Uchiha Tonan nodded with satisfaction and drank tea from his cup. He suddenly asked, “Is there a war soon?” Naraku straightened up and picked up the teapot on the table, carefully refilling Tonan’s teacup, as he replied, “I’ve been preparing for a long time but I wonder if you have any specific thoughts, sensei. If you want a war to happen, it can be done right away. If you are unwilling, I can suppress the early signs.”
Tonan tapped his finger on the table repeatedly and said with an inexplicable look, “The sooner the better. Without me, you’ll not be able to unify the Ninja World no matter how hard you try. In this world, many experts are lurking in the dark. You do your work first and I’ll make some notes for you tonight. Tomorrow, I’ll return to Konoha.”
Hearing Tonan’s words, a hint of happiness flashed through Naraku’s eyes, who had his head lowered. He put down the teapot and respectfully picked up the teacup for Tonan, “I’ll immediately ensure the work is done as per your instructions. Please have some tea, sensei.”
A quarter of an hour later, the Daimyo Residence made two announcements to the outside world via all kinds of channels.
The first was about the Honorary Chunin Competition.
The participants from the four great ninja villages joined hands with Fire Capital’s rebel officials and tried to take the Daimyo hostage. Their nefarious plan was thwarted though because Konoha’s participant Uchiha Tonan and Daimyo’s trusted subordinates killed them all.
The Daimyo was infuriated and declared that the Land of Fire would stop trading with the other four great countries.
The second announcement was that the Daimyo Residence issued a new currency. The ratio of the new currency and old currency was one to ten thousand. And only the new currency could purchase food, salt, and other important materials through official channels. The currency exchange channels in the other four great countries were also closed.
Daimyo’s first announcement was primarily to give a legitimate reason for the second one. Once this was in effect, the four great countries wouldn’t be able to survive without starting a war.
Summer just began. Because of the Daimyo Residence’s previous economic warfare, a large part of the food supply and other necessities of the other four great nations was already purchased. The inflation had induced them to plant cash crops.
Now, the fields were full of inedible crops and the money they had couldn’t purchase food and other necessities. They were not left with many options. The countries might be able to last only till autumn next year if they were to rely on the stored grains of the Daimyo Residences and ninja villages. The conservative estimate would be eighteen months.
In such a situation, launching a war was the only way. They would likely join hands to defeat Konoha, forcing Naraku to withdraw the new currency policy and compensate with food and other materials. Naturally, if the higher-ups of the countries had water in their brains and chose to endure it, that would be even better for Naraku and Tonan’s scheme.
At that time, the entire country would suffer from poverty, and Naraku’s great cause of unifying the Ninja World would be one step closer. In fact, in Naraku’s original plan, Tonan and the participants of the other four great nations should have all died. Then, there would be an announcement that Tonan died in action to protect His Majesty, the Daimyo.
Unfortunately, Naraku severely miscalculated Tonan’s strength. Just like Yakushi Kabuto in the original work who underestimated Uchiha Madara’s strength during his peak. He could only blame his inexperience for this.
Late at night, the Zhifu Mountain battlefield was cleared of the corpses that the Daimyo Residence’s soldiers had buried. Only a tall stone spear was left standing on the flat ground. The moon was almost as round as a silver plate shining bright in the clear sky.
Moonlight sprinkled on the ground, reflecting the stone spear with a dull shimmering light. There were still some trees at the edge of the battlefield though a large tree’s trunk appeared slightly twisted. When a curtain moved, it revealed a deep hole in the trunk.
Someone had used a curtain to conceal the tree hole and hide in it. A ninja wearing a cat-faced mask cautiously came out and glanced around. He turned into a black shadow and ran toward the center of the forest. This cat-faced masked ninja was an Anbu member under Sarutobi Hiruzen.
In recent days, the Daimyo Residence had caught both Hiruzen and Shimura Danzo’s Anbu and Root members. Once they were exposed, they were useless and became mere messengers between Konoha and the Daimyo Residence.
In this regard, Hiruzen and Danzo had no choice but to suffer in silence. After all, the Daimyo was the legitimate ruler and it was Konoha that made the mistake of planting spies. Fortunately, Naraku pretended to be magnanimous and didn’t punish Konoha.
But was magnanimous a word to describe Naraku? He was preparing to launch a war and make Konoha go to fight with the other four great ninja villages. The lives of these spies were mere pawns, not worthy of his time.
Only this spy who was hiding deep in the mountain forest was not discovered by the Daimyo Residence yet. When Naraku and Tonan were fighting, he hid in the tree hole and watched the entire process. At that time, his shock was indescribable because the battle between the two had surpassed his knowledge of a ninja’s strengths.
In particular, Naraku revealed Tonan’s ‘true’ identity, which he said was Madara. This was a big secret, and as an Anbu spy, he must pass this information back to Konoha. To avoid being discovered, he waited until late at night to come out of the tree hole.
Suddenly, the fleeing spy stopped and dodged behind a tree. Coo coo… In the sky, a large flock of white pigeons whistled through. The spy held his breath completely. At this time, he would even avoid ordinary animals if he could. After the white pigeons flew far away, he stuck his head out and looked over.
He saw that the forest ahead was cut off by the railway. In other words, the entire railway was not covered by trees, and it was completely exposed to the cold moonlight. This made him instinctively feel insecure.
“Should I write the information and make a summoning beast carry it back?” The spy thought this but immediately rejected the idea. It was still too close to the Fire Capital and hence dangerous to stay for even one more second.
After taking a deep breath, he accelerated his pace, turning into a black shadow, and quickly crossed the railway. However, just after crossing the railway and entering the dense forest, he frowned.
Just now… it looked like there was a white figure on the railway line. The spy subconsciously gulped and looked back through the gap between the trees. In his sight, the railway was cut into dozens of sections.
“No… No… No… It seems I was scaring myself,” the spy sighed in relief and prepared to continue running into the distance. He turned around but was startled silly. He saw Tonan in a white robe standing in front of him. Tonan didn’t seem to be in a hurry and was leisurely tying the belt of his night robe as quietly said, “You are in such a hurry. Do you want me to give you a ride?”
The spy replied in a relaxed tone, “Tonan-sama, I didn’t expect to meet you here. I just came from Konoha. I’m going to the enemy country to carry out a mission.”
Tonan chuckled and patted the spy’s shoulder, “You’ve quite a stable mentality as an Anbu. But if you’re exposed, you’re exposed, it’s not such a big deal. In the next life, opt for a better career.”
Immediately after Tonan spoke, the Anbu thrust his kunai toward Tonan’s chest. Ding! The sound of metal colliding was heard and not even a scratch was seen on Tonan, who flicked his right hand toward his rear.
Puff… Bang… Tonan’s air bullet shot through a tree in the rear. And a corpse fell straight to the ground. At the same time, the spy in front of him turned into a cloud of white smoke. It was just a shadow clone.
Tonan made a hand seal and used Dark Swamp Technique, swallowing the spy’s corpse. Then his body also turned into white smoke and disappeared as well.
Tonan, who was wielding his brush furiously at the Daimyo Residence, paused slightly and put down the brush in his hand. He looked down at the loose belt on his night robe. “It seems it was just a small fry.”
He reached out his hands to fasten his belt and then picked up the pen to continue to write.
