Konoha Notes

Chapter 339 Doubts
The morning light pierced through the thin clouds and shone on the stone steps of the southern palace.

A paper crane landed silently, its wings instantly transforming into ordinary origami upon touching the ground. Konan picked it up, her fingertips gliding across the paper, and as her chakra flowed, information appeared like ink.

"The allied forces have retreated."

Payne Tendo stood by the window, his back to the overly bright southern sky. He did not turn around, gazing at this remote, wealthy, and peaceful country.

“A trap,” he said, offering his opinion.

“One of the purposes might be to test the waters.” Konan walked to his side. “The Allied Forces know that our forces are not in Amegakure. Relaxing controls to lure our people into activity and communication in order to find our trail is a reasonable deduction.”

Her gaze continued downwards, and confusion gradually crept into her eyes.

"what happened?"

"Before leaving, the people from Konoha asked the village if they were willing to make a deal with Sunagakure."

A deal? With Sunagakure? Tendo accepted the intelligence report.

"Resource exchange?"

Nagato, who was behind the Heavenly Path, was also puzzled: "...Why would they propose such a plan when they have already controlled Amegakure?"

Are you trying to entice those who stay to betray you?
He remembered how Yahiko died; it was Hanzo who had deceived them with the pretense of peace. On that day, Akatsuki, who sought peace through non-extremist means, died.

“This is a trap,” Nagato said again.

Do you want to reply?

"No need. They'll reveal their true colors once they realize this deception isn't working."

Thinking this way, those who remained in Amegakure, without the instructions of "God" and "Angel," could only feign compliance with Konoha's suggestions and maintain politeness and perfunctoriness as much as possible when Sunagakure's people came to discuss the matter.

While they were talking and responding, they were also waiting for Konoha and Sunagakure to reveal their true intentions.

However, time passed day by day.

The envoys from Konoha and Sunagakure did not show any impatience, nor did a large number of ninjas suddenly appear one morning and take control of the entire Amegakure village again.

They prepared a detailed cooperation plan and requested the cooperation of the Rain Village people to jointly explore the hydrogeography of the Rain Kingdom and to carry out more practical engineering plans for subsequent matters.

Now, the representative of Amegakure realized that the other party seemed to be serious, but he was even more surprised and uncertain.

They once again sent a message to the two leaders who were far away overseas through the reserved channel.

After she finished reading, she looked up and met the eyes of the Heavenly Dao's Reincarnation Eye.

“Get them to cooperate,” Xiao Nan offered a rational suggestion. “If it’s a trap, no matter how in-depth the discussion goes, once it comes to the implementation stage where funds and manpower need to be invested, the pretense will inevitably be difficult to maintain. At that time, all we will lose is time.”

Nagato closed her eyes deep within the palace.

He understood that Konan was right. Whatever Konoha and Sunagakure were plotting, as long as it didn't involve their core forces, having Amegakure's remaining personnel play along wouldn't pose much risk. On the contrary, it might reveal their true intentions.

But the sense of unease in his heart grew stronger and stronger.

Why? Why are Konoha and Sunagakure going through all this trouble? If they want the resources of the Land of Rain, they can simply seize them by force—like Hanzo did to Akatsuki. If they want to lure them out, there are more direct and efficient methods.

“Perhaps…” Konan said softly, “it was Jiraiya-sensei’s idea.”

“The possibility of a trap cannot be ruled out,” Nagato said. “What if… they are still willing to push forward in the end?” Konan also hesitated.

Nagato did not answer, only filled with doubt.

What exactly are Konoha and Sunagakure planning?
Konoha, Hokage's office.

The cicadas chirping outside the window were incredibly noisy. Kakashi placed a report on Tsunade's desk.

"During the negotiations, the Amegakure personnel made some intelligence-gathering movements, which, based on our assessment, likely involved the use of space-time ninjutsu," Kakashi reported, summarizing the gains made during this period, aside from the negotiations.

"We can't pinpoint Nagato's exact location based on this. They're being very cautious."

"Just keep observing," Tsunade replied. "Whether we can find Nagato or not is secondary; the main focus of this plan is on Sunagakure."

"Yes," Kakashi replied, glancing to the other side of the office.

The desk that belonged to Shuji was empty, but the pile of documents on it remained as high as ever—clearly, the owner had no intention of finishing his work before leaving. A few open scrolls even had a thin layer of dust on their edges.

"Shuji isn't here?" Kakashi raised an eyebrow.

“Ah,” Tsunade leaned back in her chair, “They said that Kirigakure hasn’t officially responded to the exchange student issue yet. All four major ninja villages have participated, except for them. They need to make sure they appear respectable, so he went to ask them personally.”

"This kind of thing..." he said slowly, "does he need to make the trip in person? Kirigakure has a resident representative in the Joint Affairs Bureau, a formal document can solve the problem."

Ultimately, it's the same old story: with four parties involved, there's a high probability that the last one will agree.

"Hmph, this guy has other motives."

Anyway, it's just about seeing if there's a chance to get some tailed beast chakra or something.

“Maybe,” Tsunade added, “that he took the opportunity to go on vacation. After all, our Lord Shuji is very popular; he gets excellent hospitality wherever he goes, even outside the village.”

Kakashi didn't reply. He bowed, turned, and walked out of the office.

Tsunade muttered to herself, "Everyone else can run away, but I have to stay in the village..."

The silver-haired Jonin quickened his pace, fearing that the other party might also say they were going to quit at any moment.
-
Shuji did receive some hospitality, but it wasn't exactly good. After all, Kirigakure had been on high alert lately, especially after learning that Akatsuki was behind the Land of Snow.

After carrying out corresponding retaliation in the name of the daimyo, their vigilance towards ninjas from other villages reached almost the same level as during the Blood Mist era.

Even ninjas from the five great ninja villages need to undergo the highest level of verification before they are allowed to enter the village.

Mei Terumi was quite troubled by this.

"I hope that this time you won't bring any worse news, Shuji-kun."

"The only thing we need to discuss is the exchange student part."

“As for other purposes, yes, there are,” Shuuji said, “but only to take a look.”

"Oh my, is this your intention to probe the secrets of Kirigakure? Shuji-kun," Mei Terumi said with a smile. "If that's the case, then I'll have no choice but to accompany you the whole time."

"After all, if Shuji-kun sees something he shouldn't see, it would be my dereliction of duty as the host."

(End of this chapter)