Chapter 232: Zetsu: I Am Committed to Peace in the Shinobi World!

In the Namikaze Minato household. Ryoho Kyohiko briefly discussed the situation with Namikaze Minato. Minato’s expression was naturally grave. War... Compared to the generation of Kyohiko and Kakashi, Minato’s generation had a deeper experience with war, having gone through both the Second Great Ninja War and the previous war. "Without a doubt, Uchiha Madara wants to reignite the war that was never completely suppressed." "He wants to throw the shinobi world into chaos!" Minato had a massive headache. For Madara, a chaotic shinobi world and a besieged, weakened Konoha were both advantageous. At the same time, Iwagakure and Kumogakure also wished for Konoha to weaken. A strong Konoha was definitely not something the other ninja villages wanted to see. Minato started to speak, then hesitated. Ryoho Kyohiko glanced at him and smiled. "If you have something to say, just say it. Our relationship isn’t that bad, is it?" "Is your intelligence source reliable?" What worried Minato was precisely Kyohiko’s source of intelligence. As an elite Jonin, although Minato had never been involved in Anbu intelligence work, he had a deep understanding of the field and knew its intricacies. In intelligence work, a small error could lead to a huge discrepancy. If they received unreliable intelligence and reacted excessively, it might instead provoke the enemy’s nerves, making them mistakenly believe that Konoha was about to start a war. At that time, they would instead be used by Madara and his subordinates. Ryoho Kyohiko smiled. "It can be trusted, but not completely." "What do you mean?" Namikaze Minato’s expression was grave. He could see that this intelligence probably did not belong to the Konoha system, so he was guessing if it was from Yahiko’s side. But... listening to Kyohiko’s wording, it seemed not to be the case. Someone else? "Pakura, remember her?" "Sunagakure’s Scorch Release user, the one you captured before and has been locked up in the Anbu... you let her go?" Namikaze Minato’s eyes widened. Pakura’s Scorch Release was very troublesome. In some situations, she could even be considered Kage-level. With more training and practice, who knows, she might be able to stably reach that level. Such an existence... was just let go? What if she retaliates against Konoha! At this moment, even though Minato knew Kyohiko well enough, he couldn’t help but feel a trace of worry. On one hand, he was worried about the village, and on the other, he was worried about Kyohiko and Tsunade. After all, Kyohiko was the Anbu captain. If something went wrong after privately releasing someone, he would definitely have to take the blame. And Tsunade’s relationship with Kyohiko, needless to say. At that time, if someone with ill intentions made a move, who knows, both of them might find it difficult to remain as Hokage. Seeing the change in Minato’s expression, Ryoho Kyohiko smiled. "Seeing your reaction, I’m much more relieved." "You... you!" Minato smiled helplessly. He understood Kyohiko’s meaning. In Konoha’s new generation, the only one who could be compared to Kyohiko and the Sannin was him, Namikaze Minato. If the Third Hokage really had the intention of pushing them down, the only one he could possibly put on the stage was Minato—Minato was also from a commoner background, with no special reputation or family support, making him very easy to control. He understood some of these principles. However, although Minato was interested in the position of Hokage, he would not obtain it in such a way. "Be serious!" "Alright, seriously, she chose to give me the intelligence. No matter what the outcome is after we fight with the Cloud Village, the Stone Village, and Madara, Sunagakure won’t lose out." Ryoho Kyohiko analyzed Pakura’s thoughts. Although Pakura was young, she was a very experienced Jonin. Even—if not for Rasa mastering Magnet Release and being more suitable to be Sunagakure’s Kazekage, with her ability, she would have been sufficient to be the Kazekage. So, Kyohiko believed that the other party would most likely think this way. After listening, Minato nodded lightly. "If she is more rational, she would indeed make such a decision and would not give us false intelligence." Ryoho Kyohiko analyzed from another angle, also corroborating his own conjecture. "After all, we are now cooperating with Sunagakure, and things are getting better and better. She has no reason to interfere and destroy the cooperative relationship between the two villages." Minato pondered for a moment. "Then, we have to be prepared on both fronts." He looked out the window at the little fox lying in the courtyard. The Nine-Tails’ clone. Even if it was only a quarter of the chakra, that was still a very huge force. If the Uchiha clan and Madara wanted to create chaos from within Konoha—the Nine-Tails was their only way! Namikaze Minato analyzed on his own. "We can’t treat the other party as a fool. With Madara’s wisdom, if he knew we had released the Nine-Tails’ clone, he would guess that I used a sealing jutsu to block his summoning contract..." "We must have a thorough contingency plan!" Ryoho Kyohiko narrowed his eyes. "Yes, the best way is to not let them get close to the Nine-Tails. But that would be a waiting game for both sides. If it drags on, the defending side will definitely be at a greater disadvantage." "You want to bait them?" Minato understood his meaning—in the past, Kyohiko had had several similar operations. For example, the Third Kazekage had died in a similar fishing trap. Using the intelligence obtained by the opponent to make the opponent actively take actions that are beneficial to one’s own side, this was precisely Kyohiko’s strength, and this time was no exception. Ryoho Kyohiko nodded, then smiled. "First, he wouldn’t have thought we have another clone. Second, its chakra is only a quarter." A quarter of the chakra. Not to mention he had now mastered the Grandmaster-level Gate of the Great God. Even if he didn’t, just relying on the Amber Jutsu, Kyohiko still had full confidence in suppressing the Nine-Tails’ clone. As long as the Nine-Tails wasn’t causing trouble, the rebellious Uchiha clan, facing the power of the entire Konoha, had only one word waiting for them: "death." The difficult problem was not really the battle, but how to deal with the aftermath of the Uchiha after the entrapment was over. Namikaze Minato also mentioned this point. The two had a heated exchange, with occasional disagreements. Minato sought stability and was kind, while Kyohiko was much more radical. However, compared to the methods of the Third Hokage and Danzo, Kyohiko’s decision was practically like that of a living Bodhisattva—according to him, the Uchiha certainly didn’t all have to be killed. The main culprits must be punished, and the accomplices severely punished. After that, depending on their actions and behavior, a group would be beaten, and a group would be won over. Minato said. "How can you guarantee that you can win over a group of people?" Ryoho Kyohiko answered. "Of course, it’s because I have already won over their clan head and an outstanding student. As long as there is a way out, the Uchiha have no reason to truly fall out with us." "You plan to let the Uchiha..." Minato was a little surprised. "Mm." Ryoho Kyohiko nodded lightly. After killing a group of people, the Uchiha’s strength would be greatly reduced. He could then logically reorganize the Police Force, and at the same time, in exchange for Uchiha Fugaku entering the decision-making level, let the Uchiha re-enter the high levels of Konoha. This way, it would be a win-win situation. In fact, for the Uchiha, getting rid of the Police Force was a good thing—their style of doing things was too good at offending people. Senju Tobirama had no good intentions in throwing the Police Force to them. Namikaze Minato answered. "If that’s the case, we just need to be on guard against Iwagakure and Kumogakure’s side." Right now, one was looking for loopholes, the other was thinking of a solution, thereby deducing the future battle situation. Those two ninja villages were not easy to get along with. Namikaze Minato said. "If I go to deal with the Cloud Village, can you guys handle things here in Konoha?" Ryoho Kyohiko smiled. "You’re that strong? You have the confidence to take on three at once?" The Third Raikage, A, and Killer Bee, these three all had strength above Kage-level. Especially the Third Raikage, who was a very powerful existence among the Kage-level, with few who could match him. With Minato’s ability, he could break through the defense, but under the entanglement of the other two, he might not be able to organize an effective attack, and would inevitably fail if the battle dragged on. Minato answered. "If I prepare in advance, I can delay for a while, but I still need Orochimaru-senpai’s help." Ryoho Kyohiko knew that the "preparation" he was talking about was naturally the Tailed Beast’s chakra. After a moment of thought, he nodded lightly. "Alright. I’ll give you Hizashi-senpai as additional support. You can leave Konoha to me." Although Hyuga Hizashi was not as good as Hiashi, under Kyohiko’s guidance in recent years, he had indeed made considerable progress. A few years ago, Hiashi had taken the opportunity to lift the Hyuga’s secret technique blockade... Hizashi was now definitely at a relatively powerful level among the elite Jonin. It’s just—facing the three strongest from the Cloud Village, he was definitely no match. He could only use the Rampaging Lion’s Mane Technique combined with pressure point strikes on the side to provide major support and bully the other ninjas of the Cloud Village. "Then the Hyuga’s side..." "I’ll go right away. If I don’t take people away, they won’t believe it." With the Hyuga clan, it was more about discussing with Hiashi how many people the Hyuga could lend this time, and whether they could make a move against the Uchiha later. After all—the current Hyuga had just gone through a setback and might not be able to stabilize and send out people. But the reality was, the Hyuga clan was surprisingly straightforward. For the war, Hiashi was quite active—the main family disciples who had just been sealed should go to the battlefield to experience it. Even if there was no war, he would have these people participate in various missions to let them know the sacrifices and contributions of the branch family. --- At this time, the night was already deep. In the north, inside the Iwagakure tower, Onoki was working under a lamp, dealing with documents and intelligence from all sides. Picking up an intelligence scroll, Onoki’s brow furrowed, and then he slammed it on the table. This Rasa! "Tsuchikage-sama, what’s wrong?" "It’s nothing. You... sigh, you can go home first. I’ll be back after looking at a few more." Onoki looked at his subordinate, suppressing his annoyance. Rasa had cooperated with Konoha. Although he hadn’t found out the specific cooperation matters, Rasa had already repaired the road to the Land of Rivers. It couldn’t be to make it easier for Konoha to attack, right? Obviously, the cooperation between the two countries was real, and probably quite close and in-depth! For Iwagakure, this was by no means good news. Sunagakure had indeed weakened a lot after several great wars and could not be compared with before, but a starved camel is still bigger than a horse. No matter how weak, it was still one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages. Just then, Onoki’s eyes suddenly narrowed, and he shouted. "Who’s there?" "Tsuchikage-sama, no need to be agitated. I am not an assassin, and a peace-loving person like me does not have the ability to assassinate you." A figure emerged from the floor. This person was very strange, half black, half white, with a strange leaf on his head. "Who are you?" Onoki’s pupils shrank. The Iwagakure tower was supported by a huge barrier that could sense any intruder, but he hadn’t sensed this person’s intrusion from the barrier in advance. How did this guy do it? Zetsu chuckled lightly. "Simply put, I come from an organization dedicated to peace in the shinobi world. And our leader has now obtained a crucial piece of intelligence." "Oh?" Onoki observed for a while, then remained calm, secretly gathering chakra, and at the same time replied, "I’d like to hear what kind of intelligence it is!" Zetsu said with a smile. "Intelligence that can help your village, and it’s definitely worth more than its price!" "But it requires a little bit of payment." "If it’s valuable enough, I will certainly give you money." Onoki had understood by now. The so-called "dedicated to peace in the shinobi world" was actually just a nice-sounding cover. In essence, the other party should be a broker for some intelligence organization. However, an intelligence broker with such an ability... was indeed rare in the shinobi world. Zetsu answered straightforwardly. "There will be a turmoil in Konoha soon." Onoki was taken aback, then immediately asked. "What turmoil?" Zetsu chuckled in a low voice. "I have proven the value of my intelligence. Now it’s your turn." Onoki weighed for a long time. "The scale of the turmoil can be large or small. A too-small chaos may not be useful to us." Zetsu reminded with a smile. "It certainly won’t be small. But your village alone may not succeed. I suggest you contact other ninja villages to act together, to advance and retreat together. And, at that time, you can find a way to earn back this money from them." Onoki frowned. These words... are not wrong! If the intelligence was valuable enough, he could contact Kumogakure and Kirigakure, resell the intelligence to make up for the loss, and also form an alliance to deal with Konoha together. Killing two birds with one stone! Then—as long as he confirmed the intelligence was really important! He let out a breath. "Alright. If the intelligence is valuable enough, I can pay you a reward from A to S rank." "Not enough. I need ten times that!" Onoki’s gaze was icy. "You are too greedy!" Zetsu lowered his head. "After you hear it, you will know it’s worth more than the price." "Alright. But I can only pay you a tenth of the money first. If it’s valuable enough, I will pay the rest." As he spoke, Onoki took out a sum of money from the safe on the side. There were several million here. "This is my sincerity." Zetsu chuckled. "Alright. After all, our organization’s goal is long-term cooperation, long-term maintenance of peace in the shinobi world..." "The Uchiha clan of Konoha, a part of them intends to create chaos and leave Konoha, and Konoha has released a part of the Nine-Tails." "What?" Onoki looked at Zetsu in horror, his face filled with disbelief. Released the Nine-Tails? Even if it’s just a part, that’s still very terrifying! How could Konoha... Right, Ryoho Kyohiko! That guy had mastered the Shodai-sama’s Wood Style ability and might have already reached a level sufficient to suppress a part of the Nine-Tails’ power. What astonishing intelligence! If it was true, this intelligence was truly priceless! "And..." "There’s more?" Onoki was extremely surprised. Zetsu smiled. "I could have not said it, but to form a long-term cooperation with your village, we are willing to make a concession. There is one more piece of intelligence... back then, Uchiha Madara used his Sharingan to control the Nine-Tails and form a summoning contract." "This contract, we have also mastered it and sold it to the Uchiha clan." !!! This sentence flashed through Onoki’s mind like a clap of thunder. He looked at Zetsu in disbelief. "What is your relationship with Uchiha Madara?" The secrets of Uchiha Madara back then, outsiders could not possibly know. For the other party to be so certain and to possess the summoning contract between Uchiha Madara and the Nine-Tails... could it be? A terrifying guess flashed through Onoki’s mind. Zetsu bowed lightly. "Tsuchikage-sama, allow me to reintroduce myself. My name is Zetsu, and my leader is Madara-sama!"