Chapter 337: The Alliance Treaty of the Wind and Earth Countries
Ishiro thought for a moment and said, "Rei, ask the Kazekage. Pakura's attack on our Iwagakure branch, in disregard of the alliance between our two sides—was it at the behest of Your Excellency Kazekage? Does the Kazekage wish to start a war?"
"If the Kazekage intends to start a war, then we will accept the challenge. If the Kazekage does not intend to break the alliance, then our Iwagakure is also willing to continue maintaining a good relationship with Sunagakure."
"However, this time Pakura attacked our Iwagakure branch with a ninjutsu surpassing S-rank, resulting in the deaths of over a hundred of our ninjas, including many Elite Jonin and Jonin. We hope that Sunagakure can consider bearing the pension for these ninjas."
"Since the burst point of Pakura's large-area ninjutsu was deliberately chosen in the central area of our branch, it destroyed the branch we had just built at great cost. We hope that the Sand can provide some puppetry support to help us accelerate the reconstruction of the branch."
"In addition, tell the Kazekage that Iwagakure will not proactively break the alliance agreement between our two sides. To express our Iwagakure's attitude, we plan to hold another joint Chunin Exam. We ask the Kazekage to definitely support it and remember to send Sunagakure's genius Genin to participate."
"We hope that Sunagakure can produce another genius like Ryosuke and once again win the championship in the ninja exams. At that time, we can also discuss matters of in-depth cooperation between our two villages and two countries."
"At the same time, to show our Iwagakure's determination to maintain the alliance, I suggest that during the intervals of the Chunin Exams, we can conduct some reasonable spars, to give the Chunin and even Jonin of both sides an opportunity to compete with ninjas of the same level, so that we can improve together."
"Finally, I heard that your esteemed village's Elder Chiyo has a ninjutsu that can revive the dead. Since Pakura killed so many of our ninjas, I would like to try and see if we can bring them back. I implore Your Excellency Kazekage to give me this opportunity."
"As for the matter of exchanging for Pakura, Lord Kazekage is being too formal. After the Chunin Exams are over, Lord Kazekage can just take her back directly. With the alliance relationship between our two sides, there is no need to be so polite. Don't ever bring up any exchange conditions again."
Mei: "..."
Saka: "..."
Ikura: "..."
Chiko: "..."
Kawakita: "..."
Rei: "..."
The two Tsuchikage's Assistants: "..."
Everyone looked at Ishiro with incredulous eyes. "So I still didn't understand Lord Tsuchikage enough!"
"We were originally living on the first floor. You said you wanted us to live closer and forcibly moved us to the second floor. I originally thought that this way, you on the third floor could hear some of our movements. But only today did I discover that you take an elevator to the high floors every day. We simply can't guess which floor you live on."
Only Kitsuchi opened his mouth, as if everyone's requests had been met, and only he had said nothing. "Should I have made some demands just now? Is it still too late? Why do I feel like I've lost out?"
"Is there anything else to add?" Ishiro asked. Seeing that no one reacted, he said, "Then let's dismiss the meeting. Rei, I'll have to trouble you to make another trip to the border."
Rei swallowed and said, "It's no trouble, no trouble at all!"
Ishiro nodded in satisfaction, then leisurely left the office.
Ishiro was currently in the heat of practicing Wind Release and had no time to wrangle with Rasa. After throwing the matter to Rei, he went directly to the training ground to train.
At the same time, within Iwagakure's Anbu, a research project was underway. The content of the research was the Scorch Release Kekkei Genkai. The main force of the research was the Head of the Medical Department, Nakata Hajime, and several ninjas in the Anbu who specialized in biological experiments.
The research team also had an important consultant: Ogura Saki. As a fellow dual Wind-Fire attribute Kekkei Genkai ninja, Saki was the best reference for studying Pakura's Scorch Release.
And Saki also wanted to accelerate and deepen the development of her Blaze Release through the study of Scorch Release.
Not far from the Scorch Release research team, there was a completely sealed interrogation room, where the sand-manipulating ninja was being interrogated.
Sunagakure and Iwagakure were now allies, and Pakura was to be returned, so Ishiro couldn't go too far; drawing a tube of blood while she was unconscious was enough. But the two who were captured along with Pakura could be treated as dead. The Sand didn't even know if these two were alive or dead.
So as soon as these two were brought to the Iwa Anbu, they began to undergo various kinds of torture. Anyway, Ishiro had no intention of letting the two return to Sunagakure alive. As long as he could get intelligence, it didn't matter if the Anbu crippled them or killed them.
The earth-style ninja was not of much importance to Iwagakure, but this sand-manipulating ninja was different. Iwagakure did not have Sand Manipulation Jutsu; this was a secret technique of the Sand.
Although Ishiro's Porcelain Release was a bit similar to Sand Manipulation, that was a Kekkei Genkai and couldn't be learned. Sand Manipulation, however, was a secret jutsu and could be learned.
Of course, this person's mind certainly had a seal to protect the secret jutsu from being leaked, so it was necessary to use torture, genjutsu, and other methods to make the other party despair, become dazed, and then say it themselves.
Of course, no one could guarantee if it would be effective. After all, the other party was also a qualified ninja, an outstanding one who was willing to cover the retreat for Pakura.
...
The mission of Anbu Captain Rei was completed very smoothly. Rasa, with his vital point being pressed, had no intention of haggling over Ishiro's conditions and readily agreed to everything.
Furthermore, Rasa also stated that during the joint Chunin Exams, he would have the Sand's participating teams bring everything with them.
Among those who heard the news, Kitsuchi was the most depressed, feeling that he had lost out on at least a "small goal."
The news that Sunagakure would once again participate in a joint Chunin Exam hosted by Iwagakure caused another sensation.
Since the only ones who knew about Pakura's capture were the higher-ups or Anbu of Iwagakure and Sunagakure, the other hidden villages did not know the reason behind it. All of them were extremely baffled.
Konoha was the same. At a high-level meeting, Tsunade, Hiruzen, Koharu, Homura, and the newly appointed Jonin Commander, Shikaku Nara, couldn't figure out the reason.
Clearly, the Sand had become more and more assertive in the past two years, and many of Sunagakure's policies were aimed at excluding Iwagakure. Why had Rasa suddenly changed his mind?
Only one person had received first-hand intelligence that no one else had. That person was, of course, our Lord Danzō.
"Hiruzen, Tsunade, your Anbu is too incompetent! So much time has passed, yet you haven't obtained a single piece of intelligence!"
"There is a problem with the Anbu's current training mechanism. Their performance in recent years has been getting worse and worse. The Anbu has already lost its function of deterring other hidden villages. Hand over the Anbu to Root for training. Training the Anbu is Root's duty in the first place."
Smack!
Tsunade slammed the conference table hard and shouted furiously, "Danzō, what are you saying?"
Danzō's eyes were fixed on Hiruzen. Without even glancing at Tsunade, he threw out a scroll and said, "This is the intelligence obtained by Root."
Hiruzen frowned and said, "How was this intelligence obtained?"
"Hiruzen, there is no point in discussing this. A ninja's purpose is to complete the mission. As for the means and methods, we don't need to ask," Danzō did not give Hiruzen's suspicion a chance to take root.
Hiruzen took a puff from his pipe and said, "Alright then. Let's analyze the intelligence first."
As he spoke, he opened the intelligence report and read it to the group.
Tsunade could only grit her teeth and sit down. Danzō had come prepared this time; she could only swallow all her dissatisfaction.
"Iwagakure captured the Scorch Release user, Pakura?" After hearing Hiruzen read the intelligence, Shikaku was somewhat surprised.
In these years, because of Ishiro's meddling, a few Kage-level individuals had died in battle, but been captured... as far as Shikaku knew, since the establishment of the hidden village era, it seemed there had never been such a case.
Tsunade asked Shikaku, "Shikaku, how credible do you think this intelligence is?"
This time, she was not targeting Danzō but was genuinely consulting this strategist with a superior intellect.
Shikaku gave a bitter smile, "If the intelligence said the Fourth Raikage had captured Pakura, I certainly wouldn't believe it. But if it's the Fourth Tsuchikage, then there is a certain possibility."
The title "Fox of Iwa" suited him very well. Most of the incredible events in the ninja world in recent years were orchestrated by him.
"For example, Iwagakure taking in people from the Uzumaki clan, and also taking away the Hyuga branch family's Neji. I also heard that a child from Kirigakure's Minazuki clan was also snatched by the Fourth Tsuchikage. I also heard that the Uchiha clan also..."
Shikaku didn't continue but chose to skip directly, "Before this, who had ever seen someone take another village's Kekkei Genkai ninja to their own village to cultivate?"
"Besides this, that trade route, the joint Chunin Exams, were all his doing. He was also the first ninja to propose exchanging ninjutsu for peace when signing a peace treaty."
"For such a ninja, such a Kage, we cannot use common sense to speculate."
Tsunade nodded, both in acknowledgment of Shikaku's analysis of Ishiro and in acknowledgment of the intelligence provided by Danzō.
"Why don't we also send a few teams to Iwagakure to participate in the joint Chunin Exams, just like how Iwagakure came to disgust us back then. We can also go and cause some trouble for them," Koharu proposed.
Tsunade and Hiruzen exchanged a look and agreed to this suggestion.
Finally, Danzō pounded the ground heavily with his cane and said, "With Pakura captured, this is a good opportunity to weaken the Sand. When Iwagakure releases her, she will certainly be weak. Even if Rasa personally escorts her, this is still our chance."
A thought stirred in Hiruzen's heart. Danzō had a point. He looked at the map of the ninja world, his gaze falling on the two countries between the Land of Wind and the Land of Fire: the Land of Rivers and the Land of Rain.
With the Akatsuki there, the Land of Wind could be said to no longer border the Land of Fire. Even if Rasa wanted to start a war, he would have to pass through the Akatsuki first.
If they could really take the opportunity to eliminate one of the Sand's Kage-level individuals, Hiruzen felt that even if it meant offending the Kazekage, it would be acceptable. If they could eliminate Rasa along with her, the Third's breathing became heavy.
Tsunade, hearing this suggestion, also weighed the pros and cons in her heart. Finally, she slammed the table and said, "Then let's do it that way. Teacher, you and Danzō go together. Bring more manpower and strive to succeed in one fell swoop."
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