Konoha Notes.

Chapter 542 The Dawn of the Crawlers

Chapter 542 The Dawn of the Crawlers

After incorporating the mother plant into his body, Shuji could feel that his chakra conversion efficiency had increased significantly.

As a result, the chakra sensitivity of the eyes was also enhanced.

The Byakugan, the eye of insight of the Otsutsuki clan, gave him a deeper understanding at this moment.

This thing probably exists to find food.

By overcoming obstacles, distinguish between life and non-life, and seek out those targets imbued with chakra.

As for the fact that one's vision can be obscured by a special smoke bomb formed from a small amount of chakra, this only weakness can hardly be called a weakness.

After all, the interference itself proves the existence of chakra reactions.

For ordinary Otsutsuki, the only remaining task is to plant the sacred tree and wait for the harvest.

These eyes, so full of predatory instincts, were now conveying a deep longing from the mother plant through his gaze.

It wants more food.

Its host body sits on a chakra-rich mine.

This place is home to a large population and is densely populated with food that has already been refined from chakra; it can even skip the process of converting life into chakra.

Amidst the noise and distractions, Shuji connected with the Four Shadows and held a video conference to report on the battle damage.

Konoha is naturally the most severely affected, followed by the Land of Wind, then Rock and Water, and finally Lightning.

Their losses were mainly due to the meteorite impact, which also caused problems in maintaining the defensive line.

The meteorite issue has now been largely resolved.

It depends on whether Madara has the idea of ​​throwing the Heavenly Barrier Star into each village one by one. If he does, then all four ninja villages except Konoha will have to prepare to be replaced.

If not, then the overall situation of the Ninja World Alliance will not be greatly affected.

Without the trouble of meteorites, the attacks from demons and coastal raiders are now routine for the villages to handle.

After exchanging ideas about the worst-case scenario, Shuji reiterated, "The damage to the buildings will not destroy the ninja world; we can rebuild our settlements anywhere."

"Konoha will continue to put pressure on them."

"Even if the next time, Konoha headquarters is wiped off the face of the earth, this will not change."

Even Chiyo and Onoki didn't say much this time.

Despite enduring the largest attack since the founding of the ninja village, Konoha was still able to maintain its established strategy.

Given this lingering impact, there's no reason for them to say anything more.

After the Five Kage Summit was held, and with the pomp and circumstance of Shuji entering the village, Madara Uchiha had minimized the turmoil caused by his attack.

The rest can be left to Kakashi and the others.

Xiu Si then set off for the West Suburbs Experimental Building.

In the underground laboratory, Nagato, Toneri, Minato, the Second Hokage, and Kabuto Yakushi were all present.

Pain has already seen all the things Konoha has prepared over the past few years.

Except for lacking the Gedo Mazo, a natural body for a tailed beast, they have already surpassed Akatsuki in everything.

While both Akatsuki and Konoha were collecting tailed beasts, Akatsuki became the enemy of the ninja world, while Konoha became the center of this era.

Upon seeing Shuji's arrival, Nagato asked, "You already knew about the Otsutsuki?"

"Compared to those who only started preparing after we already knew," Shuuji walked to the lab bench, "it's truly astonishing that you could so resolutely push forward with such a dangerous operation as collecting the Tailed Beasts when you knew nothing."

Nagato was momentarily speechless, realizing that his assessment of this person was wrong.

There is a word more suitable for Shuji than "gentle".

But he still said, "The heretical demon statue is more mature; I can summon it."

"No rush," Xiu Si said, releasing the mother plant within his body.

As soon as the sapling returned to the sealed layer, it began to shake violently, its roots pounding against the inner wall of the barrier, throwing a tantrum.

Nagato's Rinnegan stared at it, and Toneri also lifted his eyelids, revealing his Byakugan.

Shuji simply watched it quietly.

The mother plant's struggles gradually weakened, its roots curled up, and it retreated back into the depths of the seal.

Nagato repeated his thoughts: "The Gedo Statue is more docile than it is now."

"That—" Shuuji turned to him, "What kind of story about the Otsutsuki did you hear from Zetsu or Orochimaru?"

Nagato replied, "The Sage of Six Paths, Hagoromo Otsutsuki, sealed his mother away."

"And in order to deal with future threats, he became the Jinchūriki of the Ten-Tails."

"When his lifespan was about to end, he divided the ten tails into nine parts."

"And now, those enemies have reappeared."

"The nine tailed beasts are the chakra of the Ten-Tails," Toneri said. "The body of the Ten-Tails is the Gedo Mazo. You've been wrong from the start to think of something like that as a safer option."

"It wasn't just Hagoromo who sealed Kaguya, but also my ancestor, Hagoromo's brother Hamura."

"Our clan's mission was set from that time on: to oversee the ninja world and protect the Gedo Mazo."

Nagato didn't have a good temper with Toneri, and Pain's most extreme actions were to make the world suffer, not to destroy it.

"The golem has been in the ninja world for decades," he said.

The servant fell silent.

It was his elders who had no intention of going to find the golem.

Shuji picked up the thread: "Anyway, that's the gist of it. The Golem and the Tailed Beast are one entity, and the Ten-Tails' relationship with Kaguya is closer than my relationship with it—"

He pointed to the mother plant inside the sealed layer.

"More closely."

"Use the golem to store the tailed beast's chakra, then absorb the resurrected Ten-Tails into your body. The ultimate goal is to become the person closest to Kaguya."

"And there is only one outcome: when the chakra is absorbed to a certain extent, Kaguya will be resurrected from that vessel once a trigger is given."

Nagato's expression changed: "—The Gedo Mazo is a trap?"

Sheren calmly retorted, "Why do you think our clan should guard it?"

"Even the Sage of Six Paths contained the Ten-Tails in his own body, not by relying on the Gedo Mazo."

At this moment, Tobirama spoke up. He had no intention of protecting this Otsutsuki boy; the village had suffered greatly because of his willfulness, and this was something that could not be easily forgotten.

"If your clan truly cared about the golem, you wouldn't have let it circulate for so many years."

"They take the destruction of the ninja world as their true mission, but neglect what they should be protecting most."

"Your decline is not without reason."

Sheren lowered his eyes; he had no way to refute this.

After the Great Reincarnation Eye dissipated, his mind seemed to clear up a bit, and he was unable to refute the contradictory points in his family history.

Nagato took some time to process this information: "Zetsu and Orochimaru—do they know about this—or...?"

""

He couldn't help but doubt their stance.

"There's one more piece of information about the Ten-Tails," Shuji said. "The Ten-Tails is just a simple beast and doesn't possess the ability to devour the entire ninja world."

"Only by having it consume the body of a Ōtsutsuki can it evolve into a divine tree capable of absorbing all life matter and bearing fruit."

Sheren suddenly raised his head.

This information was clearly beyond his comprehension, and it led to a more terrifying interpretation of his father, Taketori Yoichi's, death.

How did you find out about this?

Shuji said, "We're just very curious."

Unbeknownst to him, he had once again taken a jab at the laziness of the Otsutsuki on the moon.

Shuji continued, "In short, considering this possibility, then Nagato's intelligence was correct; the threat has indeed arrived."

"The problem now is whether the purity of his body is enough to transform the Ten-Tails in that threat's hands into a divine tree."

"If possible, the war might start sooner than we expect."

"Then having a more mature Gedo Mazo absorb the tailed beast's chakra and revive it as the Ten-Tails will probably have to become an alternative."

That threat was none other than Otsutsuki Isshiki.

A being who came to this planet with Kaguya Otsutsuki, and was ambushed and severely injured by Kaguya, a monster capable of crushing adult Naruto and Sasuke.

It's hard to say who's stronger, him or the current Kaguya.

Kaguya's defeat to Naruto and Sasuke was contingent on her not being touched by either of them simultaneously; otherwise, she would have been sealed by the Six Paths: Planetary Devastation.

A god lacking tactical acumen, under the command of an advisor equally ignorant of tactics, wasted a great deal of chakra and ultimately lost without any dignity.

The reason for Yishi's defeat was time.

After Kaguya cut off half of his body and fed it to the Ten-Tails, he parasitized the passing monk Jigen, using the wedge as an anchor point to wait for resurrection.

However, Cixian's body could not bear his power. Once fully unleashed, that body would not survive for more than two or three days.

If no new body can be implanted during this period, it is a complete death.

Wait a minute—if the action is the first form, it means he has found a more suitable body than the current Cixian.

Thinking about this, Shuji also had a bit of a headache.

But he didn't show it: "Anyway, Nagato. Don't lose contact with them. In the worst-case scenario, we might need their plans to hold out for now."

"Until then, have your people evacuate from overseas."

He was mainly referring to Konan; Nagato would not be among those sacrificed.

"As for the governance and maintenance of overseas affairs, leave that to the established frameworks."

"The world you envision should also face some challenges."

"Orochimaru, or Madara, probably wouldn't mind preserving a relatively stable order structure to continue to exist."

As long as those two don't actively tear down that facade, a fragile stability can still be maintained overseas.

Nagato acquiesced.

Then Shuji looked at Minato: "Fourth Hokage, please contact Jiraiya using the communication frog."

"He should withdraw."

Jiraiya did not heed Konan's advice to leave the Land of the Moon, especially after Nagato had spent a considerable amount of time in the Land of the Sea.

He stayed in that place.

Because the Land of the Moon is the hub of Nagato's southern sea area, and also the most central region where intelligence can be reasonably exchanged.

The threat from beyond the heavens needs to be dealt with by Shuji and Nagato, and the fighting strength maintained within Konoha Village is sufficient for him alone.

Therefore, his choice was to ensure that Akatsuki's movements overseas could be promptly relayed back to Konoha.

After Xiao Nan returned from the Land of the Sea, she didn't ask him why he was still there. But from that day on, his intelligence networks suddenly started operating much more smoothly.

Some news that used to require going through three or four roundabouts can now be transmitted directly from the island.

Once Nagato has a preference, she will follow suit and make a choice.

He had long since figured out the movements of the Sky Ninja. He had compiled Shennong's route of action, the deployment of his forces, and which port the modified flight wing parts were loaded onto from, all into coded messages and sent them back to Konoha.

But he didn't anticipate one thing.

As Shuji and Nagato both left the ninja world, Madara's attack caused Konoha, the village that served as the command center of the ninja world, to completely sever its connection with the outside world at the most critical moment.

Jiraiya, who was unable to reconnect in time, suppressed his urge to return to the rescue and chose to follow the attack route taken by Shennong and the others, eventually making his way to the shore by boat.

Fortunately, even ninja forces outside the Five Great Ninja Villages still held the upper hand against bandits and the Sky Ninja under Shennong's command.

Especially those elites who were recruited into the Joint Affairs Bureau.

However, what they were powerless to do was to control a master like Beiliuhu, who successfully escaped control and quietly broke through the defenses.

It can happen naturally.

He discovered that Hiruko had brought a man wearing a monocle and a blond boy onto land.

When Jiraiya received the communication frog from Minato, he was already in the mountains.

Upon receiving the letter from the village, he breathed a sigh of relief; it seemed the village had resolved the problem.

Faced with the orders in his hand and the discovery he had just made, the Toad Sage still hesitated.

A few years ago, given his authority, he could have decided to continue the investigation on his own initiative at this time.

But now there are five Hokage in Konoha Village, including former and current ones.

The three ninjas' authority priority doesn't seem to be very high.

Especially now that the situation has become so complex.

Therefore, Jiraiya first relayed his findings through Greninja before receiving the orders.

"Support Sunagakure, delay the Undead Army, and provide support for Konan."

After confirming that this was the village's final decision, he finally gave up the idea of ​​continuing the pursuit and chose to turn back and enter the Land of Wind.

On the way, he saw a man dressed in plain clothes, a monk, who seemed to be heading in the direction where Beiliuhu and the others were.

The monk noticed Jiraiya's gaze and glanced back briefly.

Jiraiya gave a hearty smile and raised his hand in greeting.

The monk withdrew his gaze and continued walking deeper into the mountain path.

Behind him, the Toad Sage's smile faded little by little, and a chill crept up his spine.

That person.

What was in that look in his eyes.

He had a hunch that the direction the man was heading was probably overlapping with the tracks of Beiliuhu and his group.

Do you want to join?

Jiraiya hesitated again.

But the latest instructions ultimately led him to choose to give up.

Xiu Si has returned to the village, and his judgment is more accurate than his intuition.

I'll report the latest developments later.

The toad sage quickly left.

Behind him was the end of the mountain path, and the gaze that always fell on his back through the mountain.

Confirming that he had no intention of following, the monk slowly turned around and continued walking deeper into the area.

"A man burdened with a heavy destiny."

97

"I made a lucky choice."