Sand Village's Plan

After dinner, Su Zheng sat on his bed contemplating his plan.

The fastest way to increase his strength was through the system, but it required a lot of Save Points. He currently only had 2256 points, which was enough to upgrade his Two Tomoe Sharingan, but it wasn't necessary.

He had felt it during his training these past few days; his pupil power was on the verge of breaking through. He had a rough guess about the Save Points. Bringing Konan and Haruna home directly gave him 2000 points, so it was likely 1000 points per person saved, and it would probably increase later.

So, he wouldn't rush to spend them. What if he encountered something good later!

Nagato, Yahiko, Kyuusuke, Daibutsu...

The next day, it was raining heavily, and the view outside the window was a hazy gray.

Su Zheng woke up punctually at 5:30 AM. He had time to make breakfast by 7:30 AM, giving him two hours for training.

He entered the training ground. The training ground hadn't been upgraded yet, only featuring a circular area with a radius of about 30 meters. Beyond that was a boundary wall, through which the entire training ground could be vaguely seen. He also noticed something: the environment within the training ground was the same as his current surroundings, a misty morning rain.

It was quite good to be able to experience the "weather mode" even before the full upgrade. The current area was sufficient!

Earth Style: Earth Dragon Burrowing Technique!

This technique allowed the user to turn the surrounding earth into fine sand, enabling them to burrow through the ground. While underground, the user could sense direction through magnetic fields.

Su Zheng performed hand seals and burrowed into the rock. The surrounding stones turned into fine sand. Su Zheng felt the pressure as he moved slowly until he hit the boundary wall. It seemed he couldn't go further without an upgrade.

He wasn't discouraged and continued practicing. This technique was very useful, especially in environments like the Land of Rain. Combined with heavy rain, it was perfect for the battlefield.

Su Zheng emerged from the ground and tried a new technique he had researched: Water Style: Rain Tiger Hunter Technique!

The rain inside the training ground intensified, pouring down and pattering on the ground. This technique was very similar to Pain's "Rain Tiger Hunting Technique," but it was even more powerful!

Heavy rainfall was a natural phenomenon, especially in the Land of Rain. The falling raindrops formed a rain curtain that could obscure vision, sound, and senses. Enemy genjutsu, and even some summoning techniques used to locate people, would be useless. Su Zheng, however, could control everything within the rain curtain, and even combining it with genjutsu would enhance its effect. It could definitely be called an "unbreakable" ninjutsu!

Thinking of the Uchiha's dojutsu, which he had coveted for a long time, this technique was specifically designed against them!

However, this technique had a drawback: it consumed a lot of chakra. He would have to train slowly to overcome this.

After breakfast, the rain was still falling with no signs of stopping, which was common in the Land of Rain. Su Zheng didn't mind and trained in the yard. As for Shota and the other two, he decided not to witness their public displays of affection.

Konan could now fold all sorts of shapes; she truly had a talent for origami. Haruna still preferred reading, especially books on civil economy. She could even get through such dry material.

Moreover, the world of Naruto was an extremely peculiar one. If you said its productivity level was low, it had energy cannons. If you said its productivity level was high, you never saw large machinery, only manual labor, which was very strange!

In the Sand Village, within a courtyard.

A red-haired child chased a ball, occasionally letting out happy laughter.

"Ikuko, the Kazekage has decided that the 'Surprise Attack on Konoha' plan will proceed as usual," a sturdy man said.

"Really? But Sasori is still so young. If we leave, I'm worried about him..." Taniyuki said with some distress.

"Ikuko, trust me, this plan will be successful. Under the leadership of the Third Kazekage, our Sand Village will surely become the number one village!"

Chiyojuro stepped forward, put his arm around his wife, and comforted her, "We only need this one success. After that, we will never leave Sasori and will watch him grow up!"

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

"Mhm."

These two were none other than Sasori's parents.

Amegakure Battlefield.

Hanzo frowned as he looked at Chiyo and Ebizo. The shinobi who had been poisoned by Hanzo and declared dead had reappeared, and in greater numbers.

Ebizo stepped forward and said, "Hanzo, stop fighting. Continuing this war benefits neither of us. Why don't we sit down and negotiate?"

Hanzo was somewhat exasperated. "You killed so many of our people, and now you want to negotiate? Fine! Then surrender quickly, and the war will end immediately!"

"Old man Hanzo, do you still have the arrogance to back that up? Your poison..." Chiyo angrily joined the fray.

"Alright, sister!" Ebizo pulled Chiyo back and said sternly to Hanzo, "Hanzo, you don't know this yet! We've already deciphered your poison. Your poison will no longer have any effect. Negotiating now is giving you a shred of dignity. Otherwise, when our strongest Kazekage – the Third – arrives, you'll be finished!"

As expected of the Sand Village's strategist, he broke the deadlock in a few words, hitting Hanzo's weak spot.

At this time, the Sand Village was indeed at its strongest. With the Third Kazekage, known as the strongest, Kawano, and his two trusted aides, Chiyo and Ebizo, Sasori's parents in their prime, and a young Jinchuriki of the One-Tailed Beast – Bunpuku, this was truly the Sand Village's strongest period, surpassing even the Gaara era.

As for Hanzo being revered as a "Demigod," it was merely the worship of historical figures by the little book. How could he contend with the Sand Village and the Leaf Village at this time?

Hanzo's face darkened as he attempted a final struggle. During the negotiations, small units were still dispatched, attempting to gain some initiative.

Thus, with fighting and talking, the negotiations between the two sides were finally completed!

The Sand Village withdrew from the Land of Rain, and both sides ceased hostilities.

Several days later, a secret transaction took place.

Inside a large tent, Hanzo looked arrogant, not understanding what else there was to discuss. Ebizo didn't mind; this matter absolutely had to be completed, and he had leverage that Hanzo couldn't refuse!

"Ahem!" Ebizo cleared his throat and got straight to the point, "Hanzo, we have a transaction. Are you interested?"

"Oh! What kind of transaction?" Hanzo asked, confused.

Ebizo smiled, "I'm sure you know that the Leaf Village is preparing to deploy troops against Amegakure. We just need you to hold back the Leaf's forces."

Hanzo was somewhat angered, "Are you treating us, Amegakure, as pawns?"

"Don't worry, don't worry. We won't let you suffer any losses. We are willing to provide you with double the supplies, how about it?" Ebizo probed.

"Double the supplies, about 200 million Ryo. That's not a small sum, but just to stall the Leaf Village? They must have ulterior motives!"

Hanzo pondered deeply, while Ebizo didn't rush him, letting him think.

"Logically, if the Leaf Village attacks the Land of Rain, we would counterattack. For the Sand Village to want us to stall for more time, it means they're definitely going to take action against the Leaf Village!"

It had to be said, Hanzo was truly cunning; his guess was already close to the truth.

With conditions to control the other party, it was natural to make good use of them. Hanzo opened his mouth wide and demanded, "No, at least ten times the supplies. Otherwise, we're not discussing it!"

Ebizo frowned slightly and retorted, "Hanzo, ten times the supplies is a non-starter. Let's continue the war and see how long your Amegakure can hold out."

"At most three times the supplies, otherwise, prepare to be attacked by both the Sand Village and the Leaf Village."

Negotiations were meant to be a back-and-forth, probing each other's bottom lines to achieve favorable outcomes.

After much back and forth, it was finally settled at five times the supplies (approximately 500 million Ryo), to stall the Leaf Village for at least a month. Half would be paid upfront, and the rest would be paid after Amegakure had held off the Leaf Village's army for a month.

Once the terms were confirmed, the transaction was quickly and secretly completed. However, neither country withdrew their troops; this was all to mislead the Leaf Village and cause them to make incorrect intelligence assessments.

Watching Hanzo's departing back, Chiyo asked, confused, "Why didn't we tell Hanzo about the plans of the two great clans? That way, we wouldn't even have to give them the supplies they sent, and we'd get the supplies for free while making them fight each other!"

Ebizo calmly replied, "Compared to those supplies, the plan to attack the Leaf Village is more important. Besides, those supplies aren't ours anyway."

"By the time they've finished blocking the Leaf Village, our surprise attack on the Leaf Village will have already succeeded, and we can retrieve the supplies anytime!"

Seeing Chiyo's somewhat worried expression, Ebizo comforted her, "Sister, don't worry. This plan is bound to succeed."

"Mm."

However, they didn't know that while the plan succeeded, Sasori's parents, who were part of the surprise attack unit, encountered their fated opponents, the Leaf's White Fang – Sakumo Hatake, and ultimately met their demise on the spot!