The Fourth Kazekage: What else do you want?

Wherever the torrent of Blades of Cutting went, everything was slicing and pulverizing.

Clothes, Kunai, Shuriken, skin, bones, muscles, blood vessels, fascia—all were evenly cut into countless small squares.

It is a standard Cosmic Cube with a side length of 1 millimeter.

Obito Uchiha's leg turned into a bloody pulp, and screams of agony emanated from the Spiral, sounding so distorted and miserable.

Shazo pulled out a stack of Metal Card with his right hand and threw them with Shuriken throwing technique, aiming them at the spiraling, contracting Kamui Dimension Gate.

After the Metal Card touched the spiral of space, it contracted synchronously with the spiral. At the moment when the spiral completely disappeared at a point, the Metal Card turned into a large number of metal fragments, which were ejected from that final point.

Shazo let the metal shards hit him, closing his eyes and focusing intently on sensing the psychic mark engraved on the Metal Card.

That was the marking Ninja Tools he used to unleash the [Forbidden Technique: Flying Thunder God Technique]. Once he could sense it, he could continuously send Shadow Clone and Wood Clone into the Kamui Dimension to surround and kill Obito Uchiha.

But a minute later, Shazo opened his eyes in disappointment.

He sighed, "What a pity, he couldn't sense my psychic Beacon at all; I still couldn't kill him this time."

"After being scared by me this time, it will be too difficult to lure this guy out next time."

Shisui Uchiha looked at his right hand. "Strange, it seems he deliberately let me stab his heart. Isn't the heart his fatal weakness?"

"That doesn't make sense."

Shazo said, "There are two possibilities."

"Most likely, this is a tactical deception. In a situation where there's no way to dodge, he uses his powerful Self-Healing ability to deliberately make you attack his heart, creating the illusion that his heart isn't a vital point, thus setting the stage for the next battle."

[Of course, given Obito Uchiha's intellect, he certainly couldn't have imagined something so complicated.]

"The second possibility is that he has a serious underlying problem with his heart, and he used you to destroy that problem, then recovered through his strange Self-Healing ability."

[This is the most likely scenario; once Obito discovers the talisman and seal on the heart, he will definitely try to solve this problem.]

Uchiha Izumi gasped, then asked in horror, "If he can Self-Healing even with his heart shattered, how can we kill him?"

Shazo pointed to his head and said, "Attack his head. As long as we completely eliminate his thinking ability, we will definitely render him incapable of movement."

"Even if his brain is destroyed, he won't die. We can slowly dispose of his body, reducing him to ashes."

"I don't believe he can Self-Healing even when his body has completely turned to ash."

He surveyed his surroundings and ordered, "The Konoha Crush Plan is complete. You stay here to clean up the battlefield and calm the frightened spectators."

"I've gone to deal with the Fourth Kazekage; now it's time to reap the rewards."

In fact, when Shazo appeared in the Shattering private room and felt the aura of the true Fifth Hokage, the Fourth Kazekage had already given up completely.

He sat in the chair that represented the Kazekage, looked at Shazo, and asked, "Fifth Hokage, is this a trap you set?"

Shazo replied, "Of course, only I can do this in Konoha."

The Fourth Kazekage's expression darkened as he asked, "So, Fifth Hokage, what do you want from Sunagakure?"

Shazo said, "I need a more docile Sunagakure, Kazekage who doesn't dare to betray me, and— Rōran."

The Fourth Kazekage smiled wryly, "It's my fault. You were already the strongest Ninja World, leading Konoha to new heights, yet I still hoped that Sunagakure could rise again."

"Fifth Hokage, how do you intend to tame Sunagakure?"

Shazo replied with a smile, "I can allow you to return to Sunagakure with the Sunagakure Ninja. After you return, you must gather the Sunagakure Ninja, tell them what you have done, and then commit suicide in front of them."

Fourth Kazekage: "----You're ruthless."

Shazo didn't take it to heart. "I've been merciful enough. Although I was setting a trap, you still broke the alliance and chose to stand against Konoha."

"I haven't killed your entire family yet, nor have I attacked Sunagakure a second time. Do you, Sunagakure, want to experience that again?"

The Fourth Kazekage shook his head and said, "I don't want to, but I will do as the Fifth Hokage requests."

"By the way, do you have any suggestions regarding the selection of the Fifth Kazekage?"

Shazo smiled gently and said, "I don't care who the Fifth Kazekage is. I believe that whoever becomes Kazekage will not have the courage to continue being an enemy of Konoha."

"Even if you do manage to elect a Fifth Kazekage, I believe the newly appointed Sixth Kazekage would absolutely not dare to be an enemy of Konoha again."

Shazo paused, then decided to be more explicit. "If all else fails, Kazekage Seventh or Yashiro Kazekage, there's bound to be one that satisfies me."

The Fourth Kazekage completely gave up any intention to resist, and agreed to whatever Shazo asked for.

But there was one question he still had to ask, "Fifth Hokage, Rōran is not part of the Land of Wind, and that country has already been destroyed."

Shazo said, "I know that Rōran has been destroyed, and I also know that Rōran is located on the land of the Land of Wind."

"But what I want is not just the land of Rōran, but also a portion of the Land of Land of Wind, so that at least the Konoha Ninja can reach Rōran without having to pass through the Land of Wind."

The Fourth Kazekage remained silent for a long time before finally asking, "Can I refuse?"

Shazo replied, "Of course not."

The Fourth Kazekage, his eyes bloodshot, struggled desperately, saying, "I can issue passes to the Konoha Ninja, allowing you to freely enter and leave the Land of Wind, is that not allowed?"

Shazo sneered, "Fourth Kazekage, given the current state of Sunagakure, you have no right to bargain with me."

"Either you agree now and you can return to Sunagakure, or you refuse now and I'll kill you immediately, then attack Sunagakure and find a Sunagakure Ninja willing to accept my conditions."

The Fourth Kazekage cried, sobbing uncontrollably, his face covered in snot and tears, but in the end he accepted all of Shazo's conditions.

Actually, Shazo's conditions weren't considered cruel in the Ninja World; in fact, they were quite normal.

When the Third Kazekage of Sunagakure forced Hoshigakure of the Land of Bears to cede the dams, reservoirs, and surrounding fertile lands to the Land of Wind, his appearance was ten times more ferocious than that of Shazo.

When the Third Raikage of Kumogakure robbed Tsukishin Village of its secret techniques, he didn't even offer any conditions; he simply launched a three-pronged attack: killing, annihilating the village, and robbing.

The Fourth Kazekage cried his eyes out, except this time he was the one who was robbed.

With such a huge incident, the Joint Chunin Ninja Exams naturally couldn't continue.

The Fifth Hokage Shazo, hastily announced the end of the exams and issued Chunin the Ninja who participated in the third round of exams.

As for formal promotions, that's a matter for their respective villages.

Next, the various departments of Konoha worked together in an orderly manner to send off the teams from the villages that participated in the exam, and handed over the management rights of the land to Sunagakure, taking over the long-abandoned Country of Roran and a large area of desert.

The Fourth Raikage and the Third Tsuchikage haven't returned since they left the private room.

They watched from a distance for a long time, and once they confirmed that it was the Fifth Hokage who had set a trap, the two dared not linger any longer and returned to the Meeting Hall as quickly as possible to find their successor.

The Fourth Raikage brought Darui along because he had also mastered the Lightning Release Chakra Mode and could withstand the collateral damage from the Fourth Raikage's charge.

--

The Third Tsuchikage brought Deidara and Kurotsuchi along, because his [Earth Release: Ultra-Light-Weight Rock Technique] could carry two people at high speed.

As for the other Genin, there was really no time to worry about them; all they could do was hope that the Fifth Hokage wouldn't kill anyone out of spite.

The Tsuchikage and Raikage rushed side by side to the edge of Konoha, broke through the Konoha's Barrier together, and then ran away separately.

It's not fair to blame them for being too cowardly; the Fifth Hokage was, in their minds, a notorious and ruthless demon who was always plotting to kill them.

When the Fifth Hokage revealed his plot to kill the Fourth Kazekage, the Tsuchikage and Raikage immediately realized it was a trap without a fixed target.

Who can guarantee that after the Fifth Hokage kills the Fourth Kazekage, he won't also take care of them?

They had both personally committed these kinds of random, deceptive acts, and they had caused the deaths of more than one Shinobu village leader.

After returning to Sunagakure, the Fourth Kazekage summoned the retired Chiyo and Ebizo, explaining what had happened in Konoha and the reason he had to commit suicide.

Then, he committed suicide in front of thousands of Sunagakure Ninja, using his life to atone for his mistake of attacking the Fifth Hokage.

The death of the Fourth Kazekage completely shattered the morale of Sunagakure.

Chiyo and Ebizo were appointed to the position in a time of crisis, were also disappointed to find that Sunagakure could not select Fifth Kazekage because there was not a single qualified Ninja in the entire village.

The entire Sunagakure has only two Kage-level Ninja left. The youngest of them, Ebizo, is a retired old man over 70 years old and is no longer able to exert the combat power of a Kage-level Ninja.

Sunagakure is one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, and under no circumstances should a Jonin be appointed as Kazekage.

And so, Sunagakure became the second major ninja village without a Kage.

After the Fourth Raikage returned to Kumogakure, he quickly received the Genin squad he had dispatched, as well as a personal letter of reprimand from the Fifth Hokage.

The proud and arrogant Raikage opened the letter and saw Shazo's impolite reprimand, with utter contempt in every word. He actually laughed.

Killer B and Darui couldn't understand the Raikage's laughter. Killer B was furious. "Big Brother! How can you laugh when the Fifth Hokage has humiliated you like this?"

The Fourth Raikage wiped away the tears of laughter from the corners of his eyes and explained, "My foolish little brother, why haven't you changed your mind yet?"

--

"The Fifth Hokage's power is beyond imagination. Although I didn't see him in person during my trip to Konoha, I felt Fifth Hokage aura as I left the Konoha."

The Fourth Raikage's eyes were unfocused, as if recalling a Gods: "----I finally understand why the First Raikage was in despair; it truly was despair."

Killer B, Dodai, and Darui exchanged bewildered glances, unable to comprehend why their Raikage would be in such despair.

The Fourth Raikage guessed their question and explained, "I sensed the Fifth Hokage's aura after he left Konoha."

"At that time, I was with Darui, running at full speed using Lightning Release Chakra Mode, and we were already at least 5 kilometers away from Konoha."

"Considering the size of Konoha itself, I sensed the Fifth Hokage's aura from a distance of over 10 kilometers."

"That wasn't the limit of the Fifth Hokage's aura; it was just the limit I could sense when his aura fluctuated drastically."

"He's too strong, so strong that he's beyond my comprehension, so strong that I can't even sense him when I step into the range of his aura."

"If he hadn't encountered some unexpected event that caused a sudden change in his demeanor, I wouldn't have noticed it even at that distance."

The Fourth Raikage solemnly told his three most trusted Ninja, "Remember, the Fifth Hokage is completely different from us. He could truly wipe us all out by himself."

Young Darui couldn't understand and could only ask, "Fourth Raikage, the Fifth Hokage demonstrated the power to wipe out a village before, why weren't you afraid then?"

The Fourth Raikage smiled wryly. "It's different."

"Back then, he used [Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence] to trap all the prisoners of our Kumogakure army because none of us knew how powerful he was. We foolishly thought we could flatten the Forest with our overwhelming numbers, but we ended up charging into the Forest to our deaths."

"Wait until the Ninja World is over."

"Later, the Fifth Hokage razed all the buildings in Sunagakure and even leveled Kirigakure. The buildings that couldn't resist or hide from the Bad Luck were the ones that suffered the most damage, but not many Ninja were killed."

"On one hand, he was intentionally holding back; on the other hand, all the Ninja knew how powerful he was, and no one wanted to fight him head-on. They all chose to avoid him, so he wasn't so easy to kill."

The Fourth Raikage's mood sombered once more. "But the aura I felt from the Fifth Hokage that day was simply indescribable."

"It seems, it seems to be----"

The Fourth Raikage picked up the letter the Fifth Hokage had written to him and read aloud a sentence from it, "Before, your arrogance blinded you, and you saw me as a frog in a well seeing the moon in the sky. Now that you are cautious and clear-headed, you must see me as a mayfly seeing the blue sky."

"He writes so well, that's exactly how I feel."

Killer B was speechless, Darui was dumbfounded, Dodai looked dazed. They looked at their Raikage, who was taking a serious look, and had nothing to say.

After a long pause, Dodai stammered, "Fourth Raikage, since the Fifth Hokage is so powerful, what about our Chakra Cannon research—"

The Fourth Raikage sighed, "Continue, and speed things up."

Dodai: "Huh?"

The Fourth Raikage: "What? You can't defeat the Fifth Hokage at all? Then you should find a way to kill him! The Kumogakure has no reason to give up when facing an enemy!"