To Repay My Debts, I'll Become Hokage!

The Third Raikage wanted to resolve the Tailed Beast issue once and for all, but the results were unsatisfactory. Thinking of the slow reconstruction of the village ravaged by the Eight-Tails, and the fact that the initial surprise attack had been a feint, the situation had now stalled, and supply lines were failing to keep up.

The main issue was that the Daimyo of the Land of Lightning was growing dissatisfied; money spent without results was money wasted.

The Third Raikage sighed, glanced toward the direction of the Land of Fire, and, having no other choice, ordered a withdrawal.

The northern battlefield ended just as it had stalled.

As for the Land of Whirlpools, Cloud Village backstabbed Mist Village directly, plundering a wave of supplies before ferrying back to the Land of Lightning.

This infuriated Mist Village, who cursed Cloud Village for their lack of honor in resorting to a backstab. Although their brief alliance had been fragile, Mist Village had intended to backstab Cloud Village once the mission concluded anyway.

The fact that Cloud Village had struck first left Mist Village enraged and deeply regretful that they hadn't moved first.

With Cloud Village gone, Mist Village was left alone to face Konoha and the Uzumaki Clan. Unable to hold their own and struggling to parry, they eventually had to slink back to the Land of Water.

The mission was a failure; they had gained nothing and suffered heavy losses. This led the clans of Mist Village to mock the Third Mizukage mercilessly, intensifying the internal power struggle against him.

The only winner of this war was the Land of Fire.

The crisis of the Uzumaki Clan had been averted, but as long as the Jinchuriki system existed, the Uzumaki Clan would remain at risk.

After much deliberation, the Daimyo of the Land of Whirlpools, who was also the head of the Uzumaki Clan, submitted a formal letter to the Land of Fire, requesting to become a vassal state.

Konoha could now openly station ninjas within the Land of Whirlpools.

Hatake Sakumo left half of his ninjas behind and returned to Konoha with the other half.

The Land of Fire and Konoha had won big, gaining a vassal state and the Uzumaki Clan.

"Senior Sakumo, is there no news of Nagato?"

Stepping out of the Hokage's office, Hatake Sakumo saw Uchiha Chonhua waiting for him.

At these words, Hatake Sakumo sighed, shook his head, and said, "None. I don't know what method the enemy used, but there isn't a single clue. I'm sorry, Chonhua, we didn't find the missing children."

To this day, Hatake Sakumo still did not know which faction had abducted the Uzumaki children. They had rescued one child, but that child had later gone missing as well.

They still didn't know how the disappearance had occurred.

The matter had ultimately become an unsolved mystery.

Chapter 54: To the Land of Fire, War!

"Lord Hanzo, our supply reserves... are insufficient."

Hearing his subordinate's report, Salamander Hanzo tapped his fingers against the desk, the clear sound echoing through the quiet room.

The Amegakure ninja swallowed hard, his expression tense.

After a long silence, Salamander Hanzo stopped tapping, narrowed his eyes, and said in a dry voice, "Even with sufficient supplies, we could not defeat Sunagakure."

After all, as a military power of the Five Great Nations, their number of ninjas and their strength were far superior to Amegakure.

If not for the fact that the poison of Salamander Hanzo made Sunagakure wary, Sunagakure would have already razed the Land of Rain to the ground.

"Heh, Sunagakure truly has perseverance; they still don't intend to give up after all this time."

A look of mockery appeared in the eyes of Salamander Hanzo.

By now, this was no longer about the employment contract from the Daimyo of the Land of Iron. The Daimyo had been dissatisfied with that mission, resulting in the commission being halved.

Sunagakure was unhappy about this, but they wouldn't dare lash out at the Daimyo, so they turned to invading the Land of Rain to make up for the lost half of the commission.

That had been the initial goal, but after years of fighting, Sunagakure now only wanted to crush Salamander Hanzo.

Sunagakure was a military power on the level of the Five Great Nations, yet they couldn't take down a tiny Land of Rain or defeat Salamander Hanzo; the loss of face was immense.

Today, Sunagakure had become a joke in the eyes of the other Great Nations and was being mocked relentlessly.

Humiliated, Sunagakure was bottling up their rage, determined to wash away the mockery and crush Amegakure!

"The poison of the salamander cannot hold out much longer; Sunagakure is closing in on this place."

That puppet old hag had spent years researching, and she had finally made some headway.

Although she could not completely neutralize the poison of the salamander, she could provide a certain degree of resistance. Given time, the puppet old hag would certainly be able to crack the poison!

If the poison of the salamander were completely neutralized, the final barrier would vanish, and what would follow was self-evident.

The effectiveness of the salamander's poison was weakening, the supplies plundered from the Land of Iron were nearly exhausted, and one-third of the Amegakure ninjas had been lost...

Salamander Hanzo frowned; the situation was becoming increasingly critical.

"We cannot sit here and wait for death. Send word down, have them prepare; we are going to attack the Land of Fire."

The subordinate looked up, stunned.

"Lord Hanzo, please reconsider. The Land of Rain already has Sunagakure, and if we add Konoha to the mix..."

The Daimyo of the Land of Rain would surely be fine, but their Amegakure would definitely be finished!

How could Lord Hanzo think of inviting the wrath of two Great Nation military powers?

"Fool." Salamander Hanzo let out a cold snort. Could this subordinate not use his head?

He couldn't even see through such an obvious intention; this subordinate was no longer of any use.

"Only when two tigers fight do we have room to survive."

Another subordinate looked thoughtful; he understood. He looked at Salamander Hanzo with excitement, meeting the leader's appreciative gaze in return.

He became even more excited.

"Now that you know, go down and prepare. From now on, you will work by my side."

The subordinate who had seen through the intent stood straight and shouted, "Yes!"

"As for you, don't come back."

"Huh?"

The subordinate labeled a fool looked completely bewildered.

Spring, 34th year of Konoha.

Salamander Hanzo led a force of ninja to launch a surprise attack on the Land of Fire. The ninja stationed at the border were all poisoned to death by Salamander Hanzo, leaving the defenses shattered and the gates wide open.

Amegakure ninja surged into the heart of the Land of Fire, engaging in rampant slaughter and pillaging, causing a tragedy.

The Daimyo of the Land of Fire was furious and immediately notified the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, with a single message: provide enough supplies and funding, kill Salamander Hanzo, and wipe out Amegakure!

At the same time, the Daimyo of the Land of Fire indignantly sent men to question the Daimyo of the Land of Rain, wanting to ask what his little brother thought he was doing.

The information that came back made the Daimyo of the Land of Fire even angrier.

The Daimyo of the Land of Rain was under "forced protection"!

The ninja had acted on their own, usurping authority and starting a war without the Daimyo's consent!

This... violated the unspoken rules between the Daimyo and the ninja villages.

The Daimyo provides resources, and the ninja village provides strength.

In essence, it is a large-scale mercenary contract; the Daimyo is the client, and the ninja village is the contractor.

Salamander Hanzo's actions were a breach of the employment contract, compounded by placing his own client under "forced protection."

According to the practices of ninja villages, this was a violation of the ninja code and would lead to being branded a rogue ninja.

And the standard treatment for a rogue ninja is execution! When scaled up to the level of nations and villages, the same principle applied!

"Hiruzen, the time when you need me has arrived."

Shimura Danzō looked at Sarutobi Hiruzen, who was rubbing his temples, and sneered inwardly.

Retire? He couldn't retire. Many secret, dark tasks could only be performed by him, Shimura Danzō.

The leaves that bathe in the sunlight are the ones that support the tree, but it is the roots that devour the darkness.

"Danzō, resume your former position. Lead the Root Division to the Land of Rain immediately and act at your own discretion."

Causing destruction, conducting assassinations, providing support, and sowing discord in the Land of Rain were all underhanded tactics that did not align with Konoha's public values.

These dirty jobs in the dark corners could only be done by Shimura Danzō; it was his specialty, and he would do it well.

"Hiruzen, I need people from the Uchiha clan. Their genjutsu will allow me to carry out my operations more effectively."

Sarutobi Hiruzen glanced at him, knowing exactly whom he wanted, and said directly, "Anyone but Uchiha Chonhua."

Shimura Danzō narrowed his eyes, said nothing more, and turned to reorganize the Root Division.

You protect him quite fiercely, but once the war begins, how much of Uchiha Chonhua will you really be able to protect?

"Sister, Konoha has declared war on Amegakure."

Ebizo walked in to report the news to his sister, Chiyo.

Chiyo now had a few wrinkles on her face, though she was not yet as aged as she would be later.

Hearing her brother Ebizo's words, Chiyo was invigorated and laughed, "Let's go! We will follow behind Amegakure and loot the burning house!"

"Sister, is this really a good idea?" Ebizo frowned. "This is equivalent to declaring war on Konoha."

Chiyo sneered, "Who told the Daimyo to be so stingy? We have to find our own food."

"The resources of the Land of Rain alone are not enough. Just as I was feeling sleepy, someone handed me a pillow—Salamander Hanzo has moved against the Land of Fire."

"Brother, Salamander Hanzo wants to play the game of two tigers fighting; he will certainly go to great lengths to make Sunagakure and Konoha clash."

"Since we are bound to clash sooner or later, we might as well take the opportunity to squeeze a profit out of Konoha now."

Chiyo shook the glass bottle in her hand; the liquid inside was crystal clear. It was the poison of the salamander.

"Salamander Hanzo's poison is not easy to deal with; we know that better than anyone. The battle between Amegakure and Konoha won't end so quickly. Helping to relieve some of the pressure on Amegakure is also helping ourselves."

"Sister, we are still enemies with Amegakure."

"Not for the time being."

Hearing this, Ebizo sighed, "Sister, what does the Kazekage say?"

Chiyo tossed a scroll directly to Ebizo. Ebizo caught it in a panic, opened it, and then stood there, stunned.

"The Salamander's poison is troublesome, but the Konoha ninja are not necessarily so."

Chiyo stroked the scroll at her waist and said, "The military strength supported by our scarce resources has reached its limit; if we wish to develop further, we have no choice but to expand."

"For the survival of Sunagakure, this war must be fought!"

The scroll sent by the Third Kazekage made it clear...

War against the Land of Fire, commence!

Chapter 55: Such Unscrupulous Wealth!

"How is it, Tsunade? Can the antidotes we brought handle the poison of Salamander Hanzo?"

Hatake Sakumo looked to his side, where Tsunade frowned and shook her head.

"No. Salamander Hanzo's poison has never been seen before; it is an entirely new, highly potent toxin. None of the antidotes currently possessed by Konoha have any effect on it."

"That makes things difficult."

Hatake Sakumo sighed, glancing from afar at the Amegakure ninja forces led by Salamander Hanzo.

Their numbers were few, but their presence was significant, and that Salamander venom was truly a massive headache.

"If we don't resolve the threat of Salamander Hanzo's poison, we will be just as unable to advance as Sunagakure."

Orochimaru spoke in a raspy voice, "Senior Sakumo, close-quarters combat is ill-advised. Let us engage in long-range warfare."

"The supplies provided by the Daimyo are plentiful; we can utilize long-range weaponry for large-scale attacks."

Jiraiya chimed in with a laugh, "We have more than enough kunai and shuriken, and the more Explosive Tags, the better. Let's just dump them all at once!"

The Land of Fire was rich in produce and resources, making it the wealthiest nation in the ninja world.

Resources that would leave other ninja villages stunned and bewildered were merely trivial matters to Konoha.

While Sunagakure struggled bitterly to maneuver their puppets through the poisonous mist, Konoha could afford to be arrogant and simply burn money to crush their opposition.