Onoki the Tsuchikage (1/5)

Land of Earth.

Iwagakure.

It was a place surrounded on all sides by towering mountains, known as the strongest fortress in the entire ninja world. At the same time, it was a valley relatively isolated from the outside world.

Whether those inside wanted to leave or outsiders wanted to enter, both were exceptionally difficult.

Moreover, under the leadership of the Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, the entire village was enjoying unprecedented prosperity and stability. During wartime, it could even mobilize tens of thousands of ninjas for battle.

Setting aside the gap in high-end combat power, the Stone Ninja could be said to possess the largest number of ninjas among the Five Great Nations.

For that very reason, the Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, had always been ambitious, wanting to expand the Land of Earth’s influence outward.

But unfortunately, several foreign wars had all ended in draws—or rather, defeats.

As he felt his body growing older by the day, while the village had yet to find anyone capable of inheriting Dust Release, he remained in a state of constant anxiety.

He feared that one day he would be unable to hold on and die, leaving the Stone Ninja without a successor and allowing those brutish Cloud Ninja, their lifelong enemies, to pin them to the ground and grind them into the dirt again and again, just like the Sand Ninja next to Konoha Village.

Just as Onoki spent every day considering whom to train as the next Tsuchikage’s successor, an opportunity suddenly presented itself.

The sudden downfall of the Grass Ninja Village!

Although intelligence indicated that the individual or organization responsible for destroying the Grass Ninja likely possessed an extremely advanced forbidden Earth Release technique, one that strongly resembled the Stone Ninja’s methods,

he knew very well that this had nothing to do with anyone he had sent.

Still, operating on the principle that only fools turned down free gains, he immediately dispatched personnel in an attempt to complete the actual occupation of the Land of Grass before Konoha could react.

But by sheer coincidence, Konoha also sent people to stabilize the Land of Grass.

As a result, each side occupied half the Land of Grass, engaging in a covert struggle over control of several strategic locations.

In order to fulfill his long-cherished wish, the Third Tsuchikage had not only sent his biological son, but also several squads composed of Jonin and Special Jonin.

They were prepared to reduce Konoha’s control over the Land of Grass by hunting patrols, ensuring that their side could gain greater initiative and advantage in the coming negotiations.

But what he had never expected was that his efforts had not brought victory. Instead, they brought news of his own son’s death in battle.

"Who killed Huang Tu?"

Looking at the corpse that had been urgently sent back through a Sealing Scroll and Reverse Summoning, Onoki suppressed his anger and grief as he questioned in an icy voice.

"It was a Konoha Genin named Allen."

The Anbu responsible for delivering the intelligence lowered his head and answered cautiously.

"A Genin?!"

The Third Tsuchikage’s voice abruptly rose several octaves, and the fury burning in his eyes flared even more fiercely.

As a living fossil who had personally witnessed three Ninja Wars and had even spoken with Madara Uchiha, the Ninja Art Demon, he simply could not believe that someone with Huang Tu’s strength had been killed by a mere Genin.

Although Konoha had indeed produced many geniuses and monsters, they had all been tempered amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood during wartime.

"Lord Tsuchikage, this is the intelligence our spies embedded in Konoha gathered on that Genin. Please review it."

The Anbu had clearly come prepared and immediately presented a sealed scroll, which had been sent back along with the corpse, with both hands.

Without another word, Onoki took it and opened it to read.

When he saw that Allen had not been born in Konoha, but was an orphan who had been taken in after suffering severe injuries, and that he possessed some strange bloodline limit, he immediately frowned. With a sneer, he said, "What a Konoha. Hiruzen Sarutobi truly is lucky. He casually picks up an orphan, and it turns out to be a genius. But the question is, Konoha has produced so many geniuses—how many of them ever met a good end?"

"Then what do you mean…?"

The Anbu seemed to realize what the Tsuchikage intended to do, and naked, undisguised hatred flickered in his eyes.

"Very simple! Send Hiruzen Sarutobi a reply. Tell him negotiations are possible. Even withdrawing from the Land of Grass is no problem. But the condition of the exchange is that the Genin named Allen must be handed over to me." Onoki made his decision without hesitation.

In his eyes, eliminating a potentially enormous threat was far more important than occupying and annexing the Land of Grass.

After all, the ninja world was a place where strength reigned supreme!

The role a powerful ninja could play far surpassed that of several hundred ordinary ninjas.

Back then, Konoha’s White Fang, the Three Sannin, and the Yellow Flash had all been powerful figures capable of changing the course of a war through their own strength.

Fortunately, White Fang had died early in an internal power struggle, the Three Sannin had either defected or left, and even the Yellow Flash, who had once inflicted tremendous losses upon the Stone Ninja, had fallen.

Coupled with the recent Uchiha Clan Downfall, Konoha Village had never been weaker since its founding. It could not even field a few decent experts.

That was precisely why Onoki would never allow Konoha to produce a second person like Minato Namikaze, the Yellow Flash.

Strangling the geniuses of other ninja villages in the cradle!

That was the shared understanding of the executives of every ninja village among the Five Great Nations!

Otherwise, once the other side had grown up, they would become their nightmare.

"Understood! I will convey your words to the Third Hokage exactly as they are. I believe that ninja hero, who has become incomparably weak in recent years, will not dare refuse."

The Anbu sneered and nodded, then quickly vanished from the spot.

Only after his subordinate had completely left did Onoki cast off his facade as Tsuchikage. He dropped to the ground, tears streaming down his cheeks, and gently stroked his son’s cold corpse. "Huang Tu, rest assured. I will avenge you. Whoever killed you will pay the price, no matter what."

Just as he was about to take the corpse to the cemetery for burial, he suddenly discovered that it had inexplicably vanished.

If he had not touched it with his own hands moments ago, he might even have believed himself caught in an illusion.

Without a doubt, exactly twenty-four hours had passed since Allen copied Huang Tu’s corpse.

What was going on?!

Onoki stared fixedly at the place where the corpse had just been lying, disbelief written across his aged face.

Clearly, this bizarre situation had exceeded the limits of his understanding.

In order to uncover the truth, he quickly ordered the guards responsible for protecting him to mobilize and investigate the entire matter from beginning to end.

But in the end, they could not find the slightest suspicious clue.

Even those responsible for examining the corpse had confirmed that it had absolutely been Huang Tu, and that no one had tampered with it in any way.

For a time, the deeply suspicious Tsuchikage fell into confusion and doubt.

But before long, he put the matter aside and began preparing to depart for the Land of Grass to negotiate with Konoha Village’s Hokage, while also taking a look at what the Genin who had killed his son actually looked like.

At the same time, the Third Hokage also received the Stone Ninja’s reply. He took a deep breath and said to his companion from his youth, "Just as you predicted! Onoki really did demand that child as the price of retreating."

"Are you going to abandon him?" Koharu Utatane questioned sternly.

"No, of course not. The village has been weak all these years precisely because it lacks experts. How could I bear to destroy the village’s future? But if we do not give him an opportunity, I fear Onoki will not let this matter rest. So I have decided to give him one chance. If he cannot handle it, then we will act as though this never happened."

"One chance?"

Danzō, who had remained silent the entire time, suddenly opened his eyes.

"That’s right! I will give the Stone Ninja one chance to ambush Allen. But whether they succeed or not will have nothing to do with us." A crafty smile appeared on Hiruzen Sarutobi’s face.

"Do you need my people to cooperate?" Danzō offered proactively.

The Third Hokage nodded lightly. "Of course! It could not be better if you handled this in secret. But remember, that child is the village’s future. You had better not entertain any bad ideas."

"Hmph! Relax! He is merely an orphan with no one to rely on, and he has shown a desire to integrate into the village. He is not like those ambitious Uchiha. I cannot welcome and protect such a new generation soon enough. Besides, if it were me, I would not even give the Tsuchikage this opportunity. As you grow older, your character has become increasingly weak."

After saying that, Danzō abruptly rose to his feet and walked out of the Hokage’s office without looking back.