Chapter 310: The New Era Begins (Part 1)
At this moment, the ninja world was engulfed in the flames of war, but the atmosphere in Sunagakure was strange. On one hand, they were proud of the just-concluded Joint Chunin Exams; on the other hand, they were worried about the newly started war. Most Suna ninja still didn't know their vanguard had been defeated and the Third Kazekage was critically injured and comatose.
So when a gigantic beast tens of meters tall suddenly appeared in the village, everyone was stunned.
"What is that thing?!"
"Why is there a monster in the village?!"
"Run!"
The purple monster waved its tentacles. With a single strike, it destroyed several buildings, sending debris flying like cannonballs through the village.
Several Suna ninja immediately went to engage, but ordinary ninja were useless against such a monster. Just the shockwaves could destroy sophisticated puppets.
"Is that a Tailed Beast?"
"Why is there an unfamiliar Tailed Beast in the village?! Is this the Cloud's Eight-Tails?!"
"Damn it! This is a Cloud conspiracy!!!"
Most ninja didn't know the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki had been imprisoned in their own village.
Rasa, who had stayed behind to guard the village, immediately engaged. Massive amounts of Gold Dust surged forward, trying to restrain the Eight-Tails. However, the feedback force chilled Rasa's heart.
He had participated in suppressing the One-Tail Shukaku with the Third Kazekage, but Shukaku's power was worlds apart from the Eight-Tails.
"Is this the Eight-Tails...? It's so much stronger than the One-Tail! Didn't they say a Tailed Beast's strength has nothing to do with the number of tails?!"
He knew the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki was in the village, but why did he go berserk for no reason?
Magnet Release, as a large-scale jutsu, was effective against Tailed Beasts, but clearly, the Eight-Tails before him exceeded his capability. At least, he needed to team up with the Third Kazekage to have a chance of restraining it.
Um... maybe.
On the other side, in the Kazekage building, Chiyo and Minato Namikaze, who were just arguing about the Jinchuriki, looked out the window in shock.
Chiyo immediately jumped out, wanting to stop the Eight-Tails from rampaging in the village. Minato attempted to activate the Flying Thunder God mark he had left on Blue Bee.
"No reaction? It was destroyed?"
Konoha.
In front of the usually bustling Konoha main gate, now pitted and scarred by battle, a table had been temporarily set up.
Currently, no one sat around the table, but everyone's attention was drawn to it. Because that was the negotiation table.
Inside the Hokage Building, Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado wore complex expressions. Things having developed to this point left a bitter taste in their mouths. They thought summoning the First and Second Hokage could turn defeat into victory for Konoha. They didn't expect the Edo Tensei bodies to be unable to bear the power of the two legends. Now, they were heading to the negotiation table.
Given the massive disadvantage in the war, one could imagine how harsh the conditions awaiting Konoha would be.
After this war, would Konoha still be Konoha?
Suddenly, a blond figure appeared in the Hokage Building, drawing their attention. It was Minato Namikaze.
Minato appeared extremely exhausted, kneeling on one knee, panting.
"Elders... Emergency... The Eight-Tails Jinchuriki has gone berserk!"
"What?!..."
On the fortress in front of Konoha's main gate, Yotsuki Dana was discussing the disposal of Konoha with the Third Raikage.
"I didn't expect a day when we would discuss such things..."
The Third Raikage sighed with emotion. For decades, Konoha had been a mountain pressing down on all other ninja villages. Now, it was meat on the Cloud's chopping block.
Among the Great Ninja Villages, devouring Konoha was undoubtedly the most tempting.
Previously, fighting with blood boiling, they had no time to think about this. Now that the situation had stabilized, Dana and the Third Raikage suddenly realized the benefits were shocking, even for the current Cloud.
How many bloodlines did Konoha have? How many secret techniques? How much technology? How many geniuses now? How many geniuses in the future?
Dana swallowed. The benefits made both father and son's hearts race. He knew even more than his Old Man.
Including the Land of Fire. Although it might not compare now, it used to be a land of milk and honey, more prosperous than the Land of Lightning.
If they could truly digest the benefits of Konoha and the Land of Fire, the Cloud would soar to the sky, becoming the most terrifying force on the planet.
However, swallowing Konoha and the Land of Fire would test the Cloud's ability.
"The Fire Daimyo is definitely hiding. We can consider setting up a puppet—not a direct descendant, but a branch family member. Control from the top, less interference with the populace."
To completely annex another country's territory without public approval was difficult. Countless wars in Dana's past life proved this. In modern times, annexations were rare; instead, puppet regimes were established to extract resources. [1]
As long as the Land of Fire's commercial market, wealth, and productivity could serve the Cloud, that was enough.
In contrast, the Land of Wind and Land of Earth held far less value.
"Konoha is the big prize... treasures everywhere..."
They discussed heatedly for a while, but then the Third Raikage worried, "I wonder how Blue Bee is doing."
Dana calmed down from his excitement.
Just then, a subordinate reported, "My lords, 20 minutes left until the 4-hour limit."
Dana and the Third Raikage exchanged a glance, jumped off the fortress together, and walked to the three Hokages sitting on the ground.
The Third Raikage said, "Time is almost up. Where is Blue Bee?"
Tobirama Senju replied, "We've been sitting here the whole time; we don't know. Koharu and the others are handling it."
A while later, Koharu and Homura left the barrier-protected Hokage Building and arrived at the clearing.
Only ten minutes remained.
Finally, under the pressure of total destruction, the Konoha high command chose to tell the truth.
"Blue Bee went berserk in Sunagakure?"
The Third Raikage's face instantly turned ugly.
If a Tailed Beast went berserk, the Jinchuriki's fate was precarious. In the past, when Blue Bee couldn't suppress the Eight-Tails, he had gone berserk too—that was why he stayed at sea year-round.
Every time, he was punched back to sanity by the Third Raikage.
There were many states of Tailed Beast rampage. If the Jinchuriki and the beast rampaged together, it was manageable. The fear was if the Tailed Beast separated from the Jinchuriki.
The Third Raikage clenched his fists until they cracked.
Moreover, according to Minato, Suna was powerless to suppress the Eight-Tails and could only lure the crazed beast out of the village. Minato had tried to activate the Flying Thunder God mark on Blue Bee, but it had failed.
When Minato left, the Eight-Tails was chasing Suna's bait into the vast desert of the Land of Wind.
The Third Raikage said, "Kid! Use your Space-Time Ninjutsu and take me to the Land of Wind!"
Minato scratched his head and said helplessly, "My chakra isn't enough. even just now, I had to find a place to rest for a while before returning to Konoha."
Dana communicated secretly with his Old Man, then summoned a dog-sized slug.
Hashirama Senju tilted his head. "Eh? Isn't that the Katsuyu Sage?"
The slug crawled onto Minato's shoulder, immediately pouring massive amounts of chakra into him. Katsuyu's chakra sharing was safer and more efficient than Soldier Pills, which squeezed physical stamina.
Minato looked at the surrounding high officials. Whether to help or not depended on them.
Tobirama thought for a moment and nodded to Minato. "Junior I don't know, take the Third Raikage there."
The Third Raikage said to Dana, "I leave this place to you. Be careful in everything."
Even if the Third Raikage left, the Cloud's forces here were enough to level Konoha.
After the Third Raikage left, Dana looked at the group of Konoha high officials and said, "Since you can't hand over the captive, let's officially begin negotiations."
Everyone gulped.
"Let's change location. Also, I hope each ninja clan can send a representative to witness this."
[1] Note: This refers to colonial/puppet state strategies.