden Mist and Hidden Sand Village both attach great importance to this intelligence,” Dodai thought to himself.

Pakura and Mizuyū were both Ninja with considerable standing in their respective Villages, and their presence at the meeting was itself a statement.

Seeing Kumogakure arrive, Kitsuchi looked around, recalled the draft in his mind, then looked at the documents in front of him, and began:

“Since everyone is here, I assume you are all interested in cooperating to eliminate Hayate Mugetsu and crush Konoha’s ambition to dominate.”

After he finished speaking, the two Iwagakure Ninja behind Kitsuchi began distributing documents to the representatives of each Village.

“Regarding Hayate Mugetsu’s strength, I can say with full responsibility that there is no exaggeration whatsoever. Here are photos of the battlefield after his battles; you can take a look,” Kitsuchi continued.

Eliminating Hayate Mugetsu was a major point of this plan, the core objective.

Cooperating to destroy Konoha was unrealistic; although the Four Great Shinobi Villages, if they cooperated sincerely, had the strength, the problem was that the Four Great Shinobi Villages could not truly cooperate sincerely.

Each of the Five Great Ninja Villages had very deep foundations, including some powerful but not very humane Ninjutsu.

For example, Konoha’s Edo Tensei not only required the sacrifice of living people but was also an insult to the controlled dead.

This Ninjutsu was ordered to be sealed and forbidden from use by Senju Hashirama once he learned of it.

However, this prohibition was not absolute. In a true life-and-death situation, who would care about humanity or inhumanity? Protecting Konoha would certainly be the priority.

If Konoha truly fought with all its might, who would be willing to go up against Konoha? At that point, the alliance would naturally collapse.

Therefore, from the very beginning, Ōnoki’s goal was only to kill Muzuki and suppress Konoha.

Dodai took out the photos distributed by Iwagakure, and his pupils instantly constricted.

To make the other Ninja Villages aware of the seriousness of the situation, the Iwagakure took the photos very seriously, with close-ups, aerial views, and various other shots.

To better demonstrate the extent of the damage, many photos showed an Iwagakure Ninja standing in them, using their height to compare the damage on the battlefield.

Looking at the scene, which seemed to have been bombed by a meteor, Dodai’s expression became solemn.

From the creation of the first Ninja Village, Konoha, until now, the Ninja Village era has only been a few decades. Most Ninja still remember an invincible strong man named Senju Hashirama.

With Senju Hashirama as a unique example, the combination of Wood Release and young super genius made it very difficult for people to feel at ease.

Sunagakure might not care, but for Kumogakure, which wanted to replace Konoha’s position, the emergence of a second Senju Hashirama was absolutely unacceptable.

Their Kumogakure had been dormant for decades; if another second God of Shinobi, Hayate Mugetsu, appeared, wouldn’t they have to endure another few decades of frustration?

“How are we cooperating? Speak quickly. We, Kumogakure, absolutely cannot stand by and watch Konoha’s evil deeds!” Dodai said in a deep voice.

Hayate Mugetsu must be killed, even if it means paying a slightly higher price, otherwise, it will have a detrimental impact on Kumogakure’s strategy for the next few decades.

“Evil deeds? Do you Kumogakure have the nerve to use that word?” Pakura couldn’t help but retort.

Moreover, Pakura had dealt with Muzuki once and knew that he was an upright and broad-minded person.

If she had known this meeting was to discuss assassinating Muzuki, she wouldn’t have come.

Muzuki had once given her a path to survival. Although Pakura would not betray her Village for Muzuki, she was unwilling to unite with other Ninja Villages to lay a trap for Muzuki.

Sunagakure could act against Muzuki, but that person could not be her.

“Your Excellency, do not be blinded by past hatred. Remember what we are here for today,” Dodai said calmly, without retorting.

The most important task right now is to eliminate Muzuki; other matters can be put aside for now.

“Heh heh, I’m not doing this out of hatred. I just find your words amusing,” Pakura mocked unceremoniously.

It sounded good, but it was Kumogakure that invaded Sunagakure, not Sunagakure that invaded Kumogakure, so of course Dodai could calmly advise her to let go of hatred.

Kitsuchi had a headache. Just as he was about to mediate, a Sand Ninja behind Pakura spoke up.

“Pakura, don’t forget the Village’s mission,” Yashamaru said with a smile.

He was sent by Rasa to monitor Pakura, on one hand to prevent Pakura from causing trouble, and on the other hand to replace Pakura in cooperation at any time.

Pakura glanced at Yashamaru indifferently and said nothing more.

She disliked Rasa, but her impression of Rasa’s brother-in-law was okay, and she was willing to give him face.

“You Sunagakure are really interesting.” Mizuyū didn’t expect such entertainment at a meeting, where a Ninja representative’s guard offered opinions to the Ninja representative.

Pakura didn’t respond, and Yashamaru just smiled without speaking.

One doesn’t hit a smiling person, so Mizuyū didn’t continue on this topic either.

“It seems Hidden Sand Village hasn’t recovered from its internal strife yet. We really chose the wrong opponent back then. If we had attacked Sunagakure, perhaps the outcome wouldn’t be like this now,” Mizuyū thought to himself.

Mizuyū naturally felt some regret about the current situation in Hidden Mist Village.

Over a thousand Ninja were captured by Konoha, including a Mizukage candidate like Yagura Karatachi, which put Hidden Mist in a very passive position.

“Cooperation is actually very simple. Currently, our Iwagakure Ninja Force is still confronting the Konoha Ninja Force in the Land of Grass, and Hayate Mugetsu is among the Konoha Ninja Force in the Land of Grass,” Kitsuchi began to explain Iwagakure’s cooperation plan.

“We, Iwagakure, will serve as bait and vanguard, engaging the Konoha Ninja Force.”

“The Konoha Ninja Force is weak; without Hayate Mugetsu’s help, they are certainly no match for our Iwagakure, so Hayate Mugetsu will definitely make a move.”

“Your Villages only need to dispatch some elite teams to lie in wait in the Land of Grass, and you can seize this opportunity to surround and kill Hayate Mugetsu, leaving him in the Land of Grass forever.”

In fact, Iwagakure had already formulated a detailed Four Great Shinobi Villages joint plan, but that required confirming cooperation first before proceeding with the division of labor, so Kitsuchi first spoke about the core.

“We, Kumogakure, are willing to cooperate,” Dodai immediately stated.

Kumogakure had held a high-level meeting regarding this conference, and the discussion concluded that Hayate Mugetsu must be killed, and he must not be given any more opportunities to grow.

“Cooperation is a serious matter. We need to ask the opinion of the Kazekage-sama,” Yashamaru did not immediately agree.

Rasa had not given him the authority to participate in the war, only to analyze the feasibility and report back.

“I also need to report to the Mizukage-sama,” Mizuyū also said.

Hidden Mist’s situation was too awkward; let alone the Third Mizukage not giving him authority, even if he had, Mizuyū wouldn’t dare to make the decision himself.

“Then I’ll add a few more pieces of intelligence,” Kitsuchi said after some thought.

In Ōnoki’s anticipation, these Great Shinobi Villages would not easily agree to cooperate.

Kitsuchi’s task was to explain Muzuki’s danger as clearly as possible, to make the Great Shinobi Villages feel a sense of crisis.

After the meeting, the representatives each used their own methods to contact their Villages and report on the meeting’s status.

Pakura straightforwardly told Rasa that she would not undertake this mission.

Rasa, who learned from Yashamaru that this mission had high feasibility, readily agreed to Pakura’s request.

There were plenty of dangerous missions; there was no need to give Pakura a dangerous mission with a good chance of achieving great merit.

If Pakura was lucky enough to steal the kill and eliminate Muzuki, her reputation would certainly rise another level, which would be very unfavorable to him.

“Kumogakure has already agreed, and Hidden Mist will likely agree as well. This time, the Four Great Shinobi Villages alliance should be fine,” Rasa nodded to himself.

Hidden Mist had one Jinchuriki killed by Konoha two years ago, and also lost five precious Ninja swords. Recently, they seemed to have suffered another defeat, and Rasa didn’t believe Hidden Mist wouldn’t want revenge.

As for Sunagakure, Rasa would not miss an opportunity to kick a neighbor while they were down.

“Konoha has no choice but to suffer this great loss,” Rasa couldn’t help but smile.

This was the first time in the Ninja Village era that the Four Great Shinobi Villages had united against a single Ninja Village.

No matter how strong Konoha was, it wouldn’t be able to withstand it.

In terms of strength, they are the Shinobi Alliance, and both their powerful individuals and ordinary Ninja far surpass Konoha.

In terms of intelligence, they formed a secret alliance, of which Konoha was completely unaware; they were in the dark while Konoha was in the light.

Rasa couldn’t imagine Konoha not losing.

In this situation, perhaps only the resurrection of Senju Hashirama could resolve it.

With a true Sage Art Wood Release: Several Thousand Hands, all Ninja from the Great Ninja Villages would settle down.

On the other side, the Third Mizukage found it difficult to make a decision after receiving Mizuyū’s intelligence report.

On one hand, there was a junior he thought highly of and over a thousand Mist Ninja; on the other hand, there was the opportunity to wash away previous shame by inflicting a major defeat on Konoha.

The Third Mizukage was not a naive optimist who believed he could strike at Konoha while simultaneously rescuing his captured comrades.

It was possible to do so, but the probability of the plan succeeding was very low.

Because the captives had likely already been taken back to Konoha.

By the time they eliminated Hayate Mugetsu, Yagura Karatachi and the thousand Mist Ninja would either be killed by enraged Konoha Ninja or still serve as bargaining chips.

It was too difficult to rescue so many Ninja from Konoha; if they couldn’t defeat them, wouldn’t it be simple for them to kill a captive?

“No, I have another option,” a Flash of inspiration struck the Third Mizukage.

Why was he resisting peace talks with Konoha? Was he determined to fight Konoha to the end?

No, it was because Konoha was extorting them, relying on the large number of hostages they held; signing a peace treaty would cause Hidden Mist to lose a large amount of wealth, making the Third Mizukage lose both his fortune and his reputation.

If he didn’t cooperate with Iwagakure and instead told Konoha about Iwagakure’s plans, demanding equal peace talks as a condition to become Konoha’s ally…

Then Hidden Mist Village would not only avoid financial disaster, but Yagura Karatachi and the others would also be absolutely safe and not be killed out of spite, and perhaps even the five lost Ninja Tools could be recovered.

The only downside might be that Iwagakure, Kumogakure, and Sunagakure, the three Great Ninja Villages, would see a sharp decline in their goodwill towards Hidden Mist.

But upon closer thought, this wasn’t an issue either, because he would have Konoha as an ally; if Hidden Mist became a double-crosser to help Konoha, Konoha couldn’t just ignore them, right?

This way, Hayate Mugetsu, the second God of Shinobi, would not only pose no danger to Hidden Mist but could also become a great asset to Hidden Mist.

“As long as Hayate Mugetsu can withstand the combined forces of the three Villages, then this option is the best one,” the Third Mizukage increasingly felt that he should abandon the darkness and embrace the light.

Although Hayate Mugetsu was a Konoha Ninja, the Third Mizukage had great confidence in him.

A ruthless individual capable of capturing most of the Mist Ninja Force, including Yagura Karatachi, plus the help of Hidden Mist, meant the Shinobi Alliance might not be invincible.

Thinking of this, the Third Mizukage had Anbu summon Genshi.

The Third Mizukage could ignore the opinions of others, but Genshi still needed to be taken seriously.

The Third Mizukage told Genshi his thoughts, “Genshi, what do you think Hidden Mist should choose?”

“Use the cooperation as a bargaining chip and stand with Konoha,” Genshi replied after some thought.

If there hadn’t been over a thousand captives, Genshi would most likely have chosen to join Iwagakure in attacking Konoha.

With over a thousand captives, for Hidden Mist, allying with Konoha naturally came with benefits.

Cooperating with Iwagakure, regardless of winning or losing, the lives of those thousand-plus captives could not be guaranteed.

Cooperating with Konoha, there was a good chance of winning, and if they won, the captives would definitely be safe and sound, and they would also gain Konoha’s friendship.

Seeing that Genshi agreed with his opinion, the Third Mizukage quickly passed the resolution at the high-level meeting, contacting Iwagakure to agree to cooperate in sending troops, while also contacting Konoha.

To show Hidden Mist’s sincerity, Genshi volunteered to personally lead a team to Konoha for cooperation talks.

When Ōnoki learned that all three Great Ninja Villages had agreed to cooperate, he personally went to the border town to preside over the meeting.

To ensure everything went smoothly, Ōnoki prepared to take action himself this time.

Not only would he personally act, but Ōnoki also invited the Third Raikage, the Third Mizukage, and the Fourth Kazekage to join him.

The reason given was that Hayate Mugetsu’s presence might cause Konoha to send more troops, and since Hayate Mugetsu had mastered the Flying Thunder God Technique, a sufficient number of powerful individuals were needed to group together and encircle him.

Kumogakure’s desire to eliminate Muzuki this time was no less than Iwagakure’s; the Third Raikage was the first to reply, stating that he would also be present.

The Third Raikage did not trust others; he wanted to personally kill Hayate Mugetsu to eliminate future troubles.

Immediately after, the Third Mizukage also replied, stating that he would be at the encirclement site to personally lead the elite Hidden Mist Anbu assassination squad to carry out the assassination mission.

Seeing that the other Kage were all attending, Rasa, who had not planned to go, also changed his mind and decided to personally go to the Land of Grass to join the excitement.

If the other Kage went and he didn’t, wouldn’t it make him seem cowardly? As the only Fourth Kage among the Five Great Ninja Villages at the moment, Rasa felt he couldn’t disgrace Sunagakure.

“The Kage of the Four Great Shinobi Villages gathering just to kill one person; this is a first for the entire Ninja World, isn’t it?” Ōnoki’s face broke into a smile.

The plan was proceeding as envisioned, and Ōnoki was in a very good mood.

What if he had the potential of Senju Hashirama? Just nip it in the bud; as long as he hasn’t truly become the second God of Shinobi, there’s still a chance.

At this moment, Ōnoki was glad that he had been steadfastly targeting Konoha since the war began.

If Konoha hadn’t been pushed to the brink, the Konoha higher-ups might have kept Muzuki’s Wood Release hidden, only revealing it when he was close to Senju Hashirama’s strength.

To ensure Muzuki was left in the Land of Grass without any mishaps, Ōnoki truly gave his all.

In addition to the main battlefield in the Land of Grass, Ōnoki strongly suggested that Hidden Mist send troops again to invade the southeast of the Land of Fire, to attract Konoha’s attention and thus prevent the Konoha Ninja Force in the Land of Grass from receiving too many reinforcements.

Similarly, Ōnoki also suggested that Kumogakure send some personnel to operate along the Land of Rice Fields border, creating the false impression that Kumogakure had not given up on opening a front from the Land of Rice Fields, thereby diverting Konoha’s attention.

As for Sunagakure, Ōnoki did not suggest they declare war on Konoha, thinking it would be better for Sunagakure to appear suddenly and catch Konoha off guard.

Because if Sunagakure declared war on Konoha, then all Four Great Shinobi Villages would be at war with Konoha, which might make Konoha tense and increase personnel at the borders.

Days passed, and Ōnoki’s arrangements were completed step by step.

Hidden Mist’s presence was once again detected in the southeast of the Land of Fire, and Kumogakure Ninja were active along the Land of Rice Fields border.

Rasa, the Third Raikage, and other helpers brought their elite forces and secretly entered the Land of Grass.

Once everything was ready, Ōnoki gave the order to Retsuishi, the commander of the Iwa Ninja Force.

“Attack the Konoha Ninja Force at all costs.”

To keep the operation secret, Ōnoki didn’t even go to the Iwagakure Ninja Force, giving the impression that he was still in Iwagakure.

Except for a small portion of the high-ranking officers in the Iwa Ninja Force, most of the Iwagakure Ninja did not know that their Kage had arrived at the battlefield.

Nothing more, Ōnoki was worried that he would scare Hayate Mugetsu away.

If Muzuki escaped to some corner and quietly trained for ten years before reappearing, Ōnoki truly would have no solution.

Such a large-scale movement, with the entire Iwagakure Ninja Force in the Land of Grass moving directly towards the Land of Fire’s defense line, naturally could not be hidden from Konoha’s intelligence Ninja.

“Something’s strange. They retreated and avoided battle before, but now they’re launching a large-scale attack with almost no reservations. Have they received reinforcements?” Jiraiya’s expression was serious.

The Iwagakure Ninja Force on the Land of Grass battlefield had already approached two thousand men; if another thousand-man reinforcement force arrived, that would be a Ninja Force of three thousand Ninja.

Such terrifying power, if directed at countries outside the Five Great Nations, no one could resist, and they would all fall within a short period.

“Don’t we have reinforcements too? And we have Muzuki-sensei; we’re definitely going to win!” Obito said, implying that with Muzuki, there would be no surprises.

“Even with our reinforcements, we don’t have as many Ninja as the enemy’s known Ninja Force,” Jiraiya retorted.

Even with reinforcements, the Konoha Ninja Force in the Land of Grass currently only had fifteen hundred Ninja, a number even smaller than the Iwa Ninja Force without reinforcements.

“Then should we ask the Village for more reinforcements?” Kakashi suggested.

He also trusted Muzuki’s power, but it would certainly be better if they could reduce the probability of accidents.

“I’ll contact them, but even if they come, they won’t be able to arrive in time,” Jiraiya’s expression was not panicked.

Although they were outnumbered, Jiraiya was quite confident, after all, that person had arrived.

“Don’t worry, trust me, trust yourselves, and trust everyone,” Muzuki said with a smile, putting his hand on Kakashi’s shoulder.

As the core target, Muzuki had received all the intelligence Hiruzen Sarutobi had given him.

Being targeted was within Muzuki’s expectations, which was why he had only truly displayed his Wood Release on the battlefield after having it for so long.

Muzuki’s established genius persona combined with Wood Release would make Konoha’s hostile forces incredibly wary.

Apart from Konoha itself, no other Ninja Village would want to see another Senju Hashirama appear.

So, during the battle with the Mist Ninja Force, Muzuki deliberately held back and captured a large number of Hidden Mist captives.

The purpose was to make Hidden Mist hesitant, so that he would have one less opponent.

Muzuki was not afraid of facing the Third Tsuchikage or the Third Raikage alone, but if multiple Kage came together, bringing elite Ninja, then Muzuki would be overwhelmed.

His Chakra wasn’t enough; Muzuki couldn’t kill so many people before running out of Chakra.

He could only use the Flying Thunder God to escape after his Chakra was nearly depleted.

“If it were a little later, perhaps Hidden Mist’s defection wouldn’t have been an issue either,” Muzuki thought, feeling the stirring in his eyes.

Muzuki didn’t know what his Byakugan would evolve into, because in the original work, the only advanced eye related to the Byakugan was the Tenseigan from the movie.

Everyone else had normal Byakugan; even the final boss, Ōtsutsuki Kaguya’s Byakugan, looked the same as a normal Hyuga Clan’s, just with stronger abilities.

It’s just that the Tenseigan seemed to require some Ōtsutsuki Chakra combined with a pure Byakugan.

His Byakugan was definitely pure enough, but Muzuki truly didn’t know where to get Ōtsutsuki Chakra.

However, no matter what, evolution was a good thing; his Chakra would definitely increase somewhat, but it was a pity that his own increase couldn’t be doubled like his disciples’.