Malphegor
patreon
HSU: Ch. 202
🕑 Added 2025-02-22 17:36:40 +0000 UTCAfter dawdling and hesitating in the Lands of Stone and Iron for about a month, Kumo and Suna finally dropped the pretense and officially launched a war against Iwa.
The distinct warfare styles of Kumo and Suna became immediately apparent.
Suna followed protocol, formally declaring war before sending their army to invade the Land of Stone.
Kumo, on the other hand, simply landed a military force on the shores of the Land of Iron.
A declaration of war? Real warriors didn't bother with that nonsense.
Ōnoki never expected the brutes from Kumo to follow formalities anyway. He had been anticipating this fight and was fully prepared.
However, when Suna's declaration of war arrived, he made a slight adjustment to his strategic assignments.
He reassigned Kitsuchi, who was originally responsible for the battle against Kumo, to the Suna front instead. As for the Kumo forces, Ōnoki decided to personally lead his prized disciple into battle.
At the same time, all three sides sent diplomats for negotiations.
Upon learning this, the other nations breathed a sigh of relief.
If negotiations began right after the war started, it meant the conflict wouldn't escalate into an all-out war.
But before they could completely relax, everyone noticed something strange—all three villages' envoys were heading toward Konoha.
This left everyone baffled.
"You three are fighting each other, so why are you running off to Konoha?"
---
Inside the Uchiha Training Grounds, someone voiced the same question, "Masashi, why are they coming to our village? Are they expecting us to help?"
"The Sandaime invited them," Masashi replied while sitting under a tree, watching the clan's children play around.
"Don't ask too much. And don't talk about it outside, either—this is nothing but trouble."
After saying this, he suddenly shouted toward the kids playing nearby.
"Sasuke! Watch Saeko, or I'll tell your mom when we get home!"
Sasuke, who was climbing on Matatabi, flinched in surprise. He quickly turned around and saw Saeko trying to climb into Matatabi's ear. Panicking, he rushed over to pull her out.
Masashi had grown close to Fugaku's family, and his daughter was well-liked by Fugaku and his wife.
While Itachi had his own things going on, Sasuke—desperate to prove himself as a "grown-up"—proudly saw himself as Saeko's big brother.
Saeko, in turn, loved having such an energetic and mischievous big brother to play with.
Over time, Masashi just let them be.
"By the way, I thought tailed beasts were supposed to be aggressive, but Matatabi seems pretty gentle," Tetsuka commented.
A look of regret appeared on his face.
"But why does it dislike me so much?"
Masashi glanced at him.
If Tetsuka weren't his dear clan brother, he wouldn't have saved him back then.
Why was Matatabi hostile toward him? Did he really have no self-awareness?
"Maybe it's just bad compatibility. See? It doesn't mind your younger brother," Masashi said.
Though he felt guilty about this half-truth, it was the only thing he could say to Tetsuka.
"If only it weren't like that," Tetsuka sighed in disappointment.
Matatabi had grown quite familiar with the Uchiha members. It was especially fond of children, and the clan's kids loved climbing all over it like a jungle gym.
It still maintained some wariness toward adult ninjas, but that was just instinct.
Tetsuka, however, was the exception. If he got too close, Matatabi would immediately get annoyed.
"Anyway, since the three villages' envoys will all be gathering here, the Police Force will be busy. The security division will have an even tougher job," Masashi remarked while absentmindedly twisting a blade of grass between his fingers, letting the bits fall.
"Spies will definitely be lurking around, and there'll probably be an increase in criminal activity, too."
"Masashi, do you think they'll cause trouble?"
"Iwa probably won't, but Kumo and Suna have completely different social norms from us. Even if they don't intend to, there might be issues."
"That sounds like a huge headache."
"Suna will be the bigger problem. If Kumo causes trouble, just beat them up. If anyone gives you a hard time, blame it on me."
"Are you sure about that?"
"Of course. I'm an open anti-Kumo advocate. Encouraging our clan members to beat up unruly Kumo ninjas is perfectly logical. So yes, just blame me."
Masashi patted Tetsuka on the shoulder, reassuring him.
No matter how much of a headache this whole situation was, it was nothing they couldn't handle.
But compared to the three villages already at war, Masashi was more concerned about those who wanted them to fight in the first place.
Thinking in a more cynical way, the ones who attacked Konoha's ANBU in the past might have even been from the Land of Fire itself.
And there might not have been just one suspect.
Who said there could only be a single force working in the shadows?
If most of the shinobi world wanted these three villages to go to war, then there wasn't much Masashi could do about it.
After giving his younger clansman a few words of advice, he dropped the subject.
In the following days, the number of outsiders in Konoha noticeably increased.
And that was after Konoha had already conducted a round of screening.
However, merchants and those coming under the pretense of business commissions couldn't be outright rejected, even though some of them were undoubtedly spies from external forces.
Merchants couldn't be turned away because Konoha's expansion project had already reached its third phase.
Finally, amid much speculation and anticipation, the delegations from Kumo, Iwa, and Suna arrived in Konoha.
Unexpectedly, Kiri also sent a delegation.
That was Hiruzen's idea.
Since four of the Five Great Ninja Villages were already involved, he figured, why not invite the last one and make it a full set?
Back when Masashi first brought this idea to the Hokage's office, Hiruzen had been a little dumbfounded.
The moment he stepped into his office, three people immediately asked him if he wanted to go to war with Kumo.
That familiar feeling of being handed a troublesome situation made Hiruzen both amused and annoyed.
If Danzō were still around, that old man would have definitely declared that war was necessary.
Hiruzen could only sigh—young people these days were so bold, they wouldn't even spare an old man like him.
But when it came to shifting responsibility, these young ones were still too inexperienced.
Konoha couldn't go to war recklessly. Even if they did, they needed a solid justification to maintain the image of righteousness. On this point, he wholeheartedly agreed.
However, what disappointed him was that not a single person in the room, including Masashi, had considered one thing—why take the blame internally when you could redirect it elsewhere?
In the end, they were still young, too caught up in their own perspective to see the bigger picture.
As an ally of Suna and Iwa, Konoha couldn't just stand by and do nothing. However, making an internal decision to attack Kumo outright would be reckless. No matter who ended up shouldering the blame, it would still fall on Konoha.
Wouldn't it be better for all five great ninja villages to sit down and talk things through?
However, on the very first day that the four delegations arrived in Konoha, a conflict almost broke out.
The fight erupted without warning—but it ended even faster, thanks to the Security Forces.
Tetsuka, now a jonin, didn't hesitate at all. Leading a group of his clansmen, he immediately beat down the Kumo ninjas who had dared to raise their fists.
He was so decisive, it was as if he had been waiting for this moment all along.
This move shocked both Iwa and Suna, but the Kiri ninjas looked at Tetsuka with admiration.
Kiri loved this kind of straightforward, no-nonsense warrior.
After finishing the fight, Tetsuka left with a group of his clansmen.
Not a single member of the Kumo delegation looked pleased, but neither did the Iwa and Suna delegations. His attitude made them hesitate.
Who didn't know that Tetsuka was a die-hard supporter of Masashi?
As the leading figure of this generation's Uchiha, his attitude essentially represented the stance of the entire Uchiha clan.
Even during the most tense times between the Uchiha clan and the Hokage's office, the Uchiha members were present in every single war Konoha fought externally.
The title of the strongest ninja clan was forged through countless bloody battles.
The battle-hardened Uchiha members were naturally perceived by outsiders as Konoha's militant faction, even though reality was more nuanced.
But their combative nature made it all too easy for people to stereotype them. And now, not only did the Uchiha clan have Masashi, who could influence the Hokage's decisions, but they also wielded the power of a tailed beast.
The three ninja village delegations all had their own missions to complete, and they really didn't want to provoke the Uchiha clan.
Being on good terms with the Uchiha clan might not help them accomplish their tasks, but making enemies of them would definitely ruin their plans.
And that was exactly what made them terrifying troublemakers.
With the most straightforward approach, Tetsuka had completely crushed the three delegations' plans to exploit loopholes.
At this moment, however, Masashi was no longer in the village.
He had traveled to the location where Konoha's ANBU had been ambushed.
He rarely left the Land of Fire these days.
Now that he had full control over Matatabi's power and possessed a fully evolved Susanoo, he was recognized as Konoha's most formidable mobile combat force.
His movements always attracted attention.
This was inconvenient for him, as there were certain things he didn't want others noticing—not even Konoha.
For example, collecting tailed beast chakra.
Over the years, besides the chakra he got from Matatabi, he had managed to snatch a portion of Kurama's chakra from Kushina under the guise of research and had even severed one of Gyūki's arms, claiming its chakra for himself.
Aside from that, he had gained nothing more.
Tailed beasts were the most sensitive existence in the shinobi world. Even he had to tread carefully.
Being cautious, however, meant low efficiency.
On the other hand, if the task was an official village mission, things would be much easier.
The Land of Rivers, like the Land of Earth, was a long, narrow country wedged between the Land of Wind and the Land of Fire. However, its natural environment was far better than that of the Land of Earth.
Its climate was more similar to the Land of Fire.
The ANBU member who had been ambushed had already recovered and provided a detailed description of the incident. Konoha had essentially reconstructed the entire sequence of events.
Masashi's task was simple—whoever had attacked Konoha's ANBU, they must be exposed.
Whether they were the real culprits or not was irrelevant.
The ones who acted wouldn't be able to escape.
Several ANBU had been killed. This signaled a decline in Konoha's deterrence, or worse, it suggested that someone was testing Konoha's response.
Danzō had done a lot of shady things, but there was one principle he got right—whenever Konoha's deterrence was challenged, take immediate action to eliminate any further possibilities.
Masashi had worked hard to influence the course of events and brought things to this stage. He wouldn't allow his efforts to go to waste.
The rivers and mountains of the Land of Rivers didn't interest him. Following the clues gathered by ANBU, he searched along the trail.
In the dense forest behind him, shadows flickered.
As he neared the site of the ambush, he finally turned around.
The forest behind him was eerily silent.
He pressed his hand to the ground. The earth trembled, and golden sand erupted from the soil, turning the forest a deep yellow.
An entire stretch of lush primeval forest was swallowed by the sea of sand.
As the trees disappeared, figures leaped into the air, only to be immediately seized by tendrils of sand, dragged under along with the forest itself.
Masashi didn't stay behind to clean up the battlefield. The traces left behind were warning enough.
Turning, he continued toward the site of the attack.
By the time he arrived, no one was tailing him anymore.
It was obvious the site had been "cleaned up." But even more obviously, the cleaners had deliberately left behind clues—as if they had tried to cover up their tracks but had "accidentally" made mistakes.
Masashi thought to himself—if it were him, he would have done it far more naturally.
He wasn't particularly interested in the evidence left behind.
Biting his finger, he performed the Summoning Jutsu.
A small, red toad, about the size of an ordinary dog, appeared in a puff of white smoke.
The toads of Mount Myōboku were far more interested in investigation than combat.
This toad, in particular, could easily be defeated by a mere genin with a single kick.
But if you brought it along to solve a ninja world murder case?
It was basically the Detective Conan of the shinobi world.
All you had to do was follow its lead.
And it was a chakra-tracking toad.
Even the faintest traces of chakra could be detected by it.
Rather than calling it a skill, it was better described as an innate talent—and it was the only toad in Mount Myōboku with this ability.
The red toad squatted for a moment before heading northwest.
Masashi was in no hurry—he simply followed.
The journey was long.
Finally, the toad came to a stop.
In front of Masashi stood a village of towering spires.
Cold rain fell.
"You've worked hard. I'll do the rest, just take a break," he said.
The red toad nodded at him before vanishing in a puff of smoke, returning to Mount Myōboku.
Masashi looked at the village before him, unsurprised.
Dense chakra signatures filled his vision.
This was Ame.
Ame hadn't yet developed a barrier strong enough to cover the entire village—at least, not until Nagato became its leader. But he wasn't an expert in barrier techniques either.
Instead, he had used a clever workaround—Rainmaker Jutsu.
Masashi stepped forward toward the village.
He wasn't Jiraiya. He didn't need to sneak in.
The circumstances were completely different.
The moment he entered the range of the Rainmaker, the air around him was saturated with chakra, revealing yet another function of the jutsu.
But to Masashi, this didn't matter.
His bold approach had already drawn the attention of Ame's guards.
By the time he reached the gate, a squad of Ame ninjas was waiting for him.
"Halt!" Their leader raised a hand in warning. "Identify yourself."
Masashi stepped forward.
The Ame ninja finally recognized his face, eyes widening in shock.
"Where are the ones who ambushed Konoha's ANBU?"
"Masashi-sama, you must be mistaken. We are allies of Konoha. How could we attack our own ally? Please, come inside. Our leader will explain everything."
"Really? That's kind of you. Please, lead the way."
Masashi didn't mind as he walked through the path they cleared for him and entered Ame.
