Konoha's clean and swift withdrawal of troops let Iwagakure breathe a sigh of relief.
Although, in name, everyone had formed an alliance to jointly combat the Otsutsuki clan, up until now, the only side that had been attacked was Konoha.
Furthermore, the search in Amegakure didn't reveal any traces of the Otsutsuki, and some of the higher-ups in various villages had already put forward the theory that "this is all a Konoha conspiracy."
This included the recent military actions in the Land of Snow.
Many higher-ups believed that Konoha had been using the Otsutsuki as a decoy to prevent other villages from interfering with their expansionist ambitions.
Ōnoki himself had started to waver a little.
However, the exploration of the ruins was proceeding smoothly, and the things found inside proved that outsiders had indeed visited the Shinobi world many years ago. As a result, he stood firm under the pressure and allowed Konoha to take military action in the Land of Snow.
Konoha's withdrawal of forces rewarded Ōnoki's persistence.
Of course, the hatred between villages wasn't so easily dispelled. Although the high-ups had already issued orders prohibiting conflict, the resentment still buried in the hearts of the shinobi cast a shadow of uncertainty over this alliance.
To maintain the alliance, the newly appointed Hokage, replacing Takeshi, made an important decision.
He decided to cede part of the market occupied by Konoha, ending the situation where Konoha ninja were overly abundant and monopolized the market.
Konoha ninja had always been famous for their low prices and high quality, which was why Sunagakure, a village focusing on elite troops, couldn't outcompete Konoha.
There was no way around it—Konoha had the numbers and resources.
Now that Konoha was willing to give up part of the market, it showed some sincerity to the other villages.
In return, the other Kage wrote personal letters, praising the Fifth Hokage for his outstanding contributions.
That's right, the Fifth Hokage.
To keep the fact of Takeshi's departure a secret from other villages, the Hokage had been issuing orders under Takeshi's name internally.
The consequence of this was that Ōnoki began to praise Takeshi, completely forgetting the high blood pressure incident during the last Kage summit when he was nearly at odds with him.
Besides giving up part of the market, the Hokage also organized a renewed search for the Akatsuki Organization.
The primary target was Kusagakure Village.
In Kusagakure, the elderly village leader wore a constant smile as he closely followed behind Aburame Tatsuma.
"Ah, such a small matter! We would never trouble Konoha ninja. After all, Kusagakure is part of the Shinobi Alliance. Searching for the Akatsuki Organization is naturally our responsibility."
The village leader's words were only good for comforting himself.
After being visited once by Yōwan and once by Takeshi, Kusagakure had lost the luster it once had before the Third Great Ninja War.
During the era of conflict, Kusagakure, due to its unique geographical position, was fought over by both Konoha and Iwagakure, and enjoyed a long period of prosperity.
However, due to their wrong choice of side during the Third Great Ninja War, and with Takeshi's rise to power, Kusagakure, a village that once tried to ride the fence, was forcibly incorporated into Konoha's sphere of influence. Even the Land of Grass became a commercial base for Konoha.
At this point, Kusagakure's strongest ninja was barely as capable as Asuma, and there were very few of them.
Aburame Tatsuma was even confident that he could single-handedly take on the entire village and leave unscathed.
Could they rely on this group of people to search for the Akatsuki Organization?
Finding them would be a disaster.
Therefore, the usually taciturn Aburame Tatsuma completely ignored the village leader's rambling, calmly giving out orders.
As for the search, the Akatsuki Organization wasn't in a hurry, as they were not even in Kusagakure.
But there was a certain "Savior" who was.
Ever since hearing of Yōwan's death, Black Zetsu had returned to the place where Madara had once hidden.
The reason for coming here wasn't just because Madara's body was located here, but also because the Akatsuki, led by Yahiko, often roamed the vicinity.
Black Zetsu had originally planned to incite Fugaku to rebel, but that old fish was now too weak to turn over, which made Black Zetsu frustrated.
Now, Black Zetsu could only place all his hopes on Nagato.
He needed an opportunity—an opportunity to control Nagato.
All his plans had been interrupted. Black Zetsu knew that the Uchiha, who had fully integrated into the atmosphere of peace, would never produce another figure like Madara.
Since that was the case, why not take advantage of the fact that he still had the Rinnegan and forcibly control Nagato, bringing Madara back to life, allowing Madara to collect the Tailed Beasts and resurrect Kaguya?
But this also posed a problem—Otsutsuki Isshiki.
Although Konoha couldn't infiltrate, other hidden villages like White Zetsu still moved freely, so Black Zetsu naturally got wind of Isshiki's plans.
This was someone even Kaguya feared. If it weren't for Kaguya's surprise attack back then, Isshiki might never have been so easily defeated.
Now, another person with that kind of strength was about to appear, which made Black Zetsu worry about whether he should continue with his plan.
"Now I have to resurrect my mother before Isshiki regains his full strength. This way, my mother can easily defeat him. If I miss this chance, then Isshiki may rule the ninja world..."
Isshiki's existence was also one of the reasons Black Zetsu had made up his mind.
However, before he could act, Konoha's search teams arrived in Kusagakure.
At first, Black Zetsu didn't pay much attention to them. After all, the place Madara had chosen to hide was very concealed and buried underground. Generally, no one would think to investigate here.
But Aburame Tatsuma and his team were specifically searching for underground secret bases, so some of the more hidden areas became their main focus.
As a result, Konoha's ninja quickly discovered something suspicious in a certain part of Kusagakure's underground.
"Well..."
One day, the spiral-shaped White Zetsu appeared before Black Zetsu.
"What is it?" Black Zetsu, who had been kicking Madara's corpse in the dark, poked his head out.
"It seems like Konoha's ninja have found this place. They're currently trying to figure out how to enter the base," White Zetsu replied.
White Zetsu peeked to see what Black Zetsu was up to, but Black Zetsu quickly diverted his attention,
"They found this place? How many of them are there?"
"Excluding the two who informed us, there are five other ninja," White Zetsu said, no longer caring about what Black Zetsu was doing and sharing all the information he had gathered.
This was troublesome.
Black Zetsu felt frustrated. He had just returned, and now he had to move again.
Damn Konoha ninja. Why did they always get in his way?
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