CHAPTER 207: CHAPTER 207: KYOHIKO, YOUR VISION IS TOO GRAND!

In the vast desert, Rasa was sensing the direction of gold deposits in the sand and collecting the stray gold sand—this was one of Sunagakure’s few additional stable sources of income. Minerals.

Although the current Sunagakure could still receive support from the Land of Wind’s Daimyo and nobles, the intensity was not as great as before. Financial income from this aspect had been cut by more than half. If they didn’t earn extra money, it would be difficult for Sunagakure to quickly recover from the post-war slump.

Just then, a figure appeared with a body flicker.

"Kazekage-sama..."

"What is it?"

Rasa paused.

The person hesitated for a moment.

"We have received news that Sasori of the Red Sand has appeared in a small country north of the Land of Wind, killing many people there."

Rasa paused, a look of wistfulness on his face, followed by a sigh.

"Sasori of the Red Sand..."

Truly a genius! Unfortunately, such a genius had severe psychological problems and could not be used by them. In fact, he had been causing them trouble for all these years. It’s time to solve it!

However, Rasa knew very well that with Sunagakure’s abilities alone, it was basically impossible to capture Sasori of the Red Sand. They would even suffer heavy losses. The more reasonable approach—

Rasa spoke.

"Let’s ask Konoha for help!"

The other person was stunned for a moment, as if they hadn’t heard clearly.

"What?"

Rasa replied.

"The Chunin Exams are imminent this year. Send someone to Konoha to discuss the Chunin Exams. I will handle the rest."

Then, he released his chakra, controlled the gold sand below, and collected it into a wooden barrel.

"Let’s go."

***

In Konoha.

Kushina walked out of the room holding a lesson preparation book, a look of conflict on her face.

"Minato, there’s something I want to ask you."

Namikaze Minato turned his head, a smile on his face.

"What is it?"

Kushina said.

"The Tailed Beast Transformation, you’ve tried it, right?"

Namikaze Minato was stunned for a moment, then said, "How did you know?"

Kushina replied.

"I sensed it before, but I didn’t think of you at the time. It was the Nine-Tails who reminded me."

Namikaze Minato was a little surprised.

"It told you?"

Kushina nodded.

"Mm, it wants to take back the chakra inside you."

Namikaze Minato smiled.

"I know what it wants. No problem. The Tailed Beast chakra in my body isn’t of much use for the time being."

Several days had passed since his Tailed Beast transformation experiment. During this time, he had not rashly tried again—he already understood. Unless the Nine-Tails cooperated and stopped resisting, his own limit was probably between three and four tails, and the Tailed Beast chakra in his body was not enough to support him to that level. Therefore, as long as he didn’t release all his chakra, he was safe and could control himself. This gave Namikaze Minato some bottom line. Although it was a pity that the Tailed Beast chakra couldn’t be further utilized, compared to that, the safety of the village, himself, and his family was more important. Besides, there was no point in rushing. What the Nine-Tails wanted was for him to be eager for quick success.

As for the Nine-Tails taking back its chakra, it was naturally to retrieve its memories. The splitting of Tailed Beast chakra could form a small clone and continue to exist, but correspondingly, it also lost control over the clone. In a sealed state, it couldn’t actively retract its chakra. Thus, the extra memories gained by the clone couldn’t return to the main body either.

However, as the Nine-Tails retracted and fused its chakra, he could conduct another observational experiment—whether the chakra clone split from a Tailed Beast would undergo a subtle personality change during the splitting process, just like a shadow clone. If so, letting the Nine-Tails split one out and allowing it freedom within a certain range might not be a bad thing. Of course, he definitely didn’t have the final say on this matter. The last incident had already earned him a scolding from Tsunade. If he rashly released a part of the Nine-Tails, he might have to spend some time in prison to appease the public anger.

With Kushina around, retracting the Tailed Beast chakra was very simple—*Adamantine Sealing Chains*. Two chains bound him. Then, the Nine-Tails chakra was actively released by Namikaze Minato and directly pulled back into Kushina’s body by the chains.

***

In the dim sealed space.

The Nine-Tails sharpened its claws, fusing with the external memories. Then, it fell silent. That brat’s progress is astonishingly fast! Before, although the other party had entered this sealed consciousness space through special means, his own strength was not enough to surprise it. But now—Kyohiko’s Wood Style, strength, and aura were gradually getting the feel of Senju Hashirama. This guy was getting closer and closer to Senju Hashirama’s level, including his own constitution.

"In the world, can bloodlines really be awakened in reverse?" The Nine-Tails looked incredulous. Or... "Could that guy be the reincarnation of Senju Hashirama? No! Impossible. Senju Hashirama is definitely dead. I sensed his decline back then. But what about Madara?"

During this time, the Nine-Tails had been pondering Kyohiko’s words. Sometimes, it felt that Kyohiko wasn’t lying to it, but occasionally when it "calmed down," it worried that Kyohiko was deceiving it to seize its power. After all, just because a child ran away, did it necessarily mean Madara was still alive? It was too absurd.

"This brat..." The Nine-Tails pondered, then let out a breath. In any case, it did need to resolve the "summoning contract" issue as soon as possible.

Just as it was thinking this, ripples appeared before its eyes. Kushina had arrived. Ever since she realized that her previous way of getting along with the Tailed Beast was wrong, she had been trying to communicate with the Nine-Tails. She was naturally familiar with how to enter this place. Previously, she had reached an agreement with the Nine-Tails...

"Nine-Tails, you’ve gotten your clone’s memories back. What about what you promised me?"

"Hmph, I’m not like you cunning humans. Of course, I keep my word. But..." The Nine-Tails changed its posture and grinned. "Have you thought it through?"

Kushina nodded emphatically.

"Of course!"

The Nine-Tails sneered.

"You don’t have that kind of talent or ability. At most, you can use my chakra to enter a Tailed Beast transformation state, but that kind of power... is too weak!"

Kushina replied.

"Of course, it’s not me."

The Nine-Tails was stunned for a moment, then realized that the other party had never said it wouldn’t resist her.

"You want to help Namikaze Minato?"

Kushina retorted.

"Or Kyohiko-kun could also work. Or are you going back on your word?"

She was very clear. As Konoha’s important Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, not only could the Nine-Tails not leave Konoha, but under normal circumstances, she also couldn’t casually leave Konoha’s jurisdiction. Even if she mastered the Nine-Tails’ power, it would still be of no help to her. But it was different for Namikaze Minato and Ryoho Kyohiko. They were both geniuses. Kushina believed that the two of them could definitely master the power of the Tailed Beast and use it as their own, and she herself would also have a part of the Tailed Beast’s chakra, so she wouldn’t die. In addition, the Nine-Tails could get an external communication channel, and maybe it would be more docile. With less chakra, her pressure would also be less. A choice that killed two birds with one stone.

The Nine-Tails sneered.

"I won’t go back on my word, but I also have conditions. If you can get Ryoho Kyohiko to agree, then I will agree to your conditions!"

"Kyohiko-kun?" Kushina was slightly taken aback.

The Nine-Tails nodded.

"I can split out a clone to cooperate with you, but first, you promised to help me solve the problem of the summoning contract."

Kushina replied spiritedly.

"That will definitely be done. I can promise you that!"

The Nine-Tails snorted coldly.

"Don’t be in such a hurry to agree. You don’t have that right!"

"You!" Kushina took a deep breath, suppressing the anger in her heart—although she was very unhappy, she had to admit, the Nine-Tails was not wrong. She indeed did not have the right to agree.

Kushina said through gritted teeth.

"Continue."

The Nine-Tails changed its posture.

"Second, my clone will not accept being sealed. A quarter of the chakra, with Namikaze Minato and Ryoho Kyohiko’s abilities, they should be able to watch over it."

"Mm..." Kushina was silent. This she really couldn’t agree to. She thought for a moment. "I can only help you bring it up."

The Nine-Tails’ face showed a ferocious expression.

"Hmph, third, if Uchiha Madara is really still alive, I want you to help me smash his head in!"

Back then, if it weren’t for that dog, Uchiha Madara, it might still be lazing around in its own home now. How could it have been inexplicably controlled, beaten up, and sealed away?

Kushina couldn’t help but laugh.

"Even without your request, we will still defeat Uchiha Madara. After all, he seems to be brewing some kind of conspiracy. We can’t let him succeed!"

The Nine-Tails smiled ferociously.

"That’s your Konoha’s internal affair, it has nothing to do with me. I just need to be sure that we can kill Uchiha Madara."

Kushina extended her fist.

"Deal!"

The Nine-Tails was stunned for a moment, then sensed that the prison representing the seal had split open a tiny crack. It extended its claw and fist-bumped Kushina.

"Deal!"

***

"What?" Namikaze Minato’s eyes widened in disbelief. He had only conducted a Tailed Beast transformation experiment, and Tsunade-sama was already furious. As it turned out, Kushina had gone a step further—she wanted to release a part of the Nine-Tails! Although it was for their own good, he could already imagine the scene in Tsunade-sama’s office. Who knows... another desk might be lost today. He took a deep breath.

"Kushina, do you know the consequences of doing this?"

Kushina nodded.

"I know!"

She thought for a moment.

"During this time, when I’m teaching or with the children, I will loosen some of the seal’s control to let the Nine-Tails know about the outside world through the overflowing chakra."

"It hasn’t done anything wrong."

"And, I feel that it’s not inherently bad."

Kushina spoke of her feelings. Namikaze Minato’s mouth twitched slightly. Not inherently bad? That kind of wording was usually used to describe children!

Namikaze Minato scratched his head.

"Kushina-sensei, you... let’s discuss it with Kyohiko first. If we can’t even pass Kyohiko’s side, let’s not ask for trouble."

Agreeing to the Nine-Tails, letting its clone come and go freely, he felt the risk was quite high. That was a quarter of the Nine-Tails!

***

At the Anbu, new information was delivered.

Gekko Shusaku couldn’t help but ask.

"Sunagakure wants to jointly host the Chunin Exams. Sir, what do you think they are trying to do?"

Ryoho Kyohiko tossed another piece of intelligence aside and continued to read through it. As he read, he said, "Intelligence work needs to be looked at comprehensively. Rasa’s goal is definitely not just the superficial exam..."

"Look at this scroll."

He tossed it to Gekko Shusaku. It was intelligence sent back by an Iburi clansman from the northern part of the Land of Wind.

He frowned.

"There are rumors that a village in the Land of Bears disappeared overnight?"

Then, Gekko Shusaku was stunned for a second.

"Sasori of the Red Sand?"

"Sunagakure has more intelligence in that area than we do. They must have found out something we don’t know. If there are no surprises, it should be related to Sasori of the Red Sand!" Ryoho Kyohiko said as he began to look at other intelligence related to the Land of Wind. Then, when he saw a piece of news, his gaze paused for a moment.

"Huh!"

"What’s wrong?"

"Sunagakure intends to repair the trade route from the Land of Wind to the Land of Rivers and the Land of Fire. Rasa wants to cooperate with us. There might be some surprises when he comes this time." Ryoho Kyohiko put it aside. Also, counting the time, Bunpuku’s lifespan was almost at its end.

"That’s good. Then I’ll continue to have people watch over there..."

"Mm." Ryoho Kyohiko nodded. He thought for a moment, stood up, and walked towards the prison.

Inside the prison, Pakura opened her eyes, a slight smile on her face.

"Yo, you actually thought of me?"

"How are you adapting to the curse mark?"

Pakura replied faintly.

"This kind of curse mark is alright. Although it has toxins and restrictions, it seems to be able to bring me some strength and buffs."

She had already been implanted with Orochimaru’s poisoned curse mark.

"Contact me once every three months. I’ll have someone help you consolidate the curse mark. Other conditions remain unchanged."

"Alright." Pakura had expected this long ago. She thought for a moment. "Besides the Tailed Beasts and dealing with Madara’s subordinates, what else do I need to do?"

Ryoho Kyohiko replied faintly.

"No need. Or, you can also attract some like-minded people and hide in a small country. One person’s strength is ultimately limited, but a group of ninjas can protect the people of a country as much as possible."

Pakura looked at Ryoho Kyohiko’s figure and couldn’t help but be stunned. Then, she nodded.

"I will. Also, I won’t just send intelligence to Sunagakure. If there is intelligence that harms Konoha but is not related to Suna, I will also find a way to send it over."

Ryoho Kyohiko said seriously.

"No need. I have confidence in my own intelligence organization. What you need to do is to be careful of Madara’s subordinates. They are very good at hiding. Even I may not be able to find them."

Pakura blinked, speechless for a long time. The other’s attitude made her feel as if she were seeing the Senju Hashirama of the past. As the God of Shinobi, Senju Hashirama back then might have been like this, able to make all the Kage bow to him with just a few words. Pakura was silent for a moment.

"Will you send me off?"

"I can."

Ryoho Kyohiko pressed his hand on her back, and a Flying Thunder God formula was silently placed on her. Then—Flying Thunder God!

In the blink of an eye, Pakura was already in a forest, having left the Anbu prison. She looked up and took a deep breath. Freedom! Although it was limited freedom, with an invisible shackle on her, it was still better than nothing. And this way, she could at least do some intelligence work for Sunagakure. She sighed silently.

However. "That little brat actually let me go..." She wasn’t surprised about the curse mark. If Kyohiko had really been completely unprepared, she would have worried if he had other schemes. But now, she felt that Kyohiko might be serious. He really wants to achieve peace in the shinobi world!

Peace... Pakura sighed. Who doesn’t want peace? But everyone has their own position. These two words are easy to say, but how difficult are they to do? Fortunately, for now, everyone had a common goal—the mastermind hidden behind the shinobi world!

Pakura sensed for a moment, then quickly ran in one direction. That was the direction of Sunagakure! However, after running for a while, she stopped. Sunagakure... what’s the point of going back? Pakura knew very well that there was no place for her in Sunagakure. And because of Konoha, her presence in Sunagakure would only make Rasa more embarrassed. She thought for a moment and headed northwest.

Develop forces, protect the people.

That guy... his vision is so much grander than the likes of Rasa!