Chapter 195: Konoha Is Great, but It’s Not Ours

In Orochimaru’s research base. A monkey let out a shrill scream, and then its flesh and fur began to mutate and grow. In an instant, it had grown from its original state into a monster with both animal and plant characteristics. Orochimaru couldn’t suppress it and directly contained it and threw it outside. The next moment, another large tree appeared in the jungle. Orochimaru sighed softly. Still not working! He frowned. "Where did the problem lie?" "Orochimaru-sama, could it be that, um, the monkey’s chakra can’t cooperate with ours, which is why it quickly goes out of control? If we used a human, it might be different," Kazuma said in a low voice. Orochimaru shot him a cold glance. "Use a human? You want to go up?" "Uh..." Kazuma was stunned for a moment, then immediately lowered his head. "It was this subordinate’s slip of the tongue." "If I could use humans, I would have done so long ago. However, the more stable it is in monkeys, the more stable it will be in humans. This is also a good thing..." Orochimaru pondered for a moment. "Perhaps I need to change the type of flesh." Using Hashirama’s cells as the core for further development still required rather harsh conditions. Sealing jutsu, curse marks, and the suppression of flesh and chakra were all needed to utilize this power, and this was even with the weakened Hashirama cells from Kyohiko. If it were the original version, it would be completely unusable. "Kurokawa?" Orochimaru considered the feasibility of that type of flesh. The Sage Body. This was Kyohiko’s name for it. But compared to a true Sage Body, Kurokawa’s had uncontrollable and corrosive symptoms, which also presented certain difficulties and required certain experiments. "Looking at it this way, I don’t have enough test subjects," Orochimaru muttered to himself. Perhaps... I need to develop more types of test subjects. Relying on just these few, it might not be long before the monkey and ape populations raised in the forest need to recuperate. Orochimaru was pondering this when a chakra fluctuation came from the air. The uninvited guest was here again! He sighed softly. "Let’s raise the monkeys well for now. The experiment is paused. We’ll talk again after I’ve figured out the theory." "Yes, Orochimaru-sama!" Kazuma bowed his head respectfully. Initially, he had been quite resistant to Orochimaru, but after this period as an assistant, he felt that by following Orochimaru, he seemed to have found a new meaning. Researching the mysteries of ninjutsu, developing various novel ninjutsu, learning all kinds of new knowledge. Of course, there was one thing that wasn’t so good. He had no freedom and could basically only move within this forest. Orochimaru walked out of the cave. "What is it?" "There’s a situation. Do you know the list of Danzo’s old Root members? The batch that the old man controls," Kyohiko asked. Orochimaru pondered for a moment. "I have a part of it. You want to deal with the old man?" "Yes." Kyohiko nodded lightly. Orochimaru was first surprised, then thought deeply, but in the end, still couldn’t figure it out. "Why? He has no power now. Normally, even if he has a portion of ninjas, it won’t be able to affect your plans." How many people were in the Root organization? Even if Danzo kept a portion outside, the number was small, and without the financial support of Konoha and the capital, Sarutobi Hiruzen’s batch of ninjas couldn’t amount to much. He was very curious... what had angered Kyohiko to the point of wanting to deal with Sarutobi Hiruzen again. "I suspect the old man has some ideas about the power of the Tailed Beasts," Kyohiko said frankly. Orochimaru narrowed his eyes, then chuckled lightly. "That’s really his style. But now that Danzo is gone, who will help him do this?" "Speaking of which, it’s my fault. If I hadn’t brought back Uzumaki Yuki, he probably wouldn’t have had such an idea," Kyohiko’s tone was indifferent. Sarutobi Hiruzen was a person who sought stability. Without Uzumaki Yuki, he would never have considered such a dangerous attempt. But once there was a safe backup plan... then it was hard to say. "If that’s the case, eliminating a portion of the ninjas can only serve as a deterrent, and it won’t have much effect. You can’t deal with the old man like this." A slight smile touched Orochimaru’s lips. "For this matter, you have to let Jiraiya handle it." "Sensei?" Kyohiko thought for a moment, then nodded lightly. "That’s true." Namikaze Minato was not suitable for negotiation. His personality was gentle, and he couldn’t get angry. Even if he were angry, it would probably just be for a moment, and then he would rationally think about how to solve the problem better. This was not the way to solve the problem. To negotiate with Sarutobi Hiruzen, this method would definitely not work. Jiraiya was more suitable. The current Jiraiya had been taught quite well and was not as pedantic and naive as before. "Regarding the power of the Tailed Beasts, do you have any thoughts?" Orochimaru looked at Kyohiko. "The Cloud Village should have truly mastered the principles of Tailed Beast power. Killer Bee and Nii Yugito have both demonstrated the ability of lossless Tailed Beast transformation." Lossless Tailed Beast transformation. This was certainly not the limit of Tailed Beast power, but currently, Kushina hadn’t even developed this step, or rather—before, she had no awareness of developing it at all. Now, although Kushina was keen to strengthen the use of the Tailed Beast’s power, limited by the Nine-Tails’ own wishes, there had been no progress so far. "The Nine-Tails is powerful. It’s certain to be difficult. There’s no need to rush," Kyohiko shook his head. Orochimaru nodded, then recalled for a moment and reported the part of the list he had mastered. Kyohiko quickly copied it down, then disappeared with the Flying Thunder God. He wouldn’t go so far as to make a move on the Root organization. Sarutobi Hiruzen was still different from Danzo. Although both had their own dark sides, Sarutobi was more rational and knew what could and couldn’t be done. He would never do anything detrimental to Konoha. But some things, if they were only detrimental to an individual, then it was hard to say. "By the way." Orochimaru suddenly called out to Kyohiko. "Your amber, can you give me some for research?" "No problem." Kyohiko formed hand seals, then pressed them on a pine tree beside him. Soon, the bark split open, and clumps of resin flowed out, quickly turning into several large, formed beads, each as big as a human head. "Thanks." Orochimaru accepted them and explained his purpose—this jutsu had great value. Although not everyone could control Wood Style, perhaps this thing could be used as a special sealing object for a weakened version of Hashirama’s cells. This was also a good direction. --- [Under your leadership, the Cloud Village paid a large amount of reparations, the Third Raikage wrote a letter of apology, and personally went to Konoha to negotiate.] [This is a small step for Konoha, but a giant leap in diplomacy with the Cloud Village!] [Reward: Hell Stab: Four-Fingered Thrust (Expert)] Four-Fingered Thrust. Kyohiko glanced at it, his heart calm. This thing, the Four-Fingered Thrust. At the expert level, as long as he spent some time researching, with his current ninjutsu foundation, it wasn’t too difficult to replicate. It would just be a waste of time and not very meaningful. However, it was better than nothing. At least it was an attack method, and it might have great use in special occasions. Besides, Kyohiko’s proficiency in Lightning Release was average. With this reward, he had raised the level of his Lightning Release ninjutsu, so it wasn’t a loss. However, what made him a little unable to hold back was the system’s comment. A small step for Konoha, a giant leap in diplomacy with the Cloud Village... In a sense, it wasn’t wrong. From the Second Hokage to the Third’s second term in the original timeline, in the several negotiations between Konoha and the Cloud Village, Konoha had never really gained an advantage. Basically, it was always Konoha at a disadvantage. These few times of his really were a giant leap in Konoha’s diplomacy with the Cloud Village. --- Approaching noon, the sun was bright, at the border area under Konoha’s jurisdiction. "Third Raikage, a pleasure to meet you!" "Kyohiko-kun, this isn’t the first time we’ve met. Let’s dispense with these useless formalities. Neither of us are that kind of person," the Third Raikage said faintly. Even without deliberately targeting him, his personality made him seem imposing when he spoke. Beside the Third Raikage were a few unfamiliar faces. Kyohiko glanced over. He didn’t recognize any of them. They had probably died in battle in the original timeline, or hadn’t lived to see the later era. "You’re right. Raikage-sama, this time I’ve come alone to receive you. Aren’t you considering giving it a try?" "Heh." The Third Raikage shot him a cold glance, chuckled, but didn’t respond. However, he was speechless in his heart. This little brat. Not old, but his heart is pitch black. Only you alone? Is the Flying Thunder God fake? Besides, this was Konoha, surrounded by forests. With Kyohiko’s Wood Style and Flying Thunder God, he could play his subordinates to death. As for himself, in the short term, he certainly wasn’t afraid, but in the long run, facing the Flying Thunder God and a group attack from Konoha ninjas, the result would basically be a loss. More importantly—A was still in the opponent’s hands. What could he fight with? If he won, the opponent would run away. If he lost, his son would die. Only a fool would do such a thing. The Third Raikage walked forward, too lazy to bother with Kyohiko, his eyes focused forward, striding ahead. A few minutes later. "Ahead is Konoha." "Konoha..." The Third Raikage looked up. The magnificent Konoha gate, and the houses and buildings, all came into view in an instant after turning the corner. He could even vaguely see the pedestrians on the street. What a prosperous village! "As expected of Konoha," he sighed in his heart. The situations of the five great ninja villages were different, but if you were to say who was the richest, it was definitely Konoha Village, and the Land of Fire was one of the richest and economically best countries. In comparison, the Cloud Village was still getting stronger now mainly because the Land of Lightning’s Daimyo was supportive enough and gave a lot of investment. After all—the Land of Lightning was a place full of thunder and disasters. Besides fighting out and snatching others’ economic resources, there really wasn’t much room for development. "It’s so nice!" The few from the Cloud Village couldn’t help but praise in low voices. The scenery of Konoha was simply the most ideal state in the minds of the Cloud Village people. Unfortunately, the reality was that the Cloud Village simply didn’t have such land. They looked at such a village, their eyes green with envy. Kyohiko glanced at them, smiling secretly in his heart, then led them through the gate and toured the village. The group went from amazement to gradually becoming silent. The Third Raikage sighed. "Let’s go, Kyohiko-kun. Take me to see the Fourth Hokage. Let’s finish the negotiations early. We have to go back to the Cloud Village." Konoha is great. But... it’s not theirs. The Third Raikage closed his eyes, turned, opened his eyes, and strode towards the tower, his will very firm. Kyohiko did not force them to stay. Taking them for a tour was enough. Subsequent matters would be discussed later. --- In the Hokage’s office, Tsunade, the Third Raikage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, and Utatane Koharu were negotiating together. In the next room, Kyohiko had summoned Nara Shikaku and Yamanaka Inoichi. Inoichi looked at Kyohiko, his gaze still a little unsettled—he had originally thought that Kyohiko might make a move in the short term, but that was not the case. Until today, Kyohiko had remained silent and indifferent. It was as if he really believed that Sarutobi Hiruzen was just passing by at that time. If Kyohiko were Namikaze Minato, Inoichi would have believed that explanation. But the other party was Ryoho Kyohiko. He could only say—who are you fooling? Inoichi knew that this bomb would explode one day, but he didn’t know when, and he couldn’t be sure if it would affect their Yamanaka clan. I hope not! Inoichi prayed in his heart. Shikaku looked at Kyohiko and coughed lightly. "Kyohiko-kun, you asked us to come over. Is there something you want to talk about?" "It’s like this. The Third Raikage is in our Konoha. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity..." Kyohiko hadn’t finished speaking. Inoichi was horrified. "You want to kill him?" ??? Kyohiko and Shikaku turned their heads at the same time, staring at Inoichi, their eyes filled with a trace of bewilderment and shock. Finally, Kyohiko was a little helpless. "Why would you think that? Do I look like such a crazy person?" "Ahem, I was distracted." Inoichi’s old face turned red. He had only been thinking of "thunder" just now. The moment Kyohiko mentioned the Third Raikage, he immediately thought in that direction. Kyohiko said, "Simply put, I want to do some business with the Cloud Village. You two’s families are good at business, so I wanted to talk with you and ask for your opinions." "Mm, go ahead. In terms of business, we do have some connections with the Land of Lightning. And thanks to you, our recent dealings with the Land of Lightning have become more frequent," Nara Shikaku did not hide or avoid the topic. Kyohiko said, "You go to the Land of Lightning to do business. How does it feel?" "How does it feel?" Shikaku paused slightly, then said, "Not very good. Their transportation is very inconvenient. In many places, if you could walk, you could actually save a lot of time. But there’s no way, there are naturally generated lightning everywhere. It’s very dangerous even for ninjas." Merchant caravans were usually ordinary people, so it was even more impossible for them to take those roads. "If we take a detour, the cost is doubled," Shikaku said about their clan’s situation. "What about the Yamanaka clan?" Kyohiko looked at Inoichi. Inoichi nodded. "It’s about the same. We also have to take detours, so in recent years, our trade with the Land of Lightning has been declining. After all..." He sighed softly. "It’s convenient and cheap to go by water, but there’s no pier to land, and the subsequent costs are also very high. Things like flowers don’t make much profit at all." "If we help the Land of Lightning with infrastructure, can we make a hefty profit?" Kyohiko proposed his idea. Huh? Inoichi’s expression was blank. Shikaku, on the other hand, fell into deep thought. Infrastructure... with so much lightning and forbidden areas, how can we do infrastructure? Besides, that’s the Land of Lightning, a future enemy!