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The Nine-Tails incident caused significant damage to Konoha, forcing the village to keep a low profile.
Even when Kumogakure humiliated them, Konoha chose to compromise.
The main reason, aside from the Third Hokage's soft approach, was that Konoha simply couldn't afford another war.
Faced with Kumogakure's relentless pressure, Konoha kept making concessions, allowing Kumogakure to trample on their pride.
The details of the Nine-Tails incident were well-known among the villages. Such a major event couldn't be hidden.
A mysterious man named Uchiha Madara infiltrated Konoha during the birth of Minato Namikaze's wife, Kushina, and took control of the Nine-Tails, causing it to attack the village.
A group of S-rank rogue ninjas might not be worth the attention of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, but Uchiha Madara was a different story.
After all, Madara's reputation had long spread across the shinobi world. No one dared to ignore someone who could rival the God of Shinobi.
Good.
They're starting to take it seriously.
Kazuki continued to reveal more information.
"By the way, during our journey to Kumogakure, we were attacked by a shinobi skilled in puppetry, named Sasori. He used a particularly unique puppet with Magnet Release. After comparing it with our village's records, we were shocked to discover that this puppet was none other than the Third Kazekage, the man who triggered the Third Shinobi World War."
"That's impossible!!!"
Chiyo stood up in agitation.
Everyone knew how the Third Shinobi World War had started.
The Kazekage of Sunagakure had disappeared, and Sunagakure had searched everywhere, even suspecting Konoha was behind it.
With the support of some hardliners in the village, the war with Konoha had erupted.
Now, the truth was out. The disappearance of the Third Kazekage was the work of one of their own.
"Facts speak louder than words. Konoha wouldn't use false information to deceive everyone. According to Orochimaru's confession, Sasori of the Red Sand harbored a grudge against the Third Kazekage due to his parents' deaths. He eventually poisoned the Kazekage and turned his body into a puppet. After that, he defected from Sunagakure and joined the Akatsuki."
"If you don't believe me, you can investigate the Land of Rain yourself. The Akatsuki's base is there."
"....."
Chiyo was left speechless. Kazuki was right—Konoha wouldn't use false information to deceive everyone unless they wanted to become an enemy of all.
If what Kazuki said was true, then...
Chiyo felt a chill run down her spine. She couldn't imagine how many people in the village would curse Sasori once the news got out.
A, on the other hand, looked gleeful.
"When it comes to rogue ninjas, Konoha and Kirigakure take the cake. I didn't expect Sunagakure to..."
Among the Five Great Shinobi Villages, Kirigakure had the most rogue ninjas due to the Bloody Mist regime, which forced many shinobi to defect.
It was either defect or die—a difficult choice.
Those who didn't want to die naturally chose to flee the village.
Konoha also had its fair share of rogue ninjas, with Orochimaru being the most infamous.
The other villages weren't much better; every village had its rogue ninjas.
Glancing at A, Kazuki said calmly.
"Among the shinobi who attacked us was a skilled taijutsu user named Dai. Does the Raikage have any recollection of him?"
"...."
The smile on A's face slowly faded.
Of course, he remembered. Darui was one of the village's elite jonin.
However, he had a bad temper. During a mission, he got into a conflict with a teammate and accidentally killed them, leading to his defection.
A hadn't expected to be gloating one second and then get slapped in the face the next.
Tsuchi, standing behind A, facepalmed in exasperation.
"Pfft—"
An inappropriate laugh broke the tension. Kazuki turned to see Mei Terumī trying to stifle her laughter.
Kazuki crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow at Mei.
"Oh, by the way, one of your village's rogue ninjas, Juzo Biwa, a former member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, was also there. Unfortunately, Juzo had bad luck, so he's dead now."
Mei. "...."
Now it was clear. The Akatsuki had rogue ninjas from Konoha, Sunagakure, Kirigakure, and even Kumogakure. That left only Iwagakure...
Everyone's gaze instinctively turned to the Iwagakure representative.
Feeling the stares, the Iwagakure elder grew furious.
"Why are you all looking at me? Are you implying our village has no rogue ninjas?"
"Ahem!! As far as I know, the Akatsuki doesn't have any rogue ninjas from Iwagakure—at least not yet."
The Akatsuki wasn't just recruiting anyone. If you weren't strong enough, they wouldn't take you.
Deidara, who would have joined the Akatsuki, was still a kid at this point, so Iwagakure remained an exception.
"Hmph!"
The Iwagakure representative proudly lifted his chin.
The others were left speechless.
The smug look and mocking glint in the Iwagakure elder's eyes made A's blood boil. He really wanted to punch the guy and show him why flowers were red.
But that thought remained just that—a thought.
A didn't dare to actually throw a punch.
Unless Kumogakure wanted to go to war with Iwagakure and face condemnation from the other villages.
"Kazuki, while I appreciate Konoha sharing this information with us, and I sympathize with the loss of your village's advisor, don't think you can drag us into this mess."
We're happy to accept free information.
But if Konoha thinks it can pull us into this, then sorry, that's not happening.
At the end of the day, the Akatsuki is just a potential threat—nothing worth the Five Great Shinobi Villages' attention, except for Konoha.
Unless something like the Nine-Tails incident happens to them, they're unlikely to take the Akatsuki seriously.
Kazuki wasn't surprised by A's stance.
If A had immediately declared war on the Akatsuki or vowed to take action, Kazuki would have found it suspicious.
We'll take the information, but don't expect us to get involved.
Kazuki placed his hands on the table, tapping his index finger a few times as he glanced at the representatives with a faint smile.
"Konoha has more critical information about the Akatsuki, but this information isn't free. So, please bear with us."
Tsunade's intention was to share the information freely, but Kazuki wasn't that selfless. He planned to extract a price from the other villages.
"There's even more important information?"
And it's not free? That means this undisclosed information is the most crucial.
"Information that could change the shinobi world, so it comes at a cost."
Kazuki raised a finger and wagged it.
I've made my stance clear. The rest is up to you!
Free? Not a chance. Other information might be free, but details about the Rinnegan come with a price.