Chapter 231: Shizune, Who Do You Think Is the Hokage?

Kikyo Castle. "Sir, we were attacked in the surrounding area, but the other party did not harm anyone. Instead, they left this. Please take a look." "Mm." Shirakumo Hayama took it. It was a small bamboo tube. This kind of tube was generally used for ninja birds to carry information directly, but the other party didn’t use a ninja bird, but rather tied it to a kunai. Just as he was about to open it, Shirakumo Hayama saw a mark on it, and his pupils immediately shrank, freezing his movement. This is Ryoho Kyohiko’s Flying Thunder God mark! Knowing this mark, yet not being a Konoha person... Shirakumo Hayama did not dare to be negligent. He immediately and carefully took out the intelligence. Inside was— "A target has arrived in Amegakure and is heading north." Target? Amegakure? North? Is this a code between them and Kyohiko-kun? As the Jonin on duty, Shirakumo Hayama was experienced and quickly realized the importance of this intelligence. It had to be sent to Konoha immediately! "You go on and continue to patrol and observe. Have the number of people increased. Send out ten squads to patrol and pay attention to the safety of the surroundings. Even if you encounter Sunagakure ninjas, you must control them!" "Yes!" The next moment, Shirakumo Hayama had already disappeared from his spot. In Kikyo Castle, there was a team that had mastered the Flying Thunder God Formation. Although it wasn’t like Hatake Kakashi’s team of three who could complete any teleportation, for teleporting intelligence and individual ninjas... this team of a dozen or so people was sufficient. --- In Konoha, at the Anbu headquarters. Hatake Kakashi was dealing with a mountain of documents, sweat dripping down his head, almost soaking his mask. Even when facing an enemy, he had never felt such immense pressure. These documents... has that guy not looked at any of them? At this moment, footsteps were heard. "Sir!" Kakashi gritted his teeth. "What is it?" The other person was stunned for a long while, then said. "This is a document sent from Kikyo Castle. It has Kyohiko-sama’s Flying Thunder God pattern engraved on it." "Hmm?" Hatake Kakashi took it, then instantly ran from where he was towards the Anbu training department. At this time, the Anbu training department had been completely relocated to several secret training grounds deep in the Forest of Death. Here, besides the Anbu ninjas, there were also a bunch of Orochimaru’s ninja apes and monkeys being raised. Although they were not yet very mature, the current ninja apes and monkeys had already shown a certain level of ninjutsu combat ability. However, at a speed like Kakashi’s, the ninja monkeys couldn’t stop him. They could only throw some fruits and stones, but none of them could hit. Inside, a group of people were fighting and battling. The difference was—their enemy was Ryoho Kyohiko. Because the ones participating in the training today were not members of the Anbu, but ninja monks from the Fire Temple, as well as a small number of Konoha ninjas from some families. Bang, bang, bang! A series of sounds came out. "Too many openings, be tighter. Especially you, Chiriku, you are the most important core. Although the Welcoming Approach: Thousand-Armed Murder is strong in defense, if I don’t attack you, its counterattack power is not strong, so you can’t be so rigid!" "Yes, I... I will find another way!" The twelve or thirteen-year-old Chiriku, his face covered in scars, lowered his head, full of nervousness and shame, not daring to refute a single word of the reprimand. Ryoho Kyohiko looked to the other side. "And you?" "You talk a good game, but I haven’t seen you pull it off. No cooperation at all. You still want to join the Guardian Shinobi?" Ryoho Kyohiko sneered coldly. Sarutobi Asuma clenched his trench knives in anger, but he really couldn’t win. Even with the cooperation of Chiriku and the Fire Temple’s ninja monks, he was still beaten all over the place by Kyohiko alone. And often, Kyohiko’s target would be him. He even suspected this guy was doing it on purpose! But... even so, he still endured the pain and stood up, gritting his teeth. "Again! Just now, I was just afraid of hurting you!" "Very good, you still have the ability to fight, much better than I imagined. But..." Ryoho Kyohiko glanced behind him. Then, he formed hand seals with both hands and created a wood clone. "Since you said you were afraid of hurting me and held back, then you can duel with my wood clone." The wood clone split off. As a special clone, the wood clone had eighty to ninety percent of the main body’s strength. Although it couldn’t use every kind of ninjutsu, it was more than enough to deal with these people. Ryoho Kyohiko’s main body then retreated, leaving the battlefield. The wood clone grinned. "Now, you can come at me with the intention of killing me!" A trace of cold sweat appeared on Chiriku’s forehead. He had heard of Kyohiko’s various deeds before and had imagined how strong the current Kyohiko was, but all imagination was no match for witnessing it in reality. Only after a real exchange did he understand that the current Kyohiko... was no longer someone they could match! In just a few short years, Kyohiko had reached a height he could not hope to reach, and could even brutalize all of them with just a clone. In the forest, the sound of battle rang out again. It was still one-sided, but after switching to a clone, everyone did dare to fight much more. At the very least... exploding tags and high-damage ninjutsu were now all aimed at vital points, without any hesitation. The effect was much better than before. Above, a clone of the Nine-Tails lay on a tree, quietly enjoying the sunshine and the clamor. And at this time, Ryoho Kyohiko had already withdrawn. "What is it?" "I’m not sure. This is intelligence from Kikyo Castle. I came over as soon as I got it." Hatake Kakashi handed it to Kyohiko. Ryoho Kyohiko frowned. Kikyo Castle. The border? What kind of intelligence could there be? He saw the bamboo tube, and his eyes immediately narrowed. The Flying Thunder God pattern! This was not the intelligence transmission code of the Anbu intelligence network, but the contact code he had agreed upon with Pakura. He opened it to look. A few seconds later, Ryoho Kyohiko closed the note. Zetsu went to Amegakure and further north? Amegakure was undoubtedly Hanzo. Zetsu wanting to win over Hanzo was within his expectations, so it wasn’t very surprising. But for the other party to go and find Hanzo and the even further north Onoki at this time... what was their intention? "I’m going to see the Hokage-sama. The documents over there, I’ll send a clone to handle them later. You watch over things here. If the clone is finished, you take over." Although Hatake Kakashi didn’t have the Sharingan now, let alone the Chidori, his current self was actually stronger than in the original timeline. The Lightning Release: Rasengan, plus the Lightning Release Chakra Mode taught by Kyohiko, and the various kenjutsu he had developed himself, he definitely had the combat power close to an elite Jonin. Dealing with these people was more than enough—after all, no matter how strong Chiriku, Asuma, and the numerous ninja monks were, they were essentially ninjas without practical combat experience. It would be good if they could exert half their strength in a real fight. "Alright." Just as Kakashi responded, the next moment, Ryoho Kyohiko disappeared with the Flying Thunder God. --- In Konoha, at the Hokage’s Office. Tsunade was tilting her head, a pen in her mouth, her head nodding off. Suddenly, a familiar presence was felt outside. She immediately perked up. Kyohiko is here! What is he here for? Could it be that something happened in the fight? Tsunade immediately stood up. Shizune had a blank look on her face, and then saw the door open and Kyohiko come in from outside. "Did something happen?" "For now, no. It’s not about the Guardian Shinobi." Ryoho Kyohiko immediately explained, then walked to Tsunade’s side and handed her the note. Tsunade took it. The characters on the note made her eyelids twitch. Target? Going north? She looked at Kyohiko and asked in a low voice. "This doesn’t seem to be one of our ninjas?" The few people under Kyohiko who often sent intelligence, Tsunade had basically memorized their handwriting to avoid being deceived by outsiders in terms of intelligence. But this handwriting... she had never seen it before. Ryoho Kyohiko answered. "It’s not, but she can be trusted, at least on this matter." He still maintained a frequency of meeting with Pakura once every few months. A few days ago, he had exchanged new intelligence with the other party about Zetsu, White Zetsu, and Uchiha Madara. Pakura was naturally half-believing and half-doubting. This was not surprising to Kyohiko. He didn’t need Pakura to completely trust him. As long as Pakura believed a part of it, and then went to track and investigate, he could get the intelligence he needed. Although the Iburi clan had the Smoke Transformation Jutsu and was unparalleled in infiltration and intelligence gathering, it also depended on who they were compared to. Compared to ordinary ninjas, after improvement, their Kekkei Genkai was indeed relatively stable and surpassed ordinary means by a lot. However, compared to White Zetsu, their lurking and escaping abilities were not worth mentioning. And on Zetsu’s side, there might be some helpers and unexpected situations. The danger level was far greater than ordinary infiltration. Having Pakura track and investigate was obviously more reliable. Didn’t she deliver? "Alright, since she can be trusted, then we must take it seriously." Tsunade rubbed the bridge of her nose. A headache! One Uchiha Madara, a strange black and white creature, was already enough to give her a headache. That half-body was still being deeply researched by Orochimaru’s side. As it turned out, this group of people was becoming more and more active, and now they were contacting Amegakure and Iwagakure. The Cloud Village... they will surely go there too, right? "Three villages?" Ryoho Kyohiko said. "Hanzo is not certain, but you have to count Kirigakure." After hearing this, Tsunade was so angry she laughed. "Isn’t this just the previous war all over again? Fine! Let’s all continue to fight!" However, angry words were angry words. Tsunade also understood that if war really broke out again this time, the intensity would be by no means comparable to before. Once these people made a move, they would attack together... and the previous several villages, apart from Sunagakure which really fought, the others were just probing at the border and did not really break out into a full-scale war. At that time, Kyohiko, Namikaze Minato, and Orochimaru had joined forces and directly killed the so-called "Strongest Kazekage," the Third Kazekage, in the west, turning the situation around in an instant. After that, before a full-scale war could truly break out, everyone quickly stopped due to the death of the Third Kazekage and Sunagakure’s surrender, including the probing Iwagakure and Kumogakure. As for Kirigakure, before, everyone couldn’t see through what they wanted to do. But ever since they knew that it might be Uchiha Madara pulling the strings from behind, they were no longer puzzled. Madara just didn’t want Konoha’s days to be too good. As for how many people died in Kirigakure, he didn’t care at all. Otherwise, how could there be the Village of the Bloody Mist? And this time, once the war started, it would be a true all-out war. Who knows, there might even be Uchiha Madara—even if he was just an old man, or a copy of a memory, he was by no means someone an ordinary person could compare to. Konoha... is in danger! Ryoho Kyohiko was more in agreement. "It can be said that this may be a continuation of the previous war. After all, the previous war never really stopped, it was just suppressed." The cooperation between the Cloud Village and Konoha was actually a choice made after weighing the benefits and risks. Now that he and Minato were constantly getting stronger, even the Third Raikage was no match for the two of them combined. How could the Cloud Village not be anxious! Tsunade pondered for a long time. "Then let’s make all preparations for war!" She sneered. "Push the people out. The more it’s like this, the more we can’t shrink back. Once we take a step back, they will swarm and attack!" Ryoho Kyohiko’s brain worked rapidly. He vaguely felt that something was not quite right! The alliance of Iwagakure, Kumogakure, and Kirigakure was indeed possible at the moment, and Madara and Zetsu did have the motive to promote this matter. But what was the trigger? Onoki and the Third Raikage were not fools. They couldn’t possibly be the first to start a war. Kirigakure, after being sent several rounds by Madara, no longer had its previous strength, and there were endless discussions internally. It was estimated that they couldn’t possibly be on the front line. And the current Kirigakure, if they dared to come, Kyohiko would dare to kill. Unless Madara personally made a move, and it had to be the peak state Uchiha Madara, otherwise... he could stop them all, and even kill them all. At that time, it would be a matter of gathering forces and defeating them one by one. So, the three great ninja villages were unlikely to be on the front line, and Sunagakure was even more impossible. Then... a flash of inspiration went through Kyohiko’s mind, and he suddenly spat out a word. "Uchiha!" "What?" Tsunade was stunned for a second, then immediately realized— "You mean?" Ryoho Kyohiko analyzed. "People like Onoki and the Third Raikage might make a move for profit, but they won’t be the first to charge up..." Tsunade nodded lightly, quite in agreement. "Then it’s the Uchiha’s side..." If there was one point to detonate and trigger a new round of war, the only possibility came from within Konoha. But to directly make a move seemed inappropriate. Tsunade frowned. "Kyohiko, do you have any clues?" Ryoho Kyohiko’s eyes flashed with a sharp light. "No rush. Let’s first wait for Iwagakure and Kumogakure to make a move, then we’ll mobilize our ninjas." He had thought of what the other party was going to do. The Nine-Tails, the summoning contract. If things went smoothly, this power would be enough to cooperate with the Uchiha and cause a considerable scale of destruction. But they would never have thought that the current Nine-Tails... was actually on their side! However, backup plans for various scenarios had to be set up. Ryoho Kyohiko’s brainstorm raged, his fingers tapping lightly. "Big Sis, you go... forget it. Sandaime-sama and the others are of little use now. It’s useless to tell them." "I’ll make a trip to Minato’s and Hiashi’s side." Saying that, he disappeared with the Flying Thunder God. Tsunade was bewildered. She was stunned for a few seconds, then looked at Shizune beside her, who didn’t dare to breathe too loudly, a trace of doubt in her eyes. "Shizune." "Yes, Tsunade-sama." "Why do I sometimes feel like a puppet on a string? Whatever he says, I do. He gives orders more readily than I do! Tell me, am I the Hokage or is he the Hokage?" Tsunade raised an eyebrow. Shizune held back her laughter. If it were anyone else, this desk would have been scrapped long ago. How is it that now... Tsunade is not annoyed at all. In fact, she’s even a little happy. Tsk! People! Shizune chuckled inwardly and silently did her own thing.