Chapter 204 Intelligence
Within the borders of Tang country.

At the strong suggestion of the Hidden Rain Village, the location for the peace talks between Konoha and the Hidden Cloud Village was officially confirmed as the Hidden Tang Village.

The Country of Hot Springs, where Yugakure Village is located, is a country with extremely rich natural resources. Despite such favorable conditions, the strength of the ninjas of the Country of Hot Springs is far below the average ninja in the ninja world, and their strength is not even as good as that of the Kusagakure Village.

After arriving here, Yahiko and Konan seemed to understand why the Hidden Cloud Village wanted to attack the Land of Hot Springs.

The Kingdom of Soup is obviously weak, but it occupies such a fertile piece of land. If they put themselves in their shoes, they might also take action against the Kingdom of Soup.

Bai Ye saw what Yahiko and Konan were thinking, and chuckled and said, "Boss Yahiko, Sister Konan, are you interested in the Land of Hot Springs?"

"If you really want it, it's not impossible for us to claim this land."

Yahiko showed a vigilant look, looked at Bai Ye, shook his head and said: "Bai Ye, we are here to mediate the war between Wood Release and Kumogakure, not to attack the Land of Hot Springs."

Bai Ye said meaningfully: "Perhaps Tangyin Village needs our protection. Our Yuyin Village lacks resources, and their Tangyin Village lacks military force. Isn't this just the right way to make up for the shortcomings of both sides?"

Hearing this, Yahiko and Konan fell into deep thought, thinking about the feasibility of Bai Ye's suggestion.

After several years of development, the Hidden Rain Village has basically completed its domestic construction, the chakra system has also taken shape as an industrialized system, and has produced a lot of goods and commodities.

If we can really bring the Kingdom of Hot Springs into our sphere of influence, both the raw materials and the market can be solved.

But the problem right now is that the Country of Hot Springs is not actually under the jurisdiction of the Hidden Yu Village. The current leader of the Hidden Yu Village is only an elite jonin, which is considered a high-ranking figure in the ninja world, but is nothing in the eyes of the five major ninja villages.

Any elite jonin from the five major ninja villages can cause chaos in Tangyin Village.

The control of the Hidden Tang Village has actually always been in the hands of Konoha, which is why Konoha had to fight back when the Hidden Tang Village attacked the Land of Hot Springs.

Once the Hidden Rain Village and the Hidden Hot Spring Village reach a cooperation, they will even control the Country of Hot Spring.

This is bound to arouse the vigilance of Konoha and Kumogakure, and the Hidden Rain Village, which should have been a sideline watch, will face pressure from both Konoha and Kumogakure at the same time.

Seeing Yahiko and Konan lost in thought, Bai Ye chuckled and said:

"I'm just making a suggestion. Akatsuki doesn't have the ability to take over Yugakure Village yet. After all, we haven't even taken over Kusagakure Village, Longgakure Village, and Tian Kingdom yet."

Yahiko felt relieved when he heard that Byakuya was just joking.

But when Yahiko heard that Bai Ye had ideas about all the small countries around the Rain Country, he was still shocked. The Grass Country and the Field Country were okay.

There has always been a conflict between the Kusagakure and Amegakure villages in the Land of Grass, and there is simply no ninja village in the Land of Rice.

The strength of Longyin Village is one of the best among the small ninja villages. Although you don't usually see many ninjas from Longyin Village, Longyin Village does have the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki.

After taking a deep breath, Yahiko spoke:
"Bai Ye, our Akatsuki organization is a peace-loving organization. You can't always target the surrounding ninja villages. They can't threaten us now."

"Boss Yahiko, I have always loved peace. As long as they don't provoke the organization, I will definitely not launch a counterattack. But if they take the initiative to ask for help, we can't always refuse their request."

After a short pause, Bai Ye continued, "Boss Yahiko, I have arranged a meeting between you and the leader of Yugakure Village. After talking with him, you may change your mind."

"Don't forget, our Akatsuki organization was born because of the war between the great powers. Are we going to give up contacting Yugakure Village and listening to them just because we are afraid of offending Konoha and Kumogakure Village?"

Yahiko was shocked, and after a moment's silence, he nodded. He thought about many things, but in the end he did not reject Bai Ye's arrangement. Bai Ye was right. He was too concerned about his relationship with Jiraiya and forgot the reason why Akatsuki was born.

It is true that Mr. Jiraiya was the mentor who taught the three of them, and he also taught them the concept of peace.

But Jiraiya's peace is from Konoha's perspective. Everything is prioritized in Konoha's interests. And when Jiraiya adopted them, Konoha actually attacked the Hidden Rain Village.

……

After persuading Yahiko to meet with the leader of Yugakure Village, Bai Ye raised a faint smile.

He is not that wise. Everything he does is to increase his own strength so that he can deal with future crises in the ninja world.

If they could reach a cooperation with Yugakure Village or even bring it under their control, Akatsuki would definitely be able to increase its strength significantly. By then, its strength would surpass that of ordinary Kage-level warriors and reach the initial stage of becoming a super Kage.

After returning to the room, Bai Ye suddenly felt something, and he put his hands together and looked at the ground.

After a burst of white smoke dissipated, a scroll was revealed lying quietly on the floor. Bai Ye picked up the scroll on the floor.

This scroll was sent by Pharmacist Kabuto, and it contains a simple piece of information.

Orochimaru defected from Konoha and became an S-rank rebel ninja wanted by Konoha.

After reading the scroll, Bai Ye burned it and threw it into the pond, watching the ashes drift in the pond and finally sink into the water.

Bai Ye was not surprised that Orochimaru defected from Konoha.

Orochimaru is a scientist who is even crazier than the Second Hokage. It is impossible for him to stay in Konoha Village for a long time. Firstly, Orochimaru likes to attack his companions, which goes against the Will of Fire.

Secondly, Orochimaru does things without taboos and likes to study forbidden ninjutsu the most.

However, Bai Ye was a little surprised that Orochimaru's defection time was actually much earlier. Perhaps it was because of his appearance that interfered with the future fate of the Akatsuki organization.

However, even if the timeline changes, it doesn't matter to him now.

Instead, Bai Ye was curious about where Orochimaru had escaped to. If he could recruit Orochimaru into the Akatsuki organization, he didn't know how much reward he would get.

Pay more attention to the black market recently, and you may find Orochimaru's trace.

There is also the Land of Rice near the Hidden Rain Village. I have the impression that after Orochimaru defected from the Akatsuki organization, he established the Sound Village in the Land of Rice.

Although Orochimaru has not joined the Akatsuki organization yet, he may have been interested in the Land of Rice for a long time.

Recovering his gradually dispersing thoughts, Bai Ye pondered over how to reply to Yakushi Kabuto.

Although the most important thing at the moment is to take advantage of the peace talks between Konoha and Kumogakure to make the Hidden Rain Village gain both fame and fortune, training Kabuto Yakushi is also a very important matter.

For a ninja like Kabuto Yakushi who lacks care, as long as you reply regularly to express your concern, you can make the other party loyal to you.

(End of this chapter)