Naruto, starting with immortality, I'm going to buy up the ninja world!

Chapter 167 Cooperation between Small Countries

Kushina was very happy to see that it was the Third Hokage who had defeated Danzo. At least for now, it seemed that the Third Hokage wouldn't mistreat his child for her and Minato's sake.

However, she was extremely dissatisfied with Danzo Shimura. His child was clearly the son of a hero, yet this guy wanted to train his son to be a weapon. It was truly despicable. Once she was resurrected, she would definitely teach this guy a lesson.

However, Kushina soon sighed again.

Oh, my poor child, your father and mother are sorry, we can no longer take care of you, but thankfully there are three generations of grandparents here.

Kushina has now placed all her hopes on Hiruzen Sarutobi, hoping that he can take good care of Naruto and raise him.

What Kushina didn't know was that there were many things that Hiruzen Sarutobi couldn't decide on his own.

The effects of the Nine-Tails' rampage were forcibly suppressed with the return of the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.

However, some fundamental problems have not been resolved, and sooner or later, when Hiruzen Sarutobi can no longer suppress them, they will completely erupt.

Time flies, and another year has passed.

Orochimaru's experiments have stalled. In order to break through the bottleneck as soon as possible, Orochimaru increased the number of test subjects. However, no matter how many test subjects are added, there is only one outcome for these people: death.

As the test subjects continued to die, the prisoners in the Root prison were quickly emptied.

In order to ensure that the experiment could continue, Danzo had to have the Root members capture people from outside, but capturing people from other villages was not so easy, so they eventually turned their attention to the people of Konoha.

Inside the Hokage's office, several Konoha ninjas were reporting on documents and materials.

"Stop for a moment."

Hiruzen Sarutobi put down his pipe and looked at the other ninjas who had not yet reported, asking them questions.

"Are all you guys reporting on missing people in the village?"

The group exchanged surprised glances, as if to say, "Are you guys like this too?"

They finally nodded together.

"Yes, Lord Hokage, this is the missing persons file from the west side of the village."

"I'm from the south side of the village."

"I'm from the village entrance."

"What am I doing...?"

Listening to their reports, Hiruzen Sarutobi's brows furrowed so deeply they could practically trap a mosquito.

"I understand. Here's what we'll do: issue a mission and have the village's ninjas investigate. At the same time, I'll order an increase in patrols within the village."

"It's the Hokage!"

After putting down the materials, Hiruzen Sarutobi took a deep drag on his cigarette.

"Danzo, Orochimaru, please don't let it be you two."

He had a vague feeling that all of this was the work of his good friend Danzo and his good disciple Orochimaru.

He also knew that after he ordered them to stop their research, they did not stop, and he did not try to stop them too much, since letting them continue their research might bring unexpected benefits to Konoha.

But now it seems that the benefits haven't materialized yet, but the harms have already emerged.

After thinking it over, Hiruzen Sarutobi decided to go and have a good talk with Danzo.

However, this trip was destined to be fruitless. When Hiruzen Sarutobi asked Danzo, his answers were always the same: "I don't know," "I'm not sure," "It's none of my business," "Don't ask me," and "It's all for Konoha."

Faced with Danzo's attitude, Hiruzen Sarutobi could only sigh and then turn to find his disciple Orochimaru.

When Hiruzen Sarutobi met his disciple Orochimaru, he clearly sensed a sense of alienation from him.

However, at least on the surface, Orochimaru did not show any problems.

However, we cannot judge things by appearances alone; the most serious problems lie hidden in the shadows.

Under Konoha's planning, the Land of Grass began to develop into a commercial empire, with various industries being built and put into use.

At the same time, Yahiko strengthened the cooperation between the Land of Rain and the Land of Grass in the name of Hanzo the Salamander, and the two countries began to build together, presenting a thriving scene.

This made the Bird Country and the River Country, which are also located between major powers, extremely envious.

After much hesitation, the daimyo of the Land of Birds and the Land of Rivers took the initiative to go to the Land of Grass to discuss the matter with Tetsuya.

After the two daimyo arrived in the Land of Grass, Tetsuya did not directly discuss cooperation with them. Instead, he first took them on a tour of the capital city of the Land of Grass, showing them its current prosperity, and then let them experience the all-inclusive service offered by Tetsuya.

He led the two daimyo and their accompanying officials through every kind of entertainment and dining experience, making them almost like Liu Shan of the ninja world, so happy they forgot about home.

Seeing that he had achieved the desired effect, Tetsuya led the two daimyo back to his daimyo residence.

In the garden, he led the two to sit down in the pavilion.

"Come, come, gentlemen, have a taste of our Grass Country's tea."

The two nodded, accepted the tea leaves, took a sip, and praised them.

"Excellent, excellent, this tea tastes quite good."

"It's really good, just as good as the tea produced in the Land of Tea."

"Haha, if you two like them, you can take some back with you."

"Then thank you very much, Chiba."

"Speaking of the daimyo of the land of rivers," he cleared his throat and said.

"Chiba Daimyo, actually, the reason I came here today is to discuss cooperation with you."

"That's right, so am I."

"Oh, a collaboration? What kind of collaboration do you want to pursue?"

Although Tetsuya knew the other party's purpose, he still pretended to be surprised.

"That's what the daimyo of the Bird Country said."

"The Land of Rain, that wretched place, has undergone tremendous changes after cooperating with the Land of Grass, which is managed by the Chiba Daimyo. The entire country is developing quite rapidly, so I also want to cooperate with the Chiba Daimyo."

"That's not quite right. I just hope it can be similar to the Land of Rain."

"Me too."

The daimyo of the land of Kawa quickly echoed this sentiment.

It should be noted that among the small countries that were struggling to survive between large nations, the Rain Country was arguably the worst off.

Although the Land of Rain produced Hanzo the Salamander, which brought about a period of improvement, that improvement was only achieved thanks to Tetsuya Chiba's trading company.

Later, after Chiba Tetsuya shifted his focus to the Land of Grass and neglected the Land of Rain, the Land of Rain visibly declined.

An organization called Akatsuki even emerged, attempting to overthrow the Land of Rain. Although it was suppressed, its impact was still too great.

I recently heard that the Akatsuki organization was not wiped out and is still active in the ninja world, recruiting members and rogue ninjas from various villages.

However, even the Land of Rain, after cooperating with the Land of Grass, still prospered.

So they also came to Tetsuya to discuss cooperation.