Uehara Naraku's plan succeeded.
In half a month, the Land of Grass changed hands seven or eight times.
Faced with the constant threat from The Hidden Rock Village possibly hiring Akatsuki to launch a full-scale attack on the Land of Grass, Tsunade believed that it was highly unwise to get entangled over this land and a group of S-Class Traitors.
After much consideration, Tsunade urged The Hidden Mist Village and The Hidden Sand Village to collectively threaten the security of The Hidden Rock Village while contacting The Hidden Rain Village to discuss a joint operation against Akatsuki.
Tsunade finally realized the tricky situation.
After all, The Hidden Mist Village and The Hidden Sand Village wouldn't get involved in such matters.
And the only possible ally willing to jointly attack Akatsuki with Konoha was The Hidden Rain Village.
In Tsunade's understanding, that group from Akatsuki had once aligned with Hanzo of the Salamander, but later, under Uchiha Obito's instigation, they betrayed Hanzo.
So when Konan received Tsunade's invitation in The Hidden Rain Village, she was shocked!
What on earth was her disciple up to?
Why did The Hidden Rain Village and Konoha want to unite to strike against Akatsuki?
Hence, Konan quickly contacted Nagato to ask what her good disciple was doing! He had just become an official member of Akatsuki, and now he's stirring up trouble!
"It's just an act, after all."
Uehara Naraku sat among the members of Akatsuki, chuckled, and said, "Just right, we can earn the commission from Third Tsuchikage Onoki, and we can take this opportunity to make Konoha relinquish part of the Land of Grass."
Konoha only wanted to restrain The Hidden Rock Village.
Even if The Hidden Rock Village faces threats from The Hidden Mist Village and The Hidden Sand Village, Onoki is indifferent to Konoha's troubles, as long as they have money to hire Akatsuki, they need not worry about the war in the Land of Grass.
As long as Onoki is willing to pay, he can occupy the Land of Grass at any time.
"Kid, you're really wicked!"
Kakuzu snorted lightly, furrowing his brow, "I didn't expect there to be such a way to make money. Can we incite a war between Konoha and The Hidden Sand Village next time?"
Who would have thought that in just half a month, the money they got from Onoki alone exceeded the funds they could gather through missions in the past year.
But this money was a bit too hot to handle.
Kakuzu didn't care whether the money was easy to handle or not; he wasn't concerned with ninja rules. This old man only wanted money, and counting money made him happy.
So Kakuzu immediately spread his thoughts and remembered the Land of Rivers caught between Konoha and The Hidden Sand Village, but that country had no Ninja Village, nor was it much sought after.
Sasori of the Red Sand shook his head and spoke in a muffled voice: "The terrain of the Land of Rivers is unfavorable, and after the Fourth Kazekage was killed by Uehara, The Hidden Sand Village became very poor!"
"Won't Konoha pay us to hire us?"
Kakuzu wasn't very pleased; for someone like him who regarded money above all else, Konoha was really an ideal big client!
After all, Konoha was the richest Ninja Village in the Ninja World.
"Konoha is very proud."
Uehara Naraku shook his head, chuckled, and said, "And I heard that Obito-senpai... no, Uchiha Obito seems to be attacking Konoha ninjas as well. The Fifth Hokage may consider our organization as the traitor ninja organization targeting them!"
This was orchestrated by him from behind the scenes.
In Tsunade's eyes, Akatsuki was the evil organization created and led by the S-Class Traitor Uchiha Obito from the village, with the intention of inciting great wars between nations.
If this Akatsuki only did things for money, Tsunade might genuinely consider hiring them.
But this Akatsuki was there to instigate wars, and Tsunade definitely wouldn't trust them.
"This kind of easy and rewarding task might not last long."
Deidara sighed and gazed towards the Land of Earth: "If this continues, the old man's stingy self probably won't be willing to pay anymore!"
Deidara was Onoki's disciple.
Deidara understood his teacher very well.
Third Tsuchikage Onoki cherished both people and money, and in this battle over the Land of Grass, Onoki is likely to soon find the cost of hiring Akatsuki unbearable.
Perhaps The Hidden Rock Village will soon have to negotiate with Konoha.
"Then let's see which side breaks first."
Uehara Naraku slowly toyed with the ring in his hand and chuckled, "Tomorrow, I'll head to the Land of Rain to negotiate with the Fifth Hokage. If it still fails, then I'll be counting on you, seniors!"
"..."
The members of Akatsuki all nodded.
Uchiha Itachi and Uchiha Sasuke still had complex expressions on their faces.
It was clear that this time, Uehara Naraku's negotiation with Tsunade went more smoothly.
This Konoha's Fifth Hokage straightforwardly laid out her conditions upon meeting Uehara Naraku.
"First, I agree to give up part of the Land of Grass, but The Hidden Rain Village must form a military alliance with Konoha to counter any second invasion from The Hidden Rock Village. Of course, this alliance is limited to affairs in the Land of Grass."
Tsunade remained very rational.
The Land of Fire didn't lack fertile land; Konoha only needed enough lands to withstand The Hidden Rock Village's invasions and to launch attacks against The Hidden Rock Village at any time.
Uehara Naraku nodded, and he didn't think Tsunade would propose just one condition: "I agree to this condition, please continue with the other conditions, Hokage-sama!"
Tsunade nodded and continued: "Second, The Hidden Rain Village must collaborate with Konoha to strike against Akatsuki, and both sides must share any intel about Akatsuki they obtain."
"No problem."
Uehara Naraku curled the corners of his mouth into a smile and said, "Lord Hanzo would also be very glad to have someone to help eliminate Akatsuki together."
After finishing, Tsunade hesitated before saying her third condition: "Third, you need to assist Konoha in gathering intelligence on Orochimaru."
"That's even less of a problem."
Uehara Naraku's smile grew brighter; he really didn't have any qualms about exchanging intelligence on Orochimaru for the interests of The Hidden Rain Village.
Uehara Naraku still put forward his request: "If Konoha is going to hunt down Orochimaru, a treasure belonging to our Hidden Rain Village was also stolen by Orochimaru. I hope it can be returned to its rightful owner."
This is pure nonsense.
The main reason for mentioning this is to gain Tsunade's trust.
Because Uehara Naraku knows well that if Konoha hunts down Orochimaru, at most they will go after a base of The Hidden Sound Village that has already been emptied.
And it was he who emptied that base.
That guy Orochimaru had long since fled.
"Okay."
Naturally, Tsunade was unaware of this. She nodded lightly in agreement, taking on a debt for Konoha's future.
After discussing business, Tsunade's smile suddenly blossomed. She slowly took out two dice from her chest: "The last request is to play a few rounds with me. This request isn't too much, is it?"
"...Not too much."
Uehara Naraku slowly nodded.
Just how much does this woman love gambling!
Ten minutes later.
Tsunade slowly picked up the dice from the table, and with a little force, crushed them into powder, softly laughing: "Won again!"
She then slowly raised her head to look at Uehara Naraku, her smile gradually turning cold: "Last time, I won a lot from you, and as a result, the Third Hokage was assassinated by you! Now, I've won again, does it mean Konoha's Fifth Hokage will also die at your hands?"
"Sorry, I don't want that either."
Uehara Naraku shook his head and sighed.
If this woman messes around in the future, let alone being Konoha's Fifth Hokage, even Konoha's Sixth or Seventh Hokage might die at his hands!
Tsunade restrained her smile, stopped mentioning those unpleasant things from the past, and patted Uehara Naraku on the shoulder: "Let's go, kid! I no longer believe in destiny!"
Ever since she met Uzumaki Naruto, she no longer believed in it.
There is no such thing as destiny in the Ninja World, it's just an excuse!
"Then let's wish for a pleasant cooperation."
"Hope so!"
Although she won quite a few IOUs, Tsunade's face was still a bit unhappy, perhaps because she was used to being domineering and it was the first time she had to share the spoils with others.
The Land of Grass was ultimately divided into three parts.
The Land of Rain acquired some relatively fertile land, Konoha gained a few strategic points, such as the area around the Kannabi Bridge, and The Hidden Rock Village got some leftover scraps, barely saving face.
For Konoha, they already got what they wanted.
And as Konoha raided Orochimaru's Hidden Sound Village, although they didn't find Orochimaru's trail, they successfully destroyed The Hidden Sound Village.
The Land of Rice Fields returned to Konoha's embrace.
Though it's not part of the Land of Fire's territory, it falls under Konoha's jurisdiction.
For The Hidden Rain Village, their gains were significant, besides land, they also received a large commission from the Akatsuki's employment.
Only Onoki almost suffered a huge loss.
After the countries divided the Land of Grass and the borders were redrawn, although the three parties occasionally clashed, the Ninja World considered the Grass Country incident to be completely over.
As the Ninja World gradually calmed down.
Black Zetsu quietly found Uehara Naraku.
Black Zetsu couldn't hold back, wanting to start the Eye of the Moon Plan early: "Some of the Tailed Beasts can already be captured in advance."
"Wait…"
Uehara Naraku furrowed his brow and asked in a deep voice: "Rashly attacking the Jinchuriki in the Five Great Countries, won't that likely cause backlash? And didn't we recently check that the Three-tails in the Land of Water hasn't been reborn yet?"
Black Zetsu nodded and said solemnly: "But some guys won't stay put. We can capture those that aren't so obedient first, like the Four-tailed and Six-tailed Jinchuriki, not many know their whereabouts."
"Weren't we supposed to start with the One-tail?"
"That's true."
There was a hint of concern in Black Zetsu's eyes: "But Uchiha Obito is very active in the Land of Grass, and I suspect he might be targeting Konoha's Nine-tails. I'm worried he might capture a Tailed Beast ahead of time, threatening our Eye of the Moon Plan..."
Uehara Naraku: "..."
How to put this?
Alright, that's on him too.
Uchiha Obito running around the Land of Grass, ending up doing nothing, seemed like he was indeed trying to capture the Konoha Nine-tailed Jinchuriki training there…
"Don't worry."
Black Zetsu seemed to sense Uehara Naraku's concern and spoke softly: "Apart from the Three-tails, all the Jinchuriki are under my surveillance."
"Hmm…"
Uehara Naraku nodded with a heavy heart: "I remember the Yin Yang Release Black Rod can imprison the Tailed Beasts' movements, capturing some underestimated Jinchuriki in advance is also feasible… but it seems inappropriate for me to propose this."
"Of course."
Black Zetsu nodded with a sinister smile: "I'll propose at the Akatsuki meeting that you and I team up to gather intelligence on the Four-tails. If the opportunity is right, you can summon Pain directly, and we'll capture him!"
"Okay."
Uehara Naraku nodded.
Wait, why is he teaming up with Black Zetsu?
Uehara Naraku rubbed his forehead, if he's teaming up with Black Zetsu, is he holding Uchiha Obito's master plan?