The Jinchuriki Are Having a Hard Time / Uchiha Madara Reminisces About Old Friends

Having made up his mind, Uchiha Shingen decisively switched back to "gentle breeze" mode.

"Kaguya, how about considering becoming a part of Leaf Village? To be honest, there's probably no better city than Leaf Village right now."

"Is that so?" Kaguya Otsutsuki had indeed considered this question.

She compared the two places and realized that it was indeed much more comfortable than where she used to live.

So she thought it was worth considering.

As the master of the world, it would indeed be inappropriate to have eyes only for White Zetsu.

Even back then, Kaguya Otsutsuki didn't actually hang everyone on the tree. After all... it's better to expect the main family members to distribute Devil Fruits to everyone than to expect White Zetsu to serve people.

White Zetsu, as a mass-produced, consumable weapon, has its value, but it is completely useless as a servant.

It's true that the Ōtsutsuki Clan only cares about Chakra, but Kaguya Otsutsuki Ōtsutsuki Clan also a modern woman with high standards for life.

"Being the protector of this city isn't out of the question," Kaguya Otsutsuki nodded after considering it, "But you must offer tribute to me first."

Before Uchiha Shingen could speak, she pointed to his Uchiha Shingen hat and said, "This is the leader's insignia, isn't it? Get me one too."

Then she added, "According to the rules, as I protect this city, my status must be equal to that of the chief."

Chapter Thirty-Two: The Jinchūriki Who Have It Hard

As a Hokage with a broad mind and a willingness to accept advice, Uchiha Shingen naturally agreed to all of Kaguya Otsutsuki's requests.

After all, none of it matters.

Offering tribute? Kaguya Otsutsuki has been in Leaf Village for so long, when has she ever paid for anything while shopping? It was always Hyuga Clan who paid.

So much so that she has become a god in the eyes of businessmen.

After all... whenever Kaguya Otsutsuki spirits, she always leaves with a full load.

As for the Shadow Hat, the Konoha Ninja aren't blind. Kaguya Otsutsuki has made such a big fuss; a mere title would suffice for a symbolic meeting.

Ninjas are always magnanimous when it comes to titles; after all, the Ninja World is a place where strong individuals abound, and correspondingly, it also produces many oddballs.

People who are quirky aren't necessarily strong, but strong people always have quirks.

Therefore, people are very tolerant of the hobbies of the strong, no matter how strange they may be. In fact, it would be contrary to the ninjas' values if someone was clearly very strong but didn't have this hobby.

Kaguya Otsutsuki, who is only concerned with pomp and titles, is practically a rare normal person.

Yes, although Kaguya Otsutsuki is portrayed as a boss, in terms of quirks, she doesn't even rank among the top in the neurotic Ninja World.

Having reached a pleasant agreement, Uchiha Shingen and Kaguya Otsutsuki embarked on their journey back to the village.

Uchiha Shingen began to consider the next steps he should take.

Kaguya Otsutsuki, on the other hand, was reliving the pleasure of absorbing the Ten-Tails 'Chakra.

Oh right, and there's Black Zetsu, who's incredibly persistent in trying to get Uchiha Shingen to side with his mother.

Although none of the three of them were thinking about the battle they had just fought, the fighting had already begun to spread beyond the Leaf Great Forest on their way back to the city.

As the most watched ninja village at present, Leaf Village is the focus of everyone's attention.

The major ninja villages were naturally the main force.

As the Fourth Tsuchikage of Iwagakure, Deidara was not lucky.

At least, he personally felt that he might be at odds with Leaf Village.

From the first time he stepped onto the battlefield as a child, he was bullied by freaks from Leaf Village.

Even now, as the Tsuchikage, he's still no exception.

In the Tsuchikage's office, Deidara looked at the latest intelligence sent back by the ANBU and remained silent.

He had no doubt that the village's intelligence personnel would fabricate information.

But he suspected that the village's intelligence personnel might not have very good eyesight.

How could there be anyone stronger than Uchiha Shingen in this world?

Yes, the key point is to highlight the attribute of "living person".

"Deidara." The office door was pushed open, Kurotsuchi walked in.

The little bear from back then has grown into a beautiful young woman.

The graceful movement of her legs has already begun to reveal its potential.

Her grandfather and father both died at the hands of Uchiha Shingen, which was a huge blow to her. After all, she and Deidara had both been taken care of by each other's wives, so emotionally, it wasn't easy for her.

But Kurotsuchi was already an excellent ninja, so she wouldn't show it on her face.

Unless it's when he's alone with Deidara.

"What?" Deidara put down the intelligence file.

He's an adult now, and the Tsuchikage at that; he's better at controlling his emotions than Kurotsuchi.

"Uchiha Madara is about to leave."

"Oh?" Deidara's eyes lit up.

Is that plague god finally leaving?

Previously, Uchiha Madara openly appeared at the gate of Iwagakure with Nagato of Rain Village.

To be honest, this is a bit stimulating for the Rock Ninja who are still suffering from Leaf Village phobia.

But if you don't open the door, it'll definitely be more exciting.

The story of Hashirama Senju, the God of Shinobi, and Madara Uchiha, the Shura of Konoha, is a bestseller throughout the ninja world.

Many storybooks are based on these two characters.

In terms of general character design, Uchiha Madara Senju Hashirama basically kind and approachable, while Madara Uchiha is irritable and ruthless.

The kindness and restraint of the God of Shinobi were already witnessed by the Rock Ninja during the Fourth Shinobi World War.

No one wants to experience the rage and ferocity of Leaf Village Asura.

Didn't he say anything?

"He said the time is right." Kurotsuchi lowered her voice, "Deidara, do we really want to cooperate with him?"

When you're under someone's roof, you have to bow your head, sister!

Deidara thought to himself, but said aloud, "There's nothing I can do; I can't afford to offend them."

Kurotsuchi understood immediately.

She always understood.

After all, she was the one who first encountered Uchiha Madara.

That was terrifying.

Go to Leaf Village to complain? Forget it, that would give Uchiha Madara into Iwagakure seven times over.

If we also include Nagato Rain Village, Iwagakure might just follow in the footsteps of Kumogakure.

"What about the Jinchūriki?" Kurotsuchi asked again.

Uchiha Madara to Iwagakure were simple: first, to find a place to stay and continue training Nagato; and second, to obtain the Tailed Beasts.

For ninjas in the post -Senju Hashirama era, capturing Tailed Beasts was achieved through Jinchūriki or special ninja tools, but this limitation did not exist for Uchiha Madara.

This is similar to when Senju Hashirama went to capture the Nine-Tails and the other Tailed Beasts besides the One-Tail.

Uchiha Madara used his eyes to walk his dog, while Senju Hashirama used Wood Release as a ninja tool.

"Hopefully they won't be found." Deidara was at a loss; Iwagakure was too weak right now.

Uchiha Madara is too strong.

Most importantly, the two Jinchūriki, Murasaki and Han, had left home a long time ago, and Iwagakure had never intended to bring them back.

All that is known is that the two have always been within the Land of Earth, and since Iwagakure has not classified them as missing-nin, on the surface, Iwagakure is still a ninja village that possesses Tailed Beasts.

But that's only what's out in the open...

"Let's leave this matter for now. Luckily, they came at night, so we can keep the good news under wraps." Deidara felt a headache coming on just thinking about it. He rubbed his temples. "With our teacher gone, all sorts of problems in the village have surfaced. Right now, we can only focus on making sure nothing happens to the village. As for the feud between Leaf Village Asura and Leaf Village, let them handle it themselves. We'll just pretend we never saw this guy."

"What about that monk?" Kurotsuchi asked, voicing her concern. "That guy invaded the village and even met Uchiha Madara. If Leaf Village finds out from him..."

"Oh, so you probably already know." Deidara handed the document to Kurotsuchi for her to see. "That monk died in Leaf Village."

Kurotsuchi quickly took the document and began to read it.

Her eyes gradually widened.

"That monk, is he that strong?"

"They're all dead now, so their strength doesn't matter anymore." Deidara waved his hand. "Leaf Village has gained another powerful ninja, and from the Hyuga Clan no less. Uchiha Shingen's Hokage is now secure."

"Oh yeah..." Kurotsuchi put the file back on the table, looked at Deidara, and felt that she could somewhat understand her senior's annoyance.

As a newly appointed Kage, Deidara seemed to be sitting on a lump of Explosive Clay.

This analogy might not be the best, since Deidara really likes to Explosive Clay.

"Let the Jinchūriki fend for themselves." Deidara picked up the Tsuchikage and put it on his head. "We just need to focus on managing the village and the Land of Earth. This Ninja World is temporarily none of our business. Let's go, we'll go together."

Where to?

"Where else can we go? Of course, we should send that Leaf Village Asura away as quickly as possible."

Chapter Thirty-Three: Uchiha Madara Remembering His Deceased Friends

The higher-ups of Iwagakure were practically crying with anticipation for Uchiha Madara's departure.

It's really not entirely their fault for being unhospitable.

Following the Fourth Shinobi World War, given the Land of Earth's dire financial situation, Iwagakure became the first ninja village to implement military downsizing.

Moreover, the layoffs began even before the war had officially ended.

After the reduction of its forces, the Rock Ninja army was less than half the size it was before the war, but it also revitalized the village.

A large number of Genin were transformed from war units into production units, and some who were unwilling to accept this reality even left Iwagakure to become wandering ninjas.

This is different from betrayal and missing-nin; it's more like resigning.

However, this is not a problem for Iwagakure. As everyone knows, the so-called military downsizing is about retaining the elite while reducing the general fighting force.

For ninja corps, Chunin are the elite, Jonin are the commanders and the main fighting force, so those who are cut are Genin. This rule applies to all ninja villages.

Chunin and Jonin wanting to resign is just wishful thinking, but Genin wanting to resign isn't a big problem, although the ninja village doesn't encourage such behavior.

However, after Deidara, as the Tsuchikage, presented the Land of Earth's financial assessment report for this year to the Iwagakure Jonin Iwagakure, everyone felt that, considering the special circumstances, having an additional batch of temporary workers operating in the Land of Earth would be a good idea.

Seriously, we can't afford to support people anymore.

They can't even offer a base salary anymore.

Since that's the case, let's part ways amicably.

Conservative estimates suggest that several thousand former Rock Ninja have left the Iwagakure's ranks and become wandering ninja.

It was under these circumstances that Iwagakure welcomed Uchiha Madara's "visit".

In that instant, the high-ranking officials of Iwagakure, including Deidara, were dumbfounded.

When elitist policies are applied to certain groups of people, they can have another effect – they can be taken away in a pack.

After all, completely annihilating a ninja village is actually very difficult.

To eliminate such an organization, one must possess the capability to deliver a major blow to its elite class in a single instance, thus destroying its organizational strength.

Uchiha Madara and Iwagakure perfectly match the aforementioned opponent positions.

So Iwagakure didn't dare refuse Uchiha Madara, and let him enjoy himself in the village for a while.

Meanwhile, the high-ranking officials, led by Deidara, truly realized that serving an Uchiha Clan was no easy task.

Deidara even felt that during this period, Uchiha Madara was the Tsuchikage.

It was under his guidance that the Iwagakure ANBU successfully blocked the news and even captured some Leaf Village spies.