Escape From Konoha

Thick black smoke rose over the plains.

This was a peaceful village before, but now it has become full of potholes and turned into miserable ruins.

Looking at the village that had been wiped out one step ahead of time, the Xuanyuan people headed by Zong Nan stood in the ruins, only to see countless villagers lying on the ground, and no one survived.

It was obvious that the village had been completely wiped out.

And the speed of destruction is very fast.

The extremely violent class-type chakra still lingers in the air, indicating the power of the person who struck him.

This is the Village of Sugi, the village where Xuan Yuan's employers are located. Now it has been destroyed, which somewhat caught Mushi Man and others off guard.

And the person who did it, even if he didn't deliberately guess, knew who did it.

Lei Ying was afraid of the explosion insects of the Xuan Yuans, and he would definitely not come to cause trouble for them without being completely sure.

But Sugzhi Village is different. Facing the attack of the fourth generation of Raikage, they have no strength to resist at all. It is also reasonable for the fourth generation of Raikage to vent the humiliation they received from Xuanyuanzhong on Sugino Village. middle.

This is probably the sorrow of the weak in the times.

"What to do next? Will the mission continue?"

Fire Man asked softly.

This was the first time he encountered such a troublesome task. Before their task was completed, their employer was killed first.

The body of the elder from Sugi Village was also among the crowd, with his eyes wide open and his eyes wide open.

"The mission has been interrupted. No one paid, and it's not worth the loss to provoke the fourth generation of Raikage. Otherwise, we won't even get back the money... No, it's a loss-making business now."

After all, the only way the Xuan Yuans can deal with the Raikage is the Exploding Bug. But the problem is that although the Exploding Bug is powerful, it is also very expensive.

Now even if they get back the scrolls of secret techniques from Shan Zhicun, no one will pay them. As for the several million taels of deposit that Shan Zhicun placed on the underground black market, it should be regarded as a little interest. After all, they had made Raikage and others suffer a lot before, so they were worthy of the deposit price.

Most bounty hunters wouldn't dare stroke a tiger's beard.

As for dealing with the fourth generation of Raikage again, Xuan Yuanzhong would not go to find the trouble of the fourth generation of Raikage just for the deposit of a few million taels, it was purely uncomfortable in the past.

After all, their mission is not to protect Sugzhi Village, but to retrieve the secret art scrolls of Sugzhi Village. The demise of Sugzhi Village has nothing to do with Xuan Yuanzhong.

It's just that the village of Sugi was destroyed and no one paid even after the mission was completed. That was the problem.

In the final analysis, Suginomura is too weak.

As for the weak, life and death can only be controlled by the strong.

To Sugi Nomura, Raikage is a strong person who can determine their life and death.

Therefore, Xuan Yuanzhong's mission cannot be regarded as a failure, but because the employer was killed, the mission process was abnormal. The underground black market will not record a mission failure in Xuan Yuanzhong's mission record.

"so be it."

The other four people could only shrug their shoulders and did not object.

Facing the Fourth Raikage was indeed very stressful.

The main reason is that the speed is too fast. Even if they have cultivated natural energy, they can barely see Raikage's movement trajectory clearly. If there is a protracted battle, they must lose the battle.

"Anyway, they've already paid the deposit, let them go to the ground, it's not good to expose corpses in the wilderness. Soil man, you are the only one among us who knows how to use earth escape ninjutsu. I'll leave this matter to you Done."

Insect Man ordered.

The native man did not object. It was not difficult for him to bury the corpses of hundreds of people. At most, it would waste some chakra.

"I didn't expect Raikage's revenge to be so decisive. A village with hundreds of people will be destroyed as soon as it is destroyed. It seems that the country of Sugi will be in chaos for a while. Unfortunately, the military has no plans to deploy in the country of Sugi for the time being."

This kind of thing caught the Xuan Yuans off guard, but because of this, they had a deeper understanding of the tyranny of great powers.

The rules are set by the five major countries, but that does not mean that the five major countries will actually abide by the rules.

I believe that when this matter is dealt with later, the Daimyo of Sugino Country will not dare to target the Raikage. At most, he will have some incompetent resentment in his heart.

"This is a contest of national power. Everyone can argue at the negotiating table because they recognize each other's strength, they will not act rashly, and they will think twice before doing anything. On the contrary, if you don't even give room for negotiation, then you can only It’s become a sad topic.”

There are too many examples like Suginomura in the ninja world.

The same was true in the Rain Kingdom in the past.

The big country takes the Land of Rain as its battlefield, and has absolutely no intention of negotiating with the Country of Rain. Akatsuki ran around on the battlefield in the past. No matter how much he wanted to end the war, he still couldn't shake the determination of the big country. go.

The only face, Sansho Hanzo, was eventually framed by Konoha's Orochimaru and Danzo, and died in the hands of the Sunagakure ninja.

As a result, the status of the Kingdom of Rain has declined again and again.

Even if he is as strong as Akatsuki, he can only huddle in Yuyin Village now, under the breath of the big country, and endure until the time is right.

Why can the Kingdom of Ghosts be recognized by the Five Shadows at the Five Shadows Conference? No matter how unwilling the Five Shadows are, they cannot ignore the power of the Kingdom of Ghosts.

Even though Sunagakure took the lead in convening the Five Kage Conference, he still had to make compromises with the Demon Country.

Even though the kingdom of ghosts occupies a huge share in the western continent, as long as the bottom line of Feng and Tu is not touched, they can only turn a blind eye.

It is because the country of ghosts is powerful enough.

They could not ignore the power of the Uchiha clan's Mangekyō Sharingan.

It was impossible to ignore the power of the forbidden technique that could annihilate thousands of sand ninjas in an instant.

Let people know that even without the tailed beasts, the country of ghosts still has the power to match or even surpass the tailed beasts, and can compete with the great powers.

With such a deterrent, even if it is not a big country or the Five Shadows, the big country and the Five Shadows must consider the stance of the Ghost Country.

After a while, Tuo buried the corpses of hundreds of Sugino Village villagers and returned to the queue.

"Now that it's over, let's go."

The deal with Shan Zhicun ended here, and in the end he helped Shan Zhicun collect the corpses, so that their corpses would not be buried in the belly of the beast. Zong Nan thought that the Xuanyuan people had done their best and did not owe Shanzhi Village anything.

◎

In a single room of a barbecue restaurant.

The table was in a mess, both meat and vegetables had been wiped out.

Shiraishi patted his belly, exhaled happily, and smiled at Tsunade: "It feels like I haven't eaten so happily for a long time, but I didn't expect that after so many years, Tsunade-sensei, you are still so young. I still listen to you. It is said that Tsunade-sensei once combined the secret techniques of the Shiggou Forest to create her own medical ninjutsu."

"That guy is really willing to talk about anything."

Tsunade took a sip of tea, rinsed her mouth, and then said in an unhappy tone.

She and Baishi were both contractors of the Three Holy Lands Shigu Forest, so they were actually from the same sect. Unfortunately, because of the defection incident, the two of them parted ways. Even if there is a contract with the living snake as a link, there is basically no contact.

"After all, Tsunade-sensei also found out a lot about me from the living beetle, didn't she?"

Shiraishi smiled.

For some things, Shiraishi did not impose any restrictions on live dragons, so Tsunade still knew some things about Shiraishi.

For example, he learned the magic that does not belong to the Three Holy Lands system, or he learned the magic of Shigu Forest that few people have mastered for thousands of years.

Even Tsunade, who signed a contract with Shigulin in advance, only had a partial understanding of this kind of magic.

Finding that he couldn't get through the celestial arts system of Shigulin, he had no choice but to combine the celestial arts information given by the living dragon to create his own secret medical ninjutsu.

As for the specific power of the secret medical ninjutsu, Shiraishi was unable to understand anything.

Because it involves Tsunade's core secrets and the living snakes that comply with the contract, even Shiraishi can't get any useful information from the living snakes without Tsunade's instructions.

And contract and friendship are not in conflict.

"Although I learned something from the living dragon, before the war in the Kingdom of Wind, I didn't know that you lived in the Kingdom of Ghosts."

Tsunade glanced at Shiraishi with a meaningful look.

Although she knew that the Kingdom of Demons had a strong medical system very early on, she had never connected the Kingdom of Demons with Shiraishi.

Because she didn't dare to say that she knew everything about Bai Shi, but she still knew most of the situation.

This is what she found strange.

When did Shiraishi become associated with the Kingdom of Ghosts?

Shiraishi, who has always lived in Konoha, except when he was in the White Fang Team, would go out to perform missions. Most of the time he just stayed in Konoha Village and had no time to contact the Kingdom of Ghosts at all.

What's more, the country of ghosts is the country of witches.

Generally speaking, it is impossible for a miko in the Kingdom of Demons to easily accept a traitorous ninja.

As a result, Shiraishi got involved with the top leaders of the Kingdom of Demons, carried out military changes in the Kingdom of Demons, and incorporated the ninjas of the Kingdom of Demons into the country's system, thus opening up a new path.

Compared with the one-country-one-village system, strictly speaking, the village and the country are combined based on the integration of interests.

It seems to be the same system as the Kingdom of Ghosts, but the essence is very different.

"This question is not unanswerable. Because when I was in Konoha, I initially chose two countries, and the Kingdom of Demons was just one of them. The other one was also a neutral country, which was the iron country where the Five Shadows Conference was held. country."

Because among the neutral countries, only these two countries are the most special.

Needless to say, the special nature of shrine maidens. After the daimyo system was abolished, shrine maidens became daimyo essentially not to concentrate power and accumulate wealth, because for shrine maidens, although power and money are daily necessities, they are not necessities.

They exist only to suppress monsters for the ninja world.

Even if the Kingdom of Ghosts is destroyed one day in the future, the mission of the shrine maiden will still be carried out, and no country will interfere.

The Kingdom of Iron is the kingdom of warriors.

It possesses military power that is second to none among the great powers.

These are two countries that Shiraishi has been considering for a long time.

Tsunade looked at Shiraishi strangely. So, this kid didn't leave Konoha on a whim, but had a plan?

This made Tsunade feel a bit dissatisfied. Although the White Fang matter was indeed wrongly dealt with by the higher-ups, these alone were not enough reasons for defecting.

Besides, he still brought members of the Uchiha and Hyuga clans with him.

This also led to the Third Ninja War. Konoha not only had to deal with problems within the village, but also had to fight hard against enemies outside.

It was not until the rise of Minato and Orochimaru that he successfully eliminated Sunagakure's threat to Konoha on the battlefield of Rain Country that the situation in Konoha improved.

Otherwise, Konoha could have let go and let Uchiha and Hinata go to the front line to fight, ending the battle early and avoiding heavy casualties later.

The most annoying thing is that Hyuga Ayane, as a rebellious ninja, also reached a high-profile cooperation with the Third Tsuchikage of Iwagakure. On the battlefield of the Land of Grass, Jiraiya suffered so much that he was forced back to the Land of Fire. The towns on the border of the Fire Nation also suffered heavy losses.

These are all the bitter fruits brought about by Shiraishi's defection, and Konoha has to bear them alone.

It is also conceivable that the senior management was furious with the Baishi trio and wanted to kill them quickly.

"Then why did you choose the Kingdom of Ghosts in the end?"

"A long time ago, Ruri's parents were engaged in business in the Kingdom of Demons under the arrangement of the Uchiha clan. Teacher Tsunade must also know the name of the Aster Flower Chamber of Commerce. The president of the chamber of commerce is Ruri's parents. . And the two of them reached a business cooperation with the witches of the Ghost Country very early on, bringing economic prosperity to the Ghost Country. Because of this relationship, I went to the Ghost Country to develop."

Very real problem.

If it were not for the connection with the Uchiha clan, it would not be such a simple matter to gain the trust of the miko from the Kingdom of Demons.

The same is true in the Kingdom of Iron.

After defecting, it will definitely be very difficult to get started.

But with the relationship with the Uchiha clan, things are completely different.

Once the most basic survival and safety issues are solved, no matter how difficult the next step is, it will be easier than the beginning.

Tsunade's eyes twitched, a little surprised.

Not only Shiraishi, but also the Uchiha clan also had the idea of ​​​​leaving Konoha.

After all, someone from the Uchiha clan actually established such a huge chamber of commerce in the Kingdom of Demons, but Konoha knew nothing about it.

Rather than saying that Konoha's intelligence system is poor, it is better to say that the Uchiha clan has long had the idea of ​​establishing a separate mountain.

It's just that she can't judge this kind of thing.

Even if the Uchiha clan makes such a choice, it makes sense if you think about it carefully.

It was fine when her second grandfather Senju Tobirama was managing Konoha, but in the hands of her teacher Hiruzen Sarutobi, the relationship between Konoha and the Uchiha clan gradually deteriorated due to Danzo and Genbe's serious rejection of the Uchiha clan. stand up.

Danzo even sent Nebe ninjas to assassinate Uchiha Ruri in the past. As a result, Shiraishi and Hinata Ayane were also affected at the time and almost died under Nebe's conspiracy.

This shows Danzo's rejection of the Uchiha clan.

In view of this, it is not surprising that the Uchiha clan had the idea of ​​rebelling against Konoha in the past.

"So, this time the Uchiha clan is exterminated..."

What did Tsunade think of? After all, the genocide of the Uchiha clan was really weird.

She had only heard of Uchiha Itachi, but had never seen him in person.

But she understood that the power of the Uchiha clan could not be shaken by an Uchiha Itachi.

Even if he awakens the Mangekyō Sharingan.

So, there must be a big problem here.

If there is a game going on between the Kingdom of Demons and the top management of Konoha...

Wait, that's not right either.

If it is really the Kingdom of Demons that is behind the scenes, it will definitely not allow the Uchiha clan to be exterminated. After that, Konoha will not always be peaceful, and will definitely fall into complicated civil strife.

If the Uchiha clan is backed by Shiraishi and other Demon Country ninjas, Konoha will definitely fall into an internal war after the Uchiha clan is exterminated. It won't end hastily.

Tsunade glanced at Shiraishi with inquiring eyes.

She couldn't stop thinking about these problems.

Because this is related to the foundation of Konoha.

Uchiha and Senju joined forces and founded Konoha.

When the Uchiha clan suffered genocide, it was equivalent to someone cutting off one of Konoha's arms, causing Konoha's strength to plummet.

"I was also shocked when I heard that the Uchiha clan was annihilated, because after Liuli left with some of the Uchiha clan and me, he has been severing contact with the Uchiha clan. So, what happened within the Uchiha clan later, on my side do not know either."

Shiraishi sighed.

This is indeed a pity.

The main reason was that the Uchiha Sifang was too cruel to offend Ruri.

Let Liuli be completely disappointed with the Uchiha of Konoha, cut off all ties, and seek development in the Kingdom of Demons.

After that, Ruri was also very determined not to have any dealings with Konoha Uchiha.

But the family love that blood is thicker than water cannot be changed no matter what.

Otherwise, Liuli would not have tried his best to arrange for the orphans of Konoha Uchiha to survive in the Kingdom of Demons.

Tsunade fell silent, she believed Shiraishi's words.

Because before and after the Uchiha genocide incident, if Shiraishi was really behind the scenes, such a tragedy would not happen to the Uchiha clan.

If Shiraishi and Ghost Country didn't dominate from behind, then everything would make sense.

As for who is really behind the scenes, Tsunade already has suspicions in her mind.

Danzo Shimura.

Only he most likely.

Teacher Hiruzen Sarutobi is already old and will not be so decisive. He will only wait until things break out before solving them.

Mitomon Yan and Zhuanju Koharu have always been fools on the fence, fearful and afraid of Uchiha's power, and will not express their opinions easily.

Only Shimura Danzo is the one who can really do this ruthlessly and has the ability to do so.

In the Third Ninja War, this guy joined forces with Orochimaru and betrayed Hanzo without hesitation, resulting in Hanzo's death at the hands of the Suna Ninja, which shows his cold-blooded nature.

In this way, Uchiha Itachi may just be a pawn arranged by Danzo.

I am afraid that even if he defected to Konoha, Uchiha Itachi is likely to still be in contact with Danzo.

As for whether her teacher Hiruzen Sarutobi knew the truth about Itachi Uchiha, Tsunade didn't know.

"Then, what about the Hyuga Clan? As far as I know, your relationship with Hyuga Ayane should not be enough for her to risk her death and defect to the village with you."

Tsunade wondered.

Forget about the Uchiha clan, why did the Hyuga clan, which was deeply trusted by the top leaders, defect to Konoha.

This has always puzzled Tsunade.

"Tsunate-sensei, do you know how strong the desire for freedom is for a person who once gained freedom but was deprived of it in the end, and how much the branch family hates the clan family?"

Shiraishi asked this question in return.

"Is this the reason why she and you left Konoha?"

"Of course not. Although it may seem a bit unbelievable to you, Ayane became mine shortly after she was imprinted with the Caged Bird Curse. It was also at that time that she knew my intention to leave Konoha."

puff!

Tsunade, who was drinking tea, squirted out.

Shizune also widened her eyes and looked at Shiraishi in disbelief.

Tsunade coughed violently, pointed at Shiraishi tremblingly, and was speechless for a moment.

Not long after planting the Caged Bird Curse Seal, are you planning to leave Konoha?

How old were Shiraishi and Hinata Ayane at that time?

Six years old?

Planning to defect to Konoha at the age of six?

Tsunade wanted to yell at Shiraishi, but found Shiraishi's calm and calm face, which didn't look like he was lying, and she regained her composure.

But I couldn't calm down.

Because she had no idea why Shiraishi, who was only six years old, had the idea of ​​defecting to Konoha.

If Shiraishi is a spy trained by other ninja villages since childhood, it can be said to be excusable.

But that's not the problem.

Shiraishi's rise in the Kingdom of Ghosts also verified this. He is not a spy sent to Konoha by any village, he is a native Konoha ninja.

"Why do you have this idea? Konoha should treat you well. Or maybe it's because Danzo assassinated you in the past... Wait, that's not right. Danzo assassinated you because you graduated from the ninja school. , what happened after joining Sakumo’s team.”

Tsunade looked at Shiraishi like she was a freak.

She thought she already knew a lot about Shiraishi, but now she realized that she knew very little about this student.

Shiraishi did not answer, but asked instead: "Tsunade-sensei, how does the current Demon Country compare to the Fire Country?"

When Tsunade heard Shiraishi's question, she thought at first that Shiraishi was showing off.

Because of the rise of the Ghost Kingdom, it only took more than ten years to reach the level of the five major countries in terms of military strength. Even the Kingdom of Wind had to make compromises with the Kingdom of Ghosts.

I have to say that in the past, this was something Tsunade didn't dare to think about.

Even Hanzo, the Sanshouyu who gave her the name of Sannin, could not transform the Kingdom of Rain. Instead, because of Hanzo's power, the great powers were even more afraid of the Kingdom of Rain, making it difficult for the Kingdom of Rain to live in peace.

Hanzo, on the other hand, had no power to resist.

The five major nations cannot defeat Hanzo, but they can target the Kingdom of Rain to contain Hanzo.

This is also a kind of strength.

It is a power that even Hanzo cannot resist.

But the Kingdom of Ghosts has completed the dream that Hanzo could not complete.

Tsunade can predict that it will only be a matter of time before the Demon Country becomes the sixth largest country.

To be invited to join the Five Kage Conference, the shadows of the five major countries have recognized the ninja power of the Demon Country and can no longer treat the Demon Country as a small country.

Otherwise, the Kingdom of Wind will not lose face at the Five Shadows Conference and continue to give in and compromise. Instead, it will immediately launch a counterattack against the Kingdom of Ghosts and destroy it in one fell swoop.

Therefore, this is not Shiraishi showing off, but simply stating an objective fact.

A fact that causes great headaches for all major countries.

"What do you want to say?"

"Let's talk about people's livelihood. What do you think is missing between a big country and a ghost country?"

This sentence is very strange.

The ninja world has always respected the five great nations.

The comparison is also about what is missing between small countries and big countries.

Currently, various countries do not recognize the Kingdom of Oni as the sixth largest country, but Shiraishi said that the most powerful Kingdom of Fire lacked something compared to the Kingdom of Oni, which made Tsunade feel very strange.

It felt like the Fire Nation was being despised.

Even Konoha, which relied on the Village of Fire for survival, was despised.

This kind of contempt is not contempt for strength, but contempt for a deeper level.

"People's livelihood..."

Tsunade thought about what she had seen and heard in the Demon Country in the past.

Even if she doesn't like the tough style of the Kingdom of Ghosts, she has to admit that the Kingdom of Ghosts is far ahead of other countries in its treatment of people's living standards.

Roads extend in all directions, and every town has important facilities such as hospitals, schools, and security departments.

Domestic bandits were wiped out.

Bounty hunters in the underground black market cannot run wild in the Kingdom of Ghosts.

Taxes in the Demon Country are the lowest among the entire ninja world.

Even when Maitreya, the previous generation of priests, was in power, taxes were not high.

While civilians in various countries are still struggling for survival, civilians in the Ghost Country no longer have to worry about survival. They send their children to school to learn various life knowledge.

Many civilians in the Fire Country just cultivate the land repeatedly every year and hand over most of the food to the nobles and daimyo.

Once the harvest is done, you can leave a little more surplus grain.

If the harvest is not good, we can only live a tight life for a year.

When there is a war, the people on the border of the Fire Country will also migrate and will not come back until the war is over.

After such a comparison, Tsunade felt that the civilians of the Fire Country were really shabby.

The most important thing is that every town in the Kingdom of Ghosts has completed such a sound system, and it is not limited to some large cities.

Tsunade noticed this problem very early.

But there is nothing that can be done about it.

Because if you want to make the Kingdom of Ghosts like this, the amount of money required is an astronomical figure.

First of all, civilians cannot afford to pay. Ninja Village needs to develop military power and it is impossible to invest money in the development of people's livelihood.

That can only be taken from the money bags of daimyo, nobles, and those big businessmen.

"You tell me this, what do you mean?"

Tsunade was a little irritated. She didn't know what Shiraishi was planning when he told her this.

"Is the one-country-one-village system really correct? What did the first Hokage bring to the ninja world when he established this system?"

Shiraishi still didn't give a definite answer, but stared at Tsunade closely, piercing her with sharp eyes, and asked this very pointed question.