The Tsuchikage's Thick Skin

Clearly, Hatake Sakumo wanted to join forces with him and pull a dirty trick on the Cloud Shinobi. Ōnoki, nearly driven berserk by the Cloud Shinobi's provocation, immediately caught on. Without resisting, he let Hatake Sakumo carry him on his back and flee toward Iwagakure.

"Hmm?" The Cloud Shinobi fighting them narrowed his eyes. "A Shadow Clone that was split off long ago? You want to save Ōnoki? Dream on!"

He immediately turned into a bolt of lightning and charged straight at the Shadow Clone carrying Ōnoki.

Although Hatake Sakumo could match the Cloud Shinobi in combat through the advantage of his swordsmanship and Wind Release over Lightning Release, he was still a step slower in pure speed. Despite giving chase with all his strength, he fell behind.

Seeing this, the Shadow Clone carrying Ōnoki set him down, gripped its short blade, and charged forward to meet the enemy.

"Hmph, just a Shadow Clone... what?" Just as the Cloud Shinobi pierced through the Shadow Clone with a spear-hand strike and arrogantly opened his mouth, the clone left a tiny wound on his chest. Then he saw Ōnoki sneering behind it.

"Die, you bastard!" Ōnoki roared. Taking advantage of the Cloud Shinobi being obscured by Hatake Sakumo's Shadow Clone, he instantly unleashed the already-prepared Dust Release—Atomic Dismantling Jutsu.

A flash of intense light swept past, and the Cloud Shinobi vanished without a trace. Ōnoki slowly floated into the air and spat in lingering fury.

Hatake Sakumo, who had just arrived, tightened his grip on the White Fang Dagger and watched Ōnoki warily.

Seeing this, Ōnoki sighed. "Relax, brat White Fang. I'm not so shameless as to repay kindness with enmity. I'm the Tsuchikage, after all—I still have some pride."

Hatake Sakumo relaxed slightly. "I didn't save you for your sake. I did it for Konoha, and for my own reputation."

"Whatever your reasons, the fact remains that you saved me. Besides," Ōnoki said solemnly, "Iwagakure's current situation doesn't permit me to attack you either!"

Indeed, in Ōnoki's eyes, Iwagakure and the Cloud Shinobi had already become mortal enemies. If they also turned hostile toward Konoha, the Third Raikage would probably leap for joy.

Hatake Sakumo nodded. He knew Iwagakure and Konoha were enemies, not friends, but at least for now, Iwagakure would not make an enemy of Konoha.

Putting away the White Fang Dagger, Hatake Sakumo hesitated for a moment. Remembering Sarutobi Toru's instructions, he finally forced himself to speak. "Also... the medicine that saved you was made from the First Hokage's blood. It's worth 100 million Ryo. Please settle the bill."

Ōnoki's face instantly twisted. "100 million Ryo! Why don't you just rob me?!"

In the end, Ōnoki declared that he had no money, no life to offer either, and they could do whatever they wanted. So what if he was refusing to pay?

As for what he had just said about the Tsuchikage's pride? What a joke. What kind of pride was worth 100 million Ryo? If a Tsuchikage's pride were that valuable, he would have sold it long ago!

Watching Ōnoki fly away while cursing under his breath, Hatake Sakumo somehow felt that he was fleeing in defeat. Sure enough, the power of Money Release was beyond imagination!

What Hatake Sakumo did not know was that while Ōnoki grumbled aloud, he was also secretly relieved. 100 million Ryo! It seemed this medicine truly was a one-of-a-kind product made from the First Hokage's blood. At least he did not have to worry about everyone in Konoha getting a bottle and becoming immortal.

Land of Earth, Konoha Stronghold.

The moment Hatake Sakumo returned to the stronghold, he saw Sarutobi Toru exercising with a massive boulder on his back.

"Whew... it's good that you're all right!" Hatake Sakumo exhaled.

Boom! Sarutobi Toru flung the boulder away. "What could possibly happen to me? Dust Release may be powerful, but it can't stop the Flying Thunder God Technique!"

Hatake Sakumo shook his head. "That was still Dust Release. No one can say for certain whether the Flying Thunder God Technique can escape it. I still think you took too great a risk."

Sarutobi Toru merely smiled without speaking. Was he supposed to tell him that Uchiha Obito would use space-time ninjutsu to evade Dust Release in the future?

He changed the subject. "Couldn't be helped. The Tsuchikage Guard were all such trash that I couldn't even hold back if I wanted to."

Clearly, that Cloud Shinobi had been Sarutobi Toru in disguise. Even the old and cunning Ōnoki had still been led into the trap.

Sarutobi Toru's plan had several contingencies. If Ōnoki had not lowered his altitude and failed to seize the opportunity back then, he would have simply run away. The speed he had displayed before Ōnoki had not been his full speed.

Throwing the blame onto the Cloud Shinobi and driving a wedge between the two sides would have been the inferior option.

But as long as Ōnoki lowered his altitude, Sarutobi Toru would use a modified version of the Yang God Martial Way Chakra Sound Attack Technique to force him completely to the ground, then batter him into near-fatal condition with a flurry of attacks.

At that point, it would depend on the Shadow Guard's performance. As long as even one of them had the ability to escape, Sarutobi Toru would deliberately let him go, and Hatake Sakumo would not have come to save Ōnoki. With the blood feud of an assassinated Kage, Iwagakure and the Cloud Shinobi would have had no choice but to go to war. That would have been the best option.

Unfortunately, Ōnoki's Shadow Guard were all weaklings with short legs. Sarutobi Toru could not make things look too deliberate, so they were ultimately wiped out to the last man.

Only then would Hatake Sakumo arrive to save the day, while Sarutobi Toru pretended to be struck by the Atomic Dismantling Jutsu and actually escaped with the Flying Thunder God Technique.

By then, Ōnoki's Shadow Guard would have been killed, he himself would have nearly died once, and he would know of the "Cloud Shinobi conspiracy." Combined with the death of a top "Cloud Shinobi" expert, even if the two sides did not go to war, they would completely lose trust in one another. Their vigilance toward the Cloud Shinobi in the short term would ensure that Ōnoki had no mind to oppose Konoha. That was the middle option.

Moreover, Sarutobi Toru was not afraid of the two sides confronting each other. Ōnoki could not possibly believe the Cloud Shinobi's words, and the Cloud Shinobi could not possibly accept Iwagakure's slander. The two sides were destined to keep misunderstanding each other.

"All right, while this mission wasn't completely perfect, we achieved our original objective, so it counts as complete. What do you say, Sakumo? Want to catch a Flying Thunder God ride?"

Hatake Sakumo shook his head. "I'll go back on my own. It isn't good to rely too heavily on space-time ninjutsu. Besides, this is your ninjutsu."

Sarutobi Toru curled his lip. "Fine, then. I'll leave the cleanup here to you!"

With that, Sarutobi Toru activated the Flying Thunder God Technique and disappeared from the stronghold.

Konoha, Hokage's Office.

"That is the situation regarding this mission." Standing in the middle of the room, Sarutobi Toru recounted everything he had done over the past few days.

"Hmm... the mission was completed quite well!" Shimura Danzō thought for a while before finally untangling Sarutobi Toru's scheme. He then looked at Sarutobi Toru with the gaze of a leader saying, "You've worked hard."

Sarutobi Hiruzen took a drag from his pipe to calm himself. Without him even realizing it, had his nephew become this formidable? He could make the Tsuchikage lose his temper even while holding back?

Danzo, however, was not surprised in the slightest. He had stopped sparring with Sarutobi Toru long ago, and two years earlier, he had even stopped exchanging blows with Hatake Sakumo.

After all, as their teacher, Konoha's second-in-command, and the head of Root, having word spread that he could not fight back at all against his two disciples would not sound very good!