Naruto: The Abstract Strategist of the Akatsuki

Chapter 32 The Future of Iwagakure

"Same as now."

"what?"

Hei Tu, who had initially believed and hoped that Bai Mo would reveal some crucial information, paused for a moment after hearing these five words, then frowned.

These five words sound like something a low-level scammer would say; they're too ambiguous.

"Your Iwagakure village is suffering from a severe shortage of talent, isn't it?"

Bai Mo ignored Hei Tu's expression and continued speaking.

"Hmm? You've even gathered this much intelligence?"

Hei Tu came to his senses, somewhat surprised.

So, this isn't ambiguous; the other side is aware of the current situation in Iwagakure?

"Is it because the Third Raikage killed too many people during the last Shinobi World War?"

Bai Mo pursed his lips as he said this.

In fact, all five major ninja villages have experienced a reduction in their combat strength.

Only the Hidden Cloud Village fared slightly better, mainly losing one Kage.

The Kirigakure clan was ostracized and exterminated by its own people, and the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist were reduced to mere trio on the battlefield, their strength greatly diminished.

Sunagakure was among the worst-hit by the budget cuts.

Konoha, needless to say, is only relying on the fact that even a weakened camel is bigger than a horse.

In the future Fourth Shinobi World War, the Second Mizukage, resurrected through Edo Tensei, will face a group of "Tang Clan Ninja Alliance" members, most of whom will come from Iwagakure, Kirigakure, and Sunagakure.

"Yes, has Iwagakure still not developed after all this time?"

Hei Tu's face was full of worry.

"Want to know why?"

Bai Mo asked.

"It must be because I'm terrible, it can't be because of the old man, right? He's so old, how many more years can he live? Sigh..."

Hei Tu's tone was full of self-blame.

Kurotsuchi is a very confident person who has never experienced any setbacks since childhood, similar to Konohamaru.

There are only a few things that can make her feel down.

"Actually, Onoki lived quite long; he lived into the period twenty years later."

"what?"

"That must be that old man's problem, that stubborn old man! I knew I couldn't have let Iwagakure..."

When Heitu heard Bai Mo say that Onoki was still alive at that time, he instantly shifted the blame, just like a Sichuan opera face-changing act.

"Actually, none of you are any better."

"..."

"Am I becoming an old fogey? No, even twenty years from now, I won't be old."

Heitu began to doubt himself again.

"Because of the shortage of talent, Onoki chose to create 'artificial humans' in order to protect the younger generation of ninjas in Iwagakure."

There is an artificial human named Sora Onoki created using his cells, who can use Dust Release.

There's another one called Quartz, which uses Deidara's cells and employs explosive clay.

Bai Mo recounted what Onoki would do in the future.

"What?! That old man dares to defile my art?!"

Deidara was listening in, amused by Kurotsuchi's humiliation, when he suddenly heard about him, specifically the theft of his cells and the art of detonation.

"Don't worry, those androids quickly went out of control and died. Onoki also perished along with his own Dust Release android."

"oh."

Once Deidara heard that it was gone, he didn't care anymore.

Whether Onoki lives or dies is irrelevant.

They've lived for so long, it's time for them to die.

"That's good. So that artificial human project should have been stopped by my future self, right?"

Hearing this, Heitu breathed a sigh of relief.

He didn't care about the news of Onoki's death.

"It's stopped."

"Do you think this is a good thing?"

Bai Mo looked at Hei Tu and asked a question indifferently.

"Hmm? Doesn't this android project violate ethics and morality?"

Hei Tu was puzzled when Bai Mo asked this question.

"At that time, Konoha also secretly developed scientific ninja tools, and Orochimaru, whom they supported, also developed a clone technology similar to artificial humans."

Technology itself is neither right nor wrong; the only ones who are wrong are the users.

Onoki failed because he was too old and lacked the energy to examine every detail thoroughly, which led him to fall into someone else's trap...

Kurotsuchi, do you want to know what "big things" you, as the future Tsuchikage, did?

As Bai Mo spoke, he took out a scroll that he had prepared before setting off, which contained some information about Heitu.

"What is this?"

When Heitu saw Bai Mo take out a scroll, he asked...

"Some things can't be proven with just words; I need to show you the evidence."

Bai Mo opened the scroll, inside were several Konoha newspapers and ninja world newspapers.

"In the future, after the Fourth Shinobi World War and before the arrival of new enemies, the shinobi world maintained a period of peace during which the five great shinobi villages signed a peace agreement."

However, the daimyo of the Land of Earth wants to attack a small country, the Land of Flowers.

He demanded that Iwagakure contribute its resources, and you, as the Tsuchikage, even knowing that doing so would break the peace agreement, still chose to obey the Daimyo's orders.

In order to uphold the greater good and avoid the stigma of disrupting peace, you deliberately argued with the then-Hokage of Konoha, accusing him of developing scientific ninja tools.

The enemy's strategist noticed your unusual behavior and, after figuring out the details, instructed the daimyo of the Land of Fire to convene a daimyo meeting.

The other four daimyo pressured the daimyo of the Land of Earth, and in the end, the Land of Fire ceded back the territory it had previously occupied, thus settling the matter.

Bai Mo was narrating, while Hei Tu was flipping through the newspaper.

The newspaper article wasn't as direct as Bai Mo had said, but Hei Tu didn't doubt Bai Mo.

As the granddaughter of the Tsuchikage and the future Tsuchikage, Kurotsuchi understands these matters.

Some things can't be discussed openly.

Newspapers reported on Onoki's death and on the homunculus causing a disturbance.

However, it was not mentioned that Onoki had made a mistake, presumably to give her grandfather, an elderly hero of the ninja world, a dignified ending.

The same goes for the daimyo of the Land of Earth.

There were only reports about arguments between the Tsuchikage, Mizukage, and Hokage, and reports of daimyo holding meetings and the Tsuchikage leaving disappointed; there were no specific details.

This is perfectly normal.

Given that a ceasefire agreement has been in place for many years, it is impossible to report news that someone is suddenly preparing to tear up the agreement.

Just like how Onoki hoped that Bai Mo and the others wouldn't tell ordinary people about the "deterrence," it was all to avoid causing panic.

"Then, what should I do?"

Heitu returned the newspaper to Bai Mo, his eyes looking ahead with a somewhat confused expression.

Why is this different from what I imagined?

I thought that knowing what would happen in the future would allow me to make changes, get ahead of the curve, and find a better path.

But there's really no choice at all!

Or maybe I shouldn't become the Fourth Tsuchikage?

"Are you thinking that even if you knew what the future would hold, you couldn't change it, so you might as well not want to inherit the position of Tsuchikage?"

Bai Mo chuckled as he looked at Hei Tu.

How did you know?

Heitu turned to look at Bai Mo in surprise, not expecting that Bai Mo would see through her thoughts so quickly.

"It's not that there's no way to change it."

Bai Mo smiled at Hei Tu.

"How can we change things? Should we try to persuade the daimyo?"

Hei Tu had a droopy face.

"Kill the daimyo."

"what?"