In the evening, Ian, the representative of the Cloud Hidden delegation, entered the Hokage building with two or three guards. Shortly after, several ANBU ninjas flew out from the roof of the Hokage building, and a message quietly spread.
Cloud Hidden intends to form a friendly alliance with Konoha!
As soon as this news broke, the civilians and ninjas of Konoha were in an uproar. The Cloud Hidden Village was one of the five great ninja villages, and its strength was among the top two of them.
If the Cloud Hidden Village and Konoha Village could coexist peacefully, then the Land of Lightning and the Land of Fire would form an alliance, which would be a great joy for them. Even their gazes towards the Cloud Ninjas became much friendlier.
Minato Namikaze sat in the conference room, his brow furrowed. The news from outside was true, but it wasn't spread by Konoha ninjas. Cloud Hidden did indeed want to form an alliance with Konoha, but the demands were simply too harsh.
Putting aside other supplies and silver, Cloud Hidden actually wanted mutual intelligence sharing and joint training of tailed beast jinchuriki.
Minato was not in a hurry about intelligence sharing, as they would surely be vague.
However, regarding the joint training of tailed beast jinchuriki, Cloud Hidden had two tailed beasts, while Konoha only had one. In terms of numbers, Konoha would be the one gaining more.
But the problem was that the jinchuriki was Kushina, which gave Minato a headache. Daring to provoke Senior Lin Yu was tantamount to seeking death!
These two were not the most critical issues. Cloud Hidden also proposed marriage alliances!
This time, even Minato couldn't guess whether Cloud Hidden truly came for an alliance or had other motives. As for the candidates for marriage, Cloud Hidden had also made suggestions: either the children of the Daimyo of the Land of Lightning and the Daimyo of the Land of Fire would marry, or the child of the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, would marry into the Cloud Hidden Village.
When Minato heard this, his head was about to explode. Naruto and Karin were so young! They were already considering their marriages? He would likely be beaten to death by Uzumaki Sachiko when he got home!
Minato did not agree to any of these conditions. The Cloud Hidden envoy, Ian, was not in a hurry and waited in the reception room with a smile for Minato's decision.
"Shikaku, what do you think?"
Shikaku Nara carefully examined the draft agreement in his hand and frowned, "Chaos! It's very chaotic!"
"If the Cloud Hidden Village truly wanted an alliance, they wouldn't make such strange demands. Mutual intelligence sharing is simply impossible. Even if they provided intelligence, would the other party dare to trust it?"
"As for joint training of tailed beast jinchuriki... if the individuals are willing, it's not impossible to agree."
"The last point about marriage alliances is even more outrageous, yet it seems to have no issues. Alliances and marriage alliances are perfectly normal."
Shikaku Nara couldn't figure out Cloud Hidden's purpose for a while, so he said, "The demands made by Cloud Hidden are really chaotic. Perhaps they don't expect us to agree at all."
Minato said, "If we propose to change some of the requirements and Cloud Hidden stubbornly refuses..."
Shikaku Nara continued, "Then they must have other motives!"
"Shikaku, dispatch more personnel to closely monitor the Cloud Hidden delegation. Not a single person can be missed!"
...
Night fell.
*Bang!*
Two corpses wearing ANBU masks were thrown to the ground. Dozens of Cloud Ninjas gathered around, ten of whom had no expression on their faces, like emotionless killing machines.
"Since Brother Ian is not here, you will take orders from me, Ito, for now."
A Cloud Ninja who looked very much like Ian stepped forward, his face, marked with a fierce scar, was full of ruthlessness.
"The two closest Konoha ANBU have been eliminated. Time is short. Complete your objectives quickly, and gather outside Konoha Village at the end!"
"Yes!"
Ito paused and continued, "If you can't escape, you know what to do, right?"
No one replied. Only black shadows disappeared from the Konoha inn. Finally, Ito glanced in the direction of the Hokage building, pulled down his mask, and vanished.
...
The Hyuga Main Family Estate.
Lin Yu lay lazily on the tatami, counting the time in his heart, waiting for little Hinata to fall asleep so he could teleport to play with Kushina.
What kind of cards would he play with Kushina tonight? Kushina not only loved gambling but was also bad at it. She could never get a self-drawn winning hand and always had to rely on him to deal the winning cards.
Maybe he should invite Mikoto over and play Three-Player Landlord...
Just as Lin Yu's thoughts wandered, several unfamiliar chakras entered his range of perception.
Lin Yu twisted his head. What was meant to come had finally arrived!
Suddenly, Lin Yu stopped his raised foot. This was not right. His original intention was to let the Cloud Ninjas take little Hinata away, and then he would come to the rescue. But now, little Hinata wasn't even here, so why was he still at the Hyuga Estate?
Kill Cloud Ninjas?
What was the point of that? He could destroy the entire Cloud Hidden Village, so what was the use of killing a few Cloud Ninjas!
It was all Kushina's fault, making his thoughts so confused these past few days.
Lin Yu sat down cross-legged again. He needed to sort out his thoughts. Should he go out directly and beat the Cloud Ninjas to death now, or should he go home and bring little Hinata before beating them to death, or...
While Lin Yu was thinking, Hiashi Hyuga also discovered the masked ninjas who had broken in. They were too brazen and had no intention of hiding their tracks.
"Split up and search!"
With a command, dozens of Cloud Ninjas scattered, searching the main estate for their target.
"Who are you?! How dare you trespass into my Hyuga clan!"
Hiashi Hyuga caught up with a Cloud Ninja and assumed a Gentle Fist stance, veins bulging around his eyes. These intruders were not to be trifled with!
The only response to Hiashi was a cold ninjutsu blade and a strong killing intent. Hiashi adopted his stance, dodged the blade sideways, and with a surge of power from his waist, his palm instantly struck the opponent's chest.
*Bang!*
The masked Cloud Ninja withstood the blow and raised his ninjutsu blade to hack at Hiashi.
Such tough physical strength!
Hiashi withdrew, his expression somewhat grim, but when it came to close-quarters combat, his Hyuga clan had never feared anyone!
*Whoosh whoosh whoosh!*
Three more figures landed around Hiashi, but Hiashi was not afraid. He was confident in close-quarters combat!
"Raiton: Chidō!"
Four bolts of lightning struck Hiashi from four directions with formidable power!
Weren't they supposed to be in close combat? Did you ask my house's feelings before using ninjutsu here?
The fine cobblestones were continuously sent flying, and the garden, which originally had flower beds, was also ravaged by the lightning.
Seeing this scene, Hiashi couldn't hold back anymore. This was too much!
This was his wife's favorite flower bed!
"Hakkenshō: Kaiten!"
A large amount of Gentle Fist chakra was released from Hiashi's acupoints, forming a rotating spherical body resembling a blue gyroscope.
*Boom!*
Smoke and dust billowed. The "smoke without injuries" law was triggered!
"Jūkenpō: Hakke Rokujūyon Shō!"
Hiashi's figure instantly shot out from the smoke, his palm hitting one person's abdomen, followed by his hands becoming a blur, continuously striking the opponent's acupoints. The opponent had no chance to fight back.
The other three Cloud Ninjas tried to rush forward to help, but it was too late. In an instant, that Cloud Ninja collapsed to the ground.
Hiashi assumed a Gentle Fist stance, and a Bagua formation seemed to appear beneath his feet. He said sternly, "It's not over yet!"
"Hakkenshō: Hakke Hyaku Nijū Hachi Shō!"