Sunagakure's Plan

After dinner, Su Zheng sat on the bed, thinking over his plan.

The fastest way to increase his strength was the system, but it required a lot of Rescue Points. He only had 2,256 points now—enough to upgrade his Two Tomoe, but there was no need.

He had felt it during training these past few days. His ocular power was faintly on the verge of a breakthrough. As for Rescue Points, he had a rough guess: bringing Konan and Haruna home had directly earned him 2,000 points. It was probably 1,000 points for saving one person, with the amount gradually increasing afterward.

So there was no rush to spend them. What if he encountered something good later?

Nagato, Yahiko, Kyusuke, Daibutsu...

The next day, a heavy rain fell from the sky, turning everything outside the window gray and hazy.

Su Zheng woke up punctually at 5:30 in the morning. Breakfast was not needed until 7:30, leaving him two hours to train.

Entering the training ground, he found that it had not yet been upgraded. It was only a space with a radius of around thirty meters, surrounded by a barrier. He could vaguely see the situation throughout the entire training ground, and he discovered something else: the environment inside matched the one outside. It was also a rainy dawn.

Being able to experience "Weather Mode" before the full upgrade was pretty good. The current space was enough for now!

Earth Style: Earth Dragon Burrowing Technique!

This technique could turn the surrounding earth into fine sand, allowing the user to tunnel through it. While underground, the user could sense direction through magnetic fields.

Su Zheng formed hand seals with both hands and sank into the rock. The stones around him turned into fine sand. Feeling the pressure, he moved forward slowly until he hit the barrier. It seemed he still could not enter without upgrading it.

He was not discouraged and continued practicing. This technique was extremely useful, especially in an environment like the Land of Rain. Combined with heavy rainfall, it was practically made for the battlefield.

Su Zheng emerged from the ground and tried a newly developed technique: Water Style: Rain Tiger Hunter Technique!

The rain in the training ground grew even heavier, pouring down in sheets and pattering against the ground. This technique was very similar to Pain's Rain Tiger at Will Technique, but it was even more powerful!

Torrential rain was a natural phenomenon, especially in the Land of Rain. The falling rain formed a curtain that could block vision, sound, and perception. The enemy's genjutsu, even certain Summoning Techniques used to find people, would all become useless. Yet Su Zheng could grasp everything within the rain curtain. Combined with genjutsu, its effects would be even greater. It could absolutely be called an "unbreakable" ninjutsu!

Thinking of the Uchiha Clan's ocular techniques, which he had coveted for a long time, this technique had been designed specifically to counter them!

However, the technique had one drawback: it consumed a great deal of Chakra. He could only improve that through gradual training.

After breakfast, the rain was still falling without showing the slightest sign of weakening. That was common in the Land of Rain, and Su Zheng did not care. He trained in the courtyard. As for Shota and the other one, they had better not go watch the couple flaunt their affection.

Konan could now fold all kinds of shapes. She truly had a talent for paper folding. Haruna still liked reading, especially books on public welfare and economics. She could even keep reading such dry material.

Moreover, the Naruto world was an extremely warped place. If one said its productivity was low, it even had energy cannons. But if one said its productivity was high, there was never any large-scale machinery—everything was done by hand. It was strange!

Sunagakure, within a courtyard.

A red-haired child chased after a ball, letting out cheerful laughter from time to time.

"Yuko, Lord Kazekage has decided that the 'Surprise Attack on Konoha' plan will proceed as scheduled," a burly man said.

"Is that so? But Sasori is still so young. If we leave, I'm worried about him..." Chiyo said in a flustered voice.

"Yuko, trust me. This plan will definitely succeed. Under the leadership of the Third Kazekage, our Sunagakure will surely become the greatest village!"

Chiyojuro stepped forward, wrapped an arm around his wife, and comforted her. "We only need to succeed this once. After that, we will never leave Sasori again. We'll stay by his side as he grows up!"

Seeing his wife's expression improve somewhat, Chiyojuro continued, "Besides, there's still time. We won't depart for another month."

"Mm."

These two were none other than Sasori's parents.

The Amegakure battlefield.

Hanzo looked at Chiyo and Ebizo before him, frowning continuously. The ninja who had been poisoned and declared dead by Hanzo had reappeared, and there were even more of them than before.

Ebizo stepped forward and said, "Hanzo, stop fighting. Continuing this war brings no benefit to either side. Why not sit down and negotiate?"

Hanzo was somewhat vexed. "You killed so many of our people, and now you want peace talks? Fine! Then surrender immediately, and the war can end at once!"

"Old man Hanzo, do you still have the nerve to act arrogant? Your poison..." Chiyo cursed as she joined the confrontation.

"Enough, sis!" Ebizo pulled Chiyo back and said sternly to Hanzo, "Hanzo, you may not know this yet, but we have already broken your poison. Your poison will be completely useless from now on. Negotiating now is giving you a shred of dignity. Otherwise, once our strongest Kazekage—the Third—arrives, you're finished!"

Worthy of being Sunagakure's strategist, he turned the situation around in just a few words and struck directly at Hanzo's fatal weakness.

Sunagakure was indeed at its strongest during this period. It had the Third Kazekage—Kōno—known as the strongest Kazekage, with Chiyo and Ebizo as his two right-hand aides. Sasori's parents were in their prime, and there was also a young One-Tails Jinchuriki—Bunpuku. This truly was the strongest period in Sunagakure's history, one that even Gaara's era could not match.

As for Hanzo being revered as a "demigod," that was merely the reverence of little Japanese history buffs for historical figures. How could he possibly contend with Sunagakure and Konoha during this period?

Hanzo's face darkened as he attempted one last struggle. Even during the negotiations, small units continued launching attacks in an attempt to gain some initiative.

Thus, they fought while negotiating, and in the end, both sides completed the talks!

Sunagakure withdrew from the Land of Rain, and both sides ceased hostilities.

Several days later, a secret transaction took place.

Inside a large tent, Hanzo wore an arrogant expression, unable to understand what else there was to discuss. Ebizo did not care. This matter had to be completed, and he had bargaining chips Hanzo could not refuse!

"Cough, cough!" Ebizo cleared his throat and got straight to the point. "Hanzo, we have a deal for you. Are you interested?"

"Oh? What kind of deal?" Hanzo asked doubtfully.

Ebizo smiled. "Presumably, you already know that Konoha is preparing to deploy troops against Amegakure. We only need you to hold Konoha's people back."

Hanzo grew angry. "Are you treating my Amegakure as a pawn?"

"Relax, relax. We certainly will not let you suffer losses. We are willing to give you double the supplies. How about it?" Ebizo probed.

"Double the supplies would be around 200 million ryō. That was no small sum, but if it was merely to hold Konoha back, they must have some other motive!"

Hanzo pondered carefully. Ebizo did not rush him and simply let him think.

"Logically speaking, if Konoha attacks Amegakure, we will certainly strike back. Yet Sunagakure wants us to stall them for longer, which means Sunagakure must be planning something against Konoha!"

It had to be said that Hanzo was truly shrewd. His guess was already close to the truth.

Now that he had leverage over the other side, he naturally had to make good use of it. Hanzo opened his mouth like a lion. "No. At least ten times the supplies, or there will be no deal!"

Ebizo frowned slightly and retorted, "Hanzo, there is no need to discuss ten times the supplies. Let's continue the war and see how long your Amegakure can hold out."

"At most, three times the supplies. Otherwise, wait for Sunagakure and Konoha to attack you together."

Negotiations required back-and-forth exchanges, probing each other's bottom lines so the outcome would favor one's own side.

After several rounds of bargaining, they finally settled on five times the supplies—around 500 million ryō. Amegakure would hold Konoha back for at least one month. Half would be paid upfront, while the rest would be delivered after Amegakure had stalled Konoha's army for a month.

Once the terms were confirmed, the transaction was quickly completed in secret. However, neither country withdrew its forces, all to confuse Konoha and feed them false intelligence.

Watching Hanzo's departing back, Chiyo asked in confusion, "Why not tell Hanzo about the two clans' plan? Then we would not even need to give them the supplies they sent. We could get supplies for free and make them fight each other!"

Ebizo calmly replied, "Compared to those supplies, the plan to attack Konoha is more important. Besides, those supplies were never ours anyway."

"By the time they finish holding back Konoha, our surprise attack on Konoha will already have succeeded. We can take the supplies back whenever we want!"

Seeing Chiyo's somewhat worried expression, Ebizo reassured her, "Sister, don't worry. This plan will definitely succeed."

"Mm."

But they did not know that although the plan would succeed, Sasori's parents, assigned to the surprise attack force, would encounter their fated opponent—the White Fang of Konoha, Hatake Sakumo—and ultimately die on the spot!