MM Racing Chapter 173 Environment, Wind and Shadow
Chapter 173 Environment, Wind and Shadow
Chapter 173 Environment, Wind and Shadow
Konoha, Hokage's office.
Ever since Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu brought back Chiyo's request, the arguments here have never stopped.
Danzo firmly opposed this compromise-style alliance, not only gaining no real benefits but also losing over a hundred prisoners for nothing.
Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu, however, believed that in times of crisis, it was best to act expediently. With all the countries eyeing Konoha covetously, exchanging these hundred-plus prisoners for the stability of the southern defense line, allowing the village to have sufficient energy to deal with enemies from other directions, was a worthwhile thing to do.
Moreover, Sunagakure has agreed to a defensive alliance, which means they can help Konoha fight against Iwagakure together.
"You believe such a lie as an alliance? If I remember correctly, Sunagakure signed an alliance with us after World War II, but we're still fighting now!"
Danzo curled his lip in disdain, watching Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu stare at him like idiots. "Oh, I seem to remember now, it's still within the validity period of that alliance. The previous alliance hasn't expired yet, and now we have to sign another one. I wonder if Sunagakure will even recognize it!"
Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu blushed deeply, speechless after being confronted by Danzo. The facts were undeniable; they couldn't refute them even if they wanted to.
"Hiruzen, you decide how these negotiations should proceed." Mitokado Homura directly shifted the blame. He had already stated his position, so the rest was up to the Hokage to decide.
Hiruzen Sarutobi puffed on his pipe, his mind racing. Chiyo's request was indeed tempting, but Danzo's concerns were not without merit.
After all, sometimes a written alliance is not as tangible as the benefits that can be obtained, especially given that Sunagakure has broken its alliance before.
Moreover, he also had to consider the thoughts of the ninjas on the front lines. If the village didn't gain any benefit from the prisoners they risked their lives to capture, what would they think if they were released?
Just as the office fell silent, a series of knocks on the door broke everyone's thoughts.
Suppressing his agitation, Hiruzen Sarutobi's calm voice rang out: "Come in."
The visitor was an ANBU member wearing a cat-face mask. After entering, he did not hesitate at all, took out an intelligence scroll and handed it to Hiruzen Sarutobi, then left the office without saying a word.
After everyone left, Hiruzen Sarutobi opened the scroll and began to examine its contents.
The further he read, the more his brows furrowed. By the time he finished reading the entire intelligence report, his brows were furrowed into a deep frown.
His index finger tapped incessantly on the table, revealing his frustration and inner turmoil. He glanced at Danzo, who stood there silently, and pointed to the scroll he had just finished reading and placed aside. Without saying a word, he gestured for Danzo to take a look for himself.
After so many years of being old buddies, we still have this much understanding.
Danzo stepped forward, picked up the information scroll, and wanted to see what had made Hiruzen Sarutobi so upset.
The first thing you see is the eye-catching title: "New Intelligence on the Hidden Stone Village's Military Strength in the Land of Grass."
Danzo's pupils contracted, and he quickly continued reading. It turned out that just yesterday, Iwagakure had sent another 500 ninjas towards the Land of Grass. Now, the number of Iwagakure ninjas on the Grassland's defense line was approaching 3000, while Konoha had less than 2000 ninjas there.
As the village with the largest military force among the five great ninja villages, Iwagakure may have slightly weaker individual soldiers, but they excel at group warfare. The more people they have, the more advantageous it is for them.
Previously, Iwagakure had sent 500 ninjas to Konoha because of Sunagakure's defeat. At that time, Konoha did not take any action, for fear of provoking Iwagakure and causing them to make any extreme reactions.
Only a few days later, another 500 people were sent. With such a large number of troops, Konoha could no longer afford not to react, and sending reinforcements to the front lines was an inevitable outcome.
In that case, Danzo glanced at Hiruzen Sarutobi, who was sitting there silently, and already knew the outcome: this was the last straw that broke the camel's back.
If Hiruzen originally hoped to gain some benefits from Sunagakure, then since this information appeared, he only had one thought in his mind—to appease Sunagakure as soon as possible and restore stability to the southern front.
"I reserve my opinion." Danzo knew that it would be useless to object now, so he stopped wasting his breath and put the information scroll back on the table.
"Alright! In that case—" Hiruzen Sarutobi turned to Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado, "Resume negotiations first thing tomorrow morning, agree to Sunagakure's demands, sign the alliance treaty as soon as possible, and release the prisoners."
Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu exchanged a glance, both seeing a hint of worry in each other's eyes. Clearly, Konoha had encountered trouble again, but they didn't ask any further questions. Right now, they should deal with Sunagakure first.
"good!"
The next day, the negotiations between Konoha and Sunagakure went very smoothly. Chiyo did not make any further unreasonable demands, and the two sides formally signed a treaty of mutual defense and offense based on the conditions of the previous day.
Chiyo then received an order from the Hokage to release the prisoners and, accompanied by a squad of Anbu, hurried toward the front-line camp.
Those captured Sand Village ninjas are still locked up in the front-line camp. The sooner we arrive, the sooner we can free them from their suffering. After all, in this era, there is no such thing as treating prisoners well.
While Chiyo was on her way to Konoha's front-line camp, Taiichi had already infiltrated the Oasis Market for the second time.
With the foundation laid by the previous reconnaissance, Taiyi was clearly more adept this time.
Once the caravan's work was all finished, the crew finally got the rest they had been longing for.
-
People went out in twos and threes to relax and have a few drinks.
At this point, a tavern is naturally the most suitable place.
"Ryota, let's go out for a drink!" A burly man in his thirties with a full beard shouted in Taiichi's direction.
Taiichi was slightly taken aback, then realized that Ryota was calling him.
"Okay, wait for me!" Taiyi was more than happy to agree. Going out with everyone was much safer than wandering around alone.
Tai unloaded the last box from the camel and placed it in the designated spot. Then he dusted himself off and walked toward the bearded man named Kara. Four people had already gathered there, all waiting for him.
"Ryota, why are you being so diligent today? You usually avoid people like this, don't you?"
"Oh, don't even mention it. Didn't the supervisor see us?" Taiyi laughed it off, but he was sweating bullets inside, afraid that these people would ask him some intimate questions and he would give them away if he answered incorrectly.
Fortunately, they made it through without any major incidents and finally arrived at the tavern.
At this time, the tavern was already packed with people, including caravan workers and Sand Ninja wearing headbands.
Taiyi and his group of five finally got a table after a group of guests left.
A few small dishes and a pot of sake. Everyone started chatting about the gossip they knew.
On the surface, Taiyi agreed with their words, but in reality, he controlled his senses, which enveloped the small tavern, listening to the ninjas' conversation inside.
It wasn't that Taiichi didn't want to expand the range of his senses, but rather that in this large camp shrouded in a barrier, no one knew if there were any sense barriers or sense ninjas present. To be on the safe side, it was best to be cautious.
Just then, Taiichi noticed a conversation between a group of customers at a table in the corner of the tavern to his left.
That must be an elite squad. Judging from their clothes, all four of them are Chunin. They must have just returned from a mission and are taking advantage of their free time to drink and chat.
"Captain, what exactly is the purpose of following Lord Kazekage here this time?" One of the team members, emboldened by alcohol, asked the question that had been on his mind for a long time.
"Yeah, Captain, we've been here for days, and all we do is patrol. We don't do anything else!" another team member complained. They all have families, and all they do is patrol the rear every day, but they don't get much money.
"Shut up. It's not like you can just gossip about the Kazekage's affairs." The captain snapped, then looked around to make sure no one was watching before continuing, "You've only recently been promoted to Chunin, and you've never worked with the Kazekage before, so you don't understand the situation. I won't blame you this time."
These kinds of missions are usually paid individually, so there's no need to worry about insufficient pay. Otherwise, why would so many people want to go on missions with important figures? Is it really because they can get some kind of position in the village?
Indeed, being a ninja is ultimately just a job. There are ninjas with noble sentiments and ambitions, but the vast majority are just trying to make a living.
Otherwise, why would the civilians of the Land of Rain hate ninjas from other countries so much during World War II? It's because those ninjas with bad character wantonly robbed and plundered the civilians of the Land of Rain during the war.
"Don't complain like this outside anymore, or if someone with ulterior motives hears you, you'll be in trouble."
"Yes, yes, Captain, you are so forgiving!"
The group showered the captain with compliments, making him beam with joy, before they started talking about other trivial matters.
But Taiichi had no interest in listening anymore, because he had already gotten the answer he wanted.
The Third Kazekage of Sunagakure is actually in this oasis, and it seems he has been there for quite some time. What is his purpose?
The fact that the village's shadow had left the village so casually was incredibly important, especially considering there might be more to the story. Taiichi decided to spend a few more days staking out the village to see if he could uncover any other useful information.
And this wait lasted for three days.
Over the past three days, Taiyi used his shadow clones to explore almost every corner of the oasis except for the Sand Village camp. He saw many caravans coming and going and ninjas coming and going, but he didn't see a single person who looked like the Kazekage.
Just as Taiyi was about to give up, at noon that day, Taiyi's true form, located in an underground cave several kilometers away from the oasis, suddenly felt a tremor.
Keep in mind that this is a desert. For Taiyi to still feel a tremor after being buffered by layers of yellow sand, it must either be very powerful or very close to Taiyi.
But no matter how you look at it, it proves that Taiyi's current location is not safe.
His senses spread out instantly, and everything within a two-kilometer radius was reflected in Taiyi's mind. At the edge of his senses in the southwest corner, two intense chakra fluctuations immediately attracted all of Taiyi's attention.
But after just a brief glance, Taiyi was stunned.
On the vast, yellowish-brown desert, a huge black cone-shaped object stands out prominently, as if it had been struck by an asteroid, creating a massive crater. The surrounding sand is constantly flowing into this crater.
The tremor just now must have been caused by this thing hitting the object.
Taiyi, however, was overjoyed. It was truly a case of finding something without even looking for it.
Isn't the Third Kazekage, whom we've been searching for for days, right there?
Standing opposite him was a handsome man with red hair, whom Taiyi recognized at a glance. It was none other than Sasori of the Red Sand.
They met at this time and place.
A thought popped into Taiyi's mind: Could this be the time when the Kazekage was killed?
Tai Yi looked excited; regardless, this was crucial intelligence.
However, they are still too far apart, and Taiyi's senses cannot yet hear what the two are talking about.
Taiyi didn't dare to show his face. He immediately formed hand seals and used Earth Release: Earth Dive to approach the direction of the Kazekage. Only when the distance was reduced to only one kilometer could he distinguish the sound he sensed.
"Lord Kazekage has quite the temper, wanting to start a fight the moment we meet." The red-haired Sasori said lazily, not taking the Kazekage in front of him seriously at all.
"Hmph, the only reason I didn't kill you outright, considering you're still somewhat useful, is because you're someone who's always thinking about assassinating me." Feng Ying replied without any politeness, clearly maintaining a great deal of restraint.
"Tsk tsk, Lord Kazekage, you're really heartless. I just assassinated several high-ranking officials from the Land of Wind who were obstructing the Daimyo's allocation of funds. Shouldn't you be thanking me?"
"That's just the price you have to pay for assassinating the Kazekage. Sasori, you're already a rogue ninja, and my patience is running out."
"Tell me, what important matter do you want to discuss with me this time?"
"Lord Kazekage is certainly impatient." Sasori chuckled disdainfully, then said with a face full of hatred, "My main purpose is to let Lord Kazekage judge my new creation, to see how powerful it is, and whether it can kill Konoha's White Fang!"
Upon hearing this, Fengying immediately became alert. Gradually, specks of iron sand emerged from the surrounding desert, encircling Fengying's entire body.
Scorpion remained calm and unhurried. He took out a sealing scroll from his pocket, flicked it casually, and with a "bang," five humanoid puppets appeared in front of him.
These five puppets look exactly like real people. If it weren't for the fact that their joints are connected by mechanisms, most people wouldn't be able to tell the difference.
"You—you really were creating human puppets!" The Third Kazekage pointed at Sasori, his voice trembling with rage. "Aren't you afraid of becoming the public enemy of the ninja world?"
"Public enemy of the ninja world!" Sasori shook his head dismissively, saying nonchalantly, "I'm already a rogue ninja from Sunagakure, what do I have to fear from adding another title like 'public enemy of the ninja world'?"
"You won't let me research human puppets, saying that the methods are too cruel and will arouse the public outrage of other ninja villages, leading to an attack by them. That's a joke."
Isn't war cruel? Every war kills tens of thousands of people, not to mention the civilians, who die even more.
Furthermore, aren't Jinchuriki cruel? Which Jinchuriki isn't raised from childhood and treated like a monster from a young age?
What gives these people the right to say that human puppets are cruel?
I was merely making use of the enemy's corpses, and you mediocre people are pointing fingers at me.
Scorpion became more and more agitated and frantic as he spoke, and finally he unleashed another sealing scroll, causing five more human puppets to appear in the arena once again.
"Lord Fengying, please help me appraise my human puppets and see how they are, and whether they can satisfy you."
'
As he spoke, he waved both hands, and the ten puppets moved simultaneously.
"You—you really are persistent. This time I won't hold back."
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