Chapter 196: Konoha Helping Us? Are They Stupid?

Shikaku pondered for a long time. He understood Kyohiko, knew he wasn’t one to act without purpose. Since he had proposed the idea and sought them out for discussion, it must have some constructive value. Benefiting the enemy was definitely not in Kyohiko’s character. He thought for a moment. "Do you have a way to solve the lightning bombardment?" "I’m not yet certain, but there might be a way. And this kind of thing, if you research it, a solution can always be found. The question is, what do you think of this matter? Is it reliable?" Kyohiko replied. The canyons in the Land of Lightning were unique, prone to generating lightning, causing thunder to obstruct and affect transportation between the valleys. This was the reason why the trade routes in the Land of Lightning were rugged and difficult to travel. If the trade route problem could be solved, the Land of Lightning would quickly become prosperous. After all, its geographical location was well-positioned for sea transport, which was not bad at all. Shikaku thought for a moment and replied, "There might be a way, but what’s in it for us?" "Although in the short term, the Land of Lightning might be on good terms with our Land of Fire, thus increasing commercial interaction, and they would have to think twice before making a move in the future, but..." "The Cloud Village’s style isn’t necessarily one to look before they leap," Shikaku analyzed. Whether it was the Third Raikage or the Gold and Silver Brothers back then, none were the type to think things through carefully. They were always "do" over "think," otherwise, atrocious incidents like the abduction of the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki wouldn’t have happened. It was just that Konoha was in a bad situation at that time. If it had been during a period of strength, war with the Cloud Village would have already broken out. So, in Shikaku’s view, this was aiding the enemy. Kyohiko smiled and said in a low voice, "But we can also quietly place Flying Thunder God formulas inside during the construction." Shikaku and Yamanaka Inoichi’s pupils shrank. Flying Thunder God formulas? This... They hadn’t considered that. Mainly because their understanding of the Flying Thunder God and its Formation technique was not very deep. In terms of tactical and strategic considerations, they often wouldn’t think on this level. Shikaku pondered for a few seconds, couldn’t help but take a deep breath, his expression changing abruptly. "You’re..." "Shh!" Kyohiko raised a finger. Shikaku glanced outside, then leaned closer. "You’re trying to annihilate them!" Following Kyohiko’s line of thought, he easily saw this possibility—if he didn’t have designs on the Land of Lightning, would Kyohiko have come up with such a method? How could that be! Kyohiko smiled. "Do you think it’s feasible?" "The risk is too great!" Shikaku’s expression was serious. "Not to mention whether it can be done, even if it can, how will your formulas be maintained? And, how can you be sure the things won’t be damaged, and that they won’t just copy the method and replace it with their own set?" "I certainly have my own ways." Kyohiko’s method, naturally, was the Amber Jutsu. Amber could exist underground for a very, very long time. Even lightning strikes or earthquakes couldn’t damage it. When it needed to be activated, he could easily infiltrate using the Flying Thunder God Formation and Earth Style. Of course, if the Cloud Village didn’t try anything funny, he would be happy for everyone to have temporary peace and let Konoha accumulate strength. As Shikaku thought... he was tempted too! If there was a way to ensure the formulas remained intact, then helping with the construction would be a "win" for Konoha, the Land of Fire, and the Land of Lightning. There was no reason for either side to refuse. In fact, this matter might even deepen the relationship between the two countries, making their interests more intertwined and forcing the Cloud Village to be unable to break away from Konoha—this was also a proposal in their previous plans. It was just that it had been vetoed due to various factors before. If the problem could be solved... that proposal could also be brought back to the table. Thinking of this, Shikaku said, "Kyohiko, what is the method you’ve thought of? If this problem can be solved, then we can indeed talk with the Cloud Village!" "Anyway, with the Iburi clan’s ability, we can build it, and we can also destroy it," Kyohiko said in a low voice as a final guarantee. The Iburi clan. Amber, the Flying Thunder God Formation, combined with the Iburi clan’s Smoke Transformation—as long as Black Zetsu wasn’t messing around on the side, he was sure he could make the Cloud Village’s passage unable to be rebuilt. However, this method was certainly not as effective as infiltration and combat. In addition, he had to find a way to make it technologically advanced enough that the Cloud Village couldn’t quickly crack it. As for Kyohiko’s method, he said in a low voice, "Their canyons, I’ve seen them before. It’s due to the special climate leading to an accumulation of electric charges. The method I’ve thought of now is to lead the lightning away." Lead it away? Shikaku and Inoichi looked at each other. If it were something on the level of strategy, intelligence, and analysis, they could still provide some help, but when it came to Lightning Release ninjutsu, they were at a loss. "This, we’re afraid we can’t give any suggestions. But if the plan is feasible, we can indeed sit down and talk with the Cloud Village." Shikaku approved of Kyohiko’s idea. Anyway, while making money, they could also plant spies in the enemy’s territory. For Konoha, it was a win-win situation. If they could lock down the Land of Lightning with economy and trade without bloodshed, that would be even better. He thought it over carefully. "If your lightning diversion method is feasible, it’s best to make it a bit more complicated, but the cost must be controlled so it’s not too high, otherwise they might just not do it." "I understand." Kyohiko nodded. He looked at the map. Paving a road along the way was definitely not feasible. The best location—"This place, what do you think?" "Build a port?" Shikaku looked at the location Kyohiko was pointing to. It was on the outskirts of the Land of Lightning’s eastern peninsula, on the important sea route from the East Sea to the North Sea, leading to countries like the Land of Snow. If a port were built here... the one who would lose the most would undoubtedly be the Land of Water. Shikaku looked at Kyohiko, a look of surprise in his eyes. "You still want to instigate conflict between the Land of Lightning and the Land of Water?" "It’s not instigation. It’s that they will inevitably do so," Kyohiko smiled. This place was a relatively wide strait, but ships could travel from countries like the Land of Tea and the Land of Bears, all the way to the Land of Waves, the Land of Fire, and the Land of Hot Water. Then, following the ocean currents north, they could resupply and sell goods at the new port in the north, and then continue north. If this place were built... although it couldn’t directly change the shipping lanes, it would definitely split off a portion of the ship traffic. Konoha wasn’t afraid. Anyway, they were already at odds with the Land of Water. When you have too many lice, you don’t feel the bites. One more enemy or one less didn’t matter. But the Land of Lightning... to gain benefits and not fall out with the Land of Water, that was unlikely. There were no benefits without costs. Shikaku thought it over and nodded repeatedly. "Feasible! If the Cloud Village doesn’t try anything funny, we’ll coexist peacefully. If they want to do bad things, we can use those spies there sooner or later." "Right." --- As soon as Tsunade finished talking with the Third Raikage and had Sarutobi Hiruzen help receive him, Kyohiko’s report came right after. She looked down at the title of the report. "Ally Economic Development Assistance Plan." Seeing the title, Tsunade almost couldn’t hold it together. She looked up at Kyohiko and Shikaku, a look of bewilderment on her face. This—are you two from the Cloud Village? Acting like you’re best buddies with the other side! Tsunade suppressed the urge to retort, patiently opened it, and read the contents carefully. Good heavens! There are even illustrations and principle descriptions. Tsunade looked at the tower structure on it, as well as the description and analysis of the principle, and felt that Kyohiko had really put a lot of thought into it. Putting aside the principles... she felt that a technique Kyohiko had seriously thought about was nine times out of ten achievable, so she glanced at it and continued to look down. Soon, Tsunade understood Kyohiko and Shikaku’s considerations. "First, I want to see if it’s really feasible." Coincidentally... Shikaku was also very curious. He looked at Kyohiko and also nodded lightly. "Of course." Kyohiko smiled. Then, he took out a steel wire and continued to torment the potted plant. Using a wooden stick to support the steel wire, and then—Lightning Release! On his palm, Lightning Release chakra gathered into streaks of lightning, spreading into the surrounding air and exploding. Then, Crack! The lightning generated by the Lightning Release chakra gathered around the steel wire, then continuously spread along the wire to the ground. Tsunade was thoughtful. The steel wire. Converted, it’s the steel cable on top of the tower. So, the existence of the tower is actually just a support? Tsunade was thoughtful. "The port can indeed be built, but this location leads to their core area, and there is a large area with a lot of lightning. How do we solve that? Still with towers?" "Not necessarily towers, but it definitely needs to be high," Kyohiko replied. Tsunade pondered for a moment. "The technical difficulty is a bit low, and the method is feasible. But if the Land of Lightning and the Land of Water unite..." She frowned, then relaxed again. Unlikely! If the Land of Water really wanted to unite with the Land of Lightning, in this situation, the Land of Water would lose out big time. Their Daimyo and nobles would never agree. Besides, her gaze shifted south. "The Land of the Sea." For a small maritime country, the Land of Water was a behemoth. Even the Land of the Sea had to submit to the Land of Water’s terrifying ninja army. The current Land of the Sea had no ninja village. Their ninjas were all leased from Kirigakure. The situation there was different from the Land of Waves—the Land of Waves involved many surrounding countries, but around the Land of the Sea, basically only Konoha would be affected. The reason for considering the Land of the Sea... was naturally because after the shipping lanes changed, the Land of the Sea would become an important port city to replace the Land of Water. In the long run, the Land of the Sea might even become more prosperous than the Land of Water! "It’s difficult in the short term..." Shikaku frowned. Kyohiko said, "The Land of the Sea is certainly unwilling to be suppressed and exploited by the Land of Water. Just let them fight internally. We don’t need to consider too much." You can’t earn all the money in the world. Konoha’s naval combat was not strong; a few elites couldn’t make up for the numerical disadvantage. For the Land of the Sea, they were definitely out of reach. Tsunade sighed with regret. "Then let’s leave it at that. We can discuss and refine the plan, then go and talk with the Land of Lightning." Yes. The Land of Lightning. The interests of the village were sometimes not the same as the country’s. This matter naturally couldn’t be negotiated with the Cloud Village. --- In the north, Jiraiya was writing his book while keeping an eye on the movements of the Land of Earth, and at the same time observing the local customs and traditions. His days were quite carefree and comfortable. It was just that he had things on his mind, making his travels less enjoyable. "Sigh!" "I wonder how Konoha is doing. Those brats, they don’t even write me a letter. Not even a congratulations after I published my book." Jiraiya sighed. But after sighing, he remembered what he had written and immediately shook his head—it was better that they didn’t think of him. Especially Tsunade! Although Tsunade rarely went to casinos after returning to Konoha due to being too busy, if she knew he was writing this kind of book, she would definitely raise her fist and beat him half to death. "Tsunade’s fists, ah..." "Wait a minute!" "Why am I writing a book? Isn’t it because I’m out of money!" Thinking of this, Jiraiya became indignant again. He had lent all his money to Tsunade. Although it was a debt, it was still unknown whether he could get it back in the future. Jiraiya cursed, his mood unsettled. Just then, a toad "gribbit"-ed and jumped out of space. It heard Jiraiya’s muttering and was immediately too scared to speak. Jiraiya was stunned for a second. Then, he coughed lightly. "Fukumaru, what is it?" "A letter." The toad spat out a letter, then didn’t hurry back. Jiraiya picked up the somewhat damp letter, opened it, and could barely make out the contents. As the words jumped into his eyes one by one... Jiraiya’s face slowly began to look not so good. "What is the old man trying to do?" He gritted his teeth, almost crushing the letter. Jiraiya took a deep breath. "Tell Kyohiko I’ll be back to the village as soon as possible. It’s not appropriate for him to talk to the old man. I’ll deal with him!" At the end, a fierce look flashed in his eyes. If the old man really wanted to do that kind of thing, he would have to let the old man go with dignity. He didn’t want to go that far. But if the old man was going to cause trouble, Jiraiya had to consider it. --- In Konoha, the Third Raikage once again left the meeting room. Returning to his residence, A started to speak, then stopped. The Third Raikage looked at him. "Spit it out. Did you go stupid from being locked up?" "Father, what do you think Konoha is trying to do? On one hand, they’re extorting us, on the other, they want to increase trade with us, and they even want us to solve our road problems..." A couldn’t figure it out. Konoha’s operations had really confused him. The Third Raikage was silent for a few seconds. "I can’t say for sure either, but I always feel they’re up to no good. There’s definitely a problem. And we can’t solve the increased trade issue anyway." The roads... was it that their Cloud Village didn’t want to fix them? They didn’t have the ability! Those valleys and mountains flashing with lightning forced their Cloud Village to build on the mountains. If they could solve it, they would have solved it long ago and moved down from the mountains. Ninjas were one thing, but who among the elderly and ordinary people was willing to suffer like this every day? So no matter how reasonable what Konoha said was, for them, it was impossible. He sighed. At this moment, a voice sounded. "Raikage-sama, I think, maybe they have a way to solve it?" "Hmm?" The Third Raikage looked at the assistant before him. "Continue." "Konoha wants us to beg them, and then rip us off again." "Uh..." A was speechless for a moment, but he was polite and waited until the other had finished before adding, "Why would Konoha do that? Help us with our business? Are they stupid?!" "This, I don’t know."