Chapter 710: Resurrection Ninjutsu

Land of Wind, Hidden Sand Village.

The intelligence Yashamaru brought back caused a stir among the Hidden Sand high-ups.

No other reason than that not long ago, they were still discussing how to attack the Shinobi Sect.

“Fortunately, Advisor Ebizo was cautious, or the losses would have been significant,” a middle-aged Hidden Sand high-up with a white cloth wrapped around his head praised.

“Indeed, Sōsuke’s strength is so immense; we must be extremely cautious when dealing with the Shinobi Sect,” a rather burly, bald Hidden Sand Ninja nodded.

The Hidden Sand high-ups were all filled with relief and lingering fear. Even as one of the Five Great Ninja Villages, the Hidden Sand Village would find it difficult to withstand the retaliation of the God of Shinobi, and decline would be almost inevitable.

“We also need to be wary of Iwagakure. Based on their previous actions, they obtained this intelligence much earlier but didn’t inform us. Instead, they were deliberately guiding us to wage war against the Shinobi Sect.”

At this, the Hidden Sand high-ups’ expressions turned somewhat displeased.

They had already found Iwagakure’s actions strange before, willing to offer a large amount of commission but unwilling to send any Ninja.

Now that they thought about it, Iwagakure neither wanted the Shinobi Sect to develop and snatch their share of the pie, nor did they want to be retaliated against by Sōsuke. So, they wanted to use Sunagakure, which also had geographical conflicts with the Shinobi Sect, to achieve their goals.

“Of course, we need to be careful, but I believe cooperation is essential,” Ebizo said after some thought.

The Ninja World currently appeared peaceful on the surface, but the underlying conflicts were even more exaggerated than during the Third Shinobi World War.

The strongest Ninja in the current Ninja World, Sōsuke, led the rise of the Shinobi Sect, challenging the existing Ninja World order.

Muzuki, with the potential of a God of Shinobi, took over the position of Hokage, strengthening ties with the Hidden Mist, appearing ready to ally with the Hidden Mist and sweep across the Ninja World.

Ebizo felt that the current Ninja World was like a wooden barrel filled with explosive tags, capable of a massive explosion at any moment.

Even Iwagakure, with its intelligence advantage, actively shared information, which showed how tense the current Ninja World situation was.

“Advisor Ebizo is right. If we can truly unite with Iwagakure and Kumogakure, then whether it’s to eliminate the Shinobi Sect or to confront Konoha and the Hidden Mist, we will be more at ease,” the middle-aged Hidden Sand high-up with the white cloth wrapped around his head agreed.

Iwagakure tried to trick Sunagakure before, that was true, but from the overall perspective, Sunagakure truly couldn’t cut off cooperation with Iwagakure because of this, and even for a long time, they couldn’t take retaliatory actions against Iwagakure.

“Then, regarding the alliance, no one has any objections, do they?” Rasa nodded and asked.

He also believed that an alliance was imperative.

Seeing no high-ups raise objections, Rasa began discussing the specific candidates for the Sōsuke assassination squad.

If the Hidden Cloud Village also agreed to the alliance, forming the Sōsuke assassination squad would be the first major task of the Shinobi Alliance… Land of Lightning, Hidden Cloud Village.

After listening to Dodai’s report, the Third Raikage showed a surprised expression.

Ever since Hiruzen Sarutobi’s defeat, he had been curious about Sōsuke’s true strength, but unfortunately, he couldn’t obtain specific combat intelligence, which made it impossible for him to make an accurate judgment.

However, the Third Raikage still didn’t speculate to the level of the God of Shinobi.

Defeating Hiruzen Sarutobi and being equivalent to the God of Shinobi were not on the same level.

Strong Ninja like Hiruzen Sarutobi were rare in the Ninja World, but a few would appear every ten or twenty years.

And Senju Hashirama was recognized as the strongest Ninja in the Ninja World for the past few centuries.

As for more distant history, it was too far back to discuss properly.

“Could it be that he has been cultivating in some secret place of the Shinobi Sect all this time?” the Third Raikage speculated inwardly.

Normally, with such terrifying strength, even if he was very low-key, there should be some legends about him.

When Sōsuke gained fame by defeating Hanzō, Kumogakure conducted a small investigation into Sōsuke but found nothing.

When the news of Sōsuke defeating Hiruzen Sarutobi spread throughout the Ninja World, the Third Raikage ordered the Kumogakure Anbu to fully investigate Sōsuke, but still yielded no results.

Sōsuke was as if he had sprung out of nowhere from a stone. Before he traveled to the Land of Rain to give lectures, the Kumogakure Anbu couldn’t find any clues related to Sōsuke.

This made the Third Raikage even more wary of Sōsuke. A Ninja could become so powerful just by training.

Combat was a catalyst for Ninja, allowing them to grow faster and helping them break through talent bottlenecks to become as strong as possible.

Even Senju Hashirama fought his way to become the God of Shinobi during the Sengoku period.

“No wonder Ōnoki was so generous in sharing intelligence; he truly is a huge threat,” the Third Raikage’s expression became serious.

Just the strength of a God of Shinobi level was enough to impact the existing pattern of the Great Ninja Villages dividing the Ninja World.

If Sōsuke were to become even stronger than Senju Hashirama once was, the outcome would be even more unpredictable.

“Raikage-sama, I think we can agree to Iwagakure’s suggestion. Iwagakure, Sunagakure, and our Kumogakure, the three Great Ninja Villages, should unite to form an assassination squad to research Sōsuke,” Dodai suggested.

“Even if an assassination squad is formed, as long as we don’t truly act, we and the Shinobi Sect will still be like well water and river water, not interfering with each other.

But if we don’t unite to form an assassination squad, any single Great Ninja Village alone will not be able to eliminate Sōsuke. We can only watch the Shinobi Sect grow stronger under Sōsuke’s protection.”

Dodai believed that uniting to form an assassination squad was more beneficial than harmful.

If the assassination squad collected enough intelligence and there was a chance to kill Sōsuke, then they would act.

If not, they would remain inactive, and there wouldn’t be too much loss.

“Dodai, you are right. It’s time to unite,” the Third Raikage nodded heavily after deep thought.

Even the confident Third Raikage had to admit that in the current Ninja World, the strength of Kumogakure alone was somewhat insufficient.

After Sunagakure and Kumogakure successively gave their replies, the secret joint meeting of the three Great Ninja Villages was held again.

The location was still the port town in the western part of the Land of Lightning, because of its sufficient secrecy.

They believed no one would think that Sunagakure would go to the Land of Earth, then board a ship with Iwagakure, and go to a coastal town in the Land of Lightning to hold a meeting.

This time, the meeting personnel had some changes.

Except for Iwagakure, which was still represented by Retsuishi, the captain of the Iwa Explosion Corps, Sunagakure and Kumogakure both replaced their representatives with Ninja who could better represent their Ninja Village to show their importance.

Sunagakure was represented by a rather burly, bald Hidden Sand high-up.

Shakū, besides being the Jonin squad leader of the Hidden Sand Village, was also the son of the Second Kazekage, and was a famous Puppet Technique master in the Ninja World.

The original representative, Yashamaru, became Shakū’s deputy.

Kumogakure’s Third Raikage appointed his son, Fourth Raikage Ay, as the representative, with the original representative Dodai as his deputy.

In this meeting, Iwagakure, Kumogakure, and Sunagakure fully exchanged opinions and officially established the Sōsuke assassination squad.

The assassination squad had three major teams, with a representative from each of the three Great Ninja Villages serving as a captain.

Additionally, an Iwagakure elder served as the overall commander, with high-ranking Ninja from the Hidden Cloud Village and the Hidden Sand Village serving as deputy overall commanders.

Sunagakure and Kumogakure did not have much objection to this point.

Iwagakure currently possessed more intelligence and had cooperation with the Shinobi Sect, making them the main intelligence force at the moment.

Moreover, compared to a captain, the overall commander was more of a title, without real power.

To facilitate operations, the three Great Shinobi Sects secretly established the headquarters of the Sōsuke assassination squad on the border between the Land of Earth and the Land of Rain.

Additionally, a branch of the Sōsuke assassination squad was established on the border between the Land of Wind and the Land of Rain.

Due to the long distance, no branch was established in the Land of Lightning. Instead, a branch of the Sōsuke assassination squad, mainly composed of Cloud Ninja, was established within the Land of Rivers.

The power that could be unleashed when the three Great Ninja Villages worked together was terrifying.

With the cooperation of Iwagakure, Sunagakure, and Kumogakure, the largest and most powerful intelligence organization in the current Ninja World was born silently.

The intelligence power that the Sōsuke assassination squad could mobilize was beyond the imagination of ordinary Ninja.

Most of the powerful intelligence Ninja from the three Great Ninja Villages were transferred to the Sōsuke assassination squad.

Although it was called the Sōsuke assassination squad, this department was not only investigating the Shinobi Sect but also monitoring Konoha and the Hidden Mist, though most of its energy was focused on the Shinobi Sect.

After all, this department was essentially a product of the three Great Ninja Villages uniting under pressure from the current Ninja World situation.

While the three Great Ninja Villages were secretly engaged in various cooperations, the public cooperation and exchange meeting between Sunagakure and Iwagakure, used to attract attention, also came to an end.

During this time, Chiyo sought out Sasori many times.

Although Sasori claimed he was too busy and couldn’t be bothered to meet, he showed up every time to see Chiyo.

However, to Chiyo’s dismay, although Sasori was willing to see her, he wouldn’t listen to her words and refused to leave the Shinobi Sect no matter what.

On the last day of leaving Six Paths City, Chiyo sought out Sasori once again.

Even though Sasori rejected her mercilessly every time, Chiyo still didn’t want to give up.

As an elder of the Hidden Sand Village, a pillar of stability, Chiyo knew what major events had occurred in the Hidden Sand Village, even while in Six Paths City.

Chiyo was quickly informed of Sōsuke’s true strength and the alliance of the three Great Ninja Villages.

After seeing this intelligence, Chiyo became even more determined to persuade Sasori to leave the Shinobi Sect.

Under the combined efforts of the three Great Ninja Villages, Sōsuke might be able to protect himself and his disciples with his powerful strength, but he would most likely be unable to preserve the entire Shinobi Sect.

Ninja like Sasori, who joined the Shinobi Sect halfway, were very likely to die in the struggle between the Shinobi Sect and the three Great Ninja Villages.

“Sasori, leave the Shinobi Sect. This place will become the most dangerous place in the entire Ninja World,” Chiyo said seriously.

The three Great Ninja Villages acting together was no joke; this time was more like true cooperation than the joint encirclement during the Third Shinobi World War.

“Most dangerous? Does that mean Sunagakure is going to war with the Shinobi Sect?”

Sasori asked indifferently, his expression unchanged by Chiyo’s words.

“It will be even more dangerous than that,” Chiyo didn’t tell Sasori the truth, only emphasizing the danger.

She was, after all, a Ninja of the Hidden Sand Village and could not directly disclose intelligence to Sasori, who was a Ninja of the Shinobi Sect.

“Oh, I’m not leaving,” Sasori’s expression changed slightly, but his answer remained the same.

Chiyo looked at Sasori with a hint of pleading.

If she could, she would even sacrifice her own life for Sasori’s.

Why was Sasori so resolute? Was her blood-is-thicker-than-water kinship with Sasori not as important as his one or two years in the Shinobi Sect?

“My answer is still the same,” Sasori’s attitude did not change.

At this moment, Chiyo even suspected if the Shinobi Sect had some imperceptible hypnosis Ninjutsu.

Otherwise, how could Sasori be willing to die for the Shinobi Sect in such a short period?

Of course, Chiyo knew this was impossible. If such a Ninjutsu truly existed, Sōsuke would have long since used his strength to capture strong Ninja and hypnotize them.

“Sasori changed when I wasn’t with him,” Chiyo sighed inwardly.

She didn’t know what Sasori had encountered after leaving the Hidden Sand Village, how he had spent those years, how he had entered the Shinobi Sect, or how he had become good friends with Nagato.

As Sasori’s grandmother, she had failed him, and no wonder Sasori wouldn’t listen to her.

“I am developing a Ninjutsu that can revive the dead. If it succeeds, Kōji and the others can return to your side. Even then, are you still unwilling to leave the Shinobi Sect and save yourself?” Chiyo brought out her ultimate trump card.

She hadn’t originally intended to mention the matter of the One’s Own Life Reincarnation.

Firstly, this Ninjutsu had not yet been successfully developed, and secondly, the cost and restrictions would be very significant.

But now, Chiyo couldn’t afford to think too much. She developed the One’s Own Life Reincarnation for Sasori. If Sasori died, then this Ninjutsu would also be meaningless.

Hearing this long-unheard name, Sasori’s pupils rapidly dilated, and a moved expression appeared on his face.

Kōji was his father who died on the battlefield.

“It seems this place will indeed be very dangerous next. To make me leave, you would even make up such a story,” Sasori’s expression returned to indifference.

As a research-type Ninja, Sasori understood how difficult it was to revive a person.

Moreover, this difficulty would increase with time. Reviving someone who had just died was not the same as reviving someone who had been dead for ten years.

“Sasori, I’m not lying to you. I really am developing a Ninjutsu that can revive the dead, and I’ve already made some progress. The Ninjutsu will succeed very soon,” seeing Sasori didn’t believe her, Chiyo became a little anxious.

Chiyo didn’t give up and said a few more words, but Sasori still didn’t budge.

“Let’s end it here today,” Sasori shook his head.

Chiyo’s lips moved, but in the end, she only let out a deep sigh.

“Protect yourself, Sasori.”

After saying her last words, Chiyo turned and slowly walked towards the door, her figure suddenly much more hunched.

“Grandma, goodbye,” Sasori said softly.

He actually knew that Chiyo was doing it for his own good, but he couldn’t leave this place for a vague promise of resurrection.

“You guys be careful lately; a Great Ninja Village might be taking action against the Shinobi Sect.”

After Nagato entered the room, Sasori told Nagato a part of his recent conversation with Chiyo.

“Sasori, don’t worry, as long as I’m still here, I will never let you all encounter danger,” Nagato said gratefully to Sasori with a sincere expression.

Sasori pouted, “What ‘you all’? I’m not a Ninja of your Shinobi Sect.”

PS:

I really couldn’t find any information about Sasori’s parents, so I made up a name…