Naruto: The Strongest Sage.

Nagato has been in a coma for a long time. Not only is he physically injured, but his mind is also in a closed state.

As an extremely paranoid idealist, Nagato could not accept the fact that he had lost his identity as the child of destiny.

So he sealed off his consciousness. Even if Qingye tried to use illusion to invade his mind, he couldn't do it.

During the time he spent recuperating in Konoha, his physical injuries had actually completely healed.

There was a reason why Uchiha Madara chose him. Nagato's vitality was more than twice as strong as that of Karin and Yumi combined.

In Aoba's opinion, even Naruto cannot match Nagato's physical potential. But Naruto is not only strong physically.

As the reincarnation of Ashura, his difference is actually more on the chakra level.

Aoba didn't want to give up on Nagato, a top potential stock, so he kept trying to wake him up.

In the laboratory, Konan was sitting in front of the bed, looking at Nagato quietly.

Her feelings for Nagato are very deep and complicated. As Yahiko's former lover, Konan's feelings for Nagato are more like those between siblings.

But anyway, normal people understand. The relationship between men and women is very delicate. There was no problem when Yahiko was alive.

After Yahiko's death, Nagato was obsessed with the identity of the child of prophecy, and there were no problems. But now, Yahiko is gone, and Nagato has lost his Samsara Eye.

He was no longer the high and mighty god. He became the former Uzumaki Nagato. Thus, some of Konan's suppressed emotions began to quietly sprout.

Seeing Aoba coming in, Konan stood up and made way for Aoba to give Nagato a thorough checkup.

"His physical injuries have almost healed. Without the consumption of the Samsara Eye, his recovery ability is much stronger than expected. In fact, his spirit has not been harmed by external forces. It is more of a self-enclosed state. If you want him to wake up soon, you need to talk to him more and try to awaken the good things in his heart."

"...I say it every day. But it doesn't seem to have any effect."

"That means you haven't gone deep enough. Nagato's condition is very delicate. He is no longer injured. So, he should be able to accept some of the noise from the outside world. Therefore, as the person closest to him, you need to put in more effort."

..............

In the jungle outside Konoha, Sasuke and his three companions had already reached their intended destination.

After observing from a distance, Sasuke realized that something was wrong with this group of so-called 'wandering ninjas'.

"There are more people than expected. The key is that they have set up a complete defense circle around them. This is not something that ordinary wandering ninjas can do."

"It should be the ninja army under the command of the former Daimyo of the Land of Fire. After being defeated, they gathered together into a small group of ninjas."

Karin's analysis was actually very accurate. Of course, it wasn't because she was very smart. It was more because she lived with Aoba. She knew more information than others because of what she saw and heard.

At that time, Konoha faced off against the ninja army of the Fire Country Daimyo. After defeating the opponent with overwhelming force, they did not choose to pursue.

Instead, they let the other party flee in all directions.

In this way, the scattered ninjas were broken up into small groups and appeared in various places in the Land of Fire.

Not all ninjas were as disciplined as the current Konoha ninjas. The moral quality of those wandering ninjas was visibly declining, and they quickly turned into various troublesome groups.

For a time, the cities and villages of the Fire Nation outside Konoha were plunged into dire straits.

This situation was actually caused by Qingye on purpose.

After all, there is no harm without comparison. Aoba wants to destroy the old Fire Kingdom from the root and rebuild a new Fire Kingdom with Konoha as the core.

But this is not easy, because the old system is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. Most of the people of the Land of Fire are still waiting for a new daimyo to rule them.

Even within Konoha now, there are actually some people who resent Konoha for going to war with the daimyo.

The ninja village was established less than a hundred years ago, but the daimyo system has existed for thousands of years. The shackles in people's hearts are not so easy to break.

Qingye didn't want to, nor did he have the energy to, force the people to unite. So, he could only choose this darker method.

The old nobles were powerless to stop the wandering ninjas who were allowed to do evil everywhere. The lower class people, who were already living in hardship, were now even more miserable.

There is only one place in the entire Fire Country that can avoid this phenomenon, and that is the current Konoha.

Aoba wanted to increase the population of Konoha and expand the village. But he couldn't use force to abduct people. Instead, he wanted people to willingly join Konoha.

This is how the current situation in the Fire Nation came about.

Those people who have been oppressed and harassed to the point where they can no longer survive have begun to migrate towards Konoha under some intentional or unintentional guidance.

In this migration model, Konoha has the absolute initiative. It can even pick and choose, giving priority to those skilled workers and immigrants with higher value. These people can adapt to Konoha's life faster and also speed up Konoha's construction.

Others built villages around Konoha, just like the villages around modern cities.

Although these people cannot enter Konoha to live, the surrounding areas of Konoha are still within the radiation range of Konoha Ninja. At least the safety is much better than before.

The ninja in front of Sasuke and the others were a group of wandering ninjas that had targeted the villages around Konoha.

This was beyond Konoha's tolerance, and upon receiving the news, Aoba immediately sent people to prepare to completely wipe them out.

"There are a total of twenty-four ninjas. One of them has reached the average chakra level of Konoha's Jonin. Another has reached the level of a special Jonin. Of the remaining twenty-two, six are Chunin, and the rest are at the Genin level."

Karin's Kagura Mind's Eye could easily see through the opponent's lineup from miles away.

"What? There's only one jonin. Why don't we just rush over and defeat them directly?"

Naruto started yelling again. After Minato's special training, Naruto was now full of confidence. He didn't take a mere jonin seriously at all.

In fact, even Sasuke felt relieved after hearing Karin's information.

There was only one jonin. It really wasn't a big problem for them.

"Okay, now let's simply formulate a tactic. The mission is to completely wipe out this group of wandering ninjas. So no one can escape.

Naruto, after the battle begins, use your shadow clones to block all directions around you. Make sure no one escapes. Karin will use ninjutsu to cooperate with you.

Yubokuto, you and I will be responsible for dealing with that jonin and the special jonin. Now, check the ninja tools, and we will start in one minute. "

A minute later, just as the four were about to start fighting, Karin suddenly called a halt.

"Wait a minute, someone is coming."