Turning Hostile!

"Uncle, it seems your calculations are about to fall through..."

Lying on the ground, having just narrowly avoided a mouthful of dirt, Qi watched the five elite jonin locked in a fierce battle with Minato, clicking his tongue.

Five of them—a full five elite jonin. If they were slaughtered, what a massive windfall that would be!

Elite jonin were practically synonymous with the cream of a ninja village. If their corpses were brought back for study, the village had more than enough methods to extract information, or even the ninjutsu these ninja had mastered.

As far as the ninjutsu of this world went, doing this was absolutely not difficult. Konoha's Yamanaka Clan were experts in this field; whether you were alive or dead, as long as your brain wasn't damaged, everything was A-OK.

"Shut your mouth."

Tsang Yeh was extremely annoyed. He felt a headache coming on every time he looked at Qi and the other "hostages."

If there was ever a definition for a hot potato, or a situation where one was stuck between a rock and a hard place, unable to advance or retreat, this was likely it.

It wasn't just him; every Sunagakure ninja present was feeling awkward to the point of death...

Slaughter Minato? That wasn't difficult right now. If the Sunagakure ninja struck, Minato would likely die here ten times out of ten. The problem was, what happens after killing Minato?

Fine, don't kill Minato, but they had already captured his four subordinates, and these four knew their objective. Even if they didn't act now and instead helped Minato slaughter the Iwagakure and Cloud Ninja under the guise of being allies, the aftermath would still be impossible to clean up...

Tsang Yeh was tangled in knots, feeling that this was even more troublesome than running into the White Fang back in the day...

"Uncle, these Rock Ninja don't have good intentions... It looks like you've been played."

Qi didn't care about Tsang Yeh's awkwardness; he smiled like a cat that had stolen some fish.

These Rock Ninja were just too adorable, causing such a blunder. How could he not add fuel to the fire for the Sunagakure ninja? These people were clearly already being driven mad by the Rock Ninja...

"But it doesn't matter, Uncle. We're allies, right? If we slaughter those Rock and Cloud Ninja, we can just split the spoils three-to-two. You take two Rock Ninja and one Cloud Ninja, and we'll just take one Rock Ninja and one Cloud Ninja and be on our way."

"Who the hell is allies with you lot from Konoha!?"

Tsang Yeh's eyes seemed to be spitting fire. Although he wished he could slap Qi to death right now to make him shut up, he knew he couldn't do such a thing—at least, not until Minato was dead...

"Isn't that the truth?"

Qi looked at Tsang Yeh with feigned surprise.

"Isn't Uncle here specifically to bring us along to support our teacher? If it weren't for your protection, us little shrimps would have been finished. I've been taken care of quite comfortably along this journey."

"..."

The group of Sunagakure ninja were instantly choked with anger. Was this brat being sarcastic?

However, recalling this guy's "young master" attitude throughout the journey, they actually agreed with Qi's last sentence!

Looking across the ninja world, which ninja wasn't cautious after being captured by the enemy? They had truly never seen such thick-nerved people before...

"Uncle, stop putting on a front. We aren't idiots, are we? Do you think there's still any need to fulfill your agreement with the Rock Ninja?"

Qi suddenly sneered a few times and said, "As long as you haven't made a move, an agreement is worth nothing! Sunagakure and Iwagakure are enemies, while you're allies with Konoha. As long as you kill this group, and as long as you don't admit it, who can prove you signed a secret agreement?"

But Tsang Yeh still didn't speak, only sneering as he looked at Qi...

"Uncle, that look of yours is all wrong. Do I really look that out of the loop?"

Qi feigned "shock," then began to laugh in a very lewd manner.

"Setting aside personal stances, I actually really admire you guys, Uncle. Loyalty, right... Regardless of anything else, the Rock Ninja are your greatest enemy, aren't they? It's possible the Third Kazekage was even backstabbed by the Rock Ninja."

The moment the words "Third Kazekage" were mentioned, the breathing of the surrounding Sunagakure ninja became noticeably rapid...

The Third Kazekage was known as the strongest in history. After he went missing, the entire Sunagakure village acted like they had swallowed a bomb, eventually pinning the greatest suspicion on Konoha and triggering the Third Shinobi World War.

Qi certainly knew who had killed the Third Kazekage, but did he dare say it out loud...

He actually felt that framing the Iwagakure was perfectly reasonable. Iwagakure and Sunagakure, much like Kumogakure and Konoha, were the combinations with the most intense conflicts. Even during non-war periods, members of these two pairs were mortal enemies.

Countless people from Iwagakure and Sunagakure had died at each other's hands, and the same went for Kumogakure and Konoha. The death of the Second Hokage was also the handiwork of the Cloud Ninja, which had always been viewed by Konoha as a supreme humiliation and a blood feud.

Sunagakure suspected Konoha because Konoha had many experts and great strength, making them the most likely suspects to have taken down the Third Kazekage. However, in terms of motive, the Iwagakure's suspicion was more than ten times higher than Konoha's!

It was just that the Sunagakure ninja could never dream that the Third Kazekage had actually died at the hands of their own traitor...

"Brat, you've got a sharp tongue, but have you thought about this? We can leave right now!"

Tsang Yeh laughed grimly.

"You think I'd believe you? You'd probably sell us out the moment you turned around. Why should Sunagakure get involved in the affairs of Kumogakure?"

"The fact that you haven't left yet means you've changed your mind, right?"

Qi sighed and said, "Uncle, I admit we're weak, but we aren't stupid, are we? Even a fool can see something this obvious, right? If you sit by and watch, as the Cloud Ninja intervene, I don't know what will happen to Konoha, but your Sunagakure will definitely be miserable. And besides..."

He patted his own shoulder.

"It's impossible for you to leave. Teacher already left a 'mark' on me. The distance is enough for him to teleport here. If you try to leave, Teacher will just follow right behind."

"Damn it!"

Hearing this, all the Sunagakure ninja, including Tsang Yeh, finally couldn't help but curse in unison...

Shameless! The people of Konoha are so shameless! Truly too shameless and too devious! Isn't this just setting people up!?

Tsang Yeh couldn't help but think of the White Fang of the Leaf again. That bastard had ambushed him back in the day, nearly costing him half his life!

In his view, compared to the terrifying combination of Earth and Lightning Release, the White Fang of the Leaf's combat style was even more disgusting. That fellow almost never fought head-on, even though his frontal combat ability was second only to the Third Hokage in Konoha...

Could it be that this shameless style was hereditary?

Tsang Yeh felt awkward—deeply, profoundly awkward. He had to admit that the Iwagakure, who held a blood feud with Sunagakure, were unreliable—even more unreliable than Konoha. At the very least, Konoha wasn't plotting how to wipe out Sunagakure; after all, it was Kumogakure that held a grudge against Konoha, not Sunagakure.

With a sharp twitch of his cheek, Tsang Yeh finally made his decision and signaled the others.

Receiving their leader's cue, the other Sunagakure Ninja wore grim expressions. However, the first thing they did was untie Kakashi and the others, returning their weapons—including Qi's.

"Kid, you win. We'll deal with the Rock Ninja first, then settle the score with you Konoha lot later."

Tsang Yeh glared at Qi irritably before waving his hand. All the Sunagakure Ninja turned their murderous gazes toward the Rock Ninja and Cloud Ninja in the clearing, especially the three Rock Ninja...

Without a doubt, compared to fighting Konoha ninjas, the Sunagakure Ninja felt that hacking at Rock Ninja was far more satisfying!

"You lot, with me! Take out those two Cloud Ninja first!"

Watching the two Cloud Ninja crackling with electricity, Tsang Yeh and the several Sunagakure Special Jonin wore savage grins.

Don't let the current decline of Sunagakure fool you; it was only because the current Wind Daimyo was aggressively pushing policies to suppress ninjas, forcing the resource-strapped Sunagakure to downsize.

Back when Sunagakure was at its peak, it was the second strongest village, second only to Konoha...

Crucially, Kumogakure was known for having the strongest offensive power precisely because almost all of them practiced Lightning Release. Konoha had few Wind Release users, but Sunagakure was different. In Sunagakure, there were countless ninjas who excelled in Wind Release; the ratio was basically the same as the Lightning Release practice rate in Kumogakure.

To put it bluntly, Sunagakure Ninja were the natural nemesis of Cloud Ninja! Most Cloud Ninja were like tofu in front of them!

"Move!"

Finally, just as Minato reappeared at the closest distance to the Sunagakure Ninja and the two Cloud Ninja were lunging forward, Tsang Yeh let out a roar. The Sunagakure Ninja hidden there surged up like a gale!

Tsang Yeh took the lead, and in the horrified eyes of the two Cloud Ninja, he turned his hands into blades and slashed out a massive wave of wind blades!

"Bang!"

The Lightning Armor, which usually had decent defensive capabilities, was like paper in front of Tsang Yeh's wind blades. With Tsang Yeh going all out, the two Cloud Ninja didn't even have room to dodge. Amidst a chorus of agonizing screams, they were sent flying by Tsang Yeh's strike, leaving a trail of blood in the air!

This strike fully demonstrated Tsang Yeh's strength. He might not be as formidable as Minato in overall power, but in terms of Wind Release cultivation alone, he was far superior!

"Tsang Yeh! What are you doing! Are you going to break the agreement!?"

The three Rock Ninja were equally horrified. The thing they feared most had finally happened: Minato's overwhelming strength had cost them too much time, and now the Sunagakure Ninja had arrived!

But what they hadn't expected was that the Sunagakure Ninja would turn on them without the slightest hesitation! This was the worst-case scenario!

"What am I doing!? I'm doing your mother!"

It would have been fine if they hadn't mentioned the agreement, but at the mention of it, Tsang Yeh's temper flared. He pointed at the two Cloud Ninja still spitting blood in mid-air and roared, "Kill them all!"

"Kill!"

The Sunagakure Ninja shouted in unison. Several Special Jonin broke away from the crowd, following Tsang Yeh's lead to charge at the two Cloud Ninja, while the others rushed toward the three Rock Ninja, unleashing various ninjutsu without regard for chakra consumption, raining them down on the trio like madness!

As for Qi, Kakashi, and the others, they immediately gathered near Minato.

"You all did well!"

Minato didn't say much, but he patted each of them on the shoulder, showing his appreciation.

"Sunagakure, damn your ancestors!"

Seeing this, the three Rock Ninja were also furious, knowing there was no point in talking. Their original plan had been to kill these Sunagakure Ninja anyway.

"Then we'll kill you along with them! We should have done that from the start!"

One Rock Ninja roared, raised his hand, and a firework-like signal shot straight into the sky and exploded!

"Boom!"

With a deafening blast, wood chips flew in the forest on the other side. A squad composed of Rock Ninja and Cloud Ninja appeared. Upon seeing the Sunagakure Ninja, they also roared and charged forward.

Konoha and Sunagakure, Rock and Cloud—the two coalitions immediately descended into a chaotic melee!