Taking the Stage After You

"Come in."

Tsunade stopped her casual conversation with Jiraiya and called out towards the gate.

Shizune pushed open the door and entered, followed by Hinata Hyūga. Both of them were carrying thick stacks of documents, and their eyes revealed their exhaustion.

"Lady Tsunade, these are the documents I've compiled for you to review today."

In addition, news came from the border that our outpost was attacked by unidentified individuals. No one was left behind, but some vague information pointing to the Uchiha was left behind.

Meanwhile, the border of the Land of Whirlpools was attacked by what appeared to be Konoha Ninja.

Hinata put down the documents and reported to Tsunade in a gentle yet firm tone.

Without Kakashi, Team 7 is not qualified for Sakura Haruno Tsunade, who is just a commoner.

With Naruto now under Jiraiya's wing, Team 8 is short-handed and unable to take on missions. As expected, Hinata as Naruto, received the same treatment as Sasuke Sakura Haruno from the original story.

Despite her lack of natural talent, Hinata used her Byakugan's X-ray vision to become Sakura Haruno's Tsunade in place of Sakura Haruno.

Kiba was introduced by Jiraiya to a reclusive old man named Chen Baojun, who was once known as the strongest Taijutsu ninja in Konoha. He had a special move called Konoha Dragon God could create a tornado, which was very suitable for Kiba Inuzuka Fang Over Fang.

"Is that so... you came pretty quickly."

We should get moving; we can't let the war reach the village.

Inform Nara Shikaku to assemble the two armies of ten thousand men I requested.

Jiraiya, you are leading a large army to the border of the Land of Earth. Ōnoki and Iwagakure are now in your hands.

I'm in charge of the Kumogakure side.

"Hmph, what's the use of resorting to underhanded tricks? I'll send a massive army to their borders, forcing them to lay everything bare and let the battlefield decide the outcome."

After hearing Hinata's report, Tsunade immediately gave the order, and then stood up and put the Hokage hat on her head.

Jiraiya's expression instantly turned serious. "You're going to the battlefield personally?"

This left him no choice but to be nervous. Not to mention that Konoha hadn't had a Hokage on the battlefield for decades during Hiruzen Sarutobi's time in power, his feelings for Tsunade alone made him unwilling to let her Tsunade the battlefield, as he didn't want anything to happen to Tsunade.

"Certainly!

I want them to know—even in its darkest hour, Konoha is not a place anyone can provoke.

Tsunade pushed open the door and walked to the terrace of the Hokage Tower, looking up at the myriad lights of Konoha, her gaze decisive and resolute.

However, after saying it aloud, she inexplicably added silently to herself, "Except for Uchiha Feng."

Jiraiya, who only heard Tsunade's words Jiraiya not her inner thoughts, sighed and then gave her an "I knew it" look:

"Yes, you are Tsunade, of course you can't just suffer in silence."

Shizune and Hinata, standing to the side, looked at Tsunade with shining eyes and faces full of admiration.

In such a turbulent Konoha, it's truly fortunate that the village has welcomed such a valiant and Haki female Hokage as Lady Tsunade.

Meanwhile, in a secluded corner of the Land of Rivers, Kurotsuchi, who had been ordered by Ōnoki to find Deidara, was circling around Deidara with a bright smile.

"Deidara, you've been away from the village for so long, why don't you ever take the time to come back and see me?"

By the way, Onii-chan, is the Akatsuki organization fun?

I heard everyone here is an S-rank missing-nin, but you're not even missing-nin, so how does that count? Or are you just too weak, not even a formal member of Akatsuki...?

The two classmates hadn't seen each other for several years, and the enthusiastic and lively Kurotsuchi started chattering non-stop as soon as they met.

After all, Deidara thought he left Iwagakure for the sake of 'the art of explosion', but in Iwagakure's eyes, he was just a kid going through a rebellious phase and running away from home. He would come back when he had his fill of being wild outside.

Therefore, until Deidara went to Sunagakure to capture Kazekage, the Gaara, Iwagakure did not list him as missing-nin.

In other words, if Deidara were to go back to Iwagakure with Kurotsuchi now and apologize to Ōnoki, he could easily sit in the Tsuchikage Building and play with his ' Leg Kage ' in a couple of years.

"... I have gone back! But the old man won't let me into the village, hmph... one day I'll shove Clay Bomb in his face and see if he still dares to belittle my art... hmm."

However, at this moment, Deidara was having a headache from Kurotsuchi's constant nagging and didn't really want to pay attention to Kurotsuchi.

"!! I am the Blue Dragon of Akatsuki, a high-ranking member of the Akatsuki organization... um."

But he still patiently answered Kurotsuchi's questions in a half-hearted manner.

However, he didn't notice that every time he answered a question from Kurotsuchi, the corners of Kurotsuchi's mouth would involuntarily turn up.

It just goes to show that when you're out in the world, if you're too naive, you'll really get taken advantage of and end up counting the money for the other person.

"Um, Deidara, I have another matter to discuss. Grandpa hopes to obtain a high-difficulty mission from the Akatsuki leadership..."

After a long while, seeing that he had gotten enough of the preamble, Kurotsuchi finally got to the point.

In response, the Blue Dragon of Akatsuki leader, who had been coaxed by his junior sister for a long time, immediately waved his hand and generously took on the task for Akatsuki.

Even in Deidara's eyes, he didn't need his own leader to take action. If he himself and Sasori were to go, no one in Konoha, now that the Uchiha were gone, could stop him from capturing the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.

"Onii-chan, the fundamental purpose of this mission is to incite conflict between Konoha and the Uchiha; capturing the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki is just a side effect."

"And you are the renowned Explosion Ninja of Iwagakure, so this matter cannot be handled by you, otherwise we will not achieve our goal."

Fortunately, Kurotsuchi still has some conscience.

Knowing what kind of person his senior brother was, he could roughly guess what the other party was thinking. In addition, he had also extracted a lot of information from his senior brother, so there was no way he would just watch his senior brother seek his own death.

"This... is really troublesome."

"Alright, I'll report this to the leader later and let him handle it himself."

Upon hearing this, Deidara tilted his head in thought for a moment, then could only helplessly purse his lips.

He was hoping to finally have a chance to let the people of Konoha see his art, but alas...

"Inhale... exhale...!"

Deidara, this is my first time leaving the Land of Earth, and my first time visiting the Land of Rivers. Will you show me around?

Kurotsuchi breathed a sigh of relief, then smiled and put her arm around Deidara's.

This time, the other party listened to her advice and didn't do things his own way. But Deidara has always been crazy and daring. If she doesn't keep a close eye on him, there's no guarantee that he won't suddenly have a whim and think about going to Konoha to show off his art.

While that would cause considerable losses to Konoha, it would also disrupt Iwagakure's plans. She would naturally not allow something that would ruin the overall situation for the sake of momentary pleasure.

Perhaps Feng kept the information about the Uchiha too well hidden, leading outsiders to believe that the Uchiha, and that Uchiha Feng Uchiha the moment.

Thus, Konoha, Kumogakure, Iwagakure, and Akatsuki took turns performing, each believing their own plan was flawless and that they were the ones who would have the last laugh.

So much so that everyone seems to have forgotten that it was the Uchiha who started this grand drama.

And now, the protagonist of the prologue is watching with disdain the clumsy schemes of Konoha, Kumogakure, and others to frame others and spread rumors, secretly laughing to himself.

It can only be said that the people of the Ninja World are second to none in the myriad realms when it comes to wielding the ' Will of the Overlord,' but when it comes to plotting and scheming, they are the worst of the worst.

They don't even know the basics of adapting their approach to different people.

Almost all the ninja clans from Kirigakure were relocated to Merchant Ninja Village by Feng, while Kumogakure is still spreading rumors in Kirigakure about the reopening of the ' Bloody Mist Village '. What's the point?!

As for framing someone, at least the Kumogakure shouldn't send those dark-skinned people from the Land of Lightning to participate;

The situation is even worse in Iwagakure. Leaving aside the fact that they send a few ninjas skilled in Fire Release or Wind Release, almost all of them are skilled in Earth Release, yet they can't find a single one who can carve a dog's head on Earth-Style Wall. What's the meaning of that?

They don't even want to act? Two ninja villages just send some people to change clothes and try to frame someone, is that it?

For Feng, who had read through Five Thousand Years of Chinese Civilization, the Thirty-Six Stratagems, and the Art of War, wasn't that a blatant insult, implying he was brainless?

Originally, he didn't want to get involved, intending to let Konoha, Kumogakure, Iwagakure, and Akatsuki fight each other so he could reap the benefits.

Now, I have to show them what I'm capable of, so that the Ninja World knows how to truly frame someone and spread rumors.