Escape From Konoha

Cold raindrops fell in patter.

Yuyin Village was wrapped in rain as always, and the howling north wind made the air here feel even colder.

The sky was gloomy, and the lights of the tall towers that stood in the village seemed to be soaked in mist and rain, and became the only light between heaven and earth.

"Based on the information obtained so far, it is estimated that it will be difficult for the Kingdom of Demons and the alliance ninja forces headed by Konoha to fight in the future."

Bai Jue, who came from afar, briefly and directly reported the information he had obtained.

Also returning with it was Black Zetsu.

At this time, he just maintained the posture of merging with Bai Zetsu's body and stared at Nagato without saying a word.

In the living room on the top floor of the tower, only the three of them were discussing matters. The other Akatsuki members did not stay here. Those core members also had important tasks to deal with at this time and would not stay here for a long time. Yuyin Village.

"As expected, it is impossible for Chiba Shiraishi to directly fight the four big countries and cause both sides to suffer losses and let our side benefit."

Nagato sat on the large and soft sofa and responded expressionlessly.

There were not many emotional fluctuations in Samsara's eyes.

And his words also showed that the country of ghosts now indeed has the strength to fight head-on with the ninja villages of the four major countries at the same time.

Even though his tone didn't change at all, he still felt a little shocked inside.

Although the Shikoku Ninja Village did not block all the military power, and the spies of the Demon Country were obstructing it, the trust between the Shikoku Ninja Village was destroyed from the inside, causing their success to fail... However, as the most powerful person in the Demon Country The three combatants did not devote their energy wholeheartedly to the frontal battlefield of Ninja Village, but used it to deal with Miaomu Mountain.

Even if the top combat power of the Demon Kingdom is discarded, the strength of the middle and high-level teams seems to have improved significantly compared to a few years ago. It no longer appears weak and relies heavily on the charge of the top ninjas.

The militarized power of the Demon Country has been completely formed and is more complete than the Ninja Village of the traditional big country.

"The bad thing is that at this time, we were tricked. Not only did we fail to get the first tail, but it also made Sunagakure suspicious of us. Even Deidara almost lost his life in the wind. country."

Bai Jue chuckled. Although his tone was regretful, it still gave the impression that he was gloating about his misfortune, smiling heartlessly.

"It is indeed a pity that I couldn't bring back the One-Tailed Beast. But there are still opportunities. Compared with the other tailed beasts, the One-Tailed Beast is the easiest to get. If you have to lose Dida in order to get the One-Tailed Beast, Pulling in such a talented ninja will make things difficult."

Nagato glanced at Bai Zetsu.

Obviously, he didn't intend to pursue the matter of Scorpion using one of his tails in exchange for Deidara.

"Is this why you didn't blame Scorpion and Deidara? In the long run, their role is indeed more valuable than a tailed beast that will be obtained sooner or later."

Bai Zetsu chuckled. Even though Nagato's attitude was slightly cold, it didn't have the slightest fear, and its tone and posture were quite casual.

"The problem is that Sunagakure, like Kumogakure and Iwagakure, will be on guard against us in the future. Because of the war, Iwagakure's search for us has temporarily dropped, but Kumogakure's search intensity has been very difficult. In the past few days, Before, one of our branch strongholds was eliminated, and Orochimaru’s side seemed to be affected as well.”

Black Jue said at this time, his voice was low and hoarse.

Although Akatsuki's headquarters is located in the Hidden Rain Village, the members of the organization are not just S-class rebel ninjas.

These recruited S-class rebellious ninjas will be given the status of core members as soon as they enter Akatsuki, and their main task is to capture the tailed beasts.

In addition, there are also a certain number of non-staff members who usually perform tasks for the core members and provide logistics and intelligence assistance, similar to Bai Jue's work.

However, due to the capture of Kumogakure's second tail, Kumogakure's Anbu were searching for traces of Akatsuki all over the world. Not long ago, a stronghold where non-staff members gathered was forcibly removed. The personnel inside evaporated out of thin air. At this time, they had been destroyed by Kumogakure. The Yin Anbu brought him back to Yunyin Village for interrogation.

The outcome was nothing more than execution or severe torture.

Fortunately, these peripheral members don't know much information. Even if they are caught, it will not have any serious impact on Akatsuki's actions.

Only if Orochimaru is targeted, there will be some trouble.

As Akatsuki's most important technical staff, it is much more important than ordinary core members.

"There is no need to worry about Mr. Orochimaru. What has been swept away are just insignificant abandoned strongholds and will not affect the research there. However, after this negotiation between countries, there will be more villages targeting us. A Sunagakure will indeed make things more troublesome."

Nagato nodded.

Judging from the attitude of Kumogakure and Iwagakure in persevering to recover the tailed beast, they are determined to pursue it to the end. The failure of this attack also alerted Sunagakure, and Konoha should not be underestimated... The only one who was relatively stable was Kirigakure who was not affected by Akatsuki.

"What should we do next? Should we sabotage this negotiation, or should we continue to focus on hunting jinchūriki?"

Black Zetsu stared at Nagato faintly, not knowing what he was thinking.

"It is difficult to disrupt this multi-national negotiation. The matter of the One-Tailed Beast does not have to be dealt with for the time being. There is a tailed beast that can be taken away at any time. There is no need to focus on it. This can also ease Sunagakure's vigilance a little. What's next The action is to focus on Kirigakure and determine the location of Vulpix as soon as possible."

Nagato finalized the matter and gave orders to Bai Zetsu.

"Vulpix? I understand."

Black Jue's eyes were deep, and he and Bai Jue dived into the floor and disappeared.

◎

The Kingdom of Earth, the frontline military camp of Iwagakure.

In the temporary office, there are a large number of integrated intelligence documents piled up. Ohnoki fights with his old body and fights on the front line. These days, he basically stays up late to read these intelligence documents and summarize the important parts.

Although the personal medical ninja said that doing so would further consume his remaining energy, he couldn't care less at this time.

Iwagakure currently does not have a jounin who can serve as the main beam. Even his proud son Huangtu is not interested in taking on the heavy responsibility of Tsuchikage.

Before he died of old age in the hospital bed, Onoki just wanted to race against time and work hard.

As for when this old life will die, there seems to be no point in exploring it.

As long as Loess can implement his strategy of staying, although he will not be able to face the power of the Ghost Country directly, he will be able to protect himself and will not ruin the decades-old foundation of Iwagakure Village.

Otherwise, he, the third Tsuchikage, would be too shameless to meet the deceased first and second Tsuchikage once he reaches the underworld.

Scanning the battle reports of the entire war, especially the battle situation in the Earth Kingdom, is Onoki's main research content.

The ninja troops of the Kingdom of Ghosts, the mechanical armored troops, and later the large-scale reinforcements... Every piece of information made Onoki study it carefully.

The management of ninjas in the Kingdom of Demons is stricter than that of ninja villages in other major countries.

They took a streamlined route in selecting ninjas.

This means that there will not be more than 10,000 working ninjas in the Kingdom of Oni.

In terms of numbers, the number of ninjas in the Demon Country is almost half of the number of ninjas in the ninja villages of other major countries.

But in terms of combat effectiveness, the ninjas of the Demon Country who are equipped with various sophisticated weapons are extremely powerful.

From the comparison of the above data, if you want to completely wipe out the ninja troops in the Kingdom of Demons, you need to invest 40,000 ninjas, or even more.

The most important point... Ohnoki looked at one of the unusual places.

The Kingdom of Ghosts is suspected of having a large number of non-ninja soldiers. In addition to not being able to use ninjutsu, they are proficient in physical skills and weapon operation, and their strength is similar to that of genin.

A total of 10,000 such mass-produced soldiers were invested in the Demon Kingdom in the western part of the Earth Kingdom to assist the ninja troops in combat.

The more he watched, the more frightened Ohnoki became.

All signs indicate that the military structure of the Kingdom of Ghosts is by no means composed only of ninjas.

Although these mass-produced soldiers cannot use ninjutsu, their mobility is similar to that of genin. They are well-armed and have the potential to threaten the lives of chunin with the cooperation of five, six, or seven or eight people.

How many such soldiers are there in the Kingdom of Ghosts?

Ohnoki frowned deeply, feeling that tonight would be another sleepless night that would give him a headache.

With such a country with a powerful military as our neighbor, just thinking about it makes me feel sleepless.

"Father."

Huang Tu knocked on the door from outside and walked in.

"Is the matter over?"

Ohnoki put away the intelligence documents on the table and rubbed his swollen eyebrows. His cloudy old eyes began to feel sour, and they were bloodshot, anxious and gloomy.

Huang Tu glanced at Onoki's face worriedly. He wanted to comfort him, but after thinking about something, he stopped talking and nodded and replied: "The negotiations with the Ghost Country have been completed. The armistice negotiations will be held in three days. Iron Nation is on time.”

Onoki nodded slightly.

A big stone fell in his heart, letting his depressed heart take a breath for a long time.

The nerves that had been tense for a while could finally relax a little.

After so many days of exhausting his body, he felt extremely tired and wanted to sleep.

"Inform Konoha, Kirigakure and Sunagakure that their shadows will arrive in Iron Country for talks in three days. There is no need to notify Kumogakure."

The Kingdom of Thunder and Kumogakure did not join this war. Onoki did not want to make things more complicated. He just wanted to end this wrong war quickly and give Iwagakure a chance to breathe.

As for breaking up 10,000 ninjas into pieces and sneaking into the Kingdom of Demons to carry out sabotage work, this was a threat, and he would not act so crazily unless it was absolutely necessary. Now the Oni Country can relax, which is exactly what Iwagakure hopes.

If the fight continues, Iwagakure will be the first to be unable to bear it.

Huang Tu nodded to express his understanding.

Next, he took out another document and placed it in front of Ohnoki.

"This is the armistice condition proposed by the Kingdom of Ghosts. We hope that the Kingdom of Earth will make reasonable compensation, otherwise they will not stop."

Ohnoki quickly glanced at it, his face darkened. Although the conditions above had been expected, he still felt unusually unhappy after scanning.

Several of these conditions have touched upon Iwagakure's sovereignty.

He didn't want the Kingdom of Earth to become like the Kingdom of Water, to be infiltrated by the Kingdom of Ghosts, leading to domestic riots and political turmoil.

Although he did not state it clearly, some of the above conditions have been firmly rejected by him and it is impossible to agree to them.

"Don't make it public yet. When the talks begin, I and the rest of the shadows will negotiate with the Kingdom of Ghosts."

Onoki snorted coldly, put the conditional document on a candle, lit it, and burned it to ashes, out of sight and out of mind.

"Yes, I understand. In addition, father, you should take a break these days to recharge your batteries. It may not be easy during the meeting. For this meeting, the Ghost Country sent to the Iron Country The negotiator is not Chiba Shiraishi, but Uchiha Ruri, a senior military adviser. From the intelligence point of view, her personality is extremely strong and rude, and it is difficult to communicate with her using words."

Huangtu said.

Uchiha...

Upon hearing this surname, Onoki fell silent.

He couldn't help but think of the terrifying night that was dominated by the word "Uchiha" decades ago. As a result, the name Uchiha Madara was still a lingering shadow in his heart, making him feel trembling from the soul.

◎

Konoha, ANBU interrogation room.

Fixing the body on the chair, a ninja from the Yamazaka clan, about thirty years old, was an experienced jounin.

At this time, according to Tsunade's request, the spiritual space of this corpse was being explored.

About ten minutes later, the Jonin of the mountain clan opened his eyes and took his palm away from the forehead of the female corpse.

"How's the situation? Did you find out anything?"

Tsunade was followed by two ANBU captains, asking about the investigation of the mountain clan jonin.

The Jonin of the Yamanaka clan shook his head, sighed regretfully, and replied: "Sorry, Hokage-sama, the mental space of Asami Masumi's body cannot be explored. Her brain was severely damaged. When I was exploring, the mental space It has been broken into pieces, and there is no way to read the information."

Although the secret technique of the Yamanaka clan can explore the spiritual space of the human body, even the dead body can do so, but this requires that the spiritual space of the human body is not too damaged.

If the spiritual space is maliciously destroyed by someone, no matter how hard the secret technique is used, no information can be read from it.

The secret technique of the mountain clan has not yet penetrated deep enough to repair the broken spiritual space of the human body.

This kind of difficulty is no less than reversing the cause and effect of life and death and bringing the dead back to life.

"That's it, it really doesn't work..."

Although it was expected, Tsunade still felt a little regretful when she heard the true result.

Thinking about it, after dealing with Asami Masumi and deliberately leaving the body behind, how could it be possible for Konoha to obtain the information in the opponent's brain?

Although the fact that the body was deliberately left behind is very strange in itself.

Tsunade did not delve into this.

Since we can't start from the corpse, we can only find other ways to find out the news about the Kingdom of Ghosts.

Konoha's loss this time was not unreasonable, and it also made Tsunade understand that when it comes to confidential matters, especially confidential matters such as military mobilization, jounin meetings must not be held again. Because once a Jonin meeting is held, a lot of Konoha's information may flow to the Kingdom of Demons.

The huge shark, Asami Masumi, has indeed surfaced and been dealt with.

But Tsunade didn't believe all the Oni Country spies in Konoha Village, so they all evacuated.

Especially the genin, chuunin and jounin who are usually marginalized and cannot be reused when they are frustrated are the next key targets of ANBU's observation.

These people have potential motives to seek refuge in the Kingdom of Ghosts.

Not only that, Tsunade will also transfer all the personnel information of the ninja school students in the same class as Shiraishi or several adjacent classes, and conduct a careful investigation to prevent any fish from slipping through the net and endangering the safety of Konoha.

"Since we can't get the information, let the body be buried... let her be buried next to Takeshi Fujisaki."

For what Asami Masumi did, Tsunade was both angry and helpless and heartbroken.

Such an outstanding ninja should belong to Konoha and become an important cornerstone of Konoha.

However, a decision-making error by the upper management caused him to turn his back on Konoha and become an accomplice of the enemy to harm Konoha.

Blame?

This kind of mentality naturally exists, but at the same time, there is also guilt.

Therefore, she has no reason to blame or stop a wife who embarks on an act of revenge for her husband.

"yes."

A squad leader walked up, put the body on his shoulders, and disappeared from the interrogation room.

Not long after the squad leader left, an ANBU suddenly appeared at the door using the teleportation technique and reported to Tsunade:

"Lord Hokage, there is a letter from Iwagakure."

"explain."

"Three days later, representatives of the ninja villages from each country will hold talks in the Iron Country to negotiate a ceasefire."

"Three days later...have the negotiations been completed over there? I almost forgot about it."

Tsunade rubbed her eyebrows. She was dealing with internal spies these days, leaving her no time to pay attention to other things.

There is new progress between Iwagakure and the Kingdom of Demons. As the initiator of the war, the Kingdom of Fire will naturally attend to discuss how to settle this war.

"Who are the attendees from Ghost Country?"

Those from Konoha, Kirigakure, Iwagakure, and Sunagakure must be contemporary Kage, but due to the different systems in the Demon Country, the number of attendees has become confusing.

"It's Uchiha Ruri."

"Uchiha Ruri? Isn't he that boy? This little girl is not easy to deal with."

Tsunade frowned.

She was not familiar with Ruri, but based on her knowledge from the Konoha period, the other person's personality was much more difficult to deal with than Shiraishi.

Because the opponent only recognizes fists and force, and will not use the so-called rhetoric.

Never waste a drop of saliva on matters that can be solved with violence.

Tsunade secretly felt troubled.

Think about how you can gain an advantage over the other party during the meeting.

◎

Earth Country, West.

The territory that originally belonged to the Kingdom of Earth has been occupied by the Kingdom of Ghosts.

Not only that, but a military fortress was built on the edge of the area.

Every day, a certain number of armored vehicles parade around the border in demonstrations, which makes the Iwa ninja troops stationed at the border feel angry and humiliated.

If it hadn't been for the Tsuchikage's order, they would have wanted to rush forward immediately and teach these arrogant Demon Country ninjas a painful lesson.

Especially seeing those 'steel boxes' with rolling snow made the Iwa Ninjas hate them to the core.

In a lounge of the fortress, Ayane was holding a simple afternoon tea. Apart from her, only Liuli was here. She and she tasted black tea and pastries leisurely, enjoying the short peace.

As competitors, they also have a comradeship that depends on life and death... and at the same time, they also share the same man.

Most of the time, the two people's fights are not aimed at killing each other. They have been together for twenty years. In addition to being love rivals, there is probably a kind of "family affection" between the two that is difficult to let go.

In such an atmosphere, it was rare for the two to have a tacit understanding without tit for tat.

"The negotiations will be held in three days. How about it? Do you want me to accompany you to the Kingdom of Iron then?"

Ayane held the tea cup elegantly, not like a ninja, but like a lady who had been trained in etiquette for a long time, quietly tasting the black tea in the cup.

Negotiations with Iwa Ninja and other villages have basically come to an end.

Although this 'Fourth Ninja War' did not last long, it had a huge impact.

Even though the Kingdom of Thunder, which did not participate in it, still maintains its reputation as the largest country, people must have a balance in their minds as to which country is the most powerful country in the ninja world. After this war, there must have been some doubts. a precise understanding.

Therefore, matters related to the armistice agreement went very smoothly.

The location used for negotiations was the Iron Country, a neutral country specially designed to mediate disputes between major powers.

Except for the Iron Kingdom, the location of the negotiation would be a bit out of place in any country.

The negotiator sent by the Kingdom of Oni this time is Liuli. He is accompanied by an elite force led by a dozen Jonin of the Kingdom of Oni, who will go to the Kingdom of Iron to attend the meeting.

"No need to go to such trouble, I can handle it by myself."

"Since you are confident, I won't say anything. It just so happens that I can take a break. To be honest, after coming back from Miaomu Mountain, my body still feels pain from time to time. It really costs a lot to get rid of that old toad. Less effort.”

Ayane put down the tea cup in her hand and felt extremely dangerous when thinking of the previous battle at Mt. Miaomu.

"A guy who has lived for a thousand years is somehow extraordinary. Moreover, although this war was a victory, many men and horses were lost, and more than two hundred armored artillery vehicles were destroyed... Iwagakure's There is still some trouble in joining forces with Earth Escape. It may not be easy to overwhelm that Earth Kage at the negotiation table."

Liuli put down the fork in her hand, her tone slightly irritable.

Rather than sitting at the negotiation table and talking, she prefers to use Susanoo to persuade the other party to agree with her own reasoning.

"Then you need to be patient when the time comes and don't go overboard."

"I understand that I won't act out of emotion. No matter what, I won't overturn the negotiation table. That will only waste my time."

Although he doesn't like to sit down and negotiate, he still has patience so as not to disrupt the normal progress of the talks.

"What are you planning to leave?"

"After the tea party, we can rush from here to the Kingdom of Snow, and then set off from the northern port of the Kingdom of Snow to the Kingdom of Iron. Three days is enough."

Liuli gave this answer.

Ayane nodded and quietly enjoyed the afternoon tea time with Liuli, everything seemed so calm and composed.

Regarding the upcoming negotiations, both of them were confident and calm.