Chapter 401 The Kingdom of Iron

In the Amegakure Building, Yahiko also received an invitation letter from the Fourth Raikage.

After reading the invitation letter, Yahiko immediately called Byakuya, Nagato and Konan to start an impromptu high-level meeting.

After passing the invitation letter around, Yahiko looked at Bai Ye out of habit.

The Akatsuki organization, like the Masked Man organization, is also hunting the tailed beasts, but their starting points are different and their goals of collecting the tailed beasts are also different.

The goal of Akatsuki is to create the Tailed Beast Weapon and use deterrence to create peace.

The masked man's behavior is difficult to understand. He seems to want to use the Ten-Tails to launch a super-large illusion to make everyone fall asleep.

This practice is no different from destroying the ninja world.

However, what Yahiko was more curious about was whether the ninja who attacked the Jinchuriki of Iwagakure and Kumogakure in recent times was the masked man or Byakuya.

Being stared at by Yahiko, Bai Ye frowned and said impatiently:
"Yahiko, you should know me. Ever since I dealt with Hanzo, my plans have never failed. If I take action, Killer Bee will have no chance of escaping."

Bai Ye's words made Konan and Nagato nod their heads.

They all knew Bai Ye's strength. Bai Ye possessed the strength of the Five Kage many years ago, and now he has entered a new realm beyond the Kage level. In front of Bai Ye, the Jinchūriki is no different from an ordinary Jonin.

After a moment's silence, Yahiko asked Bai Ye: "I believe it was not you who did it, but what do you think about this Five Kage Tournament? Does the masked man have the strength to deal with the five major ninja villages?"

All along, the fighting power displayed by the masked man has been hovering at the level of Kage.

In a one-on-one situation, it is difficult for the masked man to defeat a Five Kage-level warrior. He only relies on his ability of time and space to make others helpless against him.

But his time and space abilities are not invincible. Once the five major ninja villages unite to search for the masked man, the masked man will eventually be exhausted due to excessive chakra consumption and will never be able to collect all the tailed beasts.

However, this also limits the Akatsuki organization's ability to collect the tailed beasts, which is quite a hassle for them.

Hearing Yahiko's doubts, Bai Ye pondered for a long time, and then said: "The masked man can't threaten the five major ninja villages, but if Orochimaru and the Impure World Reincarnation Technique are added, it's hard to say."

"Some time ago, Orochimaru attacked Nagato while I was out. It is very likely that the masked man and Orochimaru have reached a cooperation. They want to take away Nagato's Samsara Eye and control the Outer Path Demon Statue."

"Although Orochimaru failed in his attack on Nagato, his Impure World Reincarnation Technique is also very powerful and will still cause considerable trouble to us and the five major ninja villages."

"This..." Yahiko fell into a brief silence.

As the weakest member of the Akatsuki organization's senior management, he is very good at coordinating the overall situation and managing the village, but when it comes to strategy and combat, he is a complete layman.

After a pause, Bai Ye continued:

"I think the masked man and Orochimaru will definitely launch a new round of actions against us and the five major ninja villages after they get the news that the Five Kage Tournament is about to be held."

"So should we still participate in the Five Kage Tournament?"

Yahiko didn't know what to do, so he had to ask Bai Ye for help.

Bai Ye spoke righteously:
"Of course we have to participate in the Five Kage Tournament. Being able to participate in the Five Kage Tournament itself shows the status of our Akatsuki organization. We must not only participate in the Five Kage Tournament, but also gain a dominant position in the Five Kage Tournament."

Yahiko fell silent again, not understanding Bai Ye's intention.

At this time, Bai Ye seemed to have made up his mind and slowly said, "Oh, there is one more thing I want to tell you..."

"What's the matter?" Yahiko seemed to have guessed what Bai Ye was going to say next, and felt a little uneasy.

Bai Ye took a deep breath and said:

"Do you remember that I have been secretly cooperating with the masked man? He has been contacting me recently, wanting to invite me to fight against the five major ninja villages together, and also wanting me to attack Nagato and take away the Samsara Eye."

Hearing this, Yahiko was shocked, and Nagato and Konan also looked at Bai Ye.

Bai Ye continued, "I plan to launch an attack on Nagato in the near future and completely join the organization that the masked man belongs to."

"Bai Ye, are you going to attack me?" Nagato's eyes were full of disbelief.

Bai Ye nodded slightly, then said:
"I have to do this if I want to completely gain the trust of the masked man. I also think that the masked man is not the real initiator of the Moon Eye Project. There must be someone else behind the scenes."

"What do you mean?" Yahiko and the other two looked at Bai Ye.

If they didn't know that Bai Ye would never betray Akatsuki, they would all regard Bai Ye as an enemy at this moment. After all, Bai Ye had just said with his own mouth that he wanted to take away Nagato's Rinnegan.

Bai Ye took a sip of boiled water, stared at Nagato and said, "Nagato, let me ask you something. Do you really think your Samsara Eye is innate?"

"Why would a descendant of Uzumaki suddenly awaken the Rinnegan?"

Nagato was stunned. He couldn't refute Bai Ye's words. Although their parents had the Uzumaki bloodline, they were not ninjas. From the bloodline perspective, it was impossible for him to possess the Rinnegan.

"Bai Ye, Teacher Jiraiya said that I am the child of prophecy..."

Nagato tried to refute Bai Ye, but halfway through his speech he began to lack confidence. He did not believe that he was really the so-called child of prophecy.

In the ninja world, the only ninja who is truly qualified to be called the son of prophecy is Bai Ye.

When they were in their adolescence like Bai Ye, Bai Ye showed maturity beyond his age, although orphans are often more mature in mind than their peers.

But Bai Ye is different from them. Bai Ye can always come up with many methods and theories.

What's even more terrifying is that Bai Ye almost never makes mistakes, and even if he does, he can quickly correct them. All signs indicate that Bai Ye is the son of the prophecy.

Nagato took a deep breath and said, "Since you want to use my Samsara Eye, then come and get it now. I believe you will not betray our dream."

Bai Ye shook his head and said:
"You can't take it away now. If I plan to betray the Akatsuki organization, as a traitor to the organization, we must have a big fight, otherwise it will arouse the suspicion of the masked man."

"Well, it's up to you."

In front of Bai Ye, Nagato returned to his indecisive self. This was also Nagato's normal state. Whether in this time and space or the original time and space, Nagato was an indecisive ninja.

In the original time and space, Nagato had always been listening to Yahiko, but it was Yahiko at a different stage.

Before Yahiko's death, Nagato had always upheld the concept of peaceful exchange. After Yahiko's death, Nagato would replace Yahiko as the god of the new world. In this time and space, the person Nagato trusted changed from Yahiko to Byakuya.

Yahiko and Konan fell silent about the conversation between Byakuya and Nagato. He didn't know whether Byakuya's decision was right or wrong, but they seemed to have no choice.

After a moment's silence, Yahiko asked Bai Ye: "Since you plan to pretend to defect from the Akatsuki organization, will you still participate in this Five Kage Tournament?"

"Of course I will participate, but in the form of a wooden clone."

Bai Ye said without hesitation: "I have no reason not to participate in such a grand event in the ninja world as the Five Kage Conference, and in order to sever the relationship between me and the Akatsuki organization, I must attack Nagato while you are away."

"Although I defected from the organization, Akatsuki is still a peaceful organization."

"Perhaps the five major ninja villages will eventually have to rely on the Akatsuki organization to defeat me and the masked man?"

Yahiko thought for a long time and roughly understood Bai Ye's thinking, so he said: "Bai Ye, this defection you are planning is not only to win the trust of the masked man, but also to unite the Akatsuki organization and the five major ninja villages."

Bai Ye nodded slightly:

"That's about right. If we annex the five major ninja villages by means of war, even if peace is achieved, it will cause serious losses to both sides. Every ninja is the most valuable asset of the ninja world, and I don't want to see too many ninjas lost."

"And if we create a strong enough ninja to force everyone to unite, and then use peaceful means to annex the five major ninja villages, we can maximize the losses."

After hearing Bai Ye's decision, the three of them fell silent.

They didn't expect that Bai Ye was willing to make such a great sacrifice for the peace of the ninja world. Not only would he take a huge risk to join the organization the masked man belonged to, but he would also become the enemy of the entire ninja world in the future.

After a long while, Nagato slowly said, "Bai Ye, you don't have to sacrifice yourself like this. I can also defect from Akatsuki. With the Samsara Eye and Pain's Six Paths, I am also qualified to become the public enemy of the ninja world."

"And Bai Ye, have you ever thought about this? You have a good reputation in the ninja world, and I am just a nobody. I have enough reasons to betray the Akatsuki organization, but you are different. You have no reason to betray the organization."

Bai Ye shook his head, walked to Nagato and said:
"Nagato, don't even think about stealing the credit from me. If you stay with the masked man, you will only be eaten to the bone. Don't forget that your Samsara Eye is not your own. It may have come from the ninja behind the masked man."

Hearing this, Nagato was stunned. He knew that he was not as good as Bai Ye.

Even if he infiltrated the masked man's organization, he would not be able to do anything. In the entire Akatsuki organization and the ninja world, the only one who was capable of colluding with the masked man was Bai Ye.

Seeing that Nagato had fallen silent, Bai Ye stepped forward, patted Nagato on the shoulder and said, "You'd better wait patiently for me to take away your Samsara Eye. If I take it away, you will be doomed to die..."

When he said the last sentence, Bai Ye's voice could no longer be heard.

……

After high-level discussion at the meeting, the Hidden Rain Village decided to participate in the Five Kage Conference.

After the news of participating in the Five Kage Tournament was announced to the public, the entire Hidden Rain Village was in an uproar. This meant that the Hidden Rain Village had entered the ranks of the five major ninja villages and became an independent sixth ninja village.

Although the development over the years has made the Rain Ninjas realize that the Hidden Rain Village is a big country.

But this is recognition from the five major ninja villages after all, and this is also a scene that many older generation ninjas from the Hidden Rain Village only fantasize about in their dreams.

Once you decide to participate in the Five Kage Tournament, you become the person who will participate in the Five Kage Tournament.

In this Rain Village F4, Yahiko, Yahiko, and Byakuya will all go to the Land of Iron to participate in the Five Kage Tournament, while Nagato will stay in the Rain Village to avoid attacks from other forces.

Soon, the team participating in the Five Kage Tournament left the Hidden Rain Village under the watchful eyes of the Rain Ninjas.

On the highest tower in the Hidden Rain Village, Nagato was silently watching the departure of several people. He was ready to sacrifice himself, everything was for the ideals of the Akatsuki organization.

At this moment, Bai Ye happened to turn around and looked at Nagato deeply.

……

The Iron Kingdom is located in the northern part of the continent, not far from the Hidden Rain Village, and is even within the sphere of influence of the Akatsuki alliance.

However, unlike other small countries, the Iron Kingdom does not communicate with the outside world, and there are no ninja villages within its territory. It is a pure land that belongs only to samurai, and it is also the last country belonging to samurai.

Yahiko once visited the leader of the Iron Country, Admiral Mifune, and wanted the Iron Country to join the Akatsuki alliance, but Admiral Mifune righteously refused each time when faced with Akatsuki's repeated attempts to recruit him.

Other ninja villages have made similar moves, but were all rejected.

Admiral Mifune also issued a special statement, claiming that the Iron Kingdom is a permanently neutral country and will never interfere in the affairs of ninjas.

Faced with the tough Admiral Mifune, the major ninja villages had to give up trying to win over the Iron Kingdom.

After all, compared with the combat effectiveness of the Iron Country, the benefits that the major ninja villages can gain from the Iron Country are too little. There are neither good ports nor farmland ores here.

There is only a group of warriors who have been abandoned by the times but still keep fighting.

After entering the Land of Iron, Bai Ye and Yahiko felt the coldness of the northern part of the continent and put on their cotton-padded jackets. The samurai team guarding the main traffic routes also noticed the movements of the few people and immediately came over.

After seeing Byakuya and Yahiko and confirming their identities, the samurai captain said politely, "Are you Yahiko, Byakuya and Konan-sama? Lord Mifune has instructed me to take you to the location of the Five Kage Summit."

Bai Ye nodded slightly, as if remembering something, and said to the samurai captain: "Have the other people from the five major ninja villages arrived in the Iron Kingdom?"

The samurai captain was stunned at first, then said: "We don't know this yet, but apart from the Fourth Raikage of the Hidden Cloud Village, you should be the first to arrive."

Bai Ye nodded and said, "So, we are the first to arrive. I don't know if we will have the opportunity to spar with the Five Kage this time. I haven't fought for a long time and my hands are itching. Should we ambush them in advance?"

Hearing this, the Iron Country warrior broke out in a cold sweat and didn't know what to say.

Yahiko saw the dilemma of the Iron Country warriors and said, "Bai Ye, don't embarrass them. If you want to fight, just fight the masked men. They are the enemies of the Ninja World."

Bai Ye smiled and said, "That's true. The masked man is a good opponent."

After Yahiko and the Byakuya convoy left, the Iron Country samurai captain finally breathed a sigh of relief. The samurai next to him saw this and asked in confusion: "Captain, why were you so scared just now?"

The samurai captain looked at him and said, "That's Byakuya, a ninja who is as famous as the Five Kage. His teacher is the demigod Hanzo. His current strength is likely stronger than Admiral Mifune."

(End of this chapter)