As Qingyun soared freely over the desert, he had no idea how turbulent the shinobi world had recently become.
While Qingyun was absorbing the Dragon Vein, the Third Raikage waited half a month on the front lines before Hiruzen Sarutobi's peace treaty finally arrived. At the same time, he handed over supplies worth one billion ryo to Minato Namikaze in exchange for Killer B.
Having obtained what he wanted, Minato Namikaze did not make things any harder for the Third Raikage. He promptly removed the Eight Trigrams Seal from Killer B. As for whether the Third Raikage would go back on his word once Killer B returned, Minato Namikaze was not worried in the slightest.
The peace treaty had already been signed, and the Third Raikage himself had requested it. If he immediately violated the treaty, he would lose all credibility. Besides, even if the Third Raikage broke his promise, Minato was confident he could capture Killer B again in an instant. He had placed a Flying Thunder God Mark on Killer B—or, more precisely, on the Eight-Tails—and that mark could never be erased.
With that trump card in hand, Minato Namikaze naturally had nothing to worry about.
Just as Minato Namikaze had expected, the Third Raikage broke camp the day after Killer B returned, and Kumogakure's army marched toward the Land of Rice Fields.
Seeing this, Minato Namikaze breathed a sigh of relief. He then ordered the remaining ninja to march toward the Land of Grass, while he quietly set off toward the Land of Whirlpools and the Land of Bears. Before leaving, he had received a message from Qingyun.
He understood Qingyun's intentions. Besides, he also wanted to win over the Uchiha Clan and the Hyuga Clan. Having those two great clans owe him a favor would be