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Konoha.
While Kenshi was developing the soul possession technique, Danzo set out with a large team of Root ninjas.
To scheme against someone like the "White Fang of Konoha", you definitely need to do a lot of preparation beforehand, otherwise, it's easy to be noticed.
Once you're noticed, the plan will be difficult to continue.
So, according to the plan of the Third Hokage and Danzo.
Danzo first secretly entered the Rain Country to find out the basic situation of Akatsuki.
The suspicion that Akatsuki was secretly supported by Iwagakure wasn't just an excuse for the Third Hokage to scheme against Hatake Sakumo. He genuinely had suspicions.
After all, Akatsuki's role in the Rain Country was too unusual.
So, before scheming against Hatake Sakumo, they had to figure out the situation with Akatsuki first.
Once he had a clear understanding of Akatsuki, Danzo began to look for the closest towns on the border between the Land of Fire and the Rain Country to target for attacks.
Once the towns were chosen and the corresponding distances calculated, they could start the plan.
In the blink of an eye.
A month later.
The Third Hokage in Konoha received intelligence from Danzo sent back from the Rain Country.
Akatsuki didn't have any support from Iwagakure or other major Hidden Villages. It was just a small organization created by a naive kid named Yahiko in the Rain Country. It was nothing to worry about.
Danzo had also identified several border towns as targets. All that was left was for Hatake Sakumo to arrive.
So, that night, the Third Hokage secretly summoned Hatake Sakumo and told him to lead an Anbu team to secretly investigate the secret relationship between Akatsuki and Iwagakure in the Rain Country.
"Sakumo, all the Hidden Villages are preparing for war now. This mission could be the spark that ignites a war between Iwagakure and Konoha. So, you must keep it absolutely confidential. No matter what you find, you must never reveal it. Only we can know."
"Otherwise, if the two Hidden Villages start fighting, who knows how many comrades will be sacrificed."
The Third Hokage pretended to be concerned for the Konoha villagers and gave Hatake Sakumo an absolute confidentiality reason beforehand. Once the plan was successful, Hatake Sakumo would return to Konoha and face the public opinion. He couldn't reveal the contents of the mission.
Then, Hatake Sakumo's silence would be taken as agreement, which would disappoint the villagers who once liked him.
Once this disappointment accumulated to a certain extent, it would turn into hatred.
By then, the talk of him being the next Hokage would naturally disappear.
After a while, he would secretly summon Hatake Sakumo back to the Anbu. At that time, Hatake Sakumo would only be able to remain hidden in the shadows forever, becoming the sharpest White Fang in his hand, eliminating any enemies who were unfavorable to Konoha.
At this time, neither the Third Hokage nor Danzo had considered killing Hatake Sakumo.
They probably didn't expect Hatake Sakumo to commit suicide either.
Of course, none of this had happened yet.
It was too early to say what the future held.
"Yes, Hokage-sama, I will definitely keep it a secret to my death."
It has to be said that the Third Hokage's outward appearance was too deceptive. Hatake Sakumo didn't realize at all that this was a scheme against him. He accepted the Third Hokage's mission with a determined look and set off for the Rain Country with an Anbu team that the Third Hokage had arranged that night.
Meanwhile.
The Hidden Sand Village.
A team of three ninjas was also advancing towards the Rain Country, facing the wind and sand.
"Kazeyuki-sama, why would Hanzo tolerate the existence of Akatsuki?"
Of the three ninjas from the Hidden Sand Village, two were older, about twenty years old, and one was very young, seemingly only fifteen years old. But one of the older two used the term "sama" when asking the youngest.
The young Hidden Sand ninja, who was respectfully addressed as Kazeyuki-sama, was handsome. He had white hair, which was rare in the Hidden Sand Village. He carried a samurai sword at his waist. He looked less like a ninja and more like a wandering samurai who was skilled in swordsmanship.
The young man's expression was calm. Although he was young, his face had a natural air of composure. He shook his head slightly and said softly, "I don't know. That's precisely why we're going to the Rain Country this time. What kind of organization is Akatsuki, and why would Hanzo, who is revered as a demigod in the ninja world, tolerate the emergence of a ninja organization in the Rain Country that doesn't belong to the Hidden Rain Village?"
"We need to know the secrets behind it."
After the Warring States Period ended, the era of the Hidden Villages rose, and the system of one country, one Hidden Village was deeply ingrained in people's minds.
The existence of Akatsuki was like a ninja organization suddenly emerging in their Land of Wind. Would the Hidden Sand Village tolerate ninjas who didn't belong to the Hidden Sand Village being active in the Land of Wind?
Absolutely not.
Once such a ninja organization emerged in the Land of Wind, it would mean a declaration of war against the Hidden Sand Village. Only one of them could survive.
Logically, the Hidden Rain Village should have reacted the same way as their Hidden Sand Village and destroyed Akatsuki.
But Akatsuki grew stronger in the Rain Country, even attracting the attention of the Five Great Hidden Villages. Hanzo, who was revered as a demigod in the ninja world, remained indifferent. This couldn't help but make the upper echelons of the Hidden Sand Village think.
Why wasn't Akatsuki afraid of Hanzo?
Why didn't Hanzo take action to destroy Akatsuki?
From these two whys, the upper echelons of the Hidden Sand Village quickly thought that Akatsuki might have the secret support of Konoha or Iwagakure.
Otherwise, it was hard to explain why Hanzo didn't take action?
With the strength of Hanzo and the Hidden Rain Village, Akatsuki wouldn't be a match.
So, the upper echelons of the Hidden Sand Village finally sent their village's young genius ninja, Kazeyuki, a fifteen-year-old genius ninja with the title of "Wind Walker", with two elite chūnin to investigate Akatsuki in the Rain Country.
The Land of Fire and the Land of Wind, which border the Rain Country, both sent ninjas to investigate the emergence of Akatsuki. Did the Land of Earth, which also borders the Rain Country, send anyone?
The answer was, of course, they did.
And among the people sent by Iwagakure was an old acquaintance of Kenshi's.
"Hito-san, you should go back. If Teacher finds out, he'll be worried."
"I don't want to. I've finally come out. I don't want to be locked up again. And you're here, Ishi. Old Man doesn't need to worry."
"But..."
"Don't 'but' me. If you don't say anything and I don't say anything, no one will know. Or are you going to betray me?"
On a mountain road in the Land of Earth, a girl whose face showed no trace of the burn scars from Black Lightning, stood with her hands behind her back, her upper body slightly leaning forward, her pair of pearl-like, jet-black, bright eyes fixed on her younger brother, who was half a head shorter than her.
"I... I wouldn't, of course!"
The boy, called Ishi by the girl, quickly shook his head, stammering.
He was only fifteen years old. At this moment, looking at the two soft mounds that were suddenly close, even the black tight-fitting clothes couldn't contain their large, round fullness. His slightly dark face turned red to his ears. He subconsciously lowered his head, not daring to look at his teacher's most beautiful daughter, Hito-san. He wouldn't betray such a beautiful and sexy girl.
Hito straightened up and smiled, "That's right. Let's go. We can't delay the mission."
With that, Hito grabbed her younger brother's hand and ran towards the Rain Country.
The younger brother, who was being dragged along by the hand, had completely fallen for Hito-san's charm. He had completely forgotten the mission that the Third Tsuchikage had subtly conveyed to all the ninjas in the village.
No matter who it was, if they encountered Hito outside the village, they were to abandon their mission and prioritize bringing Hito back to the village.
Although Ōnoki didn't explicitly say this mission, everyone in Iwagakure knew.
This showed how much Ōnoki loved and feared his daughter, Hito.
Why was he afraid?
It was because Hito had been captured by Kenshi and almost died. It scared Ōnoki. He didn't dare to let his daughter leave the village again.
He was afraid that she would be in danger again. After all, she had been captured in the Land of Earth last time.
So, Hito was always restricted by Ōnoki and couldn't leave Iwagakure.
This time, Hito had sneaked out while Ōnoki was visiting the Daimyo.
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P@TREON
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