"See." Mokgetsu took a sip of the hot tea on the table and, after thinking for a moment, answered.
The abnormal behavior of the Hidden Rock that Nagato described made Mokgetsu sure that the ninja Nagato encountered was the Hidden Rock's Four-tailed Jinchuriki, Roshi.
And most likely, Roshi had just escaped from the Hidden Rock Village.
If Mokgetsu remembered correctly, Roshi ran away in the original story as well.
However, Mokgetsu was not clear on when or why Roshi escaped in the original story since Roshi's storyline was too short.
Although Mokgetsu did not know the inside story of Roshi's departure in the original, he had some guesses about why Roshi left in this world.
After all, he was the biggest contributor to the defeat of the two thousand-strong Hidden Rock ninja squad.
Amidst the crowd, Mokgetsu experienced firsthand the indiscriminate bombardment of Tailed Beast Balls from a Complete Tailed Beast Transformation.
But since Mokgetsu was close by, he knew that it was under the command from the Hidden Rock, and not merely Roshi's impulsive idea.
The problem is, not all Hidden Rock might know this, because all the ninjas close by were killed by Mokgetsu.
Thus, Roshi could expect a predictable reception upon returning to the Hidden Rock Village.
In this kind of situation, it's not just the Hidden Rock; even if it were Konoha, Roshi's fate wouldn't be pleasant.
Mokgetsu couldn't say for others, but Shimura Danzo definitely would treat Roshi harshly.
Either use some means to completely control Roshi or simply replace the Jinchuriki.
"But let him know that I'm busy with something right now, and I won't have time to see him until I'm done with it." Mokgetsu put down the teacup and added.
Originally, there wasn't any urgent business on this side of the Land of Rain, but now that Roshi arrived, there is.
"I'm planning to host another unrestricted lecture."
After the last unrestricted lecture, Mokgetsu started preparing for the next one.
Because the rewards for advanced classes are enticing, and unrestricted lectures can increase the influence of the Ninja Sect, which is beneficial for its development.
Even though he planned it early on, this particular lecture wasn't in Mokgetsu's original plan. Initially, he intended to space out two lectures by around a year, whereas now, only half a year has passed.
You could say the plan couldn't keep up with the changes. When Mokgetsu first made the plan, he didn't anticipate Roshi escaping the Hidden Rock Village and coming to the Land of Rain this soon.
Mokgetsu didn't know why Roshi came to the Land of Rain, but since he's here, Mokgetsu doesn't mind taking advantage of the situation.
According to the system's mechanism, Jinchuriki attending the lecture adds significant points.
Mokgetsu wouldn't exploit Roshi for nothing, especially if Roshi truly escaped from the Hidden Rock Village.
Hosting an unrestricted lecture could draw significant attention to the Land of Rain, forcing the Hidden Rock to either conduct more covert operations or temporarily abandon searching for Roshi in the Land of Rain.
If Roshi didn't escape from the Hidden Rock Village and the Hidden Rock is in the Land of Rain for other reasons.
Then Mokgetsu's unrestricted lecture would still have the effect of gathering attention, deterring the Hidden Rock from acting recklessly.
Since either way benefits Mokgetsu and the Ninja Sect, this lecture is undoubtedly going to happen.
"Understood." Nagato nodded.
Then Mokgetsu summoned Kakuzu, instructing him to start spreading the word and promoting the event.
"Hosting a lecture again so soon, have you come up with another new idea for making money, er, developing the Ninja Sect?" Kakuzu asked with interest.
Given Sosuke's current reputation and influence in the Ninja World, promoting is quite straightforward; it's sufficient to disseminate the information as wide as possible, with no need for further effort.
The battle with Hanzo proved Sosuke's strength, and the first unrestricted lecture proved his knowledge and teaching skills. At present, there are few ninjas in the Ninja World unaware of the Ninja Master Sosuke.
"This time, no advertising and no extra events; mainly to boost the influence of the Ninja Sect, promoting some of its goals, and recruiting ninjas." Mokgetsu shook his head and said.
He indeed had ways to make money, but some are not suitable for use now.
Mokgetsu is primarily conducting this large lecture to earn rewards and recruit ninjas to strengthen the Ninja Sect.
"That's good too; there are too few ninjas in the Ninja Sect." Kakuzu showed a look of agreement.
Making money is good, but recruiting people is equally important.
As a ninja force, especially one committed to establishing peace in the Ninja World, you can't do without enough ninjas.
After discussing with Kakuzu for a while, Mokgetsu gathered some elder members of the Ninja Sect, assigning tasks one by one.
In the last large lecture, the Ninja Sect recruited a few ninjas, but back then, due to insufficient funds, not many were recruited.
This time, to recruit more people, Mokgetsu planned to slow down the lecture pace, lecturing for two days and resting one day.
On the day off, arrange for Ninja Sect ninjas to promote some of its philosophies within the Six Paths City, recruiting interested ninjas.
After finishing everything, Mokgetsu dispelled the Shadow Clone, letting the memories flow back to the original body; Mokgetsu's main body mostly stayed in Konoha, spending relatively less time with the Ninja Sect.
Although Nagato is entangled with Uchiha Madara's plot, it doesn't pose a threat to Nagato at the current stage.
Because Nagato's role for Uchiha Madara is to perform Reincarnation to resurrect him.
Obito's role is to become the heir of Uchiha Madara, collecting the Tailed Beasts after Madara's death, and having Nagato perform Reincarnation to resurrect Madara.
A qualified heir is what Uchiha Madara urgently needs now, making Obito more dangerous than Nagato.
Of course, the most dangerous is still Mokgetsu. Whether it's his true form or his disguise, Uchiha Madara surely wants to kill him.
As long as Mokgetsu is alive, it's very difficult for Madara to manipulate Obito into turning dark.
As long as Sosuke is alive, the difficulty for Madara's heir to control Nagato increases.
However, Mokgetsu now has many methods, and he actually hopes Madara would come to him.
At this moment, Mokgetsu's true form is still reading. After the Shadow Clone's memories returned, Mokgetsu put the book down, revealing a thoughtful expression.
"Let the Shadow Clone handle the Observation teaching here for a while. The matters with the Ninja Sect are more important." Mokgetsu decided to let the Shadow Clone teach Observation.
The teaching time for Observation is only three hours a day, and given how slowly Observation is learned, it won't have much of an impact.
...
Land of Earth, The Hidden Rock Village.
Knock, knock.
Onoki looked at the two documents placed on the table, tapping lightly with a furrowed brow.
These two documents, one is from the Hidden Rock in the Land of Rain, and the other from the Ninja Sect.
He finished reading them, and in Onoki's view, the two documents have a great overlap in their core issues, which is the action of the Hidden Rock Ninja in the Land of Rain.
Onoki did not expect the Ninja Sect to be so sensitive and brave.
Neither did he command the Hidden Rock Ninja to kill in the Land of Rain, nor did he ask them to rob, just secretly look for someone in the Land of Rain, yet the Ninja Sect wants to interfere.
This was indeed something Onoki did not foresee.
His original thought was to send a lot of ninja all over to find Roshi, which is likely to draw attention, so he moved those Hidden Rock Ninja who were already stationed in the Land of Rain.
This led to a problem that the Ninja Sect was sure to discover the Hidden Rock Village's actions in the Land of Rain.
Because the Hidden Rock Ninja, who should be receiving training suddenly, were no longer training and running around the Land of Rain, anyone in the Ninja Sect who is not dumb would realize there's a mission.
Onoki thought about this point but did not expect the Ninja Sect to meddle in it.
They were, after all, one of the Five Great Ninja Villages, the Hidden Rock Village. Why would the Ninja Sect dare to interfere with them?
"A group of idealists who don't know the height of the sky." Onoki rubbed his forehead, feeling a bit vexed.
Originally, he had thought of raising the Ninja Sect to deal with Konoha; however, the Ninja Sect and Konoha had not started a conflict yet, but instead, there was already friction with the Hidden Rock, which made Onoki quite troubled.
If they could bring Roshi back, then so be it if there was a conflict with the Ninja Sect. Onoki could not be afraid of a Ninja Organization with less than two hundred people, even if the leader was strong.
The key is that the Hidden Rock Ninja looking for Roshi couldn't find any trace of him, meaning they weren't even sure if Roshi was in the Land of Rain.
If Roshi wasn't in the Land of Rain, then having a conflict with the Ninja Sect clearly wasn't worth it.
According to the feedback from the trained Hidden Rock Ninja, the training effects of the Ninja Sect were excellent.
Onoki even had thoughts of sending Ninja Academy teachers to learn from the Ninja Sect, and if relations between the Hidden Rock and the Ninja Sect deteriorated, where would they go to learn?
"However, Sosuke actually chose this time to hold another lecture. Could he have found out something?" Onoki thought about the invitation in the Ninja Sect's document.
The Ninja Sect stated that they would soon hold another large lecture event, and interested Ninja from the Hidden Rock Village could come and attend.
Last time, when the Ninja Sect held a large lecture, over a thousand Ninja from all over the Ninja World went to the Land of Rain.
This time, with the experience from last time, the number of attendees could only increase, making the Land of Rain a mix, unfavorable for Onoki's secret plan to find Roshi.
"It should be a coincidence." Onoki shook his head immediately.
He maintained secrecy well, none of the other Great Ninja Villages knew what happened, so how could the Ninja Sect know.
Moreover, thinking carefully, now was indeed a good time for the Land of Rain, surrounded by three great nations.
Currently, the Hidden Rock, Konoha, and the Hidden Sand had no ongoing major wars, so the Land of Rain and its surrounding areas were relatively peaceful.
"Temporarily abandon the search in the Land of Rain, and focus resources on searching in the Land of Grass and Bird Country." Onoki finally decided to change his strategy.
Besides the Land of Rain, there's a good chance that Roshi fled to the Land of Grass or Bird Country. These two small countries not only border the Land of Earth but also the Land of Rain.
Persisting with operations in the Land of Rain might result in the Hidden Rock Village gaining nothing, which is not the outcome Onoki wants.
"Ninja Sect, Rain Village, Konoha." Onoki squinted slightly.
He acted as a mediator to prompt cooperation between the Ninja Sect and Rain Village just to create trouble for Konoha, and as the Ninja Sect develops better, they are reaching a stage where they can play a role.
To ensure the opposition between the Ninja Sect and Konoha, Onoki made many elaborate plans.
But now it seems they might be unnecessary, because the Ninja Sect is just too stubborn.
Even when cooperating with the Hidden Rock, they're this firm; how would they have a better attitude towards Konoha, which had once invaded the Land of Rain?