Chapter 177: Mikoto's Resolve

Onoki looked at the corpses of the Iwa Shinobi in front of him, feeling dizzy for a moment, his vision darkening for a moment.

The losses of Iwagakure should not be underestimated, although the shinobi lost are less than a thousand, and it seems that it is far from the total number of shinobi in Iwagakure. But these thousand people, at least they were all Chunin level.

It can be said that the majority of Iwagakure's essence is concentrated here.

And now...

They all died in Natsuo's hands.

"Rasa! Terumi Mei! You... you...."

"This old man won't be able to forgive you."

Not long after, Natsuo returned to Kurotsuchi. As they approached, Natsuo saw Onoki's dark, old face.

"The old man is ready to send the emissary to Konoha." Onoki sighed. "Iwagakure will ask Konoha for peace."

Although this matter is not considered an agreement with Natsuo, Onoki knew that Iwagakure could no longer continue fighting.

A portion of the village's elite was completely lost, and the remaining shinobi could only fight defensive battles with their Earth Release, which is good at defense.

However does this make sense?

When Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama were present, why didn't anyone fight Konoha? Because everyone knew they couldn't win!

Why fight a battle that can't be won?

Before Onoki thought that Rasa and Terumi Mei could fight Natsuo, and he himself should be similar. Iwagakure is not without possibilities to profit from this war. But now…

No matter how well he played, even if he defeated the army led by Jiraiya or even directly hit the Konoha gate area.

Natsuo is Tsunade's husband, as long as Tsunade can no longer withstand the pressure, everything Iwagakure does will be useless.

Even if he knows that Iwagakure is at an absolute disadvantage, even if he asks for peace knowing that Konoha will severely punish Iwagakure...

But he can only bow his head!

"You can discuss this kind of thing with Tsunade." Natsuo said indifferently.

Then Natsuo began to discuss with Onoki the benefits he would obtain. The first thing was that Kurotsuchi would live in the Uchiha clan from now on. Furthermore, he must encourage kunoichi with Kekkei Genkai to marry into the Uchiha clan and not hinder the entry of the Uchiha clan's industries into the Land of Earth.

Onoki's expression darkened. "The old man will make the arrangements, don't worry."

...

"Kakuzu, you haven't left yet?" Natsuo looked at the instigator of the chaos.

"Of course, I want to make sure you can handle the problems, after all you still haven't finished paying me." Kakuzu said with a smile on his lips. "And I have to admit, I messed things up a little this time."

"You still know you messed things up." Natsuo said disdainfully.

This time Natsuo had to stop the pursuers for Kakuzu and be forced to fight many opponents...

In the end, he even had to pay Kakuzu. This transaction is really a bit unpleasant.

But Natsuo still said: "But I'll pay the bill, don't worry, it's something we had already agreed upon."

The problems caused by the women brought by Kakuzu have to be solved by himself. This is what they agreed to from the beginning.

"Keep working hard Kakuzu. In the future if we make a deal again, I will continue to take care of the problems for you." Natsuo said waving his hand.

Although there are no longer powerful kunoichi that can be brought by Kakuzu, Natsuo still shows the generosity of a golden sponsor. After all, no matter how much Kakuzu fools people, it is an unquestionable fact that Natsuo has obtained the best legs in the Naruto Series... Oh, right, also a future Kage-level kunoichi.

The corners of Kakuzu's lips lifted beneath his mask.

In fact, as a veteran Kage-level master, Kakuzu is not powerless to get rid of Onoki behind him. He actually wanted to use Natsuo's reaction this time to confirm one thing.

"A reliable financial backing. Now that you have determined his strength, then I can continue..."

...

Natsuo returned to Konohagakure with Kurotsuchi.

At the same time, he also brought the Iwagakure delegation. Natsuo used Flying Thunder God to bring everyone back, mainly to show his merits to Tsunade.

However, what Natsuo didn't expect was that when Tsunade saw Kurotsuchi and the others, her eyes narrowed, and she scanned Kurotsuchi up and down. Then she stared at Natsuo again.

"Natsuo, you are so loyal to the village, that now thanks to you, Iwagakure has surrendered to Konoha."

"Ahem, after all, this is the village where you are the Hokage." Natsuo's expression was full of affection.

Tsunade: "Is that so?"

Natsuo: "Of course! For you, I am willing to do anything!"

"Are you sure it wasn't because of this girl?" Tsunade slammed the table angrily and pointed at Kurotsuchi next to Natsuo. "Don't think I don't recognize Onoki's granddaughter!"

"First the Kazekage's daughter, then the Tsuchikage's granddaughter... why don't you also bring the Mizukage's niece?"

Natsuo said in his mind: 'The Mizukage's niece cannot be brought back, but there is still some hope of bringing the Mizukage back.'

...

Tsunade is actually not very angry, no matter what the reason for Natsuo's attack is, Iwagakure's surrender is always a good thing for Konoha.

"The Shinobi World War can finally end..." Tsunade sighed, feeling her shoulders feel lighter. The stress was gone instantly...

And the news that Iwagakure sent a delegation to seek peace spread throughout Konoha in an instant.

Everyone celebrated. Although it will take a while for Iwagakure's envoys to negotiate the peace agreement, and the war will not end immediately. But it's only a matter of time.

And the biggest contributor to the end of the war... 

Of course it was Natsuo!

The Konoha shinobi cheered, and their relatives smiled. They are very grateful to Natsuo for ending the war so that their families can be reunited safely.

The duration of the war was short, but the cruelty of war is that even the victors do not want to experience it.

On the other hand, countless people have also enthusiastically discussed Natsuo's past.

Why did he endure humiliation, practice secretly, and at the same time secretly investigate the truth about the genocide of the Uchiha clan? All to kill Danzo with one blow to avenge his clan.

To revive the Uchiha clan, he worked hard in the family business and fought with countless businessmen and nobles.

How he took turns fighting the enemy on the battlefield, how he ingeniously took the lead and killed the enemy...

Of course, they occasionally chat about Natsuo's future. They also mentioned that the only thing Natsuo needed to finish avenging his clan was to get rid of Itachi.

While many were arguing about the future of the Uchiha and Natsuo clan and hating Itachi for being ruthless towards his own clan, they obviously did not notice the person who was listening to their talk from a distance.

Mikoto watched them speak loudly, but his heart sank a little.

"The people of Konoha... do they hope so much for the future of the Uchiha clan?" She smiled wryly: "If Fugaku can see the current scene, maybe he will be very happy."

Uchiha Fugaku actually wanted to integrate into Konoha. In the Third Shinobi World War, he even personally led the Uchiha clan to face the Kiri Shinobi. After the war, he also actively moved closer to the Fourth Hokage Namikaze Minato.

However, Konoha did not accept the Uchiha clan.

It can be seen by the Uchiha clan's fight against Kirigakure. Use the Uchiha, who are good at Fire Release, to fight the Kiri Shinobi, who are good at Water Release. If Konoha's top executives don't have ideas, no one would believe it.

Now that the people of Konoha are proud of an Uchiha, if the previous Uchiha could see it, it is estimated that they will not have the idea of ​​rebelling.

But this is a good thing for Natsuo, but bad for Mikoto herself. Because the Konoha shinobi's perception of the Uchiha clan becomes better, so the perception of Uchiha Itachi becomes worse.

The more they valued Natsuo and hoped for the resurgence of the Uchiha clan, the angrier they were with Itachi's behavior, and the more they felt the injustice that Natsuo experienced...

Funny to say, for the sake of the village, Uchiha Itachi killed the clan members who wanted to rebel, including his own parents. As a result, everyone in Konoha now complains about his actions.

"If this continues, even if Itachi's illness is cured, will he really be willing to survive?" Mikoto couldn't help but bite her lip.

After all, in the eyes of the Konoha shinobi, it seems he would be better off dead...

Mikoto didn't know the answer. She is also powerless to change reality, not even Itachi's disease can be solved. The only one who can fix this...

Mikoto walked back to the Uchiha clan slowly and saw Kushina.

"Mikoto, you're back." Kushina waved her hands casually.

Natsuo had not imprisoned the three women, on the contrary he allowed them to move, but they could not reveal their identity.

But, to be honest, they don't know what they are going to do.

Pakura would get upset every time he heard Rasa's news, then he would put Rasa's portrait on a practice dummy and throw shuriken at it.

When Kushina has nothing to do, she fights Natsuo, with the attitude of 'if I beat you, you must help me'.

However, even relying on the Impure World Reincarnation immortal body, Natsuo gave her a harsh lesson, even smearing her with oil several times.

An angry Kushina jumped up and shouted that if it wasn't for Impure World Reincarnation to limit her strength, she would have taught Natsuo a lesson.

Although Mikoto also has Kage-level combat skills when using the Mangekyo Sharingan, she seems to be accustomed to the life of a housewife. So she helps with household chores.

"Mikoto, Sasuke seems to be back." Pakura, still in smart clothes, glanced at Mikoto: "He is at the training ground now, you..."

"Would you like to take a peek at him?"

Mikoto froze. 'Did he come back?'

"Well, Sasuke is back." Kushina curled her lips: "Mikoto, your son is really good, I saw him secretly and he has been training hard."

"On the contrary, I couldn't even find Naruto's shadow..." Kushina said, with a bit of resentment. She also wants to see Naruto grow up with her own eyes.

"Isn't Naruto on the same team as Sasuke, hasn't he come back?" Mikoto asked curiously.

"No!" Kushina said angrily. "I asked about it, and they separated at the village gate, but no one in the Uchiha clan residence has seen the boy... I don't know where he went."

Mikoto also feels strange, the shinobi who have just returned to the village, where else could they go if not home?

Where else can he go?

Of course, to the club!

Naruto really plans to live in the Uchiha Club, the money Natsuo gave him is of no use to him.

If Kushina goes to the Uchiha club, maybe he can meet the regular customer who used the Transformation Technique and shouted 'I want to order ten' full of pride.

"I'm going to meet Sasuke... Is it okay?" Mikoto pondered for a moment. "Did he allow it?"

"Allowed." Kushina curled her lips: "It's no big deal to take a look... Natsuo isn't that stingy."

"So, where is Natsuo now...?"

"What else can he do? He is, according to him, 'reviving' the Uchiha clan."

Mikoto: "..."

She remembered that when she went as a representative of the clan to give Natsuo the pension, what she saw was a shy boy. She doesn't know how he became what he is now...

Could it be what happened to the clan that pushed him too hard?

Mikoto bit her lip, although she knew why Natsuo allowed her to meet with Sasuke, she still couldn't help but want to see him.

Standing outside the Uchiha clan's training ground, through the barbed wire fence, she immediately spotted Sasuke.

Like Kushina said, Sasuke was training very hard.

The Sharingan opened directly, with a sudden leap, several shuriken were thrown out one after another, several of them collided in pairs, changed direction, and successfully hit the target.

Uchiha Shurikenjutsu!

The technique that Uchiha Itachi showed to Sasuke back then, now he has fully mastered it.

Mikoto bit her lip lightly, with a sad expression.

In her eyes, the image of the little boy who pestered her brother to teach her shuriken skills seemed to appear in her eyes.

Even after being rejected by Itachi, the aggrieved pouting expression is vivid and clearly visible.

But unlike Sasuke who worked hard to catch up with his brother's dream, his efforts now are probably to throw the shuriken on Uchiha Itachi...

Sasuke was sweating profusely during training, his gaze was steady and he never lost focus.

And Mikoto was in the distance of the training ground, watching quietly, from day to night, until Sasuke finished training and left, her footsteps did not move.

She seemed to have become a pillar, standing there silently, motionless, her expression very dull.

Until the next day.

The sun has just risen, when the first light of dawn radiates a warm light.

A sigh came out of Mikoto's mouth.

"Sorry, Fugaku..."

"I really can't watch Sasuke and Itachi kill each other, and I really can't watch them die..."

"It doesn't matter what price I have to pay..."

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