Chapter 174 : Konoha Needs A Kage-Level Expert
After the mission was completed, the group from the Land of Water didn’t linger for long before departing.
As they said their goodbyes, Samui looked at Riku and said solemnly, "I hope we won’t become enemies in the future."
Riku nodded calmly. "I hope so too."
After watching Riku for a few moments, Samui turned and left with Karui and Omoi, boarding their boat.
Watching the three of them sail away, Hinata voiced her concern. "They won’t report Riku to their village, will they?"
Hinata nodded slightly, indicating the possibility.
Riku, however, only smiled. "It’s fine. Let’s talk about it later."
Ino followed Riku onto his boat and asked, "Aren’t you worried?"
Sitting on the deck, Riku replied with a relaxed smile, "Worried? Why should I be worried? This isn’t the time of the Great Ninja Wars. While the villages are still wary of each other, no one’s ready to go to war just yet. Letting them know my strength might actually be a good thing."
Right now, Konoha’s deterrent power was indeed far too low.
Even with Tsunade as the Fifth Hokage suppressing the ambitions of surrounding villages, it didn’t change the fact that Konoha was in a weakened state.
Half of their shinobi had been lost. Such damage couldn’t be recovered from in just a decade.
Their elite fighting forces were especially lacking. Aside from Tsunade, who rarely left the village, only Kakashi, Asuma, Kurenai, and Guy were worth mentioning.
But compared to the other great villages, the gap was painfully obvious—especially with the Hidden Cloud Village.
They had two Jinchūriki who had fully mastered their Tailed Beasts, Darui, and several other powerful shinobi.
In terms of high-level combat power, Konoha had Kakashi and a few others, but they clearly couldn’t hold off the top fighters from the Cloud Village.
And if even Cloud was like this, other villages weren’t any weaker.
Luckily, Sunagakure—Konoha’s ally—was in poor condition as well. Otherwise, the pressure would’ve been even greater.
Unless a village’s Kage was overwhelmingly powerful, like Uchiha Madara or Hashirama Senju, they generally weren’t counted among the active military strength, since Kage rarely left their villages.
This included the Raikage.
So when calculating high-level combat power, Tsunade wasn’t usually included.
Even in a full-scale war like the Great Ninja Wars, the Kage rarely stepped onto the battlefield themselves. They typically stayed back while the shinobi army was led by elite commanders.
As for Konoha now, the forces under Tsunade clearly couldn’t stand against the other villages.
Compared to the Second and Third Great Ninja Wars, the current state of Konoha was even worse than during the reign of the Third Hokage.
The Nine-Tails’ attack, the Uchiha clan massacre, and Orochimaru’s Konoha Crush had all drastically weakened Konoha’s military might.
Especially when it came to top-tier fighters.
Even when the Third Hokage had wanted to train Kakashi as the next Hokage, it was something that would’ve taken a long time to justify.
After all, Kakashi still lacked the qualifications, battle merits, and strength to truly take on the role. There was a significant gap between him and Minato Namikaze.
Even Minato had only taken over as Hokage due to a truce agreement with Iwagakure, which required Hiruzen to step down. Otherwise, he might’ve had to wait much longer.
So now, someone like Riku—who could suppress a Tailed Beast and possessed Kage-level strength—was exactly the kind of presence that could make the other villages hesitate.
It took more than ten days to return to Konoha from the Land of Water.
The mission had taken them nearly a month just in travel time.
When Riku returned to Konoha with Shino and the others, he learned of Sasuke’s departure from the village.
After submitting the mission report, Riku looked at Tsunade and asked, "I heard Sasuke left the village?"
He didn’t use the word "defected," since Tsunade hadn’t formally labeled Sasuke a rogue ninja yet.
As long as Sasuke remained a Genin in the records, Konoha had never treated him as a traitor.
It was the same as when Jiraiya and Tsunade left the village for their travels.
Tsunade, scanning the mission summary, didn’t answer right away. She smiled slightly and asked, "How did things end up so complicated? Why did you end up meeting people from the Hidden Cloud? And even the Three Tails?"
She frowned. Clearly, she hadn’t expected the mission to turn out so convoluted—an encounter with the Three Tails, the daimyo of the Land of Water hiring Cloud Shinobi... It was as if they didn’t trust Konoha anymore.
Riku remained calm. "Yeah, but it was actually pretty exciting—my first time facing off against a Tailed Beast. It’s definitely stronger than any Summoning Beast."
After all, Tailed Beasts were pure, conscious chakra beings.
Their power was naturally immense.
Tsunade asked seriously, "Did those Hidden Cloud ninja see you suppress the Three Tails?"
That was what worried her most—she feared the Cloud Village might send assassins after Riku.
Riku chuckled. "Their Jonin was standing right next to me and even joined the fight. I’m sure she’ll talk about it when she returns."
"But that’s fine. Konoha really needs someone to keep the other villages in check right now."
Riku was confident that his battle against the Three Tails in the Land of Water had proven his strength—enough to make other villages think twice.
While the Three Tails wasn’t quite as strong as the Eight Tails, they weren’t far apart.
Among the Tailed Beasts, those below Kurama didn’t differ that drastically in power.
If he could suppress the Three Tails, it meant his strength had already reached Kage-level.
And besides Tsunade and Jiraiya, Riku was the only Kage-level force Konoha currently had.
None of the other Jonin could serve as such a deterrent.
Tsunade pondered this for a while. She looked at Riku, frowning slightly. "But your safety..."
Riku smiled. "There are people in the ninja world who can kill me, but not many."
"And if you want deterrence, you have to accept the risks that come with it."
What Riku really wanted to say was that, until Madara in his Six Paths form appeared, no one in the current world could kill him.
But that would’ve sounded a bit insane.
Seeing Riku’s calm confidence, Tsunade nodded.
She understood that without a formidable reputation, no ninja could suppress the ambitions of other villages.
If Riku became famous enough, fewer people would dare target him.
And Tsunade trusted Riku’s strength. There were very few who could truly threaten him.
With that discussion settled, Tsunade finally returned to Riku’s earlier question.
"Sasuke did leave the village. Naruto went after him, but... he didn’t manage to bring him back."
"He must’ve been manipulated by Orochimaru."
Riku thought for a moment and sighed. "Actually, I don’t think Orochimaru manipulated him. I think Sasuke chose him."
Tsunade was surprised to hear Riku say that.
"Why do you think that?"
Riku paused, then looked at her. "Don’t forget—Sasuke has been carrying the hatred of the Uchiha clan’s massacre all this time. And he’s been stuck in Konoha. Who here can make him strong enough to defeat Uchiha Itachi?"
"Even Naruto’s caught up to him. He might’ve even surpassed him. Naruto has Jiraiya—one of the Sannin—as a mentor. But who does Sasuke have?"
"He doesn’t believe Kakashi-sensei can make him strong enough to beat Itachi."
"This time, Orochimaru gave him hope. Why wouldn’t he go with him?"
"Even if the price is that his body will be taken in a few years... he probably believes he’ll become stronger than Orochimaru by then."
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