Chapter 76 Seizing fate by the throat
Rain ninjas are actually easier to defeat than Root.
The reason why Shiba Kiyokawa was personally responsible for suppressing the Rain Ninjas and handed over the tough roots to his subordinates was because he was worried that his subordinates would not have the courage to take action against the nobles at the critical moment.
After all, the ninja group has been disciplined for too long.
Few people have the courage and guts to break the rules.
Even Hanzo of the Salamander, who was known as the Lord of the Rain Country and the Demigod of the Ninja World, did not have the courage to do such a thing when he was young.
In the past, Hanzo implemented a management model similar to that of a gang society in the north.
Hanzo himself is the boss of the society, and those nobles who have been ennobled are the masters of various halls.
As long as these nobles pay their dues to Hanzo on time, are willing to openly acknowledge his status as the boss and sing the praises of the demigod's reputation, Hanzo will not make things difficult for them, and will even take the initiative to protect their safety.
The advantage of doing this is that it avoids the trouble of grassroots management.
Even when Hanzo is middle-aged and no longer ambitious, he can still lie comfortably in the 900-square-meter house and watch the flowers bloom and fall and the clouds roll and unfold in the courtyard every day.
As for the life and death of people outside and the suffering of the Rain Country, none of them have any impact here.
On this day, Salamander Hanzo had just watched a geisha perform flower arrangement, and then he invited a famous craftsman into the house to show him a famous sword.
Just when they were getting excited, a Rain Ninja came in without knowing the situation and reported in a panic.
"Master Hanzo, something bad has happened!"
Salamander Hanzo frowned unhappily, as if saying "I've fought in the Ninja World War for half my life, can't I enjoy myself now?"
He was about to signal the master craftsman beside him to continue, but the next words from Rain Ninja made him freeze on the spot.
"Akatsuki is attacking! Jiangcheng and its surroundings have all been lost, and—"
"And what?!"
Salamander Hanzo's voice, coming through the respirator, seemed even more chilling and depressing.
"And they killed all the nobles in the city who were close to us!"
Salamander Hanzo suddenly stood up.
It was not until then that he realized that he had underestimated the young people of Akatsuki after all.
At this moment, he couldn't help but recall the negotiation he presided over at the beginning of the year.
The 15-year-old boy at that time was full of vigor and confidence. In front of him, he made Ōnoki, one of the Five Kage, speechless several times.
At that time, Salamander Hanzo looked at Shiba Kiyokawa, his eyes full of his own image when he was eighteen years old.
But now, no matter how reluctant Hanzo was, he had to admit: the boy had exceeded his imagination!
"These ignorant brats, do they want to start a full-scale war with me and destroy the Rain Country? Just them? They are courting death!"
Salamander Hanzo shouted loudly.
It seemed as if he was trying to use anger to cover up his panic and jealousy.
Yes, he was jealous of Shiba Kiyokawa.
I envy the vitality, confidence, courage and determination that this young man exudes.
These qualities were once the steps for Hanzo to reach the top, but now, he has lost them all...
In the original work, he might have been unable to tolerate the Akatsuki organization for the same reason.
"Gather all the Rain Ninjas. I will personally cut these brats into pieces!"
Salamander Hanzo said viciously.
It seemed that by killing these little devils, he could deny his own depravity and the fact that he had already decayed.
Before leaving, he did not forget to turn his head and ask, "Where is Yuichi? Where is the Konoha helper he promised to find? Hasn't he arrived yet?" Yuichi was the Rain Ninja whose core was replaced by White Zetsu.
Not long ago, he was still proudly boasting to Hanzo that he had persuaded the Root of Konoha to come to his support.
But now, the subordinate could only answer awkwardly, "I don't know, Yuichi should be in contact. I heard him say before that the Root leader will be here soon."
Salamander Hanzo cursed, "Waste!"
He turned around and left on his own.
All of this stems from the fact that Shiba Kiyokawa's action came too quickly this time.
The first death date predicted by the Destiny Observation System is still dozens of days away!
At this time, Danzo had just found an opportunity to leave the affairs on the front line and enter the Rain Country.
Before he and Hanzo, the two old masters, even had the chance to meet, Shiba Kiyokawa had already started the wheel of war!
For these conspirators hiding in the dark, all this happened too fast!
At this time, in a temporary camp in a remote mountain forest in the Land of Rain, Danzo was also furious!
"Why did the vanguard lose contact so quickly? What does Akatsuki mean by a surprise attack? How do you do your intelligence work?"
The ninjas under his command dared not say a word, but actually slandered in their hearts—
You didn't expect this yourself, and you blame us?
After Danzo vented his anger and felt a little better, he began to think of ways to make up for it.
"We can't just give up like this! The more the situation is like this, the more it proves that my judgment is correct. The Akatsuki organization must be a huge threat to Konoha!
Send a message back and transfer two more teams to Rain Country for support!"
The ninja looked up in disbelief, "Sending more troops? Then...what about the front line?"
Although Danzo has the final say in the Root, they still have to bear certain responsibilities for the village.
Previously, Danzo had transferred Ryoma Aburame without authorization, resulting in a gap in intelligence support for the Sand Village front line, which had already severely offended the commander there, Orochimaru.
If we withdraw more people now, will they really just ignore the front lines in the Iwagakure and Kumogakure war zones?
The reason why the Destiny Observation System predicted that Shiba Kiyokawa's death would be dozens of days later was because in a few months, the Battle of Kamnubi Bridge in the original work would break out.
After the Kannabi Bridge was blown up, Iwagakure was unable to supply the front line and was forced to reconcile with Konoha. The pressure on Konoha in the north would be suddenly reduced.
Only then will Danzo have enough surplus manpower to cause trouble everywhere.
But now, Shiba Kiyokawa's act of provoking a war in advance has hit Danzo hard!
In this wave, Shiba Kiyokawa relied on his ability to seize opportunities and strangled fate with his strength!
Danzo was furious, "Are you teaching me how to do things?!"
The Root's men were so frightened that they quickly lowered their heads and knelt down, "I dare not!"
Danzo snorted, but after a while he couldn't help but explain.
"The commander of the north is now Minato Namikaze. As a junior, he dare not question my decision!"
Danzo calculated that Minato Namikaze was a good guy and would only go to the front line to fill the hole if something happened. He would certainly not dare to openly question the decision of his elder.
To put it bluntly, they were bullying Minato because he had little experience and a good temper.
But he would never have thought that if Minato didn't stop him, someone else would!
The news was passed back to the Konoha front. The ninjas of the Root were about to set off when they ran into an unexpected figure at the entrance of the camp.
Uchiha Shisui!
"Where are you planning to go? To the Rain Country?" Uchiha Shisui asked calmly.
As calm as a deep icy spring, chilling to the bone.
"This has nothing to do with you, Uchiha! Stay out of our Root's business!" said the Root ninja rudely.
Uchiha Shisui just looked at them indifferently.
As I watched, the Sharingan opened!
"I don't care about anything else you do, but you can't go to the Rain Country!
My dear friend is there, you, don't even think about getting there!"
(End of this chapter)
