Chapter 182: 182. Jinchūriki Disappears One After Another
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Nagato's inspection wasn't a pressing matter. For Ishigami Hara, the real priority now was dealing with the daimyo's affairs.
Konoha was no longer the same; its strength had undergone a qualitative transformation. Even though the battlefront did not advance aggressively by Ishigami Hara's directive, Konoha's force remained unstoppable compared to the ninja coalition.
This war also served as training, with many mid- and lower-ranking shinobi entering the battlefield. While it couldn't be said they had achieved drastic improvement, it was clear that everyone had grown.
In this unusual "stalemate," Ishigami Hara finally received the news he had been waiting for.
The Suna shinobi were attacked, and Jinchūriki Bunpuku disappeared.
Almost simultaneously, the Jinchūriki from Kirigakure also vanished. Two days later, the same thing happened in Kumogakure; two Jinchūriki disappeared without any signs, not even traces of a battle left behind.
The news shook the ninja world, with everyone instinctively turning their attention to Konoha and Ishigami Hara.
But it was clear that Ishigami Hara was not involved in this, nor was he concerned. Instead, he examined the information in his hand thoughtfully.
"Finally, you couldn't resist contacting me."
The information came from Hyūga Iroha, who had arrived in the capital and was undercover. Typically, he only gathered intel quietly. But in the past two days, someone had approached him.
The contact was none other than a White Zetsu.
Hyūga Iroha had communicated with this individual, reporting that it was a very peculiar being beyond his understanding, and he had agreed to cooperate based on the other party's suggestion.
Before Hyūga Iroha left, Ishigami Hara had given him a covert mission, naturally connected to Uchiha Madara. Clearly, Hyūga Iroha had now come into contact with Madara, though the exact location of his hideout remained unknown.
Upon receiving an invitation, Hyūga Iroha was tasked with a mission to prove himself. Coincidentally, his assignment was to attack Takigakure and capture the Jinchūriki there.
Though Hyūga Iroha had no prior experience fighting a Jinchūriki, his report indicated that he would complete the task to fully connect with Uchiha Madara.
Within three days, news spread that Takigakure's Jinchūriki had disappeared and much of the village had been destroyed, again shocking the entire ninja world.
Takigakure was only a small village, but the fact that it was assigned a tailed beast indicated its unique status and strength. Even Amegakure, after all, did not possess a Jinchūriki, marking it as somewhat inferior to Takigakure.
Nevertheless, Takigakure had been attacked, resulting in the Jinchūriki's disappearance, which set the entire ninja world on high alert.
Since the opponent had been lured out, the daimyo was now irrelevant. Ishigami Hara ordered Orochimaru on the front line to quickly handle the remaining trouble.
With this, the Konoha shinobi on the front lines changed their previous approach, adopting an aggressive offensive. Not only did they defeat the ninja coalition, but they also prevented it from uniting. The reason was simple: too many major incidents had recently shaken the ninja world. Compared to Konoha, the major villages were more focused on their own issues—each Jinchūriki had gone missing, leaving them little reason to waste efforts on Konoha.
As the ninja coalition noticed the deteriorating situation and the dangers facing their own villages, they abandoned the daimyo of the Land of Fire and withdrew.
The daimyo of the Land of Fire was left stunned.
He never expected this outcome.
Despite his repeated attempts to retain the ninja coalition, even raising his offers, he couldn't persuade them to stay. With his security plummeting, fear took hold of him.
For the daimyo, survival became paramount. As for the Land of Fire's foundation, he set it aside and fled with the evacuating ninja forces.
After all, the country would remain, and he could return if an opportunity arose. Staying behind, however, might lead to a much grimmer fate.
Ishigami Hara, for his part, made no effort to pursue him. The daimyo's departure actually accelerated the war's conclusion, aiding Ishigami Hara's plans.
Subsequently, Konoha's offense proceeded unimpeded and appeared remarkably smooth. Within less than a week, the front line achieved complete control of the Fire City.
Indeed, it was a capture.
From now on, Fire City belonged to Konoha, and the title of the Land of Fire became nominal.
For Fire City's administration, Ishigami Hara intended to implement a model based on Konoha's structure, though with a different approach, establishing it primarily as an economic center. This wasn't difficult for Ishigami Hara, as the plan had been in place for some time.
Currently, his focus shifted to Uchiha Madara's hidden maneuvers. As expected, Hyūga Iroha sent back further intelligence, though he hadn't yet managed to contact Uchiha Madara directly. Instead, Takigakure's Jinchūriki had already been taken, and now the target was moving toward others.
Hyūga Iroha's report also included a request for assistance.
The reason was straightforward.
The next target would undoubtedly be Konoha.
With the Nine-Tails in Konoha, Hyūga Iroha's next mission was to engage with Konoha's Jinchūriki, with the Nine-Tails as the goal.
In response, Ishigami Hara recognized his course of action.
Uchiha Madara had already begun gathering the tailed beasts, bringing him one step closer to becoming the Ten-Tails' Jinchūriki.
Clearly, Uchiha Madara felt the preparations were complete and was running out of patience.
At this point, logically, Uchiha Madara should have been extremely aged, with his vitality dwindling.
However, Ishigami Hara understood that Nagato's loss of vitality was actually the doing of Uchiha Madara, more accurately, the work of Black Zetsu and White Zetsu. Uchiha Madara had evidently acquired a new source of life, likely through Nagato's use of the Outer Path Technique, which had depleted Nagato's own vitality.
With this understanding, Ishigami Hara knew how to coordinate with Hyūga Iroha to play out this scene effectively.
The stage for this scene would naturally be set in Konoha, and Ishigami Hara even needed to arrange enough "actors" to bring it to life.