Council Chamber
Hongshi deliberately designed the table to be rectangular, with Choji Akimichi representing Konoha, Temari representing Sunagakure, and Kyōai representing Nuclear Ninja Village sitting on one side, and Ranmaru carving a map of the Land of Rivers in the middle. Sōretsu recounted the events that had occurred in the past few days.
Upon hearing Kyōai's face turned ashen, and the council hall fell silent for a moment.
"Crunch, crunch..." It was Choji's first time attending a meeting like this, and he nervously kept stuffing potato chips into his mouth, making a loud noise in the quiet meeting room.
Temari on the table and yelled, "Hey! Can you stop eating?!"
Choji realized something was wrong, stopped what he was doing, and hid the potato chips under the table. "I'm... I'm sorry."
Kyōai smiled and said, "It's alright, Choji- kun. It's not a particularly formal occasion. Temari, don't be angry. I'm very grateful that your Sunagakure agreed to send reinforcements to us."
After spending a few days with Choji, Kyōai and Choji have become friends, and Choji is not good at expressing himself.
Temari said irritably, "Shouldn't this meeting be chaired by Kairyū?"
"The Fourth Elder is too busy. He's currently patrolling the southern part of the Katabami Gold Mine with Zenhō Hōryūsai to see if Smile still exists."
Sōretsu laughed, "Even if the Fourth Elder comes, he'll just be sleeping. Kyōai is the real person in charge."
Kyōai stopped chatting and, holding a bamboo stick, pointed at the map. "Now, most of the forces south of the Katabami Gold Mine have submitted to our Nuclear Ninja Village. The Fourth Elder will lead the Thirteen Nuclear Guardian Pillars on a month-long patrol to clear out any remaining small groups. Once we've confirmed there are no more worries, we will proceed with our next plan."
Temari was getting impatient. After the Fourth Kazekage was assassinated by Orochimaru, Gaara was appointed as the Fifth Kazekage to prevent the Sunagakure from repeating the tragedy of the Third Shinobi World War. Although his status as Jinchūriki and the renewed alliance with Konoha intimidated the surrounding countries, there were still many trivial matters. The most critical issue was that without the Fourth Kazekage, the Sand Village's economy was declining and it was unable to make ends meet.
The handover was piling up, and the Daimyo of the Land of Wind was also putting pressure on the Sunagakure because of the Golden Sands incident. They were already too busy to take care of themselves, Gaara and the Sand Ninja Village leaders did not initially intend to send reinforcements.
After showcasing Chakra ninja tools and Chakra Firearm Ninja Tools, Zenhō also displayed the design blueprints for Chakra vehicle. The Sand Ninja Village leadership was shocked and immediately agreed, but in order to appease Konoha, they only sent two reinforcements.
For Sunagakure, and even the entire Land of Wind, transportation and water resources are the two biggest problems. With convenient Chakra vehicles, these two problems will be solved very well.
However, this matter is currently classified, and Temari and Kankuro are unaware of it. They are worried about the Sunagakure and are therefore quite resistant.
The entire alliance plan was devised by Kyōai alone, so she naturally knew Temari's concerns. She took off her pink haori and put it aside, saying, " Temari- chan, don't be impatient. Gaara arranged for you to come here for a reason. This reinforcement operation will last for a full two months."
Temari sighed, "Since Gaara has given such specific instructions, what else can I do? Just tell us the action plan; we're just here to assist you."
Kyōai nodded. "What's the situation with the orcs you mentioned earlier, Sōretsu?"
Sōretsu, his eyes still closed, said, "The first beastmen we encountered appeared on Golden Shovel Beach. According to members of the Golden Shovel Organization, only ten men in black disembarked that day. We later encountered them at Purple Gold Mountain. Their true identities were serious criminals from Konoha Ninja Village, and their leader was Chunin, a former Mizuki from Konoha."
Temari scoffed, "Tch, Chunin, how strong can she be?"
Temari is still Genin due to the interruption of the Chunin Ninja Exams, but her strength is already comparable to that of a typical Jonin.
Kyōai shared the same question, "Just because he's Chunin, does that make you so wary?"
Sōretsu Retsu nodded. "That's right. I hadn't tested Mizuki's strength before, but he has now mastered the ability to turn most people into beastmen in a very short time. After becoming beastmen, they lose their true nature. After a simple analysis, Kendon concluded that the essence of the Beast Seal Transformation technique that Mizuki has mastered is a combination of beast transformation and Sage Transformation forcibly triggered by the Cursed Seal."
Kyōai was startled. " Sage Transformation? You mean Orochimaru got involved too?"
Orochimaru!
Temari on the table and stood up, her face contorted with anger. "Damn it, it's him again!"
Sōretsu said calmly, "It's just speculation, it hasn't been confirmed yet. Regardless of whether Orochimaru is involved or not, the situation is not optimistic. After becoming a beastman, both his strength and speed have been greatly enhanced. The longer he stays in that state, the greater the increase will be, up to three times. At the very least, the combat power of our Thirteen Nuclear Guardian Pillars will be greatly limited."
Temari in surprise, "Three times!"
"Oh?" Kyōai raised an eyebrow. "What's going on?"
" Mizuki's Beast Seal Transformation Technique is extremely evil. It first strengthens the target with a certain potion, then forcibly absorbs Natural Energy using Cursed Seal infused with the Reverse-Style Seal. Unless the target can break free of the Cursed Seal on their own, they will simultaneously undergo beast-like and Sage Transformation, and this process will not stop. After the target is killed, the Natural Energy will remain in the air, and our..."
Kyōai understood immediately, raising her left hand to signal Sōretsu to stop talking. "I understand."
Temari: "How did you see him raise his hand? Weren't your eyes closed?"
Sōretsu: "This is also a secret technique from our old home village, the Nuclear Ninja Village."
Choji: "Oh, it's the same Byakugan as Neji's? That's really impressive."
Temari: "(°ー°)..."
"Alright, I understand the rest. Sōretsu, you can go now."
After Sōretsu turned and left, Temari continued, " Kyōai, since this matter is related to Orochimaru, we must request more reinforcements from Sunagakure and Konoha."
The Sunagakure had already listed Orochimaru as its number one wanted person and would not let go of any information related to Orochimaru.
Kyōai shook her head. "No rush. You Sand Ninja and Konoha are just reinforcements. I'll decide how to proceed; you're just cooperating with me."
Temari Kyōai didn't want to ask for help, Temari became anxious. " Orochimaru's matter is no small thing. If it's not handled properly in time, the consequences will be endless. Don't you know about Konoha Crush Plan?"
Kyōai didn't react much to Temari's attitude, remaining as languid as ever, leaning back in her chair. "Most of Orochimaru's main forces have just perished in Konoha, and his stronghold in the Land of Rice Fields has also been destroyed by Konoha. How could he possibly have the energy to cause trouble in the Land of Rivers now? Even if he did get involved, Mizuki would just be a useless pawn."
Temari thought about it and realized it made sense, "So what do you plan to do? Just let it go?"
Kyōai pondered for a moment, "Of course not. I suspect that Mizuki possesses such a highly effective and powerful potion and secret technique, yet he only came to the Land of Rivers instead of using it directly in the populous Land of Fire and Land of Wind. This indicates that the potion has significant limitations, or even fatal flaws, and that he wants to use the Land of Rivers as a breeding ground. We'll know for sure once Kendon's research results are available."
"Are we just going to sit here and wait to die?"
Kyōai Ai chuckled, a glint of light in her eyes. "Hehe, impossible. We are nuclear Nuclear Ninja with the Will of Nuclear. We absolutely cannot let him succeed. Temari, Choji, send your Ninja Hawk back to relay the situation of the beastmen. Tell them to prepare for border defenses. We'll make further plans after the research on Kendon's side has made progress."
"Knew."
Kyōai suddenly remembered something. "Ah, I almost forgot, Kendon had already prepared a gift for you. Let me take you to see it; it's something really amazing."