Chapter 347 The Masked Man's Conspiracy
Bai Ye and Master Yuanshi knew each other and even cooperated secretly?

After hearing this, Zabuza was slightly stunned, but after thinking about it carefully, it was very reasonable. Although Bai Ye was not the leader of the Hidden Rain Village, his strength was very strong. It was not an exaggeration to say that he was among the top three in the ninja world.

In addition, the Akatsuki organization is present in many countries, and the status of Akatsuki leader Rin is no lower than that of the Mizukage.

In the entire Kirigakure Village, the only ninja who is qualified to cooperate with Byakuyata is the Elder Master who has the power of the Mizukage, besides the Fourth Mizukage. It is very normal for the two to communicate secretly.

Mei Terumi recalled what the Master had said to them a few days ago and seemed to understand something.

No wonder Master Yuanshi asked them to assist Zabuza. It turned out that the person behind Zabuza reached a cooperation with Master Yuanshi to deal with the mastermind behind controlling the Fourth Mizukage.

Thinking of this, Mei Terumi breathed a sigh of relief.

She thought that Kirigakure was a complete clown, but she didn't expect that everything was under the control of Master Yuanshi. She was too narrow-minded.

When Master Yuan heard Bai Ye mention the cooperation, he smiled, stretched out his hand and said:

"We can discuss cooperation at any time, but does Lord Bai Ye really want to negotiate in the wilderness? Why don't you return to the Hidden Mist Village with me, give you a welcome ceremony, and then discuss cooperation."

Bai Ye nodded. He had no reason to refuse Master Yuan's invitation.

Ten minutes later, Bai Ye followed Master Yuan to the elders' residence. Since the Mizukage Building was destroyed, this was the only place they could choose for their conversation.

After arriving at the elder's residence, the two exchanged greetings and dismissed the attendants.

Seeing that Master Yuan wanted to be alone with Bai Ye, Qing opened his mouth to say something, but Master Yuan glared at him and he shut his mouth obediently.

At the moment when the Fourth Mizukage was seriously injured and unconscious, the Master was the only person in charge of the Hidden Mist Village.

Once the Master encounters an accident, the Hidden Mist Village will be in a leaderless situation. However, if Bai Ye really wants to take action against the Master, he doesn't need to look for an opportunity to meet him alone.

After sending away the attendants, Bai Ye and Master Yuan sat down face to face.

Looking at the puzzled Master, Bai Ye said, "Assisting the ninjas from your village to defeat the masked man has proved my sincerity. Before we officially start the cooperation, Master, is there anything you want to ask?"

Master Yuan raised his head and looked at Bai Ye, and asked:
"The first question is, are you a descendant of the Senju? Is the masked man really the descendant of Uchiha Madara? Why did the masked man control the Mizukage and kidnap the Jinchūriki? What is their conspiracy?"

"This is not a question, please ask one by one..."

Bai Ye glanced at the master, but still answered: "I am a descendant of the Uzumaki clan, but I do have the blood of the Senju flowing in my body. I also received the inheritance of the Senju clan and awakened the Wood Release Bloodline."

"A descendant of Uzumaki..."

The master said to himself, he thought Bai Ye was the descendant of Hashirama Senju or Tobirama Senju, but he didn't expect that he was just a branch of the Senju clan in the Uzumaki clan, not a true descendant of the Senju.

However, judging from the fact that Bai Ye inherited the Senju tradition and awakened the Wood Release, it is not an exaggeration to say that he is the successor of the Senju clan. After all, among so many people in the Senju clan, Hashirama is the only ninja who has truly awakened the Wood Release.

Thinking of this, Master Yuan then asked: "Who is the masked man? Could he be Uchiha Madara?"

Bai Ye shook his head:

"I don't know the true identity of the masked man. I don't know if he is the Uchiha of Konoha, or the bloodline of Uchiha Madara left outside. But he is definitely not Uchiha Madara himself. It is very likely that he is just a successor like me."

"I have read the historical records of all the major ninja villages and know the true strength of Uchiha Madara. If he was really Uchiha Madara, he would not be timid at all and would have declared war on the entire ninja world long ago."

Hearing this, Master Yuan nodded.

He and Bai Ye had the same idea, both believing that the masked man could not be the real Uchiha Madara, but why did the masked man want to control the Third and Fourth Mizukage?

This time, Bai Ye did not wait for the Master to speak, but took the initiative to say:

"I have fought with the masked man several times and know that his ambitions cannot be limited to the small Kirigakure. He controls the Third and Fourth Mizukages and is likely to use Kirigakure as his base. He has bigger plans."

The small Hidden Mist Village... Bai Ye's words made Master Yuan a little upset.

But he still asked, "Mr. Bai Ye, what do you think the masked man's plan is?"

Bai Ye thought for a moment, then said:

"The masked man's target should be the entire ninja world, but because of his own lack of strength, he is simply unable to deal with the five major ninja villages. He can only weaken the five major ninja villages by causing trouble."

"Master Yuanshi, do you remember the night of the Nine-Tails? That was the masked man's action against Konoha."

The master nodded and asked, "If we only weaken the five major ninja villages, the masked man will not be able to rule the entire ninja world. Even if the five major ninja villages are weakened, he cannot deal with them alone."

Bai Ye took out the scroll he carried with him, opened it and said:
"Of course the masked man alone can't take on the five great ninja villages, but what if the tailed beasts are added? The Sharingan has the ability to control the tailed beasts."

"It shouldn't be possible to control all the tailed beasts with just a pair of Sharingan."

After a pause, the Master continued, "Besides, the masked man has controlled Karuju Yagura for so many years, and he has not used the Three-Tails to do anything out of the ordinary. This time he only kidnapped the Six-Tails."

Bai Ye pointed to the images of the nine tailed beasts on the scroll and said:

"I don't know why he wants to collect so many tailed beasts, but what is certain is that the Two-Tail, Six-Tail, and Seven-Tail are currently in the hands of the masked man."

"He may have found a way to control several tailed beasts at once, or he may have mastered the method of fusing the tailed beasts together."

"A way to fuse the tailed beasts?"

The Master's eyes were filled with disbelief, and his body was trembling as he said, "One tailed beast can dominate a regional war. If the masked man collected all the tailed beasts, wouldn't he be able to destroy a ninja village with one strike?"

Bai Ye nodded grimly: "This is also the reason why I have been chasing him. If we allow him to collect all the tailed beasts, the consequences will be disastrous."

"This time, I wanted to completely eliminate the threat posed by the masked man while he was in the Hidden Mist Village, but I didn't expect that the masked man saw through my ambush, went hunting for Vulpix in advance, and used Hollow Transformation to leave." Hearing this, Master Yuan also sighed, feeling sorry for Bai Ye's failure.

At this time, the master seemed to remember something, and then said: "Sir Bai Ye, you just said that the masked man's target is the tailed beast. Doesn't that mean he will return to the Hidden Mist Village to deal with Karuju Yagura?"

Bai Ye nodded without comment: "The masked man was just injured. He will not be able to fight for a few months, but I don't know what will happen in a few months. You can only rely on yourselves in the Hidden Mist Village."

Master Yuan frowned and said anxiously, "What does Lord Bai Ye mean by this? Didn't we agree to cooperate with each other? Why does the Hidden Mist Village want to deal with the masked man alone?"

Bai Ye said helplessly: "It's not that I don't want to help the Hidden Mist Village, but I can't always stay in the Hidden Mist Village. If I leave the organization for too long, the masked man will definitely attack the Akatsuki organization."

"Besides, I am a ninja from another village, and I cannot always stay in the Hidden Mist Village unless there is a suitable reason."

The Yuanshi noticed Bai Ye's intention and made a bet:

"Mr. Bai Ye, are you interested in becoming a non-staff jonin of the Hidden Mist Village and enjoying the treatment of the high-ranking officials of the Hidden Mist Village? When you meet the Hidden Mist ninjas in the future, you can give them orders."

Bai Ye shook his head and said:
"I'm not very interested in becoming a Kirigakure ninja. I need a ninja who can deal with the masked man. Why don't you join Akatsuki with the Kirigakure Village? After becoming a subordinate organization of Akatsuki, I will naturally send people to protect the Fourth Mizukage."

"Let the Hidden Mist Village join the Akatsuki organization..." Master Yuan frowned.

Bai Ye saw the Master's hesitation and continued:

"After joining Akatsuki, Kirigakure will become a subordinate organization of Akatsuki. Unlike other large organizations, we will not interfere too much with Kirigakure. Only when dealing with the masked man will there be a distinction between superiors and subordinates."

After hearing this, Master Yuan's expression eased a lot.

If they only joined Akatsuki in name, it would not be unacceptable to the Hidden Mist Village. Akatsuki could not issue orders to the Hidden Mist Village anyway, and the relationship between the Water Kingdom and the Hidden Mist Village was similar.

After a moment's silence, the Master said to Bai Ye: "If we only need to obey the orders of the Akatsuki when it comes to the tailed beasts, I and the Hidden Mist Village can join the Akatsuki and fight the masked man together."

After Master Yuan agreed to join the Akatsuki organization, a crisp system prompt sound rang in Bai Ye's ears.

[The Hidden Mist Village joined the Akatsuki organization, and you have achieved the Great Mastery of Water Style…]

[A Kage-level master joins the Akatsuki organization, and you gain...]

The system prompt sounded as soon as it sounded, but was cut off by Bai Ye. Now was not the time to claim the system rewards, as there were some important matters to discuss with Master Yuan.

However, the Master is quite hidden. He looks like an old man who can hardly walk, but he actually possesses the strength of a Kage and can contribute the last ripple to the Hidden Mist Village at any time.

Thinking about it, I feel relieved. Master Yuan looks to be over 80 years old. He is an old man who has experienced the Warring States Period. He has experienced the fighting in the Warring States Period and established the Hidden Mist Village for decades.

If Yuanshi did not lack the strength of a Kage, he would have died in the brutal Ninja World War long ago.

This is probably the reason why, even though Obito controlled the Fourth Mizukage, the Hidden Mist Village had not yet become a subsidiary of the Akatsuki organization.

The Fourth Mizukage of the Hidden Mist Village is just a controlled puppet, and the real leader is the master in front of him.

Only by making the Master willingly join the Akatsuki organization, will the Hidden Mist Village become a subordinate organization of the Akatsuki organization and become the food on his road to becoming stronger.

If I had really supported Zabuza or Mei Terumi to become the Mizukage in the past half month, I would probably only get rewards from these two people.

After all, even if they revealed the fact that the Fourth Mizukage was controlled, they would not be qualified to become the supreme leader of Kirigakure.

Retracting his gradually scattered thoughts, Bai Ye stretched out his hand, shook hands with Master Yuan, and said with a smile: "Master Yuan, joining the Akatsuki organization will be the best decision you have ever made."

The Master was a little absent-minded. After taking a deep breath, he said, "Master Bai Ye, how will the Akatsuki organization deal with the masked man in the future, and how can we protect the Three-Tails Jinchuriki?"

"The masked man's whereabouts are strange. Except when he is catching the tailed beasts, we can't find his trace at other times. But he will collect the tailed beasts sooner or later. We can deliberately reveal a flaw and then wait for him."

After a pause, Bai Ye said the way to protect the Three-Tails Jinchuriki:
"As for how to protect the Three-Tails Jinchuriki, the Fourth Mizukage is already in very bad condition. It won't be long before the Three-Tails dies with him. No matter how strong the masked man is, he can't do anything to the dead tailed beast."

The corner of Master Yuan's mouth twitched slightly. Bai Ye's way of protecting Sanwei was really unique.

After a brief pause, the Master said seriously, "The Hidden Mist Village cannot lose the Three-Tails Jinchuriki. If the Fourth Mizukage is really going to fail, I will consider looking for another Jinchuriki. Lord Byakuya should also know the importance of Jinchuriki."

Bai Ye nodded slightly, his expression solemn: "I know the significance of Jinchūriki. If the Hidden Mist Village loses its Jinchūriki, it will definitely attract the covetousness of the other four major ninja villages, and maybe a war will break out."

"This matter is all the fault of the First Hokage. If he hadn't distributed the nine tailed beasts, the major ninja villages wouldn't have relied on the Jinchuriki to do whatever they wanted."

Hearing Bai Ye slandering the First Hokage, Yuan Shi coughed and said:
"Hashirama-sama's act of distributing the tailed beasts is still very meaningful. If there were no Jinchūriki, the Ninja World War would not have broken out only three times."

Bai Ye glanced at Master Yuan, then said:

"Why do I feel that Konoha will be able to gain the upper hand and then gradually swallow up the entire ninja world?"

The master was speechless and didn't know what to say. After all, if Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha had really attacked the entire ninja world, there would probably only be one ninja village left in the ninja world.

Seeing the helplessness of Yuanshi, Bai Ye sighed softly:
"The past is the past, and I don't want to see the scene of those scourges of Konoha ruling the ninja world. However, there is one thing that would be great if we could convene a Five Kage meeting to let all the major ninja villages know about the threat posed by the masked man."

"If the five major ninja villages join forces, no matter how well the masked man hides, he will never be able to attack any of the tailed beasts."

The master imagined the scene described by Bai Ye, then shook his head: "Sir Bai Ye, with all due respect, even if the other four ninja villages knew about the existence of the masked man, they would not take him seriously."

"For them, the biggest threat comes from each other, not the mysterious masked man."

"Even if we were in the Hidden Mist Village, if we hadn't experienced the Third and Fourth Mizukage being manipulated, we wouldn't have been so determined to deal with the masked man."

After listening to Master Yuan's words, Bai Ye sighed softly:
"I also know this, so I didn't tell the major ninja villages about the existence of the masked man. I don't know when the major ninja villages in the ninja world will be able to sit together openly and honestly."

(End of this chapter)