Chapter 243
"Broken Jade?"
Tsunade thought about it and guessed that it might be related to the Hogyoku. But this time, Lu Nie did not give her an accurate answer.
But since Lu Ni did not refute, Tsunade immediately confirmed that her guess was correct.
"No wonder you and Orochimaru don't seem to care much about the threat from the Kumogakure. Is it because when things get really out of control, you summon the Third Raikage to solve the problem?"
After confirming this, Tsunade began to associate ideas and immediately had new thoughts about Orochimaru's previous subtle attitude towards the Cloud Village.
As for whether the summoned Third Raikage could solve the problem or stand on their side, Tsunade was not worried. At least she did not believe that Lu Nie and the others would really summon the Third Raikage without any assurance.
Even if something unexpected happened, the three of them plus Luna and Shisui could still win in the end. It was just a matter of how much they would have to pay and how much they would lose.
"These are the negotiations between Orochimaru and the Third Raikage. You can ask him directly for the details when you return." Lu Nie simply pushed all the questions onto Orochimaru. "I am only responsible for helping you, Tsunade, forge the spiritual weapon."
Tsunade did not continue to ask aggressive questions, as this was indeed not a suitable place to discuss these issues.
"I've rested enough." Tsunade stood up, stretched her body, and said as she walked out of the tree hole.
……
Moist Bone Forest.
The two souls merged into two sleeping bodies. The first moment Tsunade opened her eyes, she heard a gentle voice above her head.
"You're awake, Lady Tsunade."
What Tsunade saw was a slug the size of a human being, which was trying to support half of its body, with its head hanging in the air, looking at her face to face.
Her body was covered by the slug, and Tsunade could feel the endless yang energy representing vitality seeping into her body through the slug's body.
"How long has it been?" Tsunade sat up from the ground, supporting herself with her arms. She felt that she was in better condition than ever before.
Her previously strong body had put a little burden on her spirit, which was often the cause of bloodline disease.
But Tsunade was able to handle it very well and didn't let it affect her condition, nor did it easily get worse.
Only during intense battles would the body occasionally feel a little uncomfortable.
But now, she only felt a sense of relief all over her body. In the past, she might have had the illusion that a child-sized soul was stuffed into an adult's body, but now, everything was fine.
The soul energy absorbed by the Void Forest greatly strengthened her soul.
“I don’t know.” The slug shook its big head in front of Tsunade cutely, and replied in a soft voice: “There is no concept of time in the Wet Bone Forest.
However, the summoning mark you left in Konoha Village has been activated. After Orochimaru asked about your and Lord Luna's conditions, he disconnected the summoning. "
"Has Orochimaru looked for us?" Upon hearing this, Tsunade immediately guessed that it might have taken them a little too long this time.
Before leaving, she did leave some of her blood for Orochimaru to use to pass on information from the Wet Bone Forest Psychic Slugs when necessary. If something big hadn't happened, or if the time was long enough, Orochimaru wouldn't have used her blood to summon the slugs, given his personality.
"Yes, but don't worry. Everything is fine in Konoha Village, and Orochimaru is just asking for a routine inquiry." The slug crawled off Tsunade's body and explained in a soft voice.
"I know." Tsunade nodded. If there really was a problem that required them, Orochimaru might try to enter the Hollow Forest.
Tsunade doesn't believe that Orochimaru doesn't have the means and ability to enter the Hollow Forest.
Even though we have entered, it is hard to say whether we can find them.
"Thank you, slug! But we should leave." Tsunade glanced at Shikagawa who stood up from the ground next to her, clapped her hands and said goodbye.
The slugs around nodded together, removed the reverse summoning technique on Tsunade and Kane, and sent them back to Konoha Village.
puff!
puff!
Two streams of white smoke appeared in the Hokage's office. Before the Anbu could take action, they were stopped by Orochimaru who was handling affairs in the office.
"Everything seems to be going well?"
Orochimaru looked at Tsunade and Kane who appeared in front of him, and noticed the sense of ease that Tsunade exuded. He stood up from his office chair, walked in front of the two of them, and tentatively smiled.
"Of course it went smoothly!" Tsunade rubbed her wrist, looked at Orochimaru who was close to her, and said in a bad tone: "Now I want to know, what on earth did you do behind my back!"
"The Hollow Forest?" Orochimaru glanced at Kaname who was standing there in a trance, and immediately understood something.
But this was what Orochimaru had thought of before the two returned. So he was not surprised at all when Tsunade asked him an aggressive question.
"Lu Nie and I are just studying the Hollows there, or rather the souls that are either incomplete or complete." Orochimaru was not frightened by Tsunade's preemptive words, and replied without any change in his facial expression: "After all, no one knows what kind of resistance and problems will be encountered in the experiment of resurrecting the dead.
Lu Nie has such a space that involves the soul, so naturally he should make use of it. "
"You shouldn't have hidden this from me!" Tsunade glared at Orochimaru.
"It's just that it's not time to confess yet. You're not the only one still conducting research. Luna and I haven't forgotten our promise to you." Orochimaru spread his hands.
Looking at Orochimaru, who had no guilt on his face, Tsunade sighed. Jiraiya was easier to bully. When they were in the same team, she was the big sister who could suppress the two of them, but now, Orochimaru has become the Hokage...
"for you!"
Tsunade did not continue to question Orochimaru. She reached out and pulled off a necklace from under her neck, held it in front of her eyes and looked at it with complicated eyes for a moment, then threw it into the hands of Lu Nie next to her.
"This necklace was left to me by my great-grandfather. It contains the power of Wood Release that he left behind. If possible, add it to the forging of the spirit weapon. If not, make the original shape of the spirit weapon into its style."
Tsunade demanded.
Lu Nie took the first-generation necklace thrown by Tsunade and nodded slightly. "You can make a necklace exactly like it, but as for this one, you should keep it as a souvenir."
The necklace itself is not made of good material. The only thing worth mentioning is that it contains some of the power of the first generation, which may have some auxiliary effect on the jinchūriki.
But the specific effect may not be obvious.
As for its material, it is just a stronger crystal. Its symbolic meaning is greater than its practical function. It is unnecessary to use it to forge spiritual tools.
Tsunade didn't expect the meager Wood Release power in the necklace to have any effect.
"Okay." Tsunade was silent for a moment and nodded.
After Lu Nie said goodbye, he considerately closed the office door for the two of them. He didn't believe that Tsunade would let Orochimaru go so easily when it came to the resurrection plan. If he wasn't around, the two of them should be able to have a "pleasant" conversation atmosphere.
……
"Itachi..." In the residence of the Uchiha clan leader, Lu Nie looked at Itachi in front of him with a complicated expression.
"Teacher!" Itachi, holding a baby like a nanny, ran quickly to Lune and held the baby in his hands for his teacher to see as if showing off.
"Sasuke?" Lu Nie read out the name.
"Yes, Uchiha Sasuke! My younger brother." Itachi, who was always quiet, rarely showed his preference in front of Lu Nie. It can be seen that Itachi's eyes were full of love for the little baby in his arms.
After teasing Sasuke who was staring at him curiously, Lu Nie's eyes were somewhat deep. He was extremely sensitive to the power of the soul, and when he touched Sasuke, he explored the other's soul.
He vaguely remembered that Sasuke was the reincarnation of a chakra named Indra, but with his sensitivity to souls, he did not detect another soul in Sasuke's body.
Is it because it has not yet awakened that it does not exist?
Or is it that the other party's reincarnation state is different from what I understand?
Or was it another unexpected change that occurred to me later?
Lu Nie made several guesses in his mind, none of which could be confirmed for the time being, but he came here not just to see the soul that had been reincarnated for a thousand years.
Since Sasuke has been born, the other protagonist Naruto will soon appear in this world. No wonder the village's Anbu has become much more active.
"Has anything happened in the Sand Ninja area recently?" asked Lu Nie after returning Sasuke to Itachi's hands. He watched him take the baby carefully and hold him in his arms with great experience in a position that made the baby feel as comfortable as possible.
"Sand Ninja? The delegation from the Land of Wind has entered the Land of Fire and has been stationed there for some time. In addition, the delegation from the Sand Village is also in the village. The leader is the Sand Ninja's jonin Maki."
Itachi replied. Because their team's recent missions almost all involved the Kingdom of Wind, he knew about the movements and intelligence of the Sand Village.
In particular, her father Fugaku is one of the advisory representatives, and when Tsunade is not in the village, he can fully represent Tsunade's advisory authority.
"Maki?" Lu Nie was a little speechless when he heard this name. He was really a brick in the Sand Village. Any important mission involving the Sand Village seemed to have his voice.
The last time, the opponent was in River Country.
Although Maki and Konoha are relatively familiar with the inside story, it can also be seen that the current Sand Village, or the subordinates of Kazekage Rasa, really have few people available.
It seems that the only person who can be trusted and entrusted with important matters is Maki.
"What is the purpose of him bringing the delegation here?" Lu Nie thought about it and thought that it might be related to the major transformation of the Wind Country.
Since the confirmation of this major project, the ties between the two great nations, the Kingdom of Wind and the Kingdom of Fire, have suddenly become closer than ever before.
Whether it is the upper-class daimyo and nobles, or the ninja village representing military force, they are all active in their respective fields tacitly.
The Fire Nation's capital naturally has nobles from the Wind Nation to maintain relations with, and Konoha welcomes a delegation of Sand Ninjas every few months.
Near Loulan, two ninja villages have successfully created a small oasis from scratch. Although it is impossible for it to exist for decades, it at least proves the feasibility of the project.
The degree of trust engendered by simple promises and promises backed by actual evidence is completely different.
At least after that small experimental oasis appeared, the nobles of the Kingdom of Wind came in droves to visit and see for themselves.
Just being responsible for the travel security of these nobles has brought a lot of blood to the weak economy of Sand Village. There was even a time when the ninjas of Sand Village were not enough and had to allocate some to Konoha ninjas.
Things and plans have reached this point, and the entire Kingdom of Wind has entered a state of frenzy. There are even nobles who are crazy enough to demand that the transformation of the desert into an oasis be made a national policy.
Although this proposal was quickly refuted and disappeared, the nobles of the Wind Kingdom reached an unprecedented consensus on one thing, which was to invest in the Oasis Project.
In order to compete for the early spots in the oasis, the nobles even fought among themselves, and finally ranked according to the money they contributed to the daimyo and the plan.
I heard that during this period, the businessmen who were involved with the nobles of the Wind Kingdom, who were fighting for face and money, were more or less forced to pay a large sum of money as tribute.
Because the plan was proposed by Konoha and its implementation was inseparable from Konoha, the Daimyo of the Wind Country personally went to the Fire Country accompanied by Rasa, and met and discussed with the Daimyo of the Fire Country and Orochimaru, who had just become Hokage not long ago.
So at this point, unless some irreversible accident occurs, it can be said to be an established fact that the two villages will form a community of interests for a long time in the future.
The Kingdom of Wind needs environmental improvements, the daimyo needs more people and resources in their territories, and the nobles need the vanity of competition and the reality of the oasis. The Sand Village can solve the problem of military expenditures, and even offer the temptation to expand the number of ninjas in the future due to the expansion of the oasis.
The Fire Nation was able to obtain a considerable amount of wealth, as well as promises and favors among some nobles.
The same is true for Konoha Village.
The two countries have now become a firm community of interests under the bond of this long-term plan. At this moment, let alone let Luo Sha have any bad thoughts about Konoha, such as taking advantage of the fire to rob, he suddenly had a lot more money on hand, and the amount of tasks in the village suddenly increased. His jealousy and hostility towards Konoha Village had disappeared.
Even if there is a danger that could threaten Konoha, he might be more anxious than most of Konoha's villagers and ninjas.
Because at the moment only Konoha can successfully implement this plan. Once an accident happens in Konoha, the current good situation will be affected or even terminated.
(End of this chapter)