Fleeing from Konoha-Chapter 620 - 92: Building Blocks and Preparations (Part 2)

Ichihime lay there reading and didn't respond.

"Ichihime, why aren't you saying anything?"

Asuka held the last building block, ready to fit it in and complete the castle.

Ichihime closed the book, sat up, and shot a sharp look at Asuka. Her tone was cold: "You're really noisy, brother. Can't you keep it down a bit?"

"But…"

Asuka was about to say something when Ichihime reached out her hand.

Without hesitation, she pulled out one of the blocks from the bottom of the castle.

The entire magnificent block castle shuddered slightly at first, then shook more violently, on the verge of collapse. Block after block toppled and fell.

Plop, plop. The whole castle fell apart in an instant, turning into a pile of blocks. They rolled messily across the floor, gone for good.

Asuka's face went blank. The block he was holding in his hand dropped to the ground too. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

His nose twitched, tears welling up in his eyes, about to spill.

Soon, the sound of Asuka's loud wailing echoed from the toy room.

"Looks like the castle wasn't built very solidly. It collapsed just from pulling one block. Such a dangerous, illegal building, completely unqualified. That calls for a fine, brother. But I'll let you off this time."

Ichihime hugged her book, swung her pigtail, turned and walked out of the toy room, leaving her brother Asuka standing there bawling.

Let's go to the pet house to read. Walking out of the toy room, Ichihime thought to herself.

She remembered that Raidenmaru had secretly stashed some snacks there.

◎

Hakushi had no idea what was happening at home.

He was currently busy dealing with Konoha affairs. One of the Sannin, Jiraiya, had left Konoha quietly, and even Kakashi didn't know what Jiraiya's reasons were for leaving.

But judging by the information so far, it was likely one of two possibilities.

One was to search for Nagato, who had vanished in the Land of Rain.

The other possibility was that he was searching for him, Ruri, and Ayane's whereabouts.

Hakushi had always known Konoha wouldn't just let them go so easily.

Bringing the Uchiha Clan and Hyuga Clan ninja in their defection caused extremely serious consequences.

Previously, because of Danzo, the Anbu forces had been scattered. By the time things settled, another issue arose—Kushina, the Nine-tailed Jinchuriki Uzumaki Kushina, got pregnant. The Anbu's actions were further hindered.

Even many Jonin tried not to leave Konoha unless necessary, obviously to protect the Nine-tailed Jinchuriki.

But Konoha wasn't willing to stop searching for the three of them, so Jiraiya, the idle Sannin, got his chance to be useful.

First, Jiraiya was strong enough. Second, with Mount Myoboku backing him, he was very good at gathering intel.

On top of that, Jiraiya himself was unconventional. He could blend in at taverns and sex bars, arousing no suspicion, and dig up intel that most people overlooked.

That's why you can't underestimate a guy like him.

There are pros and cons—once Jiraiya gets deep into his investigation, it's only a matter of time before Konoha catches onto Nagato's moves.

And Nagato, determined to regain the Land of Rain's autonomy, will strike at Konoha for sure. Only when Konoha is in chaos will he have a chance to break free from the Land of Fire's control.

Ayane was now pregnant, so if it came to fighting Konoha directly, Hakushi figured he and Ruri together would still be hard-pressed.

After all, Yellow Flash Namikaze Minato wasn't an ordinary ninja.

The same tricks wouldn't work on him twice.

Fastest ninja in the Ninja Realm—Hakushi had to admit it.

When speed hits a certain extreme, it spells trouble and difficulty.

But if he could pit Konoha against Nagato, let both sides weaken each other, that might be a decent plan too.

"Looks like the Nine-tailed Jinchuriki matter doesn't require my personal intervention. Compared to me, Nagato, wanting to free the Land of Rain from the Land of Fire's control, is far more anxious to see Konoha thrown into chaos."

Besides, there's the issue with Hidden Mist. Yagura has sent word more than once that he'll make a move in the next couple of months.

By then, I'll obviously be spread thin and unable to deal with Konoha personally.

Even if I had the ability to take on Konoha—against the Fourth Hokage, the Nine-tailed Jinchuriki, and a host of Konoha Jonin—it would mean enormous risk.

Unlike fighting the frail Uchiha Madara, Konoha's strength is terrifying.

So instead, let Nagato take on Konoha, and as their attention gets pulled away, I can weaken Konoha without spending a single soldier. Two birds with one stone.

Once he made the decision, Hakushi picked up his pen and wrote on a blank scroll, then rolled it up.

He wrote instructions on two separate scrolls and passed them to his subordinates to handle.

"The rest of the work is just waiting."

Hakushi got up and left the office, heading to the lab to continue his research on Tailed Beasts and the Zero-tailed.

How could the Tailed Beast power be used for his clones, effectively boosting both himself and his clones' strength? Hakushi was very invested in that.

◎

"Ah, another brother died. Looks like he died pretty horribly."

In the canyon at the border between the Land of Rain and the Land of Fire, a steady light rain was falling.

A White Zetsu, riddled with kunai, lay dead unnoticed by the roadside.

Several White Zetsu surfaced from the earth, found the corpse, and started complaining.

"It's not a special-type White Zetsu, but they managed to find him so precisely. Looks like it's the guy like us, burrowing through the ground."