My Life as Itachi's Crow

Chapter 165: The Truth is Not Important, What's Important is the Result

On a high ridge.

Uchiha Itachi gazed at the firelight from the distant explosion, turned his head, and gave a thumbs-up, "Teacher Jiraiya, Lady Tsunade, Shizune-nee, confirmed safe. We can continue to advance!"

"Have the Hidden Stone Village people gone mad?" Tsunade beckoned to the youth, looking at the rising smoke in the distance with bewilderment, "How many enemies have we encountered today?"

"At least fifteen times!" Jiraiya glanced at the evening clouds that were beginning to cover the sky and said loudly, "Tsunade, are we camping nearby tonight?"

Tsunade didn't respond to him, instead looking at her disciple who was resting on a rock, "Shizune, can your stamina keep up?"

"I remember Kitahara doesn't like to be active at night..." Shizune weakly raised her hand. Her presence in this squad was rather low.

That was a very polite way of putting it. It wasn't that the crow disliked being active at night; it fundamentally disliked moving at all.

Tsunade actually nodded very seriously, "Then let's prepare to set up camp! The Stone ninjas like to launch sneak attacks at night... Coincidentally, our stamina and chakra are still well-preserved."

Today had been exceptionally satisfying.

In the two Shinobi World Wars, their Konoha Sannin squad had actually suffered quite a few losses at the hands of the Stone ninjas. The most dangerous time, they were forced to hide in a cave, unable to retreat unscathed, and Jiraiya was heavily injured and near death.

Indeed, what the Stone ninjas were best at was using the advantage of their forces to crush their opponents.

They had used this tactic many times, and the results were very fruitful. Onoki had even deployed a force of ten thousand men with this strategy, nearly wiping out the elite forces of the Hidden Cloud Village in one fell swoop. In the end, it was only because the Third Raikage stayed behind to cover the retreat, fighting against ten thousand alone, that the plan fell short.

Today, they had met an even stronger opponent.

Whether it was a war of attrition or a combined charge, the outcome was the same.

Night fell.

A slight chill emanated from the small river.

"Jiraiya..." Tsunade added a piece of wood to the bonfire and asked in a low voice, "Is that old fellow Onoki getting senile? Or is there something you're hiding from me?"

The white-haired old man awkwardly scratched his head, "It's probably related to the alliance letter we're going to sign with the Land of Grass. It includes a clause that the Hidden Grass Village will be prohibited from communicating with ninja villages hostile to Konoha..."

"Heh, so assertive. That's not like the old man at all!"

"It can't be considered assertive..." Jiraiya shook his head, "At least compared to Danzo's proposal to abolish the Hidden Grass Village, it's already very friendly."

Abolishing the Hidden Grass Village was almost equivalent to annexing the Land of Grass. A country without a ninja village, the Daimyo of the Land of Grass could only choose to depend on Konoha.

Danzo Shimura always wanted to be a step ahead, to take a small step towards his great dream. This small step of his would become a giant leap for Konoha... Hiruzen Sarutobi would never dare to let him take it.

Tsunade suddenly pushed the youth beside her, "Itachi, what do you think?"

"Huh?" Uchiha Itachi was caught off guard. He gently put down the small fan in his hand and then said in a low voice, "The weak don't need to ask for more. It's enough to passively wait for the strong to bestow upon them."

Tsunade looked at him in surprise, "Eh? That doesn't sound like you at all!"

"Well, it's because I'm not strong enough yet, so I can't speak my mind freely from the position of the strong..."

The young genius ignored his stunned teacher and said to himself, "I just hope there will never be war in the ninja world, that all disputes can be resolved peacefully."

"Not many people in the ninja world hope for war to break out..."

Tsunade picked up a wine bottle, then put it down again. She held up her palm, looking at the moon through the gaps in her fingers, "Peace always comes too late. If only it could have come a little earlier..."

"Lady Tsunade, this isn't true peace."

"Because there is no absolute fairness in the ninja world, there can never be true peace. Only true strength can embrace true peace." Uchiha Itachi lowered his voice, "Just like in Lord First Hokage's era."

The man who ended the Warring States period.

But Kitahara had said, if he wanted to do better than Hashirama Senju, he had to be stronger than Hashirama Senju!

According to others' descriptions, the First Hokage's style was so magnificent, overpowering all heroes! Their Uchiha clan's strongest clan head of that generation, Uchiha Madara, feared no one except Hashirama Senju!

This was truly difficult…

"Great-grandfather's time?"

Tsunade looked at the sky nostalgically, then turned to look at Uchiha Itachi's neck, her voice suddenly becoming gentle, "It seems this necklace suits you very well."

"Ah, does it?"

Uchiha Itachi touched his neck. This matter was a bit awkward. He remembered Kitahara telling him that if he encountered a life-threatening danger, he should crush the necklace... It would save his dog life…

"What do you mean, 'does it'! You should say thank you to Lady Tsunade! You little brat, show some humility!" The blonde twin-tailed woman slammed her fist on the ground…

The ground suddenly split open, revealing the corpse of a Hidden Stone ninja.

Clearly, this Stone ninja had died with his eyes open. He must have used the Earth Style: Hiding Like a Mole Technique to hide nearby, only to run into the enraged Tsunade.

Jiraiya: "...What... what a coincidence..."

Shizune: "...Yeah..."

Uchiha Itachi suddenly pointed a finger down, and after confirming the situation underground, he turned his head to look at his teacher, "Teacher, no other enemies have been found. It should be an enemy reconnaissance ninja, who happened to be around us…"

And then was killed by the blonde old woman with one punch.

The rest need not be said.

If they said more, the style would change… Lady Tsunade is so scary, definitely don't marry her… The blonde twin-tailed woman is a good person, but not a good woman…

ε=(ο｀*))) Alas!

"Wait, did we forget something important?"

Jiraiya stopped beside the corpse of the Stone ninja and said doubtfully, "Even if Onoki is dissatisfied with the village re-allying with the Land of Grass, he sent too many people!"

"What do you mean?"

"We've encountered enemies more than a dozen times along the way. Although we don't know the number of people in each of their squads, it doesn't seem like their style..." Jiraiya took off the headband from the Stone ninja's corpse.

Tsunade nodded, "That's right. They should have gathered together, chosen a suitable place, and used their numerical advantage of over a hundred people to ambush and surround us!"

"Unless the Hidden Stone Village has really mobilized in large numbers, then it means... some other ninja village is acting together with the Hidden Stone Village!"

Their speculation was not wrong.

In fact, the Torture and Interrogation Unit far away in Konoha had already gotten the answer, "Quickly, report to the Third Hokage, the Hidden Grass Village is also attacking Lord Jiraiya's escort squad! The Hidden Stone Village and the Hidden Grass Village are secretly colluding!"

The other group who knew the truth, the Akatsuki, was dumbfounded. How were they supposed to earn this money! Onoki and the leader of the Hidden Grass had already reached an agreement. The old fellow would do his best to ensure the independence of the Hidden Grass Village.

"The Daimyo of the Land of Grass has cut the budget for the Hidden Grass Village three times in a row. Those fat officials in the Daimyo's residence think the village has no value anymore!"

The leader of the Hidden Grass Village was crying his eyes out. Their harboring of a Konoha rogue ninja was purely an unmitigated disaster. In just one year, the Hidden Grass Village could no longer support itself.

The plan Black Zetsu had painstakingly come up with had not been accepted by the employer. This made the members of the Akatsuki feel a bit hurt.

Fortunately, the most reliable elder in the Akatsuki comforted them, "Even if we don't act, the betrayed Konoha and Land of Grass will definitely destroy the Hidden Grass Village. The result is the same."

"...That sounds quite reasonable…"

(End of this chapter)

☆☆☆

-> SUPPORT ME WITH POWER STONE

-> FOR EVERY 200 PS = BOUNS CHAPTER

☆☆☆

-> 20 Advanced chapters Now Available on Patreon!!

-> https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Inkshaper

(Just remove the hyphen (-) to access patreon normally)

If you like this novel please consider leaving a review that's help the story a lot Thank you