459. Grand Ambition

"Samehada, you actually betrayed me..."

Fuguki Suikazan stared in disbelief at Samehada, which was now wriggling happily in Hoshigaki's hand.


His eyes were filled with the fury of being NTR'd.

Not only that, but his palm had been completely pierced by Samehada's spikes, and bright red blood was continuously flowing down, creating a horrifying sight.

Kisame, however, showed no remorse for having "stolen" Samehada. Instead, he coldly stated:
"When you chose to betray others time and time again, you should have expected that one day you would be betrayed as well."

He tightened his grip on Samehada and slowly walked toward the traitor before him.

This battle lasted only five minutes.

Without Samehada, Fuguki Suikazan was no match for Kisame.

Whether in terms of combat skills or chakra reserves, the latter completely dominated, securing an overwhelming victory.

Thus, when Mei Terumī arrived with a group of Kirigakure ninja, all that was left for them was a corpse.

"The wound is clearly from Samehada. Was this an internal conflict?"

Looking at the massive wound on Fuguki Suikazan's body, Mei quickly made her guess.

After all, Fuguki Suikazan had previously been the wielder of Samehada, and now the sword was missing, while he had been killed by it.

The most likely scenario was that an internal conflict had erupted, and one of his subordinates had stolen Samehada and killed him.

"The perpetrator is most likely Kisame Hoshigaki."

After arriving, Mangetsu Hōzuki came to the same conclusion as Mei and quickly identified the culprit.

This wasn't because Mangetsu was particularly sharp-minded, but rather because the core combatants of the Blood Mist faction were few in number.

Aside from Fuguki Suikazan and Biwa Juzo, both former members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, only Kisame Hoshigaki had the strength to pull this off.

"Regardless, let's stabilize the capital first."

"We can discuss how to deal with Kisame Hoshigaki and recover the sword later!"

Mei understood the importance of prioritizing tasks.

Under her direction, the Kirigakure forces quickly entered the capital.

As for the Blood Mist faction, with one leader (Biwa Juzo) captured and the other (Fuguki Suikazan) killed, and the remaining Kisame Hoshigaki having disappeared, they soon gave up resistance.

They even went so far as to capture the Daimyō of the Land of Water and hand him over to the Kirigakure forces.

With this, the civil war in the Land of Water, which had lasted over two years, finally came to an end.

Several months later, in the western desert of the ninja world, a spatial vortex suddenly appeared.

Two figures emerged in this unexpected manner above the capital.

They were Obito Uchiha, wearing a white mask, and Rasa, the Fourth Kazekage of Sunagakure.

"From here on out, you'll handle things on your own."

Obito looked down at the bustling oasis below, a cold glint in his eyes.

Rasa glanced at him and let out a light snort.

"Of course I know that."

In the next moment, endless streams of gold dust surged from the surrounding desert, like a dark cloud blotting out the sky, and poured down onto the capital!

————————

After the incident of [Sunagakure's Surprise Attack on the Land of Wind's Capital], Konoha immediately convened a high-level meeting.

"The changes in the Land of Wind have happened faster than we anticipated. We probably don't have time to intervene."

Shikaku Nara, Konoha's top strategist and most brilliant mind, was the first to speak.

According to Konoha's usual practices, they should have secretly supported the Daimyō of the Land of Wind before Rasa launched his attack, in order to plunge the Land of Wind into civil war.

Unfortunately, Rasa's surprise attack this time was completely unexpected.

It was a textbook blitzkrieg!

No one could have predicted that Rasa, who had been considered the weakest of the Five Kage, would act so decisively this time, going straight to the capital alone and wiping out the nobles in one fell swoop.

This was completely inconsistent with his previous indecisive and hesitant character!

Although Konoha had previously supplied the Land of Wind's capital with a large number of weapons through underground channels, facing a Kage-level opponent and that mysterious man, weapons alone were far from enough.

Only another Kage-level fighter could stand against a Kage!

This was also why Danzō had sent Ryoma Aburame to support the Land of Earth.

Otherwise, the Land of Earth's ragtag forces would have been crushed by Ōnoki long ago.


"More importantly, both Iwagakure and Sunagakure seem to have received assistance from that mysterious organization."

Shikaku continued.

As for the mysterious organization he mentioned, everyone present knew exactly who it was—

The masked man who had personally orchestrated the Nine-Tails' attack, causing massive damage to Konoha!

"It seems that this organization intends to help other nations break free from Konoha's interference, and may even be subtly uniting them."

As the Hokage, Minato quickly sensed a hint of conspiracy from the series of intelligence reports.

The expressions of the others in the room also turned serious.

After all, in recent years, Konoha's rapid development had made it the dominant force in the ninja world.

If the Land of Wind and the Land of Earth, two major nations, were to unite under the influence of this mysterious organization, their target would not be hard to guess...

Moreover, if another war were to break out, the ever-watchful Kumogakure would likely not stand idly by, and the result would be another extremely brutal conflict.

Unlike the others, who were wary, Danzō Shimura, hailed as the "Father of the Land of Fire," remained remarkably calm.

"It doesn't matter. The unification, or even alliance, of other nations is an inevitable trend."

"As long as Konoha continues to develop, this day will come sooner or later."

Danzō's words immediately caused everyone to frown.

But after some thought, they realized he was absolutely right!

As Konoha continued to grow stronger, the only way for other nations to avoid being swallowed up was to unite and oppose Konoha!

"If that's the case, what should we do?"
Fugaku Uchiha, who was never fond of thinking too deeply, directly voiced his question.

In response, Danzō let out a light chuckle and said:
"It's simple. If they can unite, so can we."

"Do they think only the Land of Earth and the Land of Wind can have allies? Doesn't Konoha have any?"

"If they choose to unite, why can't Konoha take the lead and form an alliance with others first?"

As soon as he said this, everyone looked surprised, and Shikaku couldn't help but ask:
"Lord Danzō, are you suggesting that we form an alliance with the Land of Rain, the Land of Rivers, and other nations?"

Danzō nodded directly, narrowing his eyes and revealing a smile full of ambition.

"It's time for our grand ambition to begin."

"Summon the leaders of the Land of Rain, the Land of Rivers, and the Land of Rice. Tell them that Danzō Shimura has important matters to discuss!"