The Hokage, having traveled here, of course he'd unify the ninja world!

Chapter 972 Deterrence

The country of Taki.

Some time ago, Hua Yanyang and Lang had already brought Fu back to the village.

Upon learning that Konoha was being so generous, giving ten million per hundred milliliters, Village Chief Shibuki was overjoyed.

Holding the Konoha product catalog, he began to plan what to exchange the Hero's Water for.

After all, the entire village needs to be developed, so as the village chief, he still needs to gather ideas from all sides.

He called a meeting with the villagers and asked them to think about what they wanted.

Although it's just a small village with a few hundred people, everyone's ideas are quite diverse.

Some wanted TV signal cables, while others wanted practical appliances such as washing machines and farming machines.

Others want superior crop seeds.

Of course, crippled Takigakure ninjas would need to have their limbs severed and rebuilt.

Shemu recorded everything down, and then calculated whether he could exchange all these things back after exchanging for the Hero's Water.

Just then, Hua Yan, who had gone out to gather information, returned.

"Village Chief, something terrible has happened."

Their Takigakure village is small, and they don't even have an ANBU (Anbu).

There weren't many Jonin left, and after sending Fu back, Hana went out to gather information.

After all, when they had just sent Fu back to the village, Konoha was engaged in a fierce battle with Sunagakure.

"What's wrong? What happened?"

Shemu asked calmly.

They live in a very remote area, basically isolated from the world.

Although their lifestyle is very primitive, many changes in the outside world have nothing to do with them.

Shemu, the village chief, was never in a hurry to do anything.

However, what Hua Yan said next also surprised Hua Yan:

"The Fifth Hokage of Konoha, Uchiha Senyo, once again used Susanoo to attack, and this time he has completely conquered Sunagakure."

"The entire Sand Village and the Land of Wind have now surrendered unconditionally and have been incorporated into the Land of Fire."

"The Land of Fire is now the largest country in the entire ninja world."

“Uchiha Chiyo sent out invitations to all the small countries and villages bordering the Land of Fire under the guise of a wedding.”

"They want us to attend the ceremony on June 20th. And they want us to arrive three days in advance, saying they need to hold a meeting beforehand."

Shibuki had never experienced anything like this before, but he instinctively felt that something was wrong.

He asked in surprise, "What does 'Fifth Hokage' mean?"

Hua Yan knew that the village chief had no relevant experience, so she patiently explained:

“Since its rise, Uchiha Chiyo has consistently demonstrated strength.”

"This time, they're using the power of annihilating a village to try and force us to submit to Konoha. The fact that they've brought it up three days in advance is probably the time for negotiations."

"There are rumors circulating that Uchiha Chiyo wants to unify the ninja world."

Shibuki was startled, somewhat incredulous: "Aren't there also Iwagakure, Kirigakure, and Kumogakure?"

Hua Yan sighed:

"Regardless of what the other three ninja villages think, whether they fight or cooperate, our small villages are completely powerless to resist Konoha."

Shibuki hadn't expected the situation to suddenly become so complicated.

At that moment, a girl's voice suddenly rang out:

"Oh, what's wrong with Konoha? There's plenty to eat and drink, and lots of fun. Wouldn't it be better to join Konoha and live a good life?"

Shibuki's face clearly showed a hint of helplessness: "Fu, why are you eavesdropping on our conversation again?"

Fu walked in, holding a pear in her hand and munching on it.

"What do you mean by eavesdropping? I came here to see you."

Their village has very few people, and everyone knows each other, so Shemu himself doesn't have much awareness of preventing eavesdropping.

At this point, it didn't really matter to Fu.

"What are you doing here?" Shibuki still wanted to get rid of Fu.

After all, Fu's thinking is very simple, and she is naive to the point of being silly. There is no point in discussing this with her.

"Didn't you say you'd be going to Konoha again soon? You've been back for days and still haven't left, so I'm asking you now."

"Since Konoha has invited us, let's head over there as soon as possible."

Hua Yan said with a hint of helplessness, "You're just going out to have fun, right? The situation in Konoha this time is very complicated."

Fu's thinking was simple and direct. She put her hands behind her head and said nonchalantly:

"What's so complicated? Our Takigakure Village is poor and backward to begin with, so submitting to Konoha is a good thing."

"Anyway, you can't stop it."

"Or... do you want to escape to another ninja village?"

Who would willingly leave their hometown unless absolutely necessary?

Moreover, given Konoha's expansion speed, unless they can escape the ninja world, they can easily fight Konoha in other villages.

Being a rogue ninja is certainly not as good as being at home.

Both Shemu and Hanako fell silent.

"Speak up! If you all want to run away and become rogue ninja, you can start mobilizing them now!"

Fu seemed carefree, since she was confined to the village every day as a Jinchūriki.

She had long been fed up with this kind of life. She was overjoyed to have the chance to leave and didn't care where she would go afterward.

Of course, it would be even better to live in Konoha. With so many people in Konoha, making friends would be a piece of cake.

Shibuki then spoke up, "Let's go to Konoha and check out the situation first."

"We can try to gauge the Fifth Hokage's opinion first."

"Ooh!"

Fu cheered and ran out: "I'm going to pack my things now!"

Shibuki and Hanagi exchanged a glance, their eyes filled with helplessness.

If only they could be as carefree as Fu.

……

A cemetery in the mountains.

After emerging from the Kamui dimension, Obito looked around at everything with a sense of感慨 (gǎnkǎi, a feeling of mixed emotions, often including nostalgia or regret).

This place changed his life forever.

He used to live in an effort to achieve the Eye of the Moon.

Now he's going to help Black Zetsu execute the Eye of the Moon.

However, he was planning to steal the fruits of the Eye of the Moon project.

He had only been out of the Divine Might Space for a short time when Black Zetsu appeared.

"Where's your flying fortress?" Black Zetsu asked casually.

Obito rolled his eyes at Black Zetsu but didn't reply.

Black Zetsu actually left White Zetsu near the flying fortress, knowing all along that the thing had exploded.

He said it just to provoke Obito.

Of course, Obito, not to be outdone, retorted with a question:

"Your reanimated First and Second Kazekage seem to be of little use."

"Even with the best preparations, he is no match for Uchiha Chiyo."

Black Zetsu's goal was merely to slow down Konoha's advance, but he didn't expect Retsuto and Shamon to be so useless, as they were easily overwhelmed before they could even buy any time.

"You didn't come all this way just to tell me this, did you?"

Black Zetsu also gave up arguing with Obito; he needed to contact the Hidden Cloud Village immediately.

"Uchiha Chiyo's marriage this time is not without its ambitions; we need to make plans early."

Obito asked meaningfully, "I think this is a good opportunity."

Black Zetsu was somewhat surprised: "What do you mean?"

Obito chuckled lightly: "If things had gone according to the original plan, we should already be capturing the Tailed Beasts by now."

……