The Reinforcements Are Ready to Enter the Fray / An Akatsuki Member Appears

Upon seeing Uchiha Shingen, the two immediately bowed.

"You've worked hard. How are the Cloud Ninja?"

"It's alright. The medical team said they were able to get here in time, otherwise I wouldn't be able to be a ninja anymore."

"Okay, I'll go in and say a few words to him."

"Okay, please."

Two security guards opened the door to the ward, Uchiha Shingen walked in.

Then I saw Yotsuki Mats lying on the hospital bed, looking utterly hopeless.

Standing to the left of the bed was an Uchiha Clan, and to the right was a Hyuga Clan. Both of Hidden Leaf Village's two Dōjutsu were staring intently at Yotsuki Mats on the bed.

That's truly VIP treatment.

"Yotsuki Mats." Uchiha Shingen walked to the bedside. "Do you still remember me? It's been a long time."

Yotsuki Mats: "???"

Does the Leaf Village 'White Ghost have amnesia? Didn't we just beat him up? And he even killed all his comrades.

"Don't speak, I'm afraid I'll hit you." Uchiha Shingen waved his hand, extinguishing Yotsuki Mats's desire to speak. "I'm here to tell you that the Lord Hokage refuses to meet with you. Once you've recovered from your injuries, we will give you an official document signed by the Lord Hokage. Take the document back with you."

"Leaf Village has agreed to form an alliance with us?" Yotsuki Mats's eyes lit up.

"Haven't I beaten you enough?" Uchiha Shingen said coldly. "Anything can form an alliance with Leaf Village? This document is to tell you that if you want to talk, the Raikage should come himself!"

Chapter Twenty-Four: Foreign Aid Prepares to Enter the Game

Yotsuki Mats's injury healed quite quickly.

This shows that the medical-nin of Hidden Leaf Village are indeed highly skilled.

Although Tsunade developed a mental illness during the Third Shinobi World War and could no longer fight on the battlefield, she continued to perform her duties as Konoha Ninja until she left the village to clear her mind.

She's just been transferred from the front lines to logistics; she's still leading medical teams.

As the ultimate winner of the medical-nin tournament in the post- Senju Hashirama era, her leadership was exceptionally effective. Furthermore, as the granddaughter of the First Hokage, she was originally favored by Sarutobi Hiruzen as the Fourth Hokage.

It's just that fate plays tricks on us.

In the original timeline, after Sarutobi Hiruzen sacrificed himself, Jiraiya refused Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura's invitations and went out to find Tsunade to become Hokage, which proved her status in Leaf Village.

Both Orochimaru and Jiraiya were well aware that although the three of them were later known as the Legendary Sannin, and Tsunade was the last to become Sarutobi Hiruzen's student, the two of them were actually more like the ones who were there to accompany the prince in his studies.

The Senju clan of the Senju of the Forest disbanded, but they did not disappear.

The Senju Clan, once the Hidden Leaf Village. In fact, it's hard to find anyone in Leaf Village who isn't connected to the Senju Clan.

Unless Tsunade has no children and ends this bloodline, the descendants of this line will always have a place in the Hokage Building.

It's kind of funny, but if someone wanted to kick Tsunade out of the circle, the first to jump up and object would probably be the Uchiha Clan.

The ninja clan that most defended Tsunade's legitimacy was actually the Uchiha Clan, who frequently clashed with the Hokage.

In this respect, even Sarutobi Clan wasn't as resolute as the Uchiha Clan.

In this timeline, Leaf Village is in a much better situation than in the original timeline. Internal conflicts are not as intense, and the Uchiha Clan, which has always been the main source of conflict, has now normalized its relationship with the Hokage Building.

But the Legendary Sannin remained unchanged; Jiraiya was still searching for the chosen one, and Tsunade and Orochimaru still left the village.

The rule of the Ninja World is that you only see newcomers laughing, and never old ones crying.

The previous generation of major players have begun to retire from the main stage, while a new generation of players, represented by Namikaze Minato, Uchiha Fugaku, Uchiha Shingen, and Uchiha Shisui, have now taken center stage and become celebrities.

Although these individuals are of different ages and cannot be considered from the same generation, at this time, as representatives of the Leaf Village faction, they were the most famous.

After Yotsuki Mats recovered from his injuries, he had the Konoha Military Police Force take him away from Leaf Village. The only thing he could take with him was the new document issued by Namikaze Minato.

Although his injury was said to have healed, it wasn't completely healed. One of his legs was slightly lame, and the leg that was grazed by the Scorch Release could never return to its original size. Moreover, some tissues had permanently died, and the lack of vitality would limit the amount of Chakra could be released from that leg in the future. For a Jonin, such a sequela was very serious.

But Yotsuki Mats didn't have many complaints about it; personally, he thought it was quite acceptable.

On the contrary, as the only survivor, he believed this was important intelligence and needed to be told to the village in its entirety so that the village could reassess the strength of the Leaf Village's White Ghost.

When the White Ghost of Leaf Village is in the formation, the tactics must be adjusted.

Yotsuki Mats hurriedly returned, and his behavior was observed by many people.

Every day, there are people fighting in the Ninja World, most of whom are intelligence agents from various villages and organizations.

Those who simply take on tasks from civilians are less likely to encounter combat.

The negotiations between Leaf Village and Cloud Village are a major event this year. Everyone knows that once Leaf Village and Cloud Village reach an agreement, the world can enjoy "peace" for quite some time again.

The previous wars between Leaf Village and Cloud Village and Iwagakure can all be seen as a continuation of the Third Shinobi World War.

This time things finally calmed down, and that's when things really calmed down.

We can go back to the happy days of clocking in and out on time.

But not everyone is looking forward to it.

Not all ninja organizations that rose to prominence during the Fourth Ninja World War hoped that the situation would truly stabilize.

Before the First Shinobi World War, ninja organizations were unified into the single form of ninja villages. However, the First Shinobi World War resulted in the destruction of some small ninja villages, and wandering ninjas who lost their organizations began to appear. These people also promoted another way of spreading Ninjutsu.

By the Second Shinobi World War, the number of wandering ninjas and wild ninjas had further expanded, and the underground Bounty Exchange system had gradually matured. Wandering ninjas and wild ninjas could now earn money regularly through missions. This group developed in another way, becoming an important part of the Ninja World, and also began to have the potential to form organizations.

The Third Shinobi World War has finally begun, and the alliances have finally formed.

Ninja organizations, formed by pooling their individual strengths, seemed to spring up overnight.

These organizations vary in combat strength, but they are stronger than the new recruits of the ninja villages. Some powerful organizations are even considered valuable combat forces on the battlefield and are valued by the major ninja villages.

At their peak, they were able to form alliances with ninja villages in small countries.

The most famous of them is Akatsuki from the Land of Rain.

However, excessive fighting power can also be seen as dangerous. The members of the first Akatsuki were basically wiped out by the combined forces of Leaf Village and Rain Village, but Leaf Village and Rain Village also paid a huge price.

Almost all of the Leaf Village ANBU and Root ninjas who participated in the operation were wiped out.

Akatsuki still exists today, but its methods have changed. In the eyes of major powers, the current Akatsuki is much more down-to-earth, no longer making inappropriate calls for peace, but instead undertaking various military hires.

That's right. Everyone's fighting peacefully, and you come out shouting for peace. If we don't target you, who will we target?

If we had done this earlier, there would have been no need for armed conflict.

Just as the five great villages tacitly approved of the existence of underground Bounty Exchange, without the suppression of the major ninja villages, the Akatsuki quickly recovered its strength and grew further.

Correspondingly, Rain Village's voice quickly dropped in pitch.

That demigod has been silent in the Ninja World for a long time.

Yotsuki Mats is on his way to the Land of Waterfalls.

The Kumogakure had considered the possibility of the delegation being blocked by Leaf Village or even being eliminated in a show of force, and of course, it had prepared a backup plan.

At present, it is impossible for Kumogakure to openly incite any of the other three major ninja villages to jointly attack Leaf Village. After several discussions, the comprehensive plan to plunder the Byakugan has been decided to be temporarily shelved. This time, Yotsuki Mats was sent to negotiate, and that was indeed the purpose.

The goal is to give the village time to recover its Tailed Beasts- level combat power.

For this reason, Kumogakure also hired a large number of ninja organizations.

The strongest among them is undoubtedly Akatsuki, which contains Five Kage- level missing-nin. Cloud Village doesn't care about this, since they don't have any missing-nin from Cloud Village.

The Jonin of Kumogakure would never betray you.

With so many beautiful girls in the village and such a harmonious atmosphere, who would betray them?

Following the route outlined in the backup plan, Yotsuki Mats entered the Land of Waterfalls.

This country, which claims to be neutral, is really only in name.

Although they possess Jinchūriki, Takigakure's training capabilities are significantly inferior to those of the Five Great Villages. Furthermore, Takigakure suffered a major setback that severely weakened the village. If they were to disregard the Tailed Beasts, Takigakure's current strength might not be greater than Kusagakure's.

However, it remains neutral in name only, and the Land of Waterfalls has indeed consistently managed to avoid being drawn into battles between major powers.

However, Takigakure turns a blind eye to individual foreign ninjas who infiltrate the country.

Once you enter the Land of Waterfalls, you'll realize just how many waterfalls there are.

Originating in the Land of Earth and flowing through the Land of Grass, the great river begins to form a series of large waterfalls after entering the Land of Land of Waterfalls.

The entrance to Takigakure is hidden behind one of the waterfalls.

Yotsuki Mats avoided any place with waterfalls; he was alone now and didn't want any accidents to happen.

I just want to make contact with people properly.

He wandered through the forest and finally found the mark.

Following the signs, he continued until he heard the unique sound of water splashing from the great waterfall ahead.

He stopped, somewhat displeased.

The Akatsuki has become more down-to-earth now, but their arrogance hasn't disappeared.

However, given that it's an organization with Five Kage- level ninjas, it's understandable that they might act a bit arrogantly.

So, Yotsuki Mats continued on its way.

Chapter Twenty-Five: Members of Akatsuki Appear

Under the sunlight, a torrent rushed down, its roar like thunder. The water crashed into the pool, creating a thunderous sound, and a large cloud of white mist rose as the water burst forth.

On the edge of the cliff, a man dressed in Akatsuki cloak stood there.

He was none other than Kakuzu, whom Uchiha Shingen hailed as the most magnanimous man in the entire Ninja World.

Kakuzu isn't in a good mood right now.

This task interfered with his ability to take on private deals.

The scenery here is actually quite nice. On the sheer cliffs, waterfalls cascade down the cliffs with a thunderous roar. The tiny water droplets that spray out are as fine as dust, spreading in the air and turning into a misty fog, draping the trees in a thin veil.

But Kakuzu didn't feel anything looking at the scenery. If he did feel anything, it was the exhilarating feeling of hacking and slashing people by a waterfall like this back in the day.

That feeling of exhilaration still lingers in his heart to this day.

Why are these Cloud Ninja so slow!?

Kakuzu turned around, and although only his eyes were visible, it was clear to anyone that he was extremely impatient.

Therefore, Yotsuki Mats felt that he should be more polite to this missing-nin.

After all, he knew what kind of person this guy in front of him was.

"You must be Mr. Kakuzu?" he said with a beaming smile. "I'm so sorry, I encountered some trouble on the way and arrived late."

His tone was somewhat humble, but that was alright; after all, he had learned a lesson from this trip.

Without the Five Kage level, one should just lie low and behave oneself in front of them.

That way, they might not suddenly slash at you, and even if they do, they might let you go in the end.

Don't think that just because your village is powerful you can control everything. Wake up! Being killed doesn't contradict having everything under your village's control.

This is also the tragedy of many Jonin.

Before becoming Jonin, I always thought that becoming Jonin meant I could be all high and mighty. But after becoming Jonin, I realized that the game had just begun.

Yotsuki Mats is now a clear-headed person, and he is very proud of it.

"As long as you know the rules, that's fine." Kakuzu carefully examined Yotsuki Mats, his tone relatively mild.

Well, this isn't worth much; it's a real customer.

In that case, Kakuzu didn't hesitate to showcase the service quality he was so proud of.

After all, building a century-old brand is one of his small goals.

"Let's go," Kakuzu said, and started walking away.

His concise and economical use of words is one of the reasons why he is highly regarded in the industry.

Because everyone knows that when he's being a chatterbox, he's capable of killing people.

Yotsuki Mats quickly followed.

However, he didn't dare walk side by side with Kakuzu.