Chapter 244

For these few people,

the benefits far outweigh the drawbacks!!

the Lord of the Land of Fire himself had no ambition,

he did not wish to further expand the territory of the Land of Fire,

he merely wanted to sit securely in his position until the day he died.

The Lord of the Land of Lightning believed he was neither outstanding nor inadequate,

though he could not become a wise sovereign,

leading the Land of Fire to prosperity and strength,

he would not let the condition of the Land of Fire deteriorate beyond what it had been!!

But now that Hashirama Senju controls the Land of Fire,

everything is completely different.

After becoming the ruler of the Land of Fire,

he first gathered the power of the nine Tailed Beasts,

expanding the military strength of the Land of Fire,

then proceeded to the Land of Ghosts,

and established diplomatic relations with the Land of Ghosts.

In less than half a year,

all the small and large nations surrounding the Land of Fire,

became vassal states of the Land of Fire,

something that had been utterly impossible in the past!!!

Although the Land of Fire had previously possessed the capability to achieve this,

there had been an unwritten agreement among them,

permitting only slightly closer ties with these small nations,

but forbidding the formation of military alliances with them.

All five great nations adhered to this rule extremely well!!

Until Hashirama Senju appeared,

he completely changed this situation,

caring not at all for how the other four nations viewed him.

Had it been the former Lord of the Land of Fire, he could never have done such a thing.

Now, after Hashirama Senju has relentlessly enhanced the power of the Land of Fire,

the Lords of the other four nations could no longer sit idle,

they could only unite together,

seeking ways to deal with Hashirama Senju!!!

【Jiraiya: If our world's First Hokage had not divided the power of the Tailed Beasts, perhaps he too would have reached this point.】

【Orochimaru: The power of the Tailed Beasts is too terrifying for humans; once used in war, few nations can withstand it.】

【Minato Namikaze: Though their intentions toward the First Hokage were noble and their actions not inherently wrong, their only mistake was failing to accurately gauge the gap in power between themselves and the First Hokage…】

【Kakashi Hatake: If one had not witnessed the First Hokage's power firsthand, who could have imagined human strength could reach such terrifying heights?】

【Might Guy: None of us could have imagined the First Hokage's power is countless times more terrifying than what is recorded in Konoha!】

【Fourth Raikage: Though I greatly respect the actions of these First Lords, I already harbor some troubling suspicions…】

【Daimyo: Is there still any need to guess? Didn't they already propose it long ago? Gather the strongest ninja from each nation and unite to confront Hashirama Senju—those ninja are almost certainly the First Kage from each village.】

【Terumi Mei: It's over… If this is true, perhaps in another world, our villages might never have existed at all.】

"How is it? Have you made arrangements with your nation's ninja?"

"Will they help you against Hashirama Senju?"

The Lord of the Land of Lightning turned to the Lord of the Land of Wind seated to his left and asked.

Among the other three nations,

he feared the Lord of the Land of Wind the most!!

Because the Land of Wind was impoverished,

it faced the greatest hardships,

making it the one nation among the four that could least afford to fail.

Should it fail, its nation might never recover from this blow.

The Lord of the Land of Lightning had initially believed the Lord of the Land of Wind would refuse to join this operation,

yet he never expected the Lord of the Land of Wind would agree to act with them!!!

"Hmm… I've already made arrangements with them."

"If they can defeat Hashirama Senju, I will help them establish Sunagakure…"

"From now on, in the Land of Wind, Sunagakure will be a village entirely belonging to the ninja, no longer directly answerable to the Lord's court—they will have full autonomy."

For the Lord of the Land of Wind to make this decision,

he had to summon tremendous courage!!!

For him, there was no fallback, no path of retreat!!!

The other three nations might, after this failure,

still have a chance to recuperate and recover.

But once the Land of Wind fails, they truly may have no way back!!

So the Daimyo of the Land of Wind gave everything he had to carry out this operation.

"Very good… it seems you are braver than I imagined."

"Trust me, you won't regret the decision you've made this time."

"Once this succeeds, everything we discussed before will fall into place…"

"The Tailed Beasts controlled by Hashirama Senju — we can give you a few of them, and you can also take a portion of the Land of Fire's territory…"

Satisfied, he nodded.

The Daimyo of the Land of Lightning made the Daimyo of the Land of Wind believe the decision he had made was not wrong,

and that he would surely receive a satisfactory reward!!

After hearing him say this, the Daimyo of the Land of Wind gave no further response,

he only knew that at this moment, having come this far, he had no way back.

He had long coveted the Land of Fire's resources.

Or rather, it wasn't just him —

everyone in the Land of Wind, high and low, had coveted them for a long time.

The Land of Fire had a superior geographical position and extremely abundant resources,

the national strength of the entire country being several times that of their Land of Wind.

Every time he went to visit the Land of Fire,

the Daimyo of the Land of Wind would sigh,

wondering why the conditions in their Land of Wind were so poor??

If he were given the same conditions,

he believed he could surely perform countless times better than the Daimyo of the Land of Fire,

and raise his country's strength by several whole levels!!!

But ever since becoming the Daimyo of the Land of Wind,

he himself had been utterly worn out.

Thinking back, when he had not yet taken this position,

he too had been full of lofty ambitions,

believing that through his own efforts he could change the Land of Wind's current situation,

and bring a happier and better life to his country's people.

But once he truly took this seat,