Just as Orochimaru said.
A few days after Gojo Yoru returned to Konoha, he received a summons from Sarutobi Hiruzen, ending his vacation early.
"Yoru, I'll have to trouble you to make another trip."
Unlike the relaxed casualness of previous times, Sarutobi Hiruzen's expression was full of seriousness: "This old man originally thought this war would end tacitly with Amegakure's withdrawal. Unexpectedly, it has entered the stage of activating strategic weapons."
Hearing this, Gojo Yoru raised an eyebrow: "Did Sunagakure's One-Tail Jinchuriki join the war?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen's answer exceeded Gojo Yoru's expectations.
"No, it's Iwagakure's Five-Tails Jinchuriki who joined the war."
Gojo Yoru looked speechless and couldn't help but ask, "Hokage-sama, do you and Iwagakure's Third Tsuchikage have a rivalry similar to Chiyo of Sunagakure and Hanzo the Salamander of Amegakure?"
"Although there is only a few years' difference between me and Onoki, when he became famous in the Ninja World, I wasn't even a Genin yet." Sarutobi Hiruzen educated Gojo Yoru with information, "Onoki is the grandson of the First Tsuchikage Ishikawa. He has shown outstanding ability since childhood. His teacher was the Second Tsuchikage Mu. He learned the Kekkei Tota Dust Release from the Second Tsuchikage at a very young age and experienced many wars."
"After the Second Mizukage and Second Tsuchikage perished together, he became the Third Tsuchikage."
"By the time this old man succeeded as Hokage, the First Great Ninja War had ended, and deep hatred had formed between countries. There hasn't been a Five Kage Summit in these years, and this old man has never met this Third Tsuchikage. How could there be a rivalry?"
Speaking of this, Sarutobi Hiruzen also looked helpless: "To this day, this old man can't understand why he keeps targeting the Land of Fire? If it were the previous situation, it would be understandable; even this old man wouldn't let such an opportunity pass. But now, Amegakure has withdrawn, and Sunagakure has lost two generals. Before they even decided whether to activate the Jinchuriki, Iwagakure took the lead in activating the Jinchuriki. I don't know what that guy Onoki is thinking?"
Very simple, that little old man is petty.
Gojo Yoru recalled the scene of Onoki being humiliated by Uchiha Madara.
Coming with the goodwill of an alliance, but being humiliated by the host—except for a saint like Senju Hashirama, anyone would hold a grudge for a lifetime.
Previously daring to be angry but not daring to speak was because Uchiha Madara's strength, like Senju Hashirama's, could sweep across the Ninja World.
Now that these two monsters, and those pinnacles of the Five Kage, were "dead," and he mastered the Kekkei Tota Dust Release surpassing Kekkei Genkai, possessing the strongest single-target and area-of-effect attacks, with more than ten thousand Iwa ninjas under his command, and a Kage-level "ally" actively starting a war... how could Onoki, whose side had an imbalanced economy, let go of this opportunity to take revenge and bite off a piece of meat?
Gojo Yoru couldn't help but speculate that the reason Iwagakure took the lead in activating the Jinchuriki was probably worrying that the Third Kazekage, seeing no hope of victory and unwilling to continue sacrificing in vain, would decide to withdraw troops like Amegakure.
Iwagakure activating the Jinchuriki, a strategic weapon, was a signal representing that they would "fight side by side" with Sunagakure, sharing Konoha's firepower for them.
If the fighting continued, Iwagakure might activate a second Jinchuriki, or even Onoki, standing at the pinnacle of the Five Kage, might personally enter the field.
This would give the Third Kazekage the illusion that they could win, also choosing to activate the Jinchuriki or even entering the field personally.
With him, Chiyo, and Bunpuku joining forces, Sunagakure could definitely pierce through the defense line formed by the Sannin and Konoha's White Fang.
Perhaps Sarutobi Hiruzen chose to summon him precisely because he was worried about this?
Thus, Gojo Yoru asked, "Hokage-sama, what do you want me to do? Assist Danzo-sama against the Iwagakure battle line?"
"No, Danzo doesn't need your help there." Sarutobi Hiruzen instructed with a serious face, "Fighting on three fronts for more than a year, every command team knows the enemy's intelligence like the back of their hands. The biggest taboo at this stage is parachuting in a new commander."
"Even Orochimaru and Jiraiya can only offer suggestions on Sakumo and Tsunade's side; they cannot interfere with their command work."
"Similarly, Yoru, you cannot interfere with Danzo's command work. Otherwise, if any accident happens, the consequences will be borne by you alone; even this old man can't help you."
"When you get to Danzo, give him this scroll."
Taking a scroll from the drawer, Sarutobi Hiruzen said to Gojo Yoru: "Yoru, your mission is very simple: assassinate or stall Iwagakure's Five-Tails Jinchuriki. As long as he doesn't use the Tailed Beast Bomb, the mission is considered complete. Besides the Five-Tails Jinchuriki, you don't need to pay attention to anything else. Even Danzo's orders can be ignored; this old man grants you this privilege."
Hearing the last sentence, Gojo Yoru confirmed one thing.
That is, Sarutobi Hiruzen actually knew Shimura Danzo's personality and conduct very well. It was just because they were "good friends" who grew up together, and he needed Shimura Danzo and the Council of Elders to help him suppress the Uchiha Clan, that he had always tacitly allowed this little partner to make small moves.
But when it came to truly important matters, Sarutobi Hiruzen wasn't vague at all.
Gojo Yoru was now the sharpest blade in his hand. To prevent Shimura Danzo from making small moves, Sarutobi Hiruzen didn't even give him usage rights.
This fit Gojo Yoru's intentions perfectly; he didn't want to engage in a battle of wits with Danzo-sama.
If not for the fact that Danzo-sama's wings were not yet fully fledged and he didn't have the ability to trouble Gojo Yoru yet...
Fearful of being targeted by Danzo-sama, Gojo Yoru would kill Danzo-sama first.
"I understand, Hokage-sama."
Gojo Yoru took the scroll from Sarutobi Hiruzen and teleported away.
The Sannin, Konoha's White Fang, and Shimura Danzo all had a Flying Thunder God kunai.
With continuous teleportation, Gojo Yoru soon appeared in a tent.
Shimura Danzo seemed to have received the news of Gojo Yoru's arrival long ago and wasn't surprised by his appearance out of thin air.
Looking at Gojo Yoru, who hadn't been seen for nearly two years and was now taller than him, Shimura Danzo's eyes were very complicated.
Although he knew early on that it was only a matter of time before Gojo Yoru became an ace combatant with the Flying Thunder God Technique...
Shimura Danzo never expected that Gojo Yoru would go from a Genin to an ace combatant in less than two years.
The records created made him, the Hokage's Assistant, pale in comparison.
If not for the gap in age and resume, destining that Gojo Yoru couldn't become a Hokage candidate before twenty, in Shimura Danzo's eyes, his threat level was even greater than Orochimaru and Hatake Sakumo, who killed Chiyo's son and daughter-in-law.
Even now, Gojo Yoru was very much an eyesore.
The more outstanding Gojo Yoru was, the more consolidated Sarutobi Hiruzen's position became, and the smaller his hope of overthrowing him.
Even if Sarutobi Hiruzen made a mistake and had to choose to abdicate, Orochimaru's hope of becoming the Fourth Hokage was greater than his.
Because they both had the support of Tsunade and Gojo Yoru.
The former represented the recognition of the Senju of the Forest and could influence the Daimyo's attitude; the latter provided combat power deterrence support.
Gojo Yoru was not only a Flying Thunder God user but also the "bond" of the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.
Thinking of such a combination, Shimura Danzo felt a sense of powerlessness in his heart.
Before the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki grew up, the Flying Thunder God user had already achieved incredible accomplishments one after another.
When the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki grew up, Shimura Danzo dared not imagine how powerful this pair would be.
What was certain was that besides the First Hokage and the Asura of the Ninja World, no duo in the Ninja World could compare with them.
With Sarutobi Hiruzen pressing on top, Orochimaru competing with him in the next generation, and Gojo Yoru and the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, the strongest duo of the future, in the generation after that... Shimura Danzo felt the position of Hokage seemed to be getting further and further away from him.
Naturally, Gojo Yoru didn't know Shimura Danzo's thoughts.
Teleporting to Shimura Danzo's side, he silently dispelled the intangibility used alongside the Flying Thunder God Technique, then took out the scroll given by Sarutobi Hiruzen and handed it to Shimura Danzo: "Danzo-sama, this is what Hokage-sama asked me to give you."
"Thanks for the trouble."
Shimura Danzo took the scroll with a somewhat cold tone and used the Unsealing Technique to open it.
When he finished reading the contents of the scroll, his brows furrowed slightly, and a trace of displeasure flashed in his eyes.
But he quickly calmed his emotions, closed the scroll and put it aside, then took out another scroll from his sleeve and handed it to Gojo Yoru: "This is the current exposed intelligence on the Five-Tails Jinchuriki. I will have the reconnaissance team and Anbu cooperate with you to help you find his location."
"Sorry to trouble you." Gojo Yoru nodded, took it, and opened it to read.
The current Five-Tails Jinchuriki was the one Gojo Yoru knew well, Han, who made countless contributions to Iwagakure in the original work and was known as the "Steam Ninja."
Among the Five Great Ninja Villages, Konoha was currently recognized as the strongest.
But the ninja village with the most active ninjas wasn't Konoha.
This could be seen from the fact that Gojo Yoru's ninja registration number wasn't five digits yet.
Uzumaki Kushina, who graduated two years later than him, had the ninja registration number 007310.
Currently, the ninja village with the most active ninjas was Iwagakure.
In the original work's Third Great Ninja War, to kill the Third Raikage, Onoki sent ten thousand Iwa ninjas to besiege him.
At that time, Iwagakure was still fighting on two fronts, not only against Kumogakure but also against Konoha.
The reason Iwagakure had so many active ninjas was not only because the terrain of the Land of Earth was easy to defend and hard to attack, nor just because Earth Release allowed burrowing to escape, providing first-class survival ability.
It was more because of Onoki's caution and cherishing of talents.
Just like using the Akatsuki in the original work to help him achieve unknown goals, Onoki wouldn't do things he wasn't confident about, nor would he let his subordinates die in vain.
One of Namikaze Minato's famous battles was killing dozens of Iwagakure ninjas. Onoki immediately issued an order that upon encountering Konoha's Yellow Flash, one could choose to abandon the mission without punishment upon returning to the village.
Unlike Konoha ninjas, where the mission was paramount, and the rescued would even scold the rescuer for saving them instead of prioritizing the mission.
It was this different brainwashing method that gave Iwagakure ninjas the number one survival rate. Even after experiencing the First Great Ninja War, the number of active ninjas was still over ten thousand.
Roshi and Han were similar in age; both had Tailed Beasts implanted in them when they were young. The latter earned the title "Steam Ninja" during the Third Great Ninja War.
And the interval between the Third Great Ninja War and the Second Great Ninja War was only a few years.
Now, the Five-Tails Jinchuriki, Han, was already an adult of twenty-three or twenty-four, an ace combatant of Iwagakure.
According to intelligence collected by reconnaissance teams and Anbu, the Five-Tails Jinchuriki displayed overwhelming power as soon as he arrived on the battlefield.
His Taijutsu was ridiculously strong, able to use steam to burst out powerful strength and speed. The power of a punch or kick could not only shatter the earth but also cover it with Boil Release nature transformation, possessing extremely high temperature and corrosiveness.
Anyone hit head-on, even wearing heavy combat armor, would die instantly.
Those lucky enough to dodge the attack would suffer large areas of burns just by being grazed by the steam.
Moreover, the Five-Tails Jinchuriki could borrow Tailed Beast Chakra, his whole body wrapped in transparent red Chakra, possessing defense that ignored kunai, shuriken, and traps like explosive tags, making Konoha ninjas on the Pot King battle line feel powerless and despairing.
Because of the Jinchuriki characteristic, even Kato Dan, who mastered the Spirit Transformation Technique, dared not possess his body.
With just these means, the Five-Tails Jinchuriki displayed terrifying dominance.
Gojo Yoru quickly finished reading this intelligence and asked Shimura Danzo knowingly: "Can the Five-Tails Jinchuriki transform completely into a Tailed Beast?"
"Don't know." Shimura Danzo shook his head. "Since entering the field, he hasn't even used semi-Tailed Beast transformation. Just borrowing Tailed Beast Chakra makes him an ace combatant. To force out more of his trump cards, we must use human wave tactics against him, but Iwagakure doesn't give us this chance at all."
"However, Kumogakure possesses the method to cultivate Perfect Jinchuriki. It's not ruled out that Iwagakure also has similar means. To prevent this situation, this old man has already separated combat units and support units."
This was the strategic deterrence of a Jinchuriki, second only to Hanzo the Salamander's poison.
After all, after the deaths of Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara, the Tailed Beast Bomb was the S-rank Secret Technique with the largest range and strongest power in the Ninja World.
In the original work's Jinchuriki battle, Tailed Beast Bomb explosions destroyed several small mountains.
One Tailed Beast Bomb could destroy a ninja village.
Even more terrifying was that a Perfect Jinchuriki could fire such a technique continuously.
So, it was no wonder Sarutobi Hiruzen treated this so seriously.
If Uzumaki Kushina hadn't grown up yet, Konoha would also activate the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki now.
Gojo Yoru wasn't surprised by Shimura Danzo's answer.
A confident smile appeared on his face, but he calmly didn't make a "military pledge": "In that case, leave the intelligence gathering to me. Let me meet this Five-Tails Jinchuriki."
"Then it's up to you." Shimura Danzo said expressionlessly.
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