As soon as he returned to his traditional-style home, Izayoi took a simple bath, warmed a pot of sake, switched on open-air mode, and entered the private hot spring wearing only a pair of swimming trunks.
While sipping the sweet sake, he summoned the light screen to check tonight's harvest.
[Points: 281379]
"What a pity…"
Looking at the number, Izayoi didn't feel ecstatic. Instead, he sighed with a trace of regret. "If it weren't for the Blood Mist policy, the Hidden Mist Village would've been the biggest treasure trove."
In every world, war is the true source of wealth.
In the six years of Ninja School, Hinata, Uchiha Sasuke, and the rest of his classmates had only provided Izayoi with a little over 20,000 points.
Now, thanks to the Konoha Crush Plan and the Akatsuki's attack on the Hidden Cloud Village, his points balance had soared from just over 10,000 to over 280,000.
This was even with at least half of the Cloud Village casualties dying under meteor showers caused by his Wood Clones and Super Shinra Tensei.
Although these large-scale techniques triggered guaranteed bonus points, their efficiency couldn't compare to the puppet army's drop rate.
Furthermore, the scarcity of bloodline limits in the Land of Lightning meant most Hidden Cloud ninjas only carried white or green entries—blue at best.
A decomposed blue entry only yielded a random three-digit point value.
Izayoi's huge gain this time came purely from quantity.
That couldn't help but make him think of the Hidden Mist Village.
Among the Five Great Nations, the Hidden Cloud, Hidden Rock, and Hidden Sand were "poor" in bloodlines. Only Konoha and the Mist were rich with bloodline limit and secret techniques.
But unfortunately, those two "wealthy" villages had already been ruined—one by its own leadership, the other by Uchiha Obito.
The Mist, in particular, had it the worst.
Once the village with the most bloodline limit clans, the bloodline users had been turned into feared monsters. Now, the Mist's overall strength had fallen behind even the Sand Village.
If not for the Blood Mist policy, it would have been the ideal target.
Bloodline entries are typically purple-tier, and decomposing them yields random four-digit points.
If Izayoi had targeted Mist and focused only on bloodline limit users, tonight's harvest could've easily doubled.
But there were no ifs.
Now, there were only two options left:
Explode a red-tier entry for decomposition, or ignite a war—and ideally, let the puppet army deal the finishing blows.
However, tonight's battle exposed some issues in the puppet corps.
Rigid movements, lack of life, split focus—despite being operated by multiple Wood Clones, the puppet army couldn't unleash its full potential. It couldn't even defeat a ninja village without direct involvement.
To efficiently harvest more points with them, Izayoi would either need to exploit chaos like in the Konoha Crush Plan or upgrade them further.
"The butterfly effect has completely rewritten the plot. I'm really curious where it all goes from here…" Izayoi muttered, raising his sake cup and sipping the warm liquid.
Just then, the sound of a door opening reached his ears.
"Karin, you're still awake?" Izayoi said with a smile. Without looking, he already knew who it was.
"Hehe… Yes. I feel more energetic than ever. I even used Multiple Shadow Clones to clean the entire garden, and I'm not tired at all," Karin replied. She knelt behind Izayoi, poured sake into his cup, and gently pressed his head at specific pressure points. "I've been learning massage and pressure techniques from Hinata and Hanabi lately. Let me give you a proper massage."
"Then I'll be in your care, Karin. But you should come into the water too. It's been getting colder lately." Seeing that Karin wore the same Squirtle Shikusui as Hinata, but with no distortion, Izayoi pulled her into the hot spring.
"Izayoi-kun, lie down by the edge. I'll start with a head massage."
"Alright."
…
Just like the Uchiha Massacre, the Konoha Crush, and the Wood Release incident, news of the Akatsuki's attack on Hidden Cloud and the total destruction of the Lightning Country's military base quickly spread across the ninja world—even reaching the Hidden Mist through summoning beasts.
The entire ninja world was in shock.
Following the precedent set by Konoha and Sand, Hidden Cloud and the Land of Lightning chose full transparency. They released all intelligence about the Akatsuki, letting the world see how they had crossed a line.
In this case, Hidden Cloud was the victim.
A puppet technique surpassing even the Sand Village's could turn corpses into human puppets that retained their previous bloodline limits and even gained access to new jutsu.
The moment the Lightning Country made this known, Sasori's bounty soared to second place in the black market—548 million ryo.
Sarutobi Asuma's bounty didn't even come close.
The top spot now belonged not to Izayoi, but Tendo Pain—who wielded the Sage's Eye and had wiped out Hidden Cloud with a single attack. His bounty: 1 billion ryo.
The Lightning Country clearly spared no expense—and was deeply afraid.
A terrorist group that broke all rules, today it was Hidden Cloud, tomorrow it could be the Daimyo's palace.
Compared to that, the recently graduated Wood Release ninja barely registered as a threat.
…
"Huff…"
In the Hidden Rain Village, Kakuzu found Sasori and asked breathlessly, "I heard you turned yourself into a puppet. Can you transfer your heart and donate your body to the organization? I'll even help for free with Earth Grudge Fear."
"Get lost!"
Sasori, hidden within his crimson shell, replied coldly.
Kakuzu looked disappointed and turned to Tendo Pain. "Leader, can I switch partners? Sasori might actually be my ideal teammate."
"What? Am I not good enough?" Hidan objected.
"Brother Sasori is my partner!" Deidara added angrily.
Neither of them grasped Kakuzu's true intent.
"No," Pain said coldly.
"What a pity," Kakuzu muttered, glancing back and forth between Sasori and Pain.
After a brief silence, Pain addressed everyone except Uchiha Obito. "I summoned you in person to clarify something. The Lightning Country's report is false. The Konoha Crush and the Hidden Cloud incident were not our doing. They were the work of a mysterious man who also has the Sage's Eye."
"His goal seems to be provoking a war among the Five Great Nations to weaken us—or to eliminate me."
"Be cautious in the future. Besides me, Sasori, Itachi, and Kisame, the rest of you haven't been exposed. You may take off your uniforms and lie low. If you're in danger, contact me via your rings."
The S-rank rogues were unfazed.
Unless ambushed by a massive ninja force or countered by specific powers, there were few in the world who could truly threaten them.
Kakuzu's eyes lit up. "So the Akatsuki will become public enemy number one? Meaning more bounty hunters will come after us?"
Pain: "…"
Behind the scenes, Nagato was exhausted, but continued through Tendo Pain.
"Hidden Cloud will retaliate. Zetsu's intel shows they still have the Two-Tails and Eight-Tails—both perfect jinchūriki who can fully transform and launch tailed beast bombs. With their time-space jutsu, they may even air-drop attacks on us."
"And we can't rule out a full-scale war."
"So for now, stay in the Hidden Rain Village and help reinforce our barriers."
The group grew solemn.
They weren't afraid of small groups—but if a full nation moved against them, that was another matter.
"Leader, shouldn't we relocate our base?" Kakuzu asked.
"Not yet," Pain replied indifferently. "It's just Hidden Cloud. If that mysterious man can do it, so can I."
Recalling the shared intel, the members were once again shaken.
Two Sage's Eye users?
It seemed the era had truly changed.
Would it all end in another Valley of the End?
…
"Deidara, what kind of organization have you joined…"
In Iwagakure, Ohnoki read the report gravely. "I thought Wood Release would be our greatest threat, but to think such a dangerous person existed in our time… What is Akatsuki's goal?"
Under normal circumstances, Ohnoki would've already invaded the Lightning Country to take advantage of Hidden Cloud's collapse.
The last Great War started when Lightning took advantage of Sand losing the Third Kazekage.
Now, Hidden Cloud had been virtually wiped out. There couldn't be a better opportunity.
Yet none of the major villages—Konoha, Sand, Rock—had taken action.
They had all seen the rise of a new, godlike power.
Jinchūriki were already feared, even by their own people. These beings were another level altogether—able to wipe out countries.
Huangtu asked, "Father, should we contact Deidara to gather intel or check Akatsuki's intentions?"
"It's meaningless," Ohnoki replied. "People with that kind of power inevitably develop ambitions. 'Companions' can't sway them."
"Call the Sensory, Barrier, and Tech divisions. We must reinforce our defenses before we suffer Cloud's fate."
"Yes!"
At that moment, a knock came.
"Lord Tsuchikage, envoys from Hidden Cloud seek an audience."
"Go greet them," Ohnoki told Huangtu.
…
"The balance is broken. I fear for the future of the ninja world—and our Hidden Sand."
In the Sand Village, Chiyo was troubled.
Cloud had the AB combo and Two-Tails. Rock had Ohnoki and two Jinchūriki. Konoha had the Legendary Sannin and Wood Release.
Sand? Only two elders and an unseasoned Gaara.
If war broke out, Sand would be in grave danger.
Her only solace was that her grandson had become the strongest puppeteer. But the use of corpse puppets suggested he was the one behind the Kazekage's disappearance.
Her grandson had strayed too far.
She thought of a certain jutsu in development. Could it bring him back?
"Chiyo, we may need Konoha's help," Ebizo said. "We gained nothing from the Whirlpool scrolls. Without a barrier, we'll fare worse than Cloud if meteor showers come."
"Let's hope Tsunade-hime will put aside past grudges."
Gaara stood nearby, expression serious. His desire to grow stronger intensified.
A knock echoed on the office door.
…
Konoha, Hokage's Office
"That mysterious man made another move—this time against Hidden Cloud," Tsunade said while reading a report. She looked at Izayoi across from her. "Sorry, my grandfather didn't leave any signature Wood Release jutsu. I can't help much."
"It's fine, Hokage-sama. I'm more interested in the Second Hokage's forbidden techniques anyway," Izayoi grinned.
"Doesn't matter. You'll get your hands on this stuff eventually. No one tried to stop you. In times like these, everyone wants you as strong as possible."
Tsunade clearly favored Izayoi over Naruto.
Although Naruto helped her overcome her trauma, she was Hokage first—and had to think of the village.
Izayoi smiled confidently. "With my current chakra, I can perform the Four Red Yang Formation solo. Even a meteor shower wouldn't break through."
"Haha! That's what I like to hear," Tsunade said—then suddenly glared. "Then go take missions! I'm giving you a death order—get promoted to jonin next year or I'll investigate your assets and seal your house!"
"Then I'll report you for gambling with public funds."
"Who says I used public funds? Got proof?"
"Do you?"
"I'm the Hokage. My word is law! Don't like it? Become Hokage yourself!"
"Hmph… Tsunade, you'll regret this!"
Izayoi slammed the scroll down and left with a bang.
Tsunade scratched her cheek. "Why does that feel so familiar…?"
Shizune and Karin chuckled. "Hokage-sama, you said the same thing to him last time."
"Hmm… Maybe… but I didn't slam the door. That's not it…"