CHAPTER 208: CHAPTER 208: I WILL MORTGAGE SHUKAKU TO KONOHA!

"Hello, I am Shinken of the Yuki clan."

Tsunade smiled.

"I am Tsunade, the current Fourth Hokage. Let’s check her physical condition first."

She had a good impression of the man before her. According to Orochimaru, this was a Yuki clan ninja who recognized the Will of Fire. He joined Konoha not because he admired its strength, but out of ideological and conceptual agreement. Such a person was exactly what Konoha needed.

"Yes, Hokage-sama!"

Shinken let out a breath of relief.

He was really worried that Tsunade or other Konoha ninjas would not welcome them. After all, Kirigakure had had local wars with Konoha in the early years. At that time, their Yuki clan had also participated in the war. But the reality was, after arriving in Konoha, although Konoha had not yet made specific arrangements for them during this period, they had sent his wife to the Konoha Hospital and given her meticulous care.

After a moment.

"Is my wife alright?"

Tsunade looked at the report and then explained the specific situation.

"She’s fine. Because she is a ninja, her body is still healthy. If it were an ordinary person, after experiencing what she has, her body would be weak at the very least."

She was generally healthy. There were some minor issues, but they were not important. She gave a few points of notice, then put away the document and prepared to go to the next department—this was not the only pregnant woman here. Since the little incident within the Hyuga clan, the members of the Kaguya and Yuki clans were now all receiving care here to avoid any unforeseen accidents that no one wanted to see.

Shinken hurriedly called out to her.

"Hokage-sama, wait!"

"Hm?"

Tsunade turned her head and smiled. "Is there something?"

"It’s like this. Orochimaru-sama only brought me back to Konoha and I haven’t seen him since. I wanted to ask what Shino and I need to do next? At least, I should still have some ability."

Shinken was not being modest. In Kirigakure, he believed his abilities were quite outstanding, but in Konoha, he felt he might still need to train and couldn’t make any guarantees. After all—for so many years, Konoha’s strength was an indisputable fact, and Kirigakure’s policy of the Bloody Mist, in his opinion, had actually caused Kirigakure to enter an infinite cycle of internal friction. At least, just from what he had seen and heard in the past few days, he believed that the current Kirigakure was really far inferior to Konoha!

Tsunade was a little surprised.

"You want to work? I thought you would rather spend some time resting with your wife."

Shinken hesitated for a moment, then his face flushed red, and he lowered his head in shame.

"We fled from the Yuki clan and didn’t bring much money. This..."

Tsunade immediately understood. This young man wasn’t really in a hurry to find a job, but was worried he couldn’t afford the costs. She thought for a moment and replied.

"Your food, clothing, housing, and transportation are currently being covered by Konoha’s finances, so you don’t have to worry about money for the time being. Of course, if you want to do something..."

Tsunade thought for a moment and realized that ordinary work was not very suitable for the Yuki clan at the moment. It was the same for the Kaguya clan. Although Kaguya Ippei was already undertaking some missions, he was mostly serving in the Anbu, providing some help in action and combat.

Shinken did not hesitate.

"I want to do something!"

Tsunade nodded lightly. She didn’t know much about the abilities of the Yuki clan. However, Ryoho Kyohiko certainly knew how to use such talent. After all, he was the one who had Orochimaru bring them back. Thinking of this, Tsunade already had an answer in her heart.

"You should take care of your wife in the hospital for now. In a couple of days, I’ll have Kyohiko send someone to contact you. Then you can just follow Kyohiko’s arrangements."

"In the short term, you may be arranged to participate in Anbu training, or to train Anbu trainees."

Tsunade briefly introduced the possible work. Shinken breathed a sigh of relief and nodded in understanding.

***

In the Hokage’s office.

"Kyohiko, Tsunade-sama has gone to inspect the hospital. You should be aware of the situation there..."

"Mm, it’s fine. I’ll make the arrangements."

"Huh?"

Shizune blinked, momentarily stunned.

You’ll make the arrangements? But you’re not the Hokage!

Ryoho Kyohiko, however, paid no mind and sat down on his own.

"Since the Kazekage wants to visit, let him come. It just so happens that our previous cooperation with the Land of Lightning was quite good. We can also talk with the Land of Wind."

He sat down and quickly wrote. Before long, two notes were written with news of a meeting in the "Jonin Standby Station." Soon, with a Flying Thunder God, the notes disappeared.

Shizune’s mouth twitched. Really... well, fine. Even Sandaime-sama could tolerate Danzo’s wanton behavior, so how could Tsunade-sama possibly blame Kyohiko? What’s more, judging fairly, she felt that Kyohiko’s decisions were sometimes more correct than Tsunade’s...

"Uh, thinking about it this way, it seems pretty good for Kyohiko-kun to decide." Shizune was stunned for a moment. Then, she thought— "If Kyohiko were a few years older, he could just be the Hokage." She felt that Kyohiko was more suitable to be Hokage than Tsunade.

***

A few minutes later, in the Jonin Standby Station.

"Kyohiko, what’s the situation with the Cloud Village again?"

Ryoho Kyohiko shook his head.

"It’s not the Cloud Village."

It was not yet suitable to directly lay out the strategic plan for the Cloud Village. After all, the current Cloud Village was at its most vigilant. Any movement from Konoha would arouse their suspicion. Telling them now that he wanted to help them build... the Cloud Village might repeatedly ponder whether Konoha had set some trap for them, digging a pit and waiting for them. Rather than that, it was better to be more patient and wait until both sides hit it off.

And now, what Ryoho Kyohiko wanted to talk about was the matter of Sunagakure. He combined the intelligence and news from both the Anbu and Konoha’s official channels and placed them in front of the two of them. These two were very smart. Yamanaka Inoichi was an expert in intelligence, very sensitive to information. If he weren’t also in charge of Konoha’s overall intelligence work, Kyohiko would definitely have dug him over.

Inoichi scanned it once. Then, he looked up, a slight smile on his face.

"Rasa can’t hold on anymore."

Ryoho Kyohiko pointed to a line on the map.

"Inoichi-senpai, that’s consistent with my judgment. I also think Rasa wants to carry out deeper cooperation with Konoha. Repairing the trade route is a signal."

This was a classic trade route from the Land of Fire and the Land of Rivers to the Land of Wind during the First Hokage’s era. But as the situation between the two countries became tense, this trade route had gradually fallen into disuse. Now, the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind traded more through the southern coast. Once this northern trade route was repaired, the oases along the way and Sunagakure could all benefit.

Shikaku pondered for a moment.

"This road should mainly lead to the Land of Rivers. The Land of Rivers has a great river, which can transport large quantities of goods by boat."

Ryoho Kyohiko chimed in.

"Minerals."

Shikaku nodded.

"Yes, that’s what I was thinking too."

The three of them, one sentence at a time, pieced together Sunagakure’s probable purpose based on the information they currently had. In the end, three items were written on the list.

1. Sasori of the Red Sand.

2. Trade route, cooperation.

3. A deeper alliance with Konoha, possibly hoping that Konoha could provide some convenience or protection for Sunagakure.

***

Tsunade couldn’t help but sneer.

"If Rasa really thinks so, he’s being too fanciful."

"What does he plan to pay? If it’s just a threat, that if we don’t agree, he’ll start a war, then our Konoha is not afraid to go to war with Sunagakure again!"

The current Sunagakure and Konoha were not on the same level at all. Konoha was not afraid of another war. But for Sunagakure, once they started a war again and failed again, what awaited them would not be defeat and reconciliation, but a change from the Five Great Shinobi Villages to the Four Great Shinobi Villages.

Tsunade stood up, full of spirit and excitement.

"We’ll see in a moment."

"Let’s go! To Kikyo Castle!"

***

On a border between the Land of Wind and the Land of Rivers.

Rasa, with a few guards, crossed the border and entered the territory of the Land of Rivers. He looked into the distance. Before long, a person returned from the front.

"Kazekage-sama, we have already communicated with the people of Kikyo Castle. They have agreed to let us pass into the Land of Fire, but we need their people to escort us."

Rasa was not too surprised.

"That’s as it should be. Let’s go."

If Konoha still let them come and go freely in the Land of Fire under these circumstances, then they would be too lax. If the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, were in power, there might be a certain possibility, but now that it was the combination of Tsunade and Ryoho Kyohiko, and with an "advisor" like Orochimaru in the village, it was impossible for them to do such a foolish thing.

Rasa said nothing, leading his people all the way. At one place, he stopped and looked at the vibrant forest, speechless for a moment. This place was originally not a forest, but a barren desert, more of sandstorms and rocks, without any vegetation. But now, a large forest had made this place lush and green, and there was even a stream in the forest. Although the water flow was not large, for this area of the Land of Wind, this was already a miracle of life.

But—the miracle here was all irrigated with the flesh and blood of Sunagakure’s ninjas, among whom was the important Sunagakure elder, Ebizo. Ebizo’s death... once paralyzed Sunagakure’s Anbu system. He stood there for a long time.

"Let’s go."

Rasa stepped into the forest, following the route from back then, all the way to Mount Kikyo. The pits and bumps on the road seemed to turn into the battlefield of the past before his eyes, and a wave of sorrow filled his heart. My teacher, the Third Kazekage, was killed here by the other party. Ryoho Kyohiko. That young man had stepped on their Sunagakure to achieve his current illustrious fame, with the momentum of inheriting the title of God of Shinobi from Senju Hashirama. At least—compared to the current Hanzo, the Kyohiko of a few years later would definitely be more suitable for the title of "demigod."

Rasa was speechless.

"Having an opponent like Ryoho Kyohiko is the sorrow of our Sunagakure, and even more so of this era..."

He let out a long sigh. Why is there such a heaven-defying existence in this era? If not for Ryoho Kyohiko, everything might have been different. He looked into the distance. Konoha had talent from generation to generation. How could Sunagakure compete? By now, Rasa had no answer in his heart. He even felt that perhaps a complete alliance with Konoha was a better choice. This way... at least they wouldn’t fall from the Five Great Shinobi Villages.

Rasa continued to walk forward, and the guards behind him said nothing. They had also experienced that war and knew how painful the outcome was—too many elites were lost in that battle! The current Sunagakure could no longer afford another war.

They went all the way to the foot of Mount Kikyo.

"Baki, go and report again."

"Yes!"

Baki left with a body flicker. After a long time, Konoha sent four ninjas over.

"Kazekage-sama, please!"

"Alright."

Rasa nodded lightly and followed. He was very cooperative all the way to Kikyo Castle, with no unusual movements. He even took the initiative to let his guards stay outside the city, entering the city alone for negotiations. However, upon arriving inside Kikyo Castle, he was suddenly taken aback.

"Ryoho Kyohiko? How are you..."

Ryoho Kyohiko smiled, then pointed to the building.

"You are the Kazekage, after all. To really make you run to Konoha, outsiders would say we have no manners. Meeting here is a good choice for you and for us."

"Please!"

"Thank you."

Rasa’s posture was humble.

He had already guessed who was in the building. To make Ryoho Kyohiko act like this... it was either Jiraiya or the current Hokage, Tsunade! Obviously, the latter was more likely! Rasa took a deep breath. Upon entering the building, he saw Tsunade sitting at the head of a table, her posture serious. Opposite Tsunade, a seat had already been prepared.

"Kazekage, please sit."

"Thank you!"

Rasa walked over and sat down.

Tsunade rested her hands on the table.

"Kazekage, you want to jointly host the Chunin Exams. The proposal is indeed good, but we also have many allies on our side, so we still need further discussion."

Rasa nodded respectfully.

"Of course, that’s as it should be. Actually, besides the Chunin Exams, I have another purpose for this trip."

"I want to reach a further cooperation with Konoha!"

Tsunade’s mouth curled up slightly.

"Oh? Tell me about it. What kind of cooperation do you want?"

Rasa lowered his head.

"Sunagakure is willing to give up more mission shares and provide our intelligence network to help you monitor Onoki!"

Ryoho Kyohiko spoke up in rebuttal.

"Hehe, Rasa-sama, your proposal is not very important to our Konoha. After all, mission shares still depend on the employer’s confidence in each other. The current Sunagakure does not have such capital."

Rasa was silent for a second. He knew that Kyohiko was right. The current Sunagakure was no longer in its pre-war state. Many employers believed that Sunagakure had declined severely and were unwilling to come to Sunagakure for commissions anymore, many of which were commissions from the Land of Wind. Those commissions... most of them went to Konoha. To some extent, he was being generous with others’ money.

Rasa lowered his head.

"We are willing to sign a contract and will never betray the alliance!"

Tsunade shook her head.

"If Konoha is at a disadvantage, a contract is just a piece of paper. It has no meaning to us. Including your Magnet Release ninjutsu, we actually have a way to counter it..."

Rasa’s bargaining chips were indeed too few!

Rasa raised his head.

"What if I am willing to hand over Shukaku to Konoha for safekeeping? To use Shukaku as collateral in exchange for Konoha’s renewed trust in our village, and to implore Konoha to provide some support!"

The One-Tailed Shukaku! A trace of surprise appeared in Tsunade’s eyes. This was a Tailed Beast! Does Rasa really dare to say this? Isn’t he afraid that Konoha will take the benefits and not reciprocate? What’s the difference between this and just giving it away!