Chapter 161 Cloud Ninja Envoys
The handover procedures completed quite rapidly. Jiraiya assembled all conveniently summoned high-ranking officials and jonin at the mountain fortress. Under Fourth Hokage Namikaze Minato's supervision, the front-line camp supreme commander handover was completed. Then Jiraiya and Minato—this master-student pair—returned to Konoha, leaving Hiruko and Hyuga Ritsu—another master-student pair—to control the front-line camp.
Most jonin quickly dispersed.
In the keep, aside from Hiruko and Ritsu, those remaining were six people: Aburame Shigure, Nara Suzaku, Akimichi Tōtō, Inuzuka Tsume, Kiboku Katana, and Unno Ikkaku. These six composed the front-line command headquarters. The first four's surnames revealed their origins—all elite from various village clans. The latter two were outstanding figures among civilian ninja—both veteran jonin with deep qualifications who'd participated in the Second Shinobi World War.
Hiruko came to the main seat before the folding screen, sitting cross-legged on a cushion. His gaze circled across everyone seated on both sides. In a deep voice: "Everyone, among you are old friends and unfamiliar young faces. So I'll still say a few simple words. Don't worry that my arrival will cause major upheaval. As long as no mistakes occur, everything can continue as before until Jiraiya finishes handling village matters—he should be switched back then."
Everyone remained silent, quietly listening to the Hokage Advisor's speech.
"Of course, considering recent escalation, Cloud ninja have become aggressive for unknown reasons. Perhaps they'll completely attack at some point. When great war erupts, as long as we utterly defeat Cloud ninja, we won't need such standoffs afterward... Speaking of which, has anyone clarified exactly why Cloud ninja went mad?"
Reaching this point, Hiruko naturally posed the question.
The six people seated on both sides exchanged glances. Nara Suzaku—young talent from the Nara clan—cleared his throat lightly. "Hiruko-sama, my apologies. Cloud ninja's intelligence blockade is especially tight. We haven't yet clarified what happened. Currently, we only have unverified information."
Unlike Konoha, Kiri, Suna, and Iwa ninja whose appearances differed little, Cloud ninja were mostly light-skinned or dark-skinned. This meant that even when villages dispatched spies to Cloud ninja, they could often only operate at middle-low levels. Kumogakure's high ranks were without exception light or dark-skinned. Precisely because of this, Kumogakure's intelligence gathering work was notoriously difficult.
"Whatever discoveries—speak freely."
"The situation is this: we captured a prisoner last night. After interrogation, this Cloud ninja disturbance apparently stems from someone assassinating their high-ranking officials. Unclear who died, but Cloud ninja judge we Konoha dispatched assassins against their leadership."
Reaching this point, Nara Suzaku's expression grew strange. Looking at Hiruko: "But we didn't dispatch anyone to infiltrate Cloud ninja territory for assassination. We fundamentally lack such formidable personnel. So... Hiruko-sama, does the village have some arrangement?"
He suspected the village dispatched elite Anbu to secretly infiltrate Cloud ninja territory conducting assassination operations. This wasn't rare—assassinating enemy war faction members had occurred countless times. What proved infuriating was that the village should at least inform the front beforehand!
"We Konoha dispatched assassins against Cloud ninja leadership?"
Hiruko froze, his brow furrowing. Slowly: "To my knowledge, the village hasn't arranged personnel for Cloud ninja assassination activities. At minimum, I as Hokage Advisor haven't accessed related intelligence... Wait!"
He suddenly turned toward Ritsu seated beside him. Master and student's gazes met.
Ritsu shrugged. "Sensei, I said before—Missing-nin Anonymous is very likely seeking revenge. Shimura Danzo was merely one enemy. Since he'd infiltrate the village to kill Danzo, naturally he could also go to Cloud ninja territory for slaughter."
"If that's the case, aren't we taking the blame for Missing-nin Anonymous?"
"No choice. Who told that guy to possess Sharingan and master Wood Release? Whether we're willing or not, we can't shake off this black pot. No one will believe our explanations that he's a rogue ninja. They'll only think we're playing tricks."
Hearing this, Hiruko immediately showed a troubled expression.
Nara Suzaku now widened his eyes. From Hiruko and Ritsu's master-student dialogue, he'd clarified cause and effect. Intelligence about Cloud ninja high-ranking assassinations apparently proved true—but the village didn't orchestrate these assassination operations. Rather, a rogue ninja possessing both Sharingan and Wood Release bloodline limits assassinated Cloud ninja leadership for revenge purposes.
He didn't doubt this matter's authenticity.
Because that rogue ninja simultaneously bearing Sharingan and Wood Release bloodline limits had caused trouble at their defensive line days ago. Colleague Aburame Shigure had participated in combat against that unidentified rogue ninja. Afterward, they'd all visited the scene—that battlefield resembling two giants fighting left them shocked and alarmed.
"In that case, the situation becomes troublesome. If that bastard continues causing chaos on Cloud ninja territory, these black pots all get charged to our Konoha account. I estimate Cloud ninja definitely can't catch Missing-nin Anonymous—ultimately only able to trouble us... Tsk! This truly displeases."
Hiruko clicked his tongue, mood unhappy.
Though once war erupted with Cloud ninja, obtaining the Storm Release bloodline limit would prove more convenient. However, he performed excellently as Hokage Advisor—his sense of belonging to the village had tremendously strengthened. He didn't hope the village would suffer unnecessary losses because of his sake.
Kiboku Katana—seated in the first position on the left—spoke at this moment. "Hiruko, stated this way, Cloud ninja's probability of proactively declaring war is quite high?"
He directly addressed Hiruko's name without honorifics. This unremarkable-looking man as plain as wood was Hiruko's classmate. Both were first-batch graduates from Konoha Ninja Academy—once teammates with Tsunade, one of the Sannin. Therefore, he qualified to address Hiruko's name directly.
Hiruko looked toward his old classmate Kiboku Katana, answering. "Katana, though I'd like to answer no, unfortunately reality won't let me say so. As long as our speculation lacks major errors, Cloud ninja's probability of proactively declaring war is quite high."
Kiboku Katana immediately frowned.
Others likewise showed grave expressions.
Obviously, no one present liked or desired war's arrival. War meant death—perhaps oneself, perhaps relatives and friends. So avoiding war proved best. But current circumstances suggested warfare rekindling probability was somewhat high.
Just then, urgent footsteps came from the stairway. Several seconds later, one of Hiruko's confidants rushed up, kneeling on one knee on the wooden floor, loudly reporting. "Sir, Cloud ninja dispatched an envoy group. They're waiting outside the camp."
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Outside Konoha's camp, four Cloud ninja awaited under numerous Konoha ninja surveillance. The lead Cloud ninja—around forty years old with plain features, wearing a black-gray hat, his left eye covered by an eyepatch—currently used his single right eye to scrutinize everything around him as if no one else existed.
His name was Dodai—Kumogakure jonin, once the Third Raikage's confidant, now deeply valued by the Fourth Raikage. With his intelligent brain and rich experience, he selflessly supported two successive Raikage. Within Kumogakure, he was a pivotal major figure.
Behind him stood three young Cloud ninja—two males, one female. One handsome young man with golden hair and fair skin approached Dodai, speaking softly. "Dodai-sama, the barrier is very tight. I cannot sense anything."
Dodai felt no disappointment. This was the expected answer.
"If you can't sense anything, don't take risks. We're currently outside Konoha's camp. They clearly understand we can't sense anything useful. So doing something doesn't matter. But after entering, remember—don't take risks. Though we're envoys, if we provoke Konoha excessively, they might not follow rules with us. Current Konoha already differs from the Third Hokage's reign."
"Xi, remember—don't casually risk your life. Raikage-sama values you greatly, waiting for you to prove useful later! Never easily discard your life!"
Dodai instructed very seriously.
The golden-haired young man named Xi was among Kumogakure's young generation's foremost talents, deeply valued by Raikage-sama. Recently promoted to Shadow Guard membership. Because his sensory capabilities proved excellent and he excelled at genjutsu, Raikage-sama assigned him as Dodai's guard, coming to the front together to handle incidents occurring here.
However, this incident's handling difficulty proved somewhat high.
Dodai released an imperceptible soft sigh.
The front-line camp suffered ambush by Konoha's top-tier elites. Multiple Cloud ninja including Deputy Commander Troy died. Post-incident investigation discovered on-site Wood Release deployment traces. Simultaneously, Troy's corpse bore signs of Sharingan genjutsu control.
When this news transmitted back to the village, Raikage-sama summoned them for meetings. The ultimately discussed result—avoid war if possible, attempt using negotiation to resolve this conflict.
Though in Konoha, Iwa, and other villages' eyes, Cloud ninja were warmongering thugs, actually—as the Five Great Villages' second-strongest after Konoha—Cloud ninja's widespread combativeness was factual. However, Kumogakure's upper echelon weren't muscle-brained brutes.
Precisely because village-wide combativeness prevailed, Kumogakure's upper echelon proved extraordinarily cautious and restrained—not easily provoking war.
Otherwise, the blood debt of the Third Raikage being besieged by Iwa ninja, ultimately dying from exhaustion, would have already sparked war with them. The reason for endurance was deep wariness of Iwagakure's Third Tsuchikage—wariness of that shinobi world's unique Dust Release bloodline elimination surpassing ordinary bloodline limits.
They judged that warring with Iwagakure now might exploit their substantial strength for slight advantages—but these slight advantages completely followed the "kill one thousand enemies, lose eight hundred" path.
Therefore, after deliberation, Cloud ninja's upper echelon ultimately chose endurance, not rashly warring with Iwa ninja. Instead, they chose stationing forces at the Frost Country border. This served two purposes: first, dispatching troublemakers and unstable factors away, facilitating the newly ascended Fourth Raikage's power consolidation. Second, helping Kiri ninja entangle Konoha's strength. If Konoha showed decline, they could exploit the chaos, simultaneously weakening Konoha while strengthening themselves.
However, only the first purpose ultimately realized. The Fourth Raikage smoothly consolidated village strength, grasping power—now genuinely the Raikage.
But the second purpose—helping Kiri ninja entangle Konoha's strength—completely failed. Kiri ninja suffered devastating defeat. Konoha never revealed any vulnerabilities during this period. Jiraiya—one of the Sannin—and Yellow Flash Namikaze Minato continuously garrisoned the Yu no Kuni border, giving them no exploitable opportunities.
Precisely Kiri ninja's crushing defeat made Cloud ninja realize Konoha's foundation remained deep. Even having warred with all four surrounding Great Villages, even with tremendous internal upheavals within Konoha—Konoha hadn't consequently weakened.
Currently, Konoha's top-tier experts actually increased—Jiraiya and Orochimaru among the Sannin, Yellow Flash Namikaze Minato, White Yaksha Hyuga Ritsu, Body Flicker Uchiha Shisui, plus Konoha's Nine-Tails jinchuriki. Konoha's strength proved formidable. Warring with Konoha now would likely struggle to gain advantages.
Therefore, after convening meetings, Raikage-sama decided attempting negotiation methods to resolve this conflict. After all, fundamentally, they held justification this time—Konoha struck first, killing Troy and others.
However, Dodai's mood proved anything but relaxed. Exchanges between two villages never meant whoever held justification necessarily gained advantages. Konoha wouldn't honestly admit their actions. Moreover, Konoha might even harbor thoughts of proactively provoking war... In any case, this destined to be difficult negotiations.
Of course, if simple, Raikage-sama wouldn't have dispatched him.
Just as Dodai pondered how to begin negotiations, a Konoha ninja squad approached. Leading them was precisely Nara Suzaku. This intelligent Nara clansman was dispatched by Hiruko to escort Kumogakure's envoys.
Nara Suzaku approached, speaking clearly. "Dodai-dono, I am Nara Suzaku, dispatched by Hokage Advisor's orders to welcome everyone. Please follow me. Hokage Advisor awaits you."
Dodai froze, instinctively asking, "Hokage Advisor?"
He'd thought he'd meet Jiraiya—one of the Sannin. He completely hadn't anticipated waiting for him was Konoha Village's recently appointed Hokage Advisor Hiruko—a guy without much reputation, completely risen to power by teaching an excellent student.
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