Chapter 193: Rock Ninja Surrender

The 300,000-strong army of the Land of Earth was, as a matter of course, completely wiped out; not many people even knew how it had happened.

Those who cleaned up the battlefield later only found some weapons, tents, and supplies left behind by these people, but as for the soldiers themselves, there was no telling where they had vanished to.

It is said that when the Daimyo of the Land of Earth heard this news, he fainted on the spot in the great hall and was barely resuscitated.

Even after being resuscitated, this Daimyo was like a walking corpse, completely devoid of the spirit he had when he first held a massive army and felt the world was his; without a second thought, he immediately sent several letters of distress to Iwagakure.

Ever since Iwagakure had been repeatedly struck by Uchiha Feiyu and Uzumaki Nagato, it had almost fallen into a state where its high-level power was completely depleted; fortunately, after eight years of development, Iwagakure finally had its own Shadow-level ninja again.

It was just that this Shadow-level ninja was not very reliable...

"Brother Deidara, have you thought about how to resolve the issue regarding the Akatsuki?"

Looking at Deidara, who was sitting in the Tsuchikage's seat with a bitter face, Kurotsuchi spun her chair around, looked at her childhood friend, and asked.

Deidara, however, looked listless and said unhappily:

"How to deal with them? Hmm, we definitely can't beat them in a fight, and forming an alliance with other ninja villages... hmm, that doesn't seem very reliable either. I always feel that other countries and ninja villages don't really like to include our Land of Earth and Iwagakure in their operations. Every time there's some major event, it seems like we Rock Ninja are always half a beat behind the rest of the world..."

Perhaps it could not be said that he had completely shed the "glass cannon" flaw of a ninja, but at least there was now a dimensional gap between him and ordinary ninjas; it could be said that no matter how many ordinary ninjas there were, they could not be Nagato's opponent.

Iwagakure was already lacking successors, and now that the older and middle-aged generations who had been carrying the burden were all dead, the remaining high-level Rock Ninja were not fools; almost all of them had pinned their hopes on Deidara.

"Besides, I think if our Iwagakure isn't a match for Nagato, this Daimyo will probably flee the Land of Earth immediately, or simply surrender to the Akatsuki! Hmm!"

Not to mention anything else, just the ability of the Preta Path alone was enough to make Nagato immune to all ninjutsu; in such a situation, things like assassinations were completely useless.

However, in this timeline, these people had almost all died out, leaving only Deidara, who was still weak at the time, to survive.

Given Deidara's personality, he actually didn't want to stay in Iwagakure; in the original story, he was just a disciple of the Tsuchikage, and wanting to leave Iwagakure would have been very easy. After all, at that time, Iwagakure still had people like Onoki, Huangtu, and Han holding things down.

"Uh... the Daimyo isn't that cowardly... is he?"

It was precisely because Deidara knew Nagato's strength so well that he didn't think his Iwagakure could stand against the Akatsuki.

Under these circumstances, even if Deidara wanted to sneak out of Iwagakure, he couldn't do it. Plus, with Iwagakure now lacking successors, Deidara still had a bit of affection for the village and couldn't just let go, which was why he eventually became the Fourth Tsuchikage.

"When he was cutting our Iwagakure's funding, he was always using his own ninja army as an excuse, saying that ninja villages were no longer useful. Now that they've been wiped out, he's started urging our Iwagakure to protect him again, hmm!"

"Doesn't our Daimyo know what shame is? Hmm!"

Deidara rolled his eyes; it was because Iwagakure was full of such blockheads that he couldn't leave this village to pursue his art!

A hint of joy appeared on Kurotsuchi's face as she looked at her childhood friend:

This explosion expert was the last disciple taken in by Two-Day Balance Onoki when he was still around, and he was also the recognized young-generation ninja who was destined to become a Shadow-level ninja. At the time, Deidara was treated by the Iwagakure high-level officials as the only seedling in the entire village, attracting everyone's attention; his treatment was on a completely different level than in the original story.

"In the current situation, our Daimyo even sent out his pride and joy, the 300,000-strong army, and I hear it's been completely wiped out now. Hmm, I really don't know what to say about this Daimyo."

However, even after becoming the Fourth Tsuchikage, this guy was still an explosion-obsessed art lover. During the time when Iwagakure and the Akatsuki were cooperating, he had once shown his "art" to Nagato. As for the result... well, ever since then, Deidara had been quite well-behaved in front of Nagato.

Other ninjas could only estimate Nagato's threat based on the destruction he caused, occasionally harboring fantasies that they could take him down through sneak attacks or bizarre ninjutsu, but Deidara knew very well that Nagato had almost completely shed the flaws of an ordinary ninja.

"Then Deidara, what should we actually do? Refuse the Daimyo's request?"

Kurotsuchi blinked her eyes and said:

"Is that so? Are you being a bit too sensitive, Brother Deidara? I think our Iwagakure is doing just fine!"

"Who knows? Anyway, judging by this Daimyo's consistent behavior, I don't think he'll resist to the end; the possibility of him running away or surrendering is greater... hmm, I have a way to deal with the Akatsuki!"

Kurotsuchi asked with a frown. Deidara nodded first and said:

"Our Iwagakure combined might not even be able to deal with that guy Uzumaki Nagato, so what mood are we in to protect him now? Let him protect himself! Doesn't he still have 100,000 troops left?"

"Really? How do you plan to deal with that Rinnegan ninja? I've seen the ruins of that guy's battles. Not to mention anything else, if he hadn't held back back then and had used that gravity ninjutsu directly on our Iwagakure, our village would have been gone long ago!"

Back then, Uzumaki Nagato had used a Shinra Tensei on a mountain peak near Iwagakure. It was precisely that Shinra Tensei that made Iwagakure fully realize the power of the Rinnegan; the immense gravitational force not only leveled the mountain peak but also caused the foundation of Iwagakure to become unstable, forcing them to choose a new base to establish the village.

If he were to do that on their village head, the entire Iwagakure would be "GG." The tragic part was that Uzumaki Nagato's Super Shinra Tensei really wasn't some super ultimate move of his current level; it could only be considered a slightly more powerful basic attack, the kind of move he could unleash casually after charging for a few seconds.

In other words, if Uzumaki Nagato wanted to, he could wipe out the entire Iwagakure ten times in one minute!

In this situation, Kurotsuchi racked her brains and could only come up with ways like sneak attacks or assassinations to deal with Uzumaki Nagato, hoping for a bit of luck. As for a head-on battle, that was out of the question; Iwagakure would definitely lose.

"Hehehe, hmm! Since we can't win, let's just join them! Let's surrender to the Akatsuki! Hmm!"

Deidara stood directly on the table, stretched out his arms, struck a pose like a saint on a cross, and looked triumphant. Kurotsuchi, who had just heard this "explosive" declaration, was also dumbfounded, her small mouth slightly agape, looking as if she had been stunned by Deidara's plan.

After a long while, Kurotsuchi finally came back to her senses under Deidara's "See how smart I am!" gaze. Then, without a word, she jumped onto the table in a rage and grabbed Deidara by the collar:

"Deidara, what are you thinking? Who surrenders without even fighting a war! Have you forgotten our Iwagakure's Will of Stone?!"

Deidara was shaken until he was dizzy by Kurotsuchi. He hurriedly reached out to grab her hands and said loudly:

"What Will of Stone! Hmm! Even with a will as hard as stone, it can't change the fact that our strength is just an egg compared to the Akatsuki. Kurotsuchi, be reasonable; us going to war with the Akatsuki is purely throwing an egg against a rock!"

"And even if I wanted to start a war to test them before surrendering... with Uzumaki Nagato's strength, he could probably wipe out all the ninjas in Iwagakure in a few minutes. This so-called testing is just looking for death! Hmm!"

"Damn it..."

Kurotsuchi let go of her hands, gritted her teeth, and a look of unwillingness appeared on her face. What made her most unwilling was that—everything Deidara said was actually the truth.

Lies don't hurt; the truth is the Wazamono!

Contrary to Deidara's expectations, it took him a long time in the Tsuchikage's office to barely convince his childhood friend. He had thought that convincing the other stubborn old high-level officials of Iwagakure would take even more time and energy.

But he never expected that those old men, who were usually as stubborn and smelly as turtles, would raise both hands and feet in approval the moment they heard his idea of surrendering. To be honest, it made Deidara unable to keep his composure; he felt like the character settings of these old things had completely collapsed!

So when Nagato appeared at the gate of Iwagakure, what he saw was not an Iwagakure army ready for battle, but Deidara waving his hands like a golden-furred husky, greeting him.

Behind Deidara, the Fourth Tsuchikage, stood a group of Iwagakure high-level officials and Kurotsuchi and the others. Some of these people were expressionless, some were forcing a smile, and others were simply hanging their heads, saying nothing.

Seeing this situation, Uchiha Feiyu, who was controlling Uzumaki Nagato, was also confused. He walked over slowly and asked:

"Fourth Tsuchikage, what is Iwagakure trying to do? You should have already received our Akatsuki's declaration of war."

"Ah, the declaration of war was received long ago. After careful consideration by our Iwagakure, we have finally decided—to surrender!"

"For the sake of world peace, ninjas do indeed need to be unified. Since that is the case, our Iwagakure is willing to be the first to make a sacrifice and join the Akatsuki!"

After these words were spoken, Nagato, controlled by Uchiha Feiyu, looked blank and wore an expression of being speechless; he really hadn't expected that the Iwagakure, which was originally so hard and smelly, had now become so flexible.

However, a thought flashed through Uchiha Feiyu's mind: since Iwagakure had surrendered, he could take the ninjas of Iwagakure directly to war against the other four great ninja villages, which could also be considered as integrating them into his plan.

Thinking of this, the expression on the face of Nagato, controlled by Uchiha Feiyu, loosened up quite a bit, and he nodded gently:

"Since that is the case, then Iwagakure will act with me!"

"It just so happens that to my knowledge, the other four Ninja Villages and the four nations of Wind, Lightning, Water, and Fire are also forming an Allied Force. Once all the enemies have gathered together, I will crush them directly; this is also the most convenient plan to unify the entire Ninja World with the fewest casualties."

"You really are confident, Boss Nagato. But if it's you, dealing with those Allied Ninja Forces is indeed not a difficult task."

Deidara muttered a few words and agreed to Nagato's request. In his view, given Nagato's strength, he could solve all the other ninja armies by himself; there was no need for other ninjas to lift a finger.

Even if his own Iwagakure sent out a large force of ninjas, they would likely only have the chance to shout a few times once they reached the battlefield; even getting near the enemy would not be an easy task.

Perhaps only when cleaning up the battlefield and maintaining order would the Rock Ninjas have a chance to appear—since it required no fighting and offered a chance to obtain spoils of war, Deidara naturally would not resist such a good thing.

The surrender of Iwagakure, to Uchiha Feiyu, although not exactly an unexpected joy, at least saved a lot of trouble; he would not need to slaughter ninety percent of the ninjas in Iwagakure right now.

Of course... this only slightly delayed the time for the Iwagakure ninjas to become sacrifices. When the decisive battle begins, Uchiha Feiyu will naturally round up all the ninjas and armies in one go.

A portion of the ninja seeds will certainly be left behind, likely at a ratio of about twenty to thirty percent. As for the rest, they will naturally be Uchiha Feiyu's sacrifices.

Even regarding the Akatsuki organization, Uchiha Feiyu had no intention of letting them go. After all, he could not truly control Nagato to rule the entire Ninja World. For the sake of better harvesting in the future, the Ninja World could be manipulated in the shadows by him, but it was more convenient for it to remain divided into several major nations in name.

According to Uchiha Feiyu's arrangement, the "ambitious" Rinnegan ninja would be defeated by the combined efforts of the numerous Ninja Villages. With the ninjas having suffered heavy losses, they would naturally root out the Akatsuki organization, becoming Uchiha Feiyu's new sacrifices.

"Very well, since your Iwagakure has agreed, let's arrange the plan! I will be responsible for crushing the other Ninja Villages and armies, and you will help me scout for intelligence and determine the final battlefield. As long as you complete the mission, this place can be established as the Akatsuki organization's Land of Earth branch in the future, and missions concerning the Land of Earth can still be left for you to complete."

Deidara nodded. If things really went according to Nagato's words, Iwagakure would just be changing its name and acknowledging the Akatsuki organization as its boss, which would not have much impact on their actual interests.

"Yes, I understand, Boss Nagato! Can I go to the battlefield when the time comes? That is the best platform to promote my art of explosion!"

(End of chapter)