Chapter 624: United Against

The news of Mu Yue succeeding as Hokage spread rapidly not only within Konoha and the Land of Fire but soon reached the surrounding countries of all sizes.

The five great ninja villages all maintain some intelligence networks across the ninja world, so when the news broke, the other four great villages successively received reports from their intelligence ninja.

The Land of Earth, Iwagakure.

"They finished the Hokage election so quickly—no wonder Konoha hasn't made any moves; so this was their plan." Ōnoki gained some understanding after reading the intelligence.

Ōnoki's village had contributed significantly to spreading the news of Sarutobi Hiruzen's defeat at Yūsuke's hands across the ninja world in a short time.

For Iwa at this moment, Konoha was a major problem, the Ninja Sect a minor one—it would be best if those two problems went at each other's throats.

Unfortunately, things didn't go as hoped; Konoha gave no reaction at all, even though the news was already being loudly debated among Konoha's civilians.

"Though it can offset the impact to some extent, the cost is too high. Did that battle leave Hiruzen with an incurable serious injury?" Ōnoki fell into thought.

Making the currently most prominent Mu Yue the next Hokage was indeed a good move, but that was for Konoha as a whole.

For Sarutobi Hiruzen himself, this decision was a major loss—he lost the authority of the Hokage and left the impression of taking responsibility by resigning.

If it were Ōnoki, he would most likely choose to play dead, do nothing, neither respond nor pass on the title.

Ōnoki thought it over and carefully reviewed the intelligence gathered by the ninja again, trying to analyze new content from it.

He very much wanted to know the details of the battle between Hiruzen and Yūsuke, but since there were few attendants, all elites from their respective factions, there were no spies.

Even though Ōnoki had the intelligence department work hard to collect relevant information, in the end they only got some fragmentary intelligence from the Rikudō City side.

As for Konoha, perhaps because they were the losing side, they issued strict secrecy orders, and Iwa's intelligence efforts in Konoha uncovered nothing relevant.

"There's still too little intelligence to make a judgment." Ōnoki shook his head with a slight sigh.

"Konoha probably has no intention of fighting the Ninja Sect. Is there any other faction I can use…"

Ōnoki thought for a moment and took out a map of the ninja world, making a mark on both the Land of Grass and the Land of Wind.

The Land of Rain borders six countries in total: three great nations and three small ones.

The three great nations are the Land of Wind, the Land of Fire, and the Land of Earth.

The three small nations are the Land of Birds, the Land of Grass, and the Land of Rivers.

Among them, the Land of Birds and the Land of Rivers are small countries without ninja villages, and the Land of Birds already has a branch of the Ninja Sect, which Ōnoki had silently considered part of the Ninja Sect's sphere of influence.

Without a doubt, the Ninja Sect is a very ambitious organization.

If Iwa hadn't been keeping an eye on the Ninja Sect, it probably wouldn't have known that the Ninja Sect had already integrated the ninja forces of the Land of Rain, bringing the ninja power in the Land of Rain to its historical peak.

To those unfamiliar, Amegakure and the Ninja Sect appear as two separate forces.

But Ōnoki knew that after Hanzo's death, Amegakure belonged to Yūsuke, even though the ostensible leader of Amegakure was not Yūsuke.

Having already completed internal consolidation, yet still maintaining the appearance of two separate forces, they must have some scheme.

Ōnoki estimated that before long, the Ninja Sect might make a move on the Land of Rivers.

The situation in the Land of Rivers is similar to the Land of Birds; there are no ninja villages but some ninja clans, though the ninja strength in the Land of Rivers is much stronger than in the Land of Birds.

Ōnoki did not want to see the Ninja Sect continue to grow.

When the Ninja Sect was causing trouble in the Land of Birds earlier, Iwa was at a critical moment in the war, and Ōnoki had no time to deal with it. Now that the war is over, how could he continue to watch the Ninja Sect expand its power?

At this time, the Land of Grass and the Land of Wind, which also border the Land of Rain, became natural allies for the Land of Earth.

The Ninja Sect becoming the sixth major ninja force didn't just take a slice of Iwa's pie; Suna would be affected too.

As for Kusagakure, it meant they had yet another super big brother surrounding them, almost encircling them completely.

While Ōnoki was thinking about using Suna to deal with the Ninja Sect, Rasa over on the other side was pondering something similar.

"This Ninja Sect can't be easy to deal with; otherwise, why would Sarutobi Hiruzen keep playing dead and directly pass the title to Hanyū Mugetsu?" Rasa thought as he put down the intelligence report.

The news of Hiruzen's defeat spreading quickly across the ninja world was also partly due to Sunagakure's efforts.

Rasa himself had nearly been killed by Mu Yue, so he was extremely displeased with Konoha. If he weren't outmatched, he would have wanted to launch an attack straight into Konoha's territory.

Therefore, upon learning this negative news about Konoha, Rasa went all out to help spread it, anxious that no ninja might miss this shocking scandal of Konoha.

"If I had known, I wouldn't have had the intelligence ninja help spread the news. Instead, I ended up helping Hanyū Mugetsu." Thinking about this, Rasa's face darkened.

Normally, Mu Yue shouldn't have inherited the position of Hokage this soon.

Clearly it's because something happened to Hiruzen Sarutobi, so Mu Yue had the opportunity to inherit early.

This made Rasa very displeased, feeling that his actions had not caused much trouble for Konoha but instead helped his enemy get promoted, directly reaching the peak of power in the ninja world.

Back then, in order to become the Kazekage, he didn't know how much effort he had expended—first stabilizing internal affairs, then repelling external enemies—to secure his position as Kazekage, yet Mu Yue was simply carried into the position of Hokage while lying down.

How could Rasa's mood be good?

"I can't provoke Konoha, so I'll have to try Iwagakure. I must destroy the cooperation between Iwagakure and the Ninja Sect."

Rasa composed himself, no longer thinking about Mu Yue's matters, and instead contemplated how to curb the development of the Ninja Sect. After all, he was a Kage and couldn't let too much personal emotion affect his work.

It's unrealistic to take revenge on Mu Yue; the urgent task is to stop the Ninja Sect from growing stronger.

In theory, it should be very easy for a large ninja village like Sunagakure to deal with a small country's ninja organization.

But Konoha has shown this attitude, which makes Rasa dare not underestimate the Ninja Sect.

It's impossible to do it alone with just one village; at the very least, Iwagakure must be brought in as well.

Rasa has enough confidence to turn Iwagakure and the Ninja Sect into enemies.

There is no eternal friendship between ninja villages, only eternal interests.

Rasa doesn't believe Iwagakure would be willing to let part of its interests be taken away by the rising Ninja Sect.

Then Rasa remembered something, called over his trusted subordinate, and asked:

"Does Pakura have some connection with the Ninja Sect?"

"I think so. She has twice taken some ninjas to the Six Paths City to listen to Yusuke's lectures, and she even consulted Yusuke about ninjutsu," the Sunagakure jōnin replied after thinking.

Rasa's eyes lit up and he immediately said, "Collect some relevant intelligence, and monitor Pakura's actions closely."

Rasa was really annoyed with Pakura.

He, as the noble Kazekage, had only made a slight decision error at the end, yet Pakura ruthlessly publicly rebuked him, showing no respect at all.

If he hadn't personally intervened back then to replace Pakura, she would certainly have died on the battlefield.

He used Magnet Release to create a double-layer defense and was still nearly taken out by Mu Yue's punch; Pakura's Scorch Release doesn't have such defensive capability.

Although his intention in pulling Pakura out wasn't to save her, that's how it actually turned out, yet Pakura turned around and rebuked him.

Since he's about to deal with the Ninja Sect anyway, he might as well take care of Pakura at the same time. After all, Pakura can't be used by him, and keeping her around is a potential threat.

Land of Lightning, Kumogakure Village.

"Just how strong is this Yusuke, to have driven Hiruzen Sarutobi to such a state?" The Third Raikage, after reading the intelligence, developed a strong interest in Yusuke.

He hadn't been interested in the Ninja Sect before, firstly because the Land of Rain where the Ninja Sect was located was far from the Land of Lightning, and secondly because the Ninja Sect had too few ninjas, which in the Third Raikage's view was just small-time stuff.

So when the Ninja Sect held the Youth Martial Arts Tournament in the Land of Rain earlier, the Third Raikage did not send any ninjas to participate.

Now the Third Raikage realized he might have underestimated this leader of the Ninja Sect, who was called the Ninja Teacher.

Speaking of the Third Raikage himself, in a one-on-one battle, he is not absolutely sure he can defeat Hiruzen Sarutobi, let alone force Hiruzen Sarutobi to the point where he doesn't even want to be Hokage anymore.

"It's hard to say. Maybe Yusuke is actually the strongest in the ninja world right now," Doda analyzed.

"Since Yusuke appeared, he has never tasted defeat. Whether his opponents are famous experts like Kakuzu or legendary ninjas like Hanzo, none have pushed him into a hard battle. His true strength is an unknown."

After the news of Yusuke defeating Hiruzen Sarutobi spread across the ninja world, Yusuke's reputation reached a new peak.

Initially, most people doubted it was a rumor, and even the intelligence ninjas of the major ninja villages thought so.

However, when Konoha kept not responding and remained silent, their thoughts changed.

Sometimes, not answering is also an answer.

If it really were a rumor, how could Konoha remain indifferent? After all, it concerns the Hokage's reputation.

"He founded the Ninja Sect, inheriting the Six Paths... Is he really the orthodox inheritor of the Sage of Six Paths' Ninja Sect?" The Third Raikage showed a thoughtful expression.

In the eyes of many ninjas, the Sage of Six Paths is just a mythical figure from legends.

But the Third Raikage knew that the Sage of Six Paths was a real ninja ancestor who had actually existed, not a fictional mythological character, because within Kumogakure there were descendants of the Sage of Six Paths, and they even held the Sage of Six Paths' tools.

The Third Raikage understood how strong the Six Paths Tools were. Back then, the descendants of the Sage of Six Paths had used those tools to stage a coup, and even the Second Raikage was killed by them.

Just the tools left behind by the Sage of Six Paths had such power. If the Six Paths Inheritance in Yūsuke's hands was the Sage's ninjutsu, how strong would that be? The Third Raikage could hardly imagine.

But there were too many doubts in all of this.

Since there existed legitimate inheritors of the Ninja Sect, why had no one like Yūsuke emerged to restore the Ninja Sect during the thousand years of its decline?

The Ninja Sect had truly vanished for too long. Some ninjas even thought the Ninja Sect was a new faction Yūsuke had founded, unaware that it was the Ninja Sect created by the Sage of Six Paths in ancient times.

Even though the Ninja Sect created by the Sage of Six Paths was the origin of ninjas.

Still, the Third Raikage felt this was normal. According to ancient records, the ninjas of antiquity were nothing like modern ninjas.

Ancient ninjas did not need to accept commissioned missions; their duty was to maintain world peace, to create a world without war where everyone could coexist peacefully.

As for modern ninjas, war was almost one of their major sources of income, and war commissions were the most expensive.

…

Land of Water, Kirigakure.

Mizukage's Office.

"Yagura, what do you think our Kirigakure should do under the current circumstances?" The Third Mizukage sat in his office chair, put down the intelligence report, and asked Karatachi Yagura with a smile.

"Do nothing?" Karatachi Yagura answered uncertainly.

"It seems the last defeat has taught you something." The Third Mizukage nodded slightly.

In the past, Karatachi Yagura might have taken this chance to stir up trouble along with the other ninja villages, weakening the strongest—Konoha.

"During the Third Ninja World War, we seriously offended Iwagakure, Sunagakure, and Kumogakure."

"They need Kirigakure's strength, but that doesn't mean they will forgive our past actions. So we cannot immediately ally with them again against Konoha. Even if we succeeded in the end, Kirigakure would not have a good outcome."

"At the same time, we cannot truly offer substantial help to Konoha, because Konoha is developing too well. Konoha can be strong, but it cannot be too strong."

The Third Mizukage knew well that alliances between ninja villages were unreliable. Today he could sell out Wind, Earth, and Lightning for profit, and tomorrow Konoha could just as easily attack Kirigakure for profit.

If Konoha could truly become strong enough to fight all four, would Konoha still need Kirigakure as an ally?

Obviously not—if you can take everything yourself, why share the spoils?

Karatachi Yagura nodded thoughtfully.

He had considered this point, but not as thoroughly as the Third Mizukage.

"Of course, we don't have to actually help—we can just put on a show. I've already contacted Konoha. You will go as an envoy to attend the ceremony there," the Third Mizukage said.

Konoha and Kirigakure were still in a honeymoon period; not showing any gesture would make their intentions too obvious.

"Alright." Karatachi Yagura agreed directly without asking further.

As for losing to Muyue, Karatachi Yagura had already let it go. After all, the Fourth Kazekage had nearly been killed by a single punch from Muyue, and Muyue had used more than one punch against him—so by that measure, he was stronger than the Fourth Kazekage.

"And no action on the Ninja Sect front either? Just Yūsuke alone holds great value, doesn't he?" Karatachi Yagura asked curiously.

If they could successfully lay plans using the Ninja Sect, they might be able to pry open some major ninja village.

"Let's wait and see. The Ninja Sect will soon be in trouble. It might even become the eye of the storm." The Third Mizukage shook his head.

The news of Sarutobi Hiruzen's defeat had thrust Yūsuke and the Ninja Sect into the spotlight. Whether this was a blessing or a curse for the Ninja Sect was hard to say.

Although the Five Great Ninja Villages often fought each other, if some force really tried to challenge their status, they might first join together to crush that force.

Just like the Rain Village back then.

No matter how much the Five Great Ninja Villages fought among themselves, the overall structure of the ninja world had always been dominated by those five villages, unchanged since the Era of Ninja Villages.

If it turned into six major ninja powers ruling the world, more than one side would lose.

The Third Mizukage felt that no great ninja village would want such a drastic change in the ninja world's balance.