and Land of Rain. A border town near the border between the Land of Rain and the Land of Earth.
Kirito's White Zetsu clone is currently meeting a burly Iwa ninja in a private room of an inn.
This Iwa ninja is none other than the Sandaime Tsuchikage, Onoki's son, Kitsuchi.
"Mr. Hattori, aren't your terms a bit too high? Two Sunagakure jōnin in exchange for resources that are worth training twenty jōnin? And that's not even including an S-rank jutsu and various Earth Release jutsu. I don't think our village's Tsuchikage will agree to your terms,"
Kitsuchi said with dissatisfaction after hearing the conditions Kirito had set.
"Mr. Kitsuchi, I must correct you. They are not just two Sunagakure jōnin, but two elite puppet masters from the Sand Hidden Leaf who have killed fifteen of your jōnin in a row. What is the value of the information they possess? I don't need to say anything.
In fact, I feel that the conditions I have set are already somewhat disadvantageous."
Kirito sneered, not budging an inch from the conditions he had set.
He had already obtained the memories of both Akashige and Sara through the Spirit Transformation Technique, and knew very well how many Iwagakure jōnin they had killed and just how great a threat they posed to Iwagakure.
Judging from their combat records alone, if Iwagakure could trade the resources required to train twenty jōnin to obtain the two of them, then it would definitely be a bargain.
Not to mention the information they possessed and the puppet technique secrets they knew. If Iwagakure could successfully obtain information about the puppet technique secrets and various hidden information about Sunagakure from the two of them, then Iwagakure would gain an advantage over Sunagakure in future battles, greatly increasing their chances of victory.
Therefore, Kirito's request to Iwagakure's Shishio for S-class ninjutsu and various Earth Release jutsu was a very reasonable one.
"It seems that Hattori-san knows quite a few secrets from the two of them,"
Kitsuchi said, testing the waters, his eyes fixed on Kirito's.
Kirito just gave a small smile in response, without giving a clear answer.
However, the way he was so composed was already a clear answer in Kitsuchi's eyes.
"I didn't realize that there were also ninjas proficient in torture within the Amegakure,"
Kitsuchi mused.
He had thought that Amegakure would not be able to obtain any useful information from the two Sunagakure puppet masters, and that was why he had traded them to Iwagakure in exchange for the greatest profit. But from the looks of things, Amegakure had probably obtained a lot of practical and useful information from the two.
After all, the information about the number of Iwagakure jōnin the two had killed was quite classified.
In fact, these two Sunagakure puppet masters had secretly infiltrated the Land of Earth on a secret mission and killed an Iwagakure jōnin. This incident can be considered top secret.
With Amegakure's intelligence capabilities, it would be basically impossible to learn about this from other channels unless they obtained this information from the two Sunagakure puppet masters.
"Is it possible that this guy is proficient in torture himself? During this time, it seems that he has not returned to Amegakure."
Kitsuchi ultimately expressed doubts about Amegakure's interrogation techniques and could not help but doubt Hattori Masanari in front of him.
He is now very interested in Hattori Masanari, the Amegakure jōnin, to be precise. Iwagakure is now very interested in Hattori Masanari.
Using Hattori Masanari, a powerful Ame-Nin with opposing political views to those of Sanjōbi Hanzō, to split Amegakure was not just seen as a possibility by people from Konoha and Sunagakure, but also by people from Iwagakure.
Sandaime Tsuchikage Onoki was very supportive of the plan to split Amegakure proposed by the higher-ups.
This is only natural.
A divided Amegakure is beneficial to Iwagakure, and if it is possible to support Hattori Masanari in Amegakure and have a force that leans towards Iwagakure, it will be of great strategic significance for Iwagakure to use this to contain Konoha and Sunagakure.
The Land of Earth is not very interested in the territory of the Land of Rain, which cannot produce food, but it is well aware that the Land of Wind, which is seriously lacking in water resources, is very interested in the territory of the Land of Rain.
Once the Land of Wind annexes the territory of the Land of Rain and solves the problem of insufficient water resources within the country, the power of the Land of Wind will inevitably take a leap forward.
Because the Land of Earth has occupied a large number of food-producing oases in the north of the Land of Wind, Iwagakure and Sunagakure have a feud, and naturally they cannot sit idly by while Sunagakure annexes Amegakure and becomes stronger. Military intervention is necessary.
However, direct military intervention against Amegakure is a serious burden for Iwagakure.
This is because the Iwagakure ninja, who are from the highland climate of the Land of Earth, are prone to illness when fighting on the Land of Rain's soil, which will ultimately lead to a large number of non-combat casualties.
Therefore, if Amegakure can be supported through a small amount of economic and military assistance to contain Sunagakure, it would be a very cost-effective thing for Iwagakure.
Before contacting Hattori Masanari, Onoki had already signalled Hanzo to support Amegakure and join forces with him, but Hanzo, who was then blindly arrogant and haughty, had rejected it without hesitation, and afterwards became even more hostile towards Iwagakure.
Onoki had since given up on supporting Amegakure, which was led by Hanzo, and no longer mentioned supporting Amegakure.
Now, Hattori Masanari's unexpected appearance has made him once again see the hope of Iwagakure supporting Amegakure to contain Konoha and Sunagakure.
Moreover, if the plan to split Amegakure succeeds, it will not only help the Land of Earth in terms of military strategy, but also economically.
By then, the Land of Rain will once again become a dumping ground for the Land of Earth's goods, which will be very profitable for the Land of Earth.
Due to its climate, agriculture has never developed in the Land of Rain, and the country has had to focus on developing its industry.
With its advantageous geographical location and extensive water network, the Land of Rain has a competitive advantage in its products. Coupled with the country's focus on developing its industry, the Land of Rain's industrial development has been very rapid, and its industrial level is among the best in the ninja world, with heavy industry as its pillar industry.
Due to the development of heavy industry, the Land of Rain has a huge demand for mineral resources, but the country itself is not rich in mineral resources, and its special climate also prevents the development of the local mining industry, so it can only import them from abroad.
The Land of Earth is the country with the richest mineral resources in the ninja world, and its coal and iron production ranks first in the world.
Many years ago, the Land of Earth was always the largest exporter of mineral resources to the Land of Rain.
However, since Hanzo became the leader of Amegakure, Iwagakure and Amegakure have become enemies. Hanzo's Amegakure took the initiative to cut off normal commercial ties between the two countries, causing many mining companies in the Land of Earth to go bankrupt, which has had a significant negative impact on the economy of the Land of Earth.
The daimyo of the Land of Earth has repeatedly expressed his dissatisfaction with this matter to Onoki, and threatened to cut economic support to Iwagakure.
Onoki had little respect for the weak daimyo, but the system of one country and one village in the Shinobi World had been established a long time ago. He was temporarily unable to challenge this system, so he had to make a compromise and say that he would resolve the normal commercial trade between the Land of Earth and the Land of Rain as soon as possible.
Onoki now also saw hope for solving this problem in Hattori Masanari.
In particular, Kirito's portrayal of Hattori Masanari easily capturing the two elite puppet masters of the Sand Hidden Leaf, Akashige and Sara, has demonstrated the unbeatable strength of the Kage-Level, and his confidence is growing.
From the current perspective, this Hattori Masanari is very powerful, with a Water Release jutsu that is terrifyingly strong when unleashed with no seal, and also very good at concealing his movements. As long as you are careful enough, Hanzo will be unable to easily take him down in nine out of ten cases, and at most he can only manage to defeat him, not kill him.
Furthermore, judging from the current situation in the ninja world, only Iwagakure has not yet fallen out with Amegakure, and there is a high chance that Hattori Masanari will cooperate with them.
Therefore, Kitsuchi understands that the prisoner exchange between him and Hattori Masanari this time can only succeed and cannot fail.
This naturally puts him in a very disadvantageous position in the negotiations.
Seeing Hattori Masanari's strong attitude at this time, he was not at all willing to back down, and he also firmly held the two elite puppet masters' value to Iwagakure. He was already a bit tongue-tied, and he didn't know how to bargain next.
In order not to ruin the deal and not to give Hattori Masanari a bad impression, he had to back down and said helplessly, "Okay, I will report your conditions to the Tsuchikage later and let him make a judgment himself."
"That would be best, Mr. Kitsuchi. I have prepared some good food and wine. Let's enjoy it."
Kirito heard this and immediately knew that the deal was almost certain. He smiled and said,
"A variety of Earth Release jutsu are nothing to Iwagakure, who is proficient in Earth Release jutsu. It doesn't really matter if they trade some of them. I guess they will have a little trouble with the S-class jutsu."
After he finished speaking, he gave a loud clap of his hands.
Soon, the door was opened and some maids entered with some dishes that smelled delicious.
As a sign of sincerity, Kirito took the lead and picked up his chopsticks to eat all the dishes first.
Seeing this, Kitsuchi also boldly ate the delicious food in front of him.
After a good meal and a toast, Kitsuchi felt that his relationship with Kirito had improved a lot. He suddenly asked, "Can I ask, how are the two puppet masters doing?"
"Don't worry, as long as Iwagakure agrees to my terms, I guarantee they will definitely be alive and well."
Kirito smiled slightly.