New Waterfall Kage

The Waterfall Ninja were so weak.

That was what Tsunade and Oguri Hayashi thought at the same time.

They really were weak. They were clearly Jonin, and their Chakra reserves far surpassed Oguri Hayashi's, yet they had still been kicked away with a single blow.

They seemed to possess a ninja's instincts and assumed that, with his child's build, Oguri Hayashi was probably only skilled in ninjutsu. But they did not know he was a Nintaijutsu-style ninja, so they were crushed in a single strike.

Yet their feeble close-combat abilities were still one of their original sins.

If Oguri Hayashi could not be used as a comparison because he possessed a martial arts holy ground like [My Style Secret Technique], then Tsunade, a Jonin with near-Kage strength, had grabbed two Jonin by the necks and slammed them to the ground in an instant. This group of Waterfall Ninja Jonin was utterly hopeless at taijutsu.

"Can you listen to me properly now?" Oguri Hayashi asked coldly, sounding somewhat helpless.

In the ninja world, strength was supreme. There were plenty like these Waterfall Ninja, who attacked the moment they disagreed with someone. That was why Oguri Hayashi had never considered anything else before becoming stronger himself.

In the ninja world, human lives were cheap as grass. People like Zabuza, who killed his own classmates, were rare, but ninja who did not regard Genin or ordinary people as human were everywhere. Without strength, if they killed you casually, then they killed you. They called it getting what you deserved.

If Oguri Hayashi had not brought Tsunade with him this time, the Waterfall Ninja would definitely have attacked him at once.

A ninja like him bore no identification. If he was killed, then he was killed. On the battlefields of the ninja world, no one knew how many people had died meaningless deaths like that.

Still, Oguri Hayashi could only feel helpless toward fools like these Waterfall Ninja, who had seen his ninjutsu and still dared to charge him.

When the Third Hokage, Orochimaru, and Jiraiya rushed him, it was because they had absolute confidence in their own strength and believed they could defeat Oguri Hayashi.

But these people...

Did they have that kind of confidence too?

After receiving Oguri Hayashi's lesson in reality, the Waterfall Ninja finally snapped out of their inexplicable confidence and stared at him blankly.

Was the gap between them really so great? Was the difference between a small ninja village and a major ninja village really that enormous?

The answer was yes.

Leaving aside everything else, just possessing a powerful secret technique gave one a chance to turn the tables. Sasuke had repeatedly used secret techniques to kill enemies stronger than himself.

Someone like Tsunade, who excelled equally in Medical Ninjutsu and taijutsu, needed no further mention. Konoha's Medical Ninja were famous throughout the world. The Medical Ninja trained by Tsunade knew several more ninjutsu and several more medicines than the Medical Ninja of other villages.

That was just how great the gap was.

Tsunade released the two Jonin and stepped back a few paces. "I am not with this guy. I told you not to come looking for me."

She truly wanted to see what kind of ninjutsu Oguri Hayashi would bring out against seven Jonin. She already knew he had the Lightning Release Body Cultivation Technique, powerful taijutsu, and the Tsuchikage's Heavier Rock Technique and Light-Weight Rock Technique. The more she knew, the easier it would be to defeat Oguri Hayashi in the future.

Battles between ninja were battles of intelligence. The intelligence Jiraiya had exchanged his life for played an outstanding role later on and was also the key to Naruto defeating Pain. Of course, there was also the cheat.

But Oguri Hayashi's taijutsu seemed to have intimidated them, leaving them unwilling to act rashly for the moment.

"Who are you? What is your purpose?" they shouted.

The Waterfall Ninja leader, a man with thick brows and large eyes, spoke up.

"Your strength is completely unworthy of the title of Kage. Step down," Oguri Hayashi said, looking at him with pity in his eyes.

"What?" The people opposite him seemed not to have heard clearly, or perhaps they had never expected Oguri Hayashi to dare say such a thing.

"Your strength is wholly insufficient. Your combat ability and battle experience are also very poor. While I can understand you, if I become the Waterfall Kage, you will develop far better." Oguri Hayashi's idea was actually very simple.

He wanted a place where he could cultivate steadily.

And he needed money.

He also needed subordinates he could command and control, people who would obey his orders and serve as his eyes and ears.

Taking over a ninja village was a good choice, then.

Amegakure was the great vortex of the entire ninja world. If he went there, he would probably have no time to cultivate at all, and Hanzo or Pain would order him around on missions everywhere.

The Mist Ninja were no good either. After the Third Mizukage died, the Mist Ninja had remained in turmoil. With Uchiha Madara and Pain stirring things up as well, the Bloody Mist Village was no joke.

The Land of Rivers lay between the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind, right in the middle of the battlefield. Going there would be especially unwise.

After counting them all, only the Land of Waterfalls remained—the one country that had never been invaded from beginning to end.

"If I remember correctly, your village's genius ninja, Kakuzu, killed nearly all the strong people in your village, didn't he?" Oguri Hayashi only vaguely remembered that Kakuzu had killed many people in Takigakure, but that one sentence changed every one of their expressions.

Do not let all those fanfics mocking Kakuzu for throwing a kunai from eight hundred miles away and drawing with the First Hokage fool you. In an actual fight, he was someone whom Kakashi with the Sharingan and Naruto with Wind Release: Rasenshuriken had needed to suppress and defeat. At that time, Naruto had already been someone who could match Sasuke, who had killed Orochimaru, blow for blow.

In other words, Kakuzu was at least Kage-level. Even if he was not Kage-level, five experienced Jonin who had lived for two or three hundred years were absolutely troublesome opponents.

It would not be strange at all if Kakuzu had wiped out every Jonin in Takigakure in one go. No wonder Takigakure had so few Jonin, and even their Kage was only at Jonin level.

It was said that Kakuzu had also taken away all of Takigakure's secret manuals, which was why their skills were so mediocre.

But if Oguri Hayashi became the Waterfall Kage, everything would be different.

"I am a Konoha rogue ninja, yet I kidnapped Princess Tsunade and am still standing here unharmed. That proves my strength."

Oguri Hayashi raised the banner of Konoha and Tsunade, pointing at her as he spoke.

Tsunade snorted coldly but said nothing. She was still gathering intelligence on Oguri Hayashi.

"If I become the Waterfall Kage, Konoha will be at ease. I will be tied down by Takigakure." He had already realized this, but it was inevitable. He could not wage a guerrilla war against Konoha; he had to settle down and cultivate in peace.

"Besides, I possess quite a few secret techniques that do not belong to Konoha. I can teach them to you, if you are willing to obey my orders and complete the missions I assign."

Intimidate them with power.

Entice them with profit.

Move them with emotion.

Oguri Hayashi's words greatly tempted the Waterfall Ninja, and in the end, everyone's gaze gathered on the Waterfall Kage.

"Are you truly Lady Tsunade of Konoha?" the Waterfall Kage asked instead, turning to Tsunade.

"Yes," Tsunade answered decisively.

"Then is what he said true?"

"Half true, half false. But this guy probably does not bear you any ill will."

"Otherwise, your corpses would already be strewn everywhere."

"Then..." The Waterfall Kage gritted his teeth, removed the forehead protector from his brow, and held it out with both hands as he approached Oguri Hayashi. "I know that I lack both talent and virtue, so please take the position of Waterfall Kage!"