Epic-Level Enhancement to the Konoha Crush Plan (6)

Within the territory of the Land of Rivers, in a valley covered by mountains and forests, lies a secret stronghold.

This place was once the front line of the Sunagakure's attack on Konoha during the Third Shinobi World War.

However, with the defeat of Sunagakure, this stronghold was left in a semi-abandoned state, with only a small number of Sunagakure stationed here as a temporary rendezvous point for Anbu Ninja.

At this moment, this once somewhat deserted stronghold was suddenly visited by a large number of ninjas.

The Fourth Kazekage Rasa, and Orochimaru, the leader of the Otogakure, meet here to discuss the details of the ' Konoha Crush Plan '.

They all knew that completely destroying Konoha in this operation would be difficult, but the possibility of striking unexpectedly and severely damaging Konoha was high.

Therefore, both Rasa and Orochimaru dispatched the village's elite troops.

"Orochimaru, I never expected to meet you in this way." Rasa, dressed in a sacred robe and a Kazekage hat, formally approached Orochimaru.

After this meeting, Rasa will travel to Konoha to meet the Third Hokage.

"Because you hate Konoha just like me." Orochimaru smiled faintly.

"Let's go inside and talk." Rasa nodded. "Baki, come inside with me. The rest of you, stay outside and wait."

"Yes, Lord Kazekage."

The other Jonin Jōnin Sunagakure remained outside the base.

"Shin, come in with me." Orochimaru gestured for Shin to follow him into the base, while the other Otogakure ninja, including the Sound Four, remained outside to keep watch.

After entering the base, Rasa and Orochimaru sat down at the table, while Baki and Shin stood behind them respectively.

"Orochimaru, is this all the fighting force of the Otogakure?" Rasa spoke first.

In fact, Rasa knew that Orochimaru had only been operating in a small country like the Land of Rice Fields for less than ten years, and it was already quite remarkable that he had been able to build a ninja village of this scale. However, this time they were going to deal with the behemoth that was Konoha, so while he hoped to succeed, he also wanted Orochimaru to pay a higher price.

If the operation fails, Orochimaru can abandon the Otogakure, but as the Fourth Kazekage, he will have to pay an unbearable price.

"The Otogakure doesn't have many people available, but you don't need to worry about their combat strength. I'll deal with the Third Hokage; I want to settle my score with him personally."

Orochimaru said with a confident expression.

Upon hearing this, Rasa's expression changed slightly. It was naturally the best that Orochimaru was willing to take the initiative to deal with the Third Hokage, but Orochimaru's confidence was beyond his expectations. It seemed that he had underestimated Orochimaru's strength and determination.

Although both were among the Five Kage of the Era, Rasa knew that his strength was definitely inferior to that of the Third Kazekage, and the Third had once said that he had no confidence in defeating Third Hokage.

"The others in Konoha are not easy to deal with either. Uchiha Fugaku Senju Nawaki, Hatake Kakashi, Uchiha Itachi, and others are all very troublesome. Moreover, I heard that Jiraiya, Jiraiya one of the Three Ninja, has recently returned to Konoha. What should we do with these people? It would be a bit of a stretch to leave them all to Sunagakure to deal with."

Although Rasa was very confident in his strength, he was not arrogant at all. He was not afraid of any of the five people he mentioned if they faced him individually, but if he had to face two of them at the same time, his life would probably be in danger.

"You can rest assured about that. I will take care of the Third Hokage very soon," Orochimaru said calmly.

"The Third Hokage is your teacher. Even if you surpass him, you think you can easily defeat him? I'm afraid it won't be that easy."

Rasa frowned slightly, expressing himself rather tactfully.

In fact, he felt that even if Orochimaru could defeat the Third Hokage, it would probably be a Pyrrhic victory, and as for quickly killing the Third Hokage, that was almost impossible.

Even the elderly Third Hokage was probably on the same level as him. Could it be that Orochimaru has the strength to kill him quickly?

Some things must be proven with actions, not just empty words.

After all, when they actually attack Konoha, if Orochimaru can't quickly defeat the Third Hokage, it's uncertain how many of the Sunagakure ninjas will survive in Konoha's stronghold, surrounded by so many powerful figures, let alone severely damage Konoha.

This time, Sunagakure was nominally holding Joint Chunin Exam with Konoha. In order to deepen the alliance, Rasa did not bring too many ninjas.

There are 30 genin from Genin Sunagakure in this competition.

One Jōnin teacher leads three Genin, making a total of 10 Jōnin.

With Baki and another Elite Jonin serving as Kazekage Guard, it's reasonable for Rasa to bring 12 Jōnin to Konoha to participate in the Chunin Selection Exam.

Twelve Jōnin is quite a number, but it's just right for the size of Konoha.

As for the other Jōnin and Chunin units, they would arrive in the Land of Land of Rivers and hide in advance on the specific day of the operation, and then directly invade the Land of Land of Fire and attack Konoha.

During this period, Orochimaru's Otogakure ninjas will be needed to draw the attention of Konoha's main force, and then create chaos in Konoha to buy time.

If Orochimaru is no match for the Third Hokage, then Sunagakure will be doomed.

"The Forbidden Technique I developed are my source of confidence." Orochimaru chuckled, then suddenly stood up and quickly Hand Seals.

Baki, standing behind Rasa, tensed up and instinctively became wary, but relaxed again after noticing Rasa's expression.

Boom!

Boom!

Two coffins burst from the ground and appeared behind Orochimaru, with the characters 'One' and 'Two' written on them respectively.

Rasa stood up. "What is this?"

Bang!

The lids of the two coffins fell down with a thud, revealing two tall men standing inside.

"Is this style of armor from a ninja from the Warring States Period?" Rasa looked at the ninja wearing layered armor of red and blue and fell into deep thought.

He carefully examined the appearances of the two ninjas, and suddenly his body jolted.

He seemed to have seen these two photos at the Third Kazekage's place.

"The Second Hokage?! The First Hokage?!" Rasa looked incredulous, his voice hoarse.

Orochimaru explained, "This Forbidden Technique is called the Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu. It was a half-finished product developed by the Second Hokage Tobirama Senju. After I completely perfected it, it is now close to perfection."

Unfortunately, these two sacrificial offerings were too weak; they could only unleash about one-tenth of their peak strength. However, they were more than enough to deal with the Third Hokage.

"I always thought the technique to revive the dead was just a gimmick by Konoha, but I never expected it to be real," Rasa forced himself to calm down.

Orochimaru continued, "I can let you see your wife again, if you need to."

"This..." Rasa's heart skipped a beat, and his pupils suddenly contracted. Orochimaru's suggestion was extremely tempting to him.

"But we'll have to wait until after this operation," Orochimaru added.

As he spoke, he formed another Hand Seals, and the two coffins closed again, disappearing into the ground.

"Okay, it's a deal," Rasa nodded.

Since Orochimaru has such a trump card, the success rate of dealing with Konoha is much higher.

Furthermore, if Orochimaru were to deal with the Third Hokage, other powerful Konoha ninjas would certainly not stand idly by. Therefore, Orochimaru would actually have to deal with the most powerful Konoha ninjas. Meanwhile, the Sunagakure ninjas could simply wait for Orochimaru to make the first move before launching a surprise attack, which would have resulted in a much lower cost.

As for what will happen to Orochimaru, Rasa doesn't care. He hopes that Orochimaru will perish together with the strongmen of Konoha.

Although Rasa missed his deceased wife dearly, he could still distinguish between what was important and what was urgent, and naturally, the overall interests of Sunagakure were above his personal interests.

"I can also tell you a secret: Kakashi of Konoha is one of my men. He will step in to help me deal with the Third Hokage at a crucial moment. The Third Hokage probably never dreamed that his direct Anbu would want him dead, right?"

Orochimaru wore a mocking smile.

Upon hearing this, Rasa was slightly startled. Although it wasn't as astonishing as the First and Second Hokage Orochimaru Rasa, it was still explosive intelligence.

Orochimaru has been a defector from Konoha for so many years, yet he's managed to win over even a ninja like Kakashi?

It's worth noting that Kakashi is considered one of the top candidates for the future Fifth Hokage. Even if he doesn't become Hokage, he's still one of the strongest figures in Konoha, and there's a high possibility that he'll become Hokage Advisor in the future.

Rather than saying he was bought off by Orochimaru, it's more accurate to say that the Third Hokage didn't know how to win people's hearts.

If the Third Hokage had even half of his political acumen, he wouldn't have squandered Konoha's advantages so badly. When he tricked and killed Pakura, Pakura probably thought until her death that she was a hero of Sunagakure going to Kirigakure to form an alliance.

Rasa pondered for a moment, then suddenly said seriously, "There's something I think we need to be careful about: what if Konoha asks the Land of Whirlpools for Request for Aid? Yagami Shiraha is a hundred times more troublesome than the Third Hokage!"

"What do you think is the true relationship between Konoha and Land of Whirlpools after the Uchiha Incident?" Orochimaru asked rhetorically.

"As long as there are enough benefits, it's hard to guarantee that the Land of Whirlpools won't make a move. Who will deal with Yagami Shiraha then?" Rasa was unconvinced. Then he changed the subject and said, "Yagami Shiraha was your disciple. Why didn't you join forces with him in this operation? At the very least, we can't let him cause trouble at a crucial moment."

Whether it was the First Hokage, known as the ' God of Shinobi,' or the Second Hokage, who was known as the fastest shinobi in the Shinobi World, although they were powerful, they were not shinobi from the same era as Rasa. Just how strong they were is only recorded in ancient texts.

Yagami Shiraha's Yamato and reputation were earned step by step through hard work.

The Third Raikage A, the Third Tsuchikage Ōnoki, and the Five-Tails Jinchuriki —each one was a top-tier Kage Level ninja in the Shinobi World, and they all became stepping stones for Yagami Shiraha's rise to fame. Not to mention, there was also the monster Kushina who wielded the power of the Kurama. These were the ones that Rasa feared the most.

The Sunagakure was in a terrible predicament because of the One-Tails Shukaku. If it weren't for the fact that Magnet Release was effective against the One-Tail- Tailed Shukaku, it would have been extremely difficult to subdue One-Tail.

It's easy to imagine just how powerful the Perfect Jinchuriki of the Kurama must be.

"I guarantee that Shiraha will not cause trouble; he will be happy to see Konoha collapse."

Orochimaru looked at Rasa with a determined expression.

"Since you say so, I'm relieved." Rasa extended his hand to Orochimaru.

Two people, each with their own ulterior motives, clasped hands.

Konoha.

"Konoha is truly prosperous." Taichi walked along the main street in the center of Konoha, marveling at the village's prosperity. He looked around, examining everything closely, seemingly interested in everything.

When Taichi last came to Konoha, he was still young and mostly stayed with Shiraha, so he couldn't move around freely.

When he returned to Konoha, he was already 12 years old and had sufficient self-defense capabilities. Therefore, after entering the village, Shiraha allowed him to move freely with Hikari and Shion, while he himself followed the Jōnin in charge of receiving them to the Embassy.

Hikari slapped Taichi on the back of the head and couldn't help but complain, "Can't you stop acting like you've never seen the world before?! It's really embarrassing."

"There are so many things I've never seen before," Taichi, rubbing his head, sounding a little aggrieved. "Couldn't you give your older brother some face in public?"

The Land of Whirlpools is developing rapidly in all aspects, and its economic development is extremely fast. However, its total population is far smaller than that of Konoha, so the scale of construction within the Uzushiogakure is still not as large as that of Konoha.

It's not that Uzushiogakure is that much worse than Konoha, but for Taichi, even the most fun place becomes boring after more than ten years.

"I'm the older sister!" Hikari glared at Taichi. "If you're not convinced, we can find a place to have another match, or you can meet me earlier during the exam?"

Taichi fell silent.

At this moment, Shion spoke up, "Stop fooling around, aren't you hungry? Let's go eat first."

"Great suggestion!" Taichi cheered, but as soon as he finished speaking, his expression changed slightly. The powerful passive perception ability that "Serpent Spirit Sense" gave him made him feel a special Chakra.

"This Chakra aura... it's like my mother's... it's the Kurama 'Chakra!? Konoha actually has Nine-Tailed Jinchuriki?"

Taichi asked in confusion.

At that moment, Naruto, Sasuke, Karin walked towards them.

Among the crowd, the exceptionally high looks and unique aura of Shion, Hikari, and Taichi immediately caught the attention of the three.

"So handsome!" Karin's eyes lit up.

"It's beautiful!"

Even Naruto and Sasuke, who weren't particularly interested in girls, couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

"Such powerful Chakra! These three ninjas are incredibly strong!" Karin snapped out of her daze. The sensory abilities of the Uzumaki Clan had begun to awaken within her, and the powerful senses gave her a keen sense of danger.

She sensed a terrifying aura emanating from Shion, Hikari, and Taichi.

"The Forehead Protector of the Uzushiogakure! They're from the Land of Whirlpools!" Sasuke noticed the headbands on the three people's Forehead Protector and his face darkened.

It was the instigation of the Uzushiogakure that caused a fierce conflict between the Uchiha Clan and the village, leading to the division of the clan and damage to its honor.

Seeing the gloomy-faced man step forward, Naruto was completely bewildered, while Karin quickly followed.