Chapter 743 The plan to destroy the Ninja Clan was formulated by Mu Yue

After successfully bringing Hidden Mist into the fold, Ōnoki began to contact the Shinobi Sect.

They finally agreed to meet on the afternoon of the day before the Four Finals.

When the appointed time arrived, the Four Kage set off together, disguised themselves, entered the Shinobi Sect office area, and finally went to the meeting room in the Shinobi Sect building.

“Since the end of the Third Shinobi World War, Konoha’s ambition has expanded greatly; they are no longer satisfied with being the largest Shinobi Village.

They want to become the only Shinobi Village in the Ninja World, wanting all Ninja to submit to Konoha.”

Ōnoki denounced Konoha’s wild ambition in a deep voice.

“The reason the Five Kage gathered in Six Paths City this time is that Konoha secretly convened a Five Kage summit, intending to eliminate the Shinobi Sect, which has the potential to be a top Ninja power.”

“We truly do not wish for another war, so we have come to discuss countermeasures with the Shinobi Sect.”

Kakuzu stroked his chin; he knew that so many Ninja from the Five Great Ninja Villages suddenly coming here meant no good.

However, he didn’t immediately believe Ōnoki’s words; that old man didn’t look like a good person.

“If that weren’t the case, how could Hidden Mist, as Konoha’s ally, stand on the opposite side of Konoha?”

Ōnoki looked at the Third Mizukage and said.

As Konoha’s ally, Hidden Mist’s words were more convincing.

The Third Mizukage nodded and said:

“Konoha’s current Hokage, Hayate Mugetsu, is indeed ambitious; as soon as he took office, he spent a large amount of funds on reforming the Ninja Academy.

Even though the war has ended, he places such importance on enhancing the Ninja power of the Village, which must mean he intends to expand militarily.”

Then the Third Mizukage cited several examples to prove Konoha’s ambition and danger.

“Hidden Mist has always been a Village that loves peace; even as allies, we cannot stand idly by while Konoha attempts to incite a major war.”

The Third Mizukage said with a serious face, looking righteous.

Kakuzu:…

Wasn’t Hidden Mist called the Village of the Bloody Mist? How did it become peace-loving?

Sure enough, the position of Kage is not for just anyone; if it were him, he really couldn’t do it.

“I think I understand what you mean: Konoha wants to use the Martial Arts Tournament to team up with you to deal with the Shinobi Sect, but you don’t want to cooperate with Konoha against the Shinobi Sect; you want to cooperate with the Shinobi Sect against Konoha?”

Kakuzu thought for a moment and summarized his question.

Rasa nodded and replied:

“That’s right. If the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold. If we don’t stand with the Shinobi Sect today, Konoha’s next target to eliminate might be us.”

Kakuzu wanted to ask something else, but he noticed that Nagato, who was standing behind Sōsuke, had a strange expression, as if he was trying very hard to look serious.

“Nagato still hasn’t adapted to the Shinobi Sect’s current status; what’s a Kage? There’s no need to be so reserved.”

Kakuzu shook his head inwardly, believing Nagato lacked inner confidence.

“Tell me how you want to cooperate.”

Muzuki spoke.

The betrayal of the Great Shinobi Villages was within his expectations; after all, Kakashi and their performance was too brutal.

Iwagakure and other Great Shinobi Villages could tolerate Konoha being stronger than them, but they could not tolerate Konoha being strong enough to fight one against three or even one against four.

However, none of this mattered to Muzuki; as long as the strong individuals from the Five Great Ninja Villages came to Six Paths City, that was enough.

No matter what tricks these Great Shinobi Villages wanted to pull, in the end, it still came down to strength.

And Muzuki, having developed to his current state, already possessed the strength to make everyone honestly listen to him.

It was no exaggeration to say that the current Muzuki could easily beat the version of himself from right after the war ended, when his Byakugan hadn’t even evolved yet.

“Konoha’s original plan was to have the Raikage win the Martial Arts Tournament, then challenge Sōsuke, allowing the Raikage to deplete your Chakra, and then, after the battle, Hayate Mugetsu would immediately seize the opportunity to ambush and kill you and Nagato on the spot.”

Ōnoki first explained their original plan, generating some animosity towards Konoha.

“They really did make a lot of preparations.”

Kakuzu thought carefully and found that there was absolutely nothing wrong with it: the powerful Third Raikage would deplete the Chakra, and then the strongest, Muzuki, would launch the killing blow.

“Currently, the Four Finals are the Raikage, myself, Hiruzen Sarutobi, and Nagato.

We can do this: I will still follow the original plan and intentionally lose to the Raikage, then have Nagato ensure Hiruzen Sarutobi advances, so the Raikage will meet Hiruzen Sarutobi in the finals.

Since the original plan was to ensure the Raikage became first, Hiruzen Sarutobi will definitely hold back in the battle.

Then the Raikage can fully deplete Hiruzen Sarutobi’s Chakra, and then launch another attack after the battle ends, while Hiruzen Sarutobi is weakened.”

Ōnoki spoke out his newly formulated plan in one breath.

Since the main purpose of the new plan was to weaken Konoha, Ōnoki felt there was no need to proceed to the challenge against Sōsuke; they could just act directly after the finals.

“This plan is acceptable, no problem.”

Muzuki nodded, agreeing.

It must be said that Ōnoki, that old geezer, was indeed cunning; if Muzuki hadn’t had a special identity, and Konoha had truly been subjected to this, the Shinobi World War would have been won for nothing, and they might even have regressed significantly.

Ōnoki’s face broke into a smile; he knew the Shinobi Sect wouldn’t refuse.

It wasn’t because Konoha was being thrown under the bus, but because of their geographical location, the Shinobi Sect and Konoha inherently had a huge hidden conflict.

As long as the Shinobi Sect acted against Konoha now, they could not only resolve the crisis but also solve the Konoha problem in advance.

Ōnoki couldn’t think of a reason for Sōsuke to refuse such a good deal that killed two birds with one stone.

After finalizing the specific cooperation details, the Four Kage quickly disguised themselves again and left the Shinobi Sect building.

Nagato watched the Four Kage depart, his tense face relaxed, and he couldn’t help but reveal a slight smile.

For him, who knew Muzuki’s dual identity, the biggest challenge of this meeting was managing his expressions.

After Ōnoki and the others left the Shinobi Sect building, they did not return directly to their respective hotels but went together to a secluded small hotel to hold another meeting.

“Raikage, when you attack Hiruzen Sarutobi, you must deliberately miss, don’t let Hiruzen Sarutobi get too seriously injured.”

Ōnoki instructed.

“It’s true that Konoha is powerful, but the Shinobi Sect also has extraordinary potential; weakening both sides simultaneously is the best outcome.”

“I will.”

The Third Raikage nodded with his arms crossed.

On the surface, they were uniting with the Shinobi Sect to deal with Konoha, but in reality, this four-Village alliance stood with no one but themselves.

If Sōsuke showed a weakness, they would not hesitate to seize the opportunity and kill him.

However, due to Sōsuke’s dangerous nature, they would not attack the Shinobi Sect unless they could ensure Sōsuke’s death.

Aside from Sōsuke and Nagato, the Shinobi Sect’s other members were still just potential, while Konoha was truly strong and needed to be weakened more.

……

The next day, the Shinobi Sect Four Finals officially began.

However, because the Ninja in the Four Finals were all incredibly powerful, to avoid accidentally injuring spectators and to allow the strong individuals to better display their abilities, the Shinobi Sect did not continue to hold the matches in the arena but moved them outside the city.

The specific location was at the foot of a mountain near Six Paths City.

Ordinary spectators could watch the broadcast at the original venue or on televisions within Six Paths City.

Only Ninja who had reached the Jonin rank were allowed to watch the matches live.

Generally speaking, even a Jonin from a small Shinobi Village, when prepared, would not easily be killed by the residual power of strong individuals.

This rule brought joy to some and sorrow to others; Ninja who hadn’t reached Jonin wanted to curse, complaining that if missions required Ninja ranks, why did watching a match also have such a high threshold?

To prevent bloodthirsty spectators who overestimated themselves from coming to watch and getting killed by residual power, Muzuki also specially arranged for Perception Ninja to patrol around the arena, ensuring no accidents would occur.

“What a pity, I can’t watch the match with Yuhi.”

Asuma felt a bit regretful.

Kurenai Yuhi and Raido Namiashi were both still Chunin, not qualified to watch the match live.

If Hiruzen Sarutobi hadn’t been competing, he might have chosen to watch the online match with Kurenai Yuhi in the city.

But with his old father competing, it seemed unreasonable not to go watch live if he could.

If he watched the match live, how could he accurately spot his old father’s mistakes during the battle?

Hiruzen Sarutobi used to constantly tell Asuma how many mistakes he made; now that the tables had turned, it was Asuma’s turn.

“Third Raikage-sama versus Ōnoki-sama!”

When the official start time of the match arrived, the referee called out the names of the combatants.

The Third Raikage and Ōnoki stood up together and walked towards the area designated as the battlefield.

“The Third Raikage and the Third Tsuchikage, who do you think will win?”

Obito asked his companions curiously.

“In terms of overall strength, the two are almost equal, but in a one-on-one match, the Third Raikage’s chances of winning should be greater.”

Shisui thought for a moment and analyzed.

He had fought Ōnoki and had a deep understanding of Ōnoki’s strength.

Ōnoki’s Dust Release was very powerful, but its release speed was an issue, and the Third Raikage’s speed was fast, which made it very difficult.

Shisui believed that Ōnoki was more suitable for squad or army combat, with someone helping Ōnoki restrain opponents, only then could the power of Dust Release be fully utilized.

“Yes, a match is different from a fight to the death; Ōnoki cannot use Dust Release with full power, but the Third Raikage can freely use Lightning Release Chakra Mode.”

Kakashi agreed.

If Ōnoki used Dust Release with full power, he might accidentally kill someone, while the Third Raikage, even if he used Lightning Release Chakra Mode with full power, only strengthened himself and could simply retract a bit of strength when he needed to hold back.

“So you guys think the same way? Me too.”

Obito directly blended in.

The facts were pretty much as Kakashi and the others analyzed.

In the early stages of the battle, Ōnoki, relying on his flying advantage and Dust Release, forced the Third Raikage to flee everywhere, unable to retaliate.

Outsiders might think Ōnoki was very powerful here, suppressing the Third Raikage.

But experts knew that Ōnoki only looked impressive; in reality, he achieved no results and consumed his own Chakra.

After realizing that Dust Release was ineffective, Ōnoki switched to large-scale Earth Release.

This time, the Third Raikage couldn’t dodge, but he didn’t need to.

The Third Raikage directly activated his Lightning Release Chakra and entered full Lightning Release Chakra Mode; no matter what Earth Release Ōnoki used, he broke through it with sheer force.

After a back-and-forth for a while, the Third Raikage seized Ōnoki’s weakness due to excessive consumption and defeated him.

“Third Raikage-sama wins!”

The referee announced the result cleanly and decisively.

The Cloud Ninja watching the match all smiled.

This was much more impressive than defeating some genius; the Third Tsuchikage was a figure on par with their Raikage.

“Hiruzen Sarutobi-sama versus Nagato!”

After a simple repair of the venue, the second match of the Four Finals quickly began.

The Konoha Ninja watching the match all showed serious expressions.

Nagato was not old, but his strength was recognized by the entire Ninja World; his abilities were strange and powerful.

“You guys keep an eye out for me; if you spot any mistakes from the old man, remember to tell me.”

Asuma was worried about his own eyesight, so he asked Obito and the others for help.

Obito, of course, readily agreed; Kakashi felt a little speechless inside, but he didn’t refuse either.

The battle between Hiruzen Sarutobi and Nagato was even more intense than the previous one; both were very skilled in the five basic nature Ninjutsu.

Hiruzen Sarutobi’s understanding of Ninjutsu far surpassed Nagato’s, but Nagato had an enormous amount of Chakra and the Rinnegan to absorb Ninjutsu, making it so that neither could gain an advantage over the other for a while.

“Summoning Technique!”

After testing Nagato’s abilities, Hiruzen Sarutobi used the Summoning Technique to summon Enma.

Regarding Nagato’s ability to absorb Ninjutsu, there was a circulating theory that this ability had a limit; once that limit was exceeded, Nagato would be unable to absorb.

However, for Hiruzen Sarutobi, this was a battle he couldn’t lose, so he chose a more conservative approach; testing the absorption limit was too Chakra-consuming and had the potential to backfire.

Hiruzen Sarutobi didn’t want to lose to a junior Ninja old enough to be his son, and since Nagato was also Sōsuke’s disciple, Hiruzen Sarutobi wanted even less to lose.

Losing to the teacher, then losing to the disciple, he truly couldn’t afford to lose face like that.

Hiruzen Sarutobi, wielding the Adamantine Staff transformed from Enma, attacked with ferocious intensity.

Even with Nagato’s divine defensive technique like Shinra Tensei, he found it difficult to parry for a while.

Konoha had intelligence on Shinra Tensei’s five-second cooldown, which significantly reduced Shinra Tensei’s effectiveness.

Relying on the powerful recovery brought by Yang Release Breathing Chakra Mode, Nagato forcibly endured for a period, but during this time, Hiruzen Sarutobi fought steadily and surely, showing no weaknesses.

Instead, Nagato, due to his eagerness, was seized by Hiruzen Sarutobi, who defeated him in one fell swoop.

“Hiruzen Sarutobi-sama wins!”

As the referee called out the winner’s name, the Four Finals ended.

Only five days remained until the finals between the Third Raikage and Hiruzen Sarutobi, after which the Martial Arts Tournament would officially conclude.

“He’s in such good form today.”

Asuma couldn’t help but mutter.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was terrifyingly steady today; he couldn’t see any mistakes from Hiruzen Sarutobi at all.

“You’d better be just as impressive in the finals.”

If Hiruzen Sarutobi won the Martial Arts Tournament, Asuma would also be quite happy.

His conflict with his old father wasn’t so great that he wished him ill; it was just that Hiruzen Sarutobi rarely said anything nice, which made Asuma feel a bit unhappy.

Moreover, if Hiruzen Sarutobi took first place, Asuma would have been eliminated by the first-place winner, which sounded much better.