Chapter 279: Chapter 279: Then, Hokage, What is the Price?
Outside the Konoha gate, the small squad from the Sand Village stopped a hundred steps away.
"Kazekage-sama, we’ll see you off here. Straight ahead is Konoha. Someone will receive you when you reach the gate."
"Thank you." Rasa nodded lightly.
"It’s nothing, this is our duty. Ninja from the north have been infiltrating, and we are truly worried. I hope you don’t misunderstand..." the young ninja said apologetically.
Rasa said, "How could I? I understand your concerns very well. Also, could you leave your names? I would like to specifically thank the Hokage."
"There’s no need. Protecting the safety of our guests is the duty of us Konoha ninja. I hope you have a pleasant stay in Konoha." After speaking, the other party bowed lightly, then led the way and disappeared with a flicker.
Baki narrowed his eyes.
"Nara, Akimichi, Yamanaka. The connection between these three families is getting closer and closer," Rasa lamented.
Baki was stunned for a moment. "The squad just now was from the three great families of Ino-Shika-Chō?"
"Mhm, the last one might be from the Aburame clan. Although they didn’t reveal their identities, it can still be observed from some of their behavioral habits." Rasa nodded lightly. He looked around and noticed some insects crawling on both sides, and immediately changed the subject.
"Let’s go, let’s enter the village."
"Yes!"
These young ninja walked forward, turned past a grove of trees, and soon saw the end of the straight road. In the distance stood a magnificent gate and huge, towering walls.
Grand, magnificent! This was their first impression.
The next second, they subconsciously compared Konoha with their own Sand Village, and all of them fell silent. Even Baki... as a Jonin, he had seen a lot, but seeing the current Konoha still gave him an indescribable sense of shock.
Before they even entered, they saw a crowd of people. On the road, there were also horse-drawn carriages carrying heavy goods, passing them and entering Konoha Village.
So prosperous! The flow of people alone was incomparable to their Sand Village. Just this scene alone made them feel the disparity in the world. So a ninja village could be built so luxuriously and magnificently. In comparison, their Sand Village seemed dilapidated and poor.
"Kazekage-sama, is this Konoha? Our village..." A group of young people and children felt a huge sense of defeat.
Rasa said lightly, "Don’t be discouraged. A style like Konoha’s would be impossible to survive in our Sand Village. We have just found a way of life that is more suitable for us."
Everyone nodded silently. The older ones knew that the Kazekage was right. The situation of the village was different, and the way of life would also be different. But what could the young children know? They didn’t understand many principles. They just felt that compared to Konoha, their Sand Village was full of mud houses and sand dunes, not as prosperous as here.
Rasa was silent. He vaguely felt that letting these children stay in Konoha might not be a good thing. But, to regret it now and send the children back... seemed inappropriate. And Temari was here. The current Temari was only three years old. If she were to stay in a completely strange Konoha without any Sand Village people to accompany her, over time... with Temari’s situation, she might truly become a person of Konoha.
There was no turning back!
Rasa took a deep breath and said, "Let’s go. We’ll register first. After that, I’ll go visit the Hokage. Baki, you take them and don’t wander around, understand?"
"Yes!" Baki nodded.
Leading the people into the gate, he was just about to register with the gate guard when he heard a loud shout from the distance. The crowd parted, and Tsunade, wearing the Hokage’s robe, walked out from the crowd.
Rasa was stunned for a moment, then pressed down on his Kazekage hat. He had thought that he would only have the chance to see Tsunade when he reached her office and had mentally prepared himself to be slighted. He didn’t expect that Konoha wouldn’t do that. Although Tsunade was tougher than Sarutobi Hiruzen, she still gave him enough face in this regard, personally coming to the gate to welcome him, not making him too embarrassed.
Behind him, Baki showed a hint of surprise, then breathed a sigh of relief.
Tsunade laughed heartily. "Kazekage, sorry, I just got the news from the Anbu that you’ve arrived in Konoha and hurriedly changed..."
"Tsunade-sama!" Shizune quickly pulled on Tsunade’s sleeve. Tsunade’s excuse was too undignified, like someone who didn’t care about their appearance at all, not like a Hokage. Especially—now was a diplomatic occasion!
Tsunade coughed lightly and said, "Register them. They are here to discuss the matter of the Chūnin Exams with us."
"Yes!" Hayata meticulously helped with the registration. After writing down Rasa’s name, he looked at Rasa. "Kazekage-sama..."
Rasa nodded and looked behind him. "Baki, you take them to register here."
"Yes!" Baki responded.
Tsunade tacitly had Shizune stay behind to take the Sand Village ninja to their resting place. Then, she led Rasa towards the Konoha building.
Inside the building, Rasa said sincerely, "Thank you..."
"The Kazekage is visiting. As the Hokage, it is my duty to welcome you," Tsunade said with a smile. "Rasa, you already know about the matter of the Seven-Tails, right?"
"Yes, the Hidden Waterfall Village... it was too tragic!" Rasa said, pausing slightly.
The leader of the Hidden Waterfall Village had actually died at the hands of Kakuzu, and even the Seven-Tails was taken away. This was something he had not expected. The current ninja world was truly very different!
Among the five great villages, their Sand Village was the weakest, and now it was coveted the most. For example, Uchiha Obito, who wanted to take Shukaku a while ago. And the Hidden Stone Village and the Hidden Rain Village. These two neighbors were also a serious threat.
In comparison, on Konoha’s side, he didn’t need to worry too much...
"According to Kyohiko, last time when Obito was dealing with Shukaku, he also took away an arm and some chakra?" Tsunade suddenly asked again.
Although Rasa was puzzled, he still nodded. "Yes, but that was only a very small part of the chakra..."
"That’s not the point." Tsunade shook her head. She frowned. "I just calculated. They now have the chakra of eight Tailed Beasts..."
"What’s wrong with that?" Rasa was puzzled. So what if they had the chakra of eight Tailed Beasts?
Tsunade thought for a moment and answered. "Counting our village’s Nine-Tails, which was almost taken away by the other party, their goal is definitely to collect all the Tailed Beasts. According to our intelligence analysis, their goal is probably not that simple."
This was her decision after careful consideration. To tell the Sand Village a part of the conjecture, so that they would understand how to take a side.
Rasa was still puzzled, but in his heart, he vaguely understood what Tsunade was referring to... Could it be? Madara had a special need for gathering all nine Tailed Beasts? A thought flashed through his mind.
"Madara has the ability to control the Tailed Beasts. And, back then, he combined his control of the Nine-Tails with his Susanoo, which greatly increased his strength." Tsunade revealed some more information.
Rasa was stunned for a long time, then his eyes widened slightly, and he instantly sucked in a breath. "Was Madara a Jinchuriki back then?"
"No, he used his Sharingan to control it, plus a summoning contract," Tsunade answered. She knew that Rasa had finally understood.
Yes. Rasa understood what Tsunade meant, and then a question arose. "What is Susanoo?"
"When the Sharingan reaches its peak, one can use a terrifying ocular jutsu called Susanoo. It can summon a terrifying giant formed of chakra around oneself..." Tsunade described the appearance and power of Susanoo—the appearance and characteristics of "Susanoo" were recorded in Senju Tobirama’s notes, so her description was quite detailed.
However, there was a lot of creative license in it. For example, according to the Nine-Tails’ statement, that ability was not something all Tailed Beasts could do, but was derived from the Nine-Tails’ special ability. At least that’s what the Nine-Tails said. What Tsunade needed was to guide Rasa, to make him mistakenly believe that all Tailed Beasts had this ability.
Even if Rasa knew the truth in the future, at most he would think that Konoha didn’t have the truth either, but was just speculating based on the intelligence at the time...
The current Rasa was in a state of disbelief and shock. He couldn’t imagine how powerful a person would be if they could directly integrate the power of the Tailed Beasts into a terrifying jutsu. Especially—when this person’s name was Uchiha Madara!
Tsunade sat down and said, "Actually, our Konoha doesn’t want so many Tailed Beasts. After all, the more Tailed Beasts we have, the more urgent it will be for Madara to attack our Konoha."
"Hokage, once an ambitious person like Madara gets all the Tailed Beasts, the ninja world will be finished!" Even though Rasa knew Tsunade was playing hard to get, he had to go along with it. He said urgently, "We must fight them!"
"Mhm, we understand the principle, but we have to face the three great ninja villages and seven Tailed Beasts. The disparity in strength is too great!" Tsunade stated the difficulty.
Rasa couldn’t refute it. Because, according to this comparison, they had almost no chance against Madara and the three great ninja villages.
"It’s not all bad news on our side, is it?" A brilliant smile appeared on Tsunade’s face. "Our village has captured the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki."
"Who?" Rasa’s face showed surprise.
The Eight-Tails? That guy who likes to rap. Their Sand Village had fought him before. He was very strong, and he and A were like brothers. Their relationship was better than real brothers. And A was the next successor...
Such an important person was actually captured by Konoha! He immediately realized.
Kyohiko! Only Kyohiko could capture the Eight-Tails alive.
Fortunately, Konoha still had Ryoho Kyohiko! No, it should be said... they still had Kyohiko! Rasa felt for the second time that being a teammate with Kyohiko gave him a great sense of security.
He exhaled. "So, we have three Tailed Beasts on our side?"
Rasa understood in his heart. The current Sand Village and Konoha were indeed a community of interests. If Konoha were to fall, the fate of his Sand Village could only be to be carved up by the three great ninja villages. Putting himself in their shoes, if it were him, he would definitely do the same—if you could wipe them out, why leave five great villages?
Therefore, his thinking had completely changed.
"Mhm." Tsunade nodded. "Three Tailed Beasts, including the strongest Nine-Tails and Eight-Tails. We can be considered to be able to contend with them to some extent."
Rasa pondered for a moment. Then, he looked up. "Tsunade, since you’ve been so forthright, I’ll be forthright too. This time I’ve come to Konoha, besides hoping to jointly hold the Chūnin Exams with your village, there are two very important cooperations I hope to discuss."
"Two?" Tsunade was a little surprised. Then, she nodded lightly. "Go ahead. Our two families need to cooperate sincerely now. Basically, we can talk about anything!"
"First, I hope to let the children who came with me attend school in Konoha with Temari," Rasa said quickly. He had been a little hesitant before, but once he started talking, he became eloquent.
"Second, I request that Konoha dispatch a master to help garrison the Sand Village. For example, for example..." Rasa hesitated, but in the end, he still didn’t say that name.
Pakura.
As a ninja who had left the Sand, Pakura obviously had deep feelings for the Sand Village. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have helped them several times. But at the same time, after saying goodbye to Pakura, Rasa also understood. It was definitely not for no reason that Pakura had escaped death. It was highly likely that Konoha had saved her, and after that, she might have gone through some unimaginable years.
In short, now... compared to him, Konoha was probably more likely to be able to command Pakura.
Tsunade was silent for a few seconds. "It’s not good for our Konoha to intervene, is it?"
"I’m talking about Pakura!" Rasa gritted his teeth and said the name directly.
Tsunade looked at him with confusion. "Pakura?"
"What will it take? Giving up the position of Kazekage? I can do it!" Rasa said urgently. The current Sand Village really needed another strong person to be stationed there. Among all the candidates, Pakura was the best choice.
"Kazekage, what do you take the position of Kage for? Even if you want to give it up, I’m afraid the Land of Wind won’t agree. Besides, she herself may not agree. In addition..." Tsunade thought for a moment and said, "I really don’t know about Pakura’s situation."
Rasa was stunned for a second, then realized that the one cooperating with Pakura might not be Konoha, but—Konoha’s Anbu! Ryoho Kyohiko.
And he had been too hasty. Talking about this kind of thing with Tsunade, how could Tsunade possibly agree directly? Rasa was secretly annoyed.
Fortunately, he adjusted extremely quickly and said, "I understand. Then can we reach a cooperation on the first matter?"
"Of course. Actually, our Konoha also has a cooperation we’d like to discuss with your village." A brilliant smile appeared on Tsunade’s face. "To be honest, it might not be a cooperation, but rather us providing technology to help your village improve its strength."
Rasa vaguely felt that something was not right. There’s a catch!
He asked cautiously, "What cooperation? What do we Sand Village need to pay?"
"You provide the materials, and we help you design special puppet ninja tools."
"???" Rasa suspected he had misheard.
Konoha helping the Sand design puppets? Puppet jutsu is theirs!
Rasa’s face gradually became unsightly. "Tsunade, you’re not talking about those puppets, are you?"
"Of course not. Sasori’s puppets were all destroyed in the great war. Only a few were returned to you. We didn’t keep any," Tsunade shook her head. "Our puppet ninja tools are different from your puppet jutsu. They are a completely different technology!"
Another kind of puppet jutsu?
Upon hearing this, Rasa’s face unconsciously showed astonishment. He almost thought he had misheard. But, if Konoha was not joking, then it meant that Konoha had already researched a new puppet jutsu.
A puppet jutsu stronger than theirs! Even... in terms of puppet design and thinking, it might be completely different from the Sand Village’s.
His breathing quickened. If this were true, for the Sand Village, this was definitely worth learning! Even if they only got two or three pieces, it could still greatly improve the Sand’s puppet jutsu.