Takigakure's New Leader

The Waterfall Ninja were so weak.

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

They were truly weak. They were clearly Jonin, and their Chakra reserves were far beyond 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 body, Oguri Hayashi was probably only skilled in ninjutsu. But they did not know that he was a Nintaijutsu-style ninja, so they were crushed in one strike.

Yet their feeble close-combat ability was still one of their fatal flaws.

If Oguri Hayashi was impossible to compare to because he possessed a martial arts holy ground like [My Style Secret Technique], then Tsunade, a Jonin with near-Kage-level strength, had grabbed two Jonin by the necks and slammed them to the ground in an instant. The taijutsu of these Waterfall Ninja Jonin was simply unbearable to watch.

"Now, can you listen to me properly?" Oguri Hayashi asked helplessly, his voice cold.

In the ninja world, strength reigned supreme. There were plenty like these Waterfall Ninja who attacked at the slightest disagreement, so before Oguri Hayashi had grown stronger, he had never considered anything else.

Human lives were as cheap as grass in the ninja world. People like Zabuza, who killed his own classmates, were rare, but there were countless ninjas who did not regard Genin or ordinary people as human. Without strength, being casually killed was simply called getting what one deserved.

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

A ninja like him bore no identifying marks. If he was killed, then he was killed. On the ninja battlefield, no one knew how many people had died such meaningless deaths.

Still, Oguri Hayashi found it quite helpless that fools like these Waterfall Ninja had dared to charge him even after seeing the ninjutsu on him.

The Third Hokage, Orochimaru, and Jiraiya had charged in because they possessed absolute confidence in their own strength and believed they could defeat Oguri Hayashi.

But these people...

Could they possibly 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 that great? Was the difference between small ninja villages and major ninja villages really so enormous?

The truth was, it was.

Leaving everything else aside, merely possessing a high-damage secret technique gave one a chance to turn the tables. Sasuke had repeatedly used secret techniques to kill enemies stronger than himself as an example.

Tsunade, someone who placed equal emphasis on Medical Ninjutsu and taijutsu, needed no further mention. Konoha's Medical Ninja were renowned throughout the world. The Medical Ninja trained by Tsunade simply knew several more ninjutsu and had studied several more medicines than the Medical Ninja of other villages.

That was how great the gap was.

Tsunade released the two Jonin and retreated several steps. "I am not with this guy. I told you already, don't come looking for me."

She very much wanted to see what kind of ninjutsu Oguri Hayashi would use against seven Jonin. She already knew that he possessed the Lightning Release Body Cultivation Technique, powerful taijutsu, as well as the Tsuchikage's Heavier Rock Technique and Light-Weight Rock Technique. The more she learned, the easier it would be to defeat Oguri Hayashi in the future.

Battles between ninjas were intelligence wars. The information Jiraiya had exchanged his life for had played an outstanding role later on and was also the key to Naruto defeating Pain. (Of course, there was also cheating.)

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

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

The Waterfall Ninja with thick brows and large eyes, who stood at the front, spoke up.

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

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

"Your strength is utterly insufficient, and your combat ability and experience are both terrible. I can understand your situation, but if I become the leader of Takigakure, you will have better prospects." Oguri Hayashi's thoughts were actually very simple.

He wanted a place where he could cultivate steadily.

And he needed money.

He also needed subordinates who would accept his orders, serve at his command, obey his instructions, and become his eyes and ears.

Then taking over a ninja village was a good choice.

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 would have to run missions everywhere at Hanzo's or Pain's command.

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 center of the battlefield. Going there would be especially unwise.

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

"If I remember correctly, Kakuzu, your village's genius ninja, 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 everyone's expression.

Many fanfictions mocked Kakuzu for throwing a kunai from eight hundred miles away and fighting the First Hokage to a draw, but in an actual fight, he was someone whom Kakashi with the Sharingan and Naruto with Wind Release: Rasenshuriken had needed to suppress and defeat. By then, Naruto had already been able to fight Sasuke, who had killed Orochimaru, to a draw.

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 have been strange at all if Kakuzu had wiped out every Jonin in Takigakure at once. No wonder Takigakure had so few Jonin, and even its Kage was only at Jonin level.

It was said that Kakuzu had even taken away all of Takigakure's secret texts, which was why their abilities were so mediocre.

But if Oguri Hayashi became Takigakure's leader, everything would be different.

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

Oguri Hayashi raised Konoha's and Tsunade's banners as he spoke, pointing at Tsunade.

Tsunade snorted coldly but said nothing. She was still gathering information about Oguri Hayashi.

"If I become Takigakure's leader, Konoha will be at ease, because I will be tied down by Takigakure." He had already realized this, but it was inevitable. He could not wage guerrilla warfare against Konoha; he had to settle down and cultivate in peace.

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

Intimidate them with power.

Tempt 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 Takigakure's leader.

"Are you really Lady Tsunade of Konoha?" Takigakure's leader instead turned to Tsunade and asked.

"Yes," Tsunade answered decisively.

"Then is what he said true?"

"Half true, half false, I suppose. But this guy probably does not mean you any harm."

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

"Then..." Takigakure's leader gritted his teeth, removed the forehead protector from his brow, and held it out with both hands as he walked before Oguri Hayashi. "I know that I lack both talent and virtue, so please take up the position of Takigakure's leader!"