Starting with rogue ninjas, building the insect kingdom.

Chapter 182 Tang Ren Condemns Joint Surgery

Before going to sleep that night, Hideyoshi issued a proclamation as the new leader.

He released a statement to the public in the form of a new telegram, containing 100 million taels of silver.

The first announcement condemns the Konoha ninjas for maliciously preventing others from executing members of the Jashin Cult, which ultimately led to the Jashin Cult members massacring tens of thousands of people and completely destroying Yugakure. It also demands that Konoha severely punish the ninjas who were sent at the time.

Second announcement: Tangren Village and Takiren Village announce the formation of a three-way alliance, from now on sharing weal and woe. This move signifies the re-establishment of a new alliance.

The daimyo of Yu-no-kuni wanted to claim that it had nothing to do with this, but Yu-no-kuni's economy had long been independent, relying on tourism and hot spring industry to support itself, without needing the daimyo's financial support.

Now that Taki and Yu have formed an alliance, the country of Tano, caught in the middle, has no choice but to join.

In fact, even if they declare that they will not participate, it will be of no use, because both countries have already opened up unconditional immigration policies to the country of Tian.

In terms of both economic conditions and national strength, Taki and Yu were far superior to Ta no Kuni.

In the border region, many nobles and commoners of the Land of Fields have already chosen to migrate to the two countries.

Furthermore, the Land of Fields currently does not have its own ninja village. Although it has fertile land, a vast area, and a large population, it is still a small country within a small country and has no say in the matter.

The next morning, an official letter was delivered to the Hokage's office.

Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage, sat behind his desk, holding the official letter in his hand, his brow furrowed. Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado sat beside him, their expressions also rather grim.

The letter contained very little information, but its wording was extremely harsh:

The Hidden Hot Spring Village formally condemns the Leaf Village ninjas for maliciously obstructing the execution of followers of the Jashin Cult, which allowed the remnants of the Jashin Cult to massacre tens of thousands of villagers, resulting in the complete destruction of the Hidden Hot Spring Village. The Hidden Hot Spring Village demands that the Leaf Village severely punish the ninjas involved and hold them accountable.

The signature and seal of Hideyoshi, the new village chief of Yunin Village, are at the bottom.

"This is utterly a distortion of the truth!" Mitokado Homura slammed his fist on the table and stood up. "It was clearly Shiraki's thugs who were slaughtering the people, how did they become our people who were obstructing them?"

"It's very clear in the official letter," Koharu Utatane said coldly. "Their version is: Shiraki was executing followers of the Jashin Cult, and Jiraiya, our ninja, was trying to stop him. As a result, the remnants of the Jashin Cult took advantage of the chaos to massacre the village."

Mitomon Homura was speechless for a moment. In fact, the truth was not important. What was important was that he did not expect that Yugakure would dare to openly humiliate Konoha.

Hiruzen Sarutobi put down the official letter and slowly spoke: "Regardless of the truth, to outsiders, this is the fact. Jiraiya... was indeed stopping Shiraki from killing. And among those killed were indeed followers of the Jashin Cult, as well as ordinary villagers."

"But--"

"No buts," Hiruzen Sarutobi interrupted him. "The important thing now is that Yugakure has joined forces with Takigakure to form a new three-way alliance."

He pulled out another intelligence report, which read: The Land of Hot Water and the Land of Waterfall have officially formed an alliance, and the Land of Rice Fields has been forced to join. The three countries have declared that they will share weal and woe, and no force may set foot on their territory.

"The Land of Rice Fields is just a fence-sitter..." Mitokado Homura frowned. "They don't even have a ninja village, so what difference does it make whether they join or not?"

"The difference lies in geography. The Land of Hot Water and the Land of Waterfall are sandwiched between the Land of Fire, the Land of Earth, and the Land of Lightning. The Land of Rice Fields is located right at the gap in the northeast. Now that the three countries are allied, it's like they've erected a barrier to our north."

He paused, then sighed, "This barrier was originally meant to keep out the Land of Earth and the Land of Lightning. But now, it's keeping us out too."

Silence fell over the office. After a long while, Hiruzen Sarutobi said, "Summon the elders for a meeting."

Meanwhile, at Konoha Hospital.

When she received the news of Jiraiya's death, Tsunade was almost frozen in place.

After a long while, she put down the prop in her hand, muttering, "How could this be? How could that guy die so easily?"

Kato Dan noticed the sadness in her eyes and stepped forward to comfort her, saying, "Tsunade, we are ninjas. As ninjas, we will all die one day, even you and I are no exception."

"How could it be him? How could it be him first? Although he's unreliable, he's at least a successor of the Holy Land. With his abilities, if he wanted to run away, no one should be able to stop him."

Although she usually loathed Jiraiya's behavior, he was still her partner who had shared life and death with her for over a decade, so how could she not have any feelings for him?

Tsunade suppressed her grief with anger, slamming her fist heavily onto the lab table. She looked up and asked, "Who killed him?"

Kato Terumi replied, "Shiraki is said to be a hermit from the Dragonfly Sanctuary."

"Shiraki, the former strategist of the Land of Grass. The reports said he was just a sensory ninja, how could he…?"

"He once personally defeated Hyuga Tenjin, so he must be very strong. He probably kept his strength hidden until now."

Tsunade fell silent. Seeing his expression, Kato Dan gently pulled her into his arms.

She reached out and pushed him away, saying, "I'm fine, I'm calm right now."

Just now, not only did news of Jiraiya's death arrive, but also that Jiraiya's disciple, Minato Namikaze, was severely injured and urgently needed her medical attention.

Therefore, she had to calm down and at the very least protect Jiraiya's only disciple and preserve Minato Namikaze's ninja career.

This was not only her affection for Jiraiya, but also a death order inexplicably given to him by the old man.

At Konoha Hospital, as Minato Namikaze pushed his way into the ward, Tsunade entered and quickly encountered a thorny problem.

Even if the severed arm is preserved and frozen with ice, some nerves still lose their activity. It would be almost impossible to graft it back to a completely intact state, and with her methods, she could only maintain up to 60% at most.

Just as she was at her wit's end, the operating room door was pushed open from the outside.

She was about to reprimand him when she realized that the person who came was Orochimaru.

Orochimaru licked his lips, looked down at the operating table, and said with a smile, "Tsunade, you still lack a lot when it comes to modifying the human body."

"You'd be so kind?"

"Don't say that, Tsunade." Orochimaru closed the door again, put on sterile gloves, and took out a set of medical ninja tools.

"No matter what, the bond between you, me, and Jiraiya cannot be severed. In a sense, Jiraiya's disciple is also my disciple, isn't he?"

He stepped forward, picked up the severed arm, and looked it over: "In my opinion, half of this thing is unusable and needs to be completely improved."

He looked at Minato Namikaze, who was lying on the bed receiving oxygen, then at Tsunade: "Don't look at me like that. Don't worry. With my modifications, his arm will definitely be better than before, more flexible, and more durable."