Chapter 090: Reformation

This discovery made Jiraiya furious.

He had not expected that someone would secretly take away Uzumaki Naruto.

This was his disciple's only child. Although he had never cared for the child over the years, there were reasons for that.

The first reason was that he was not good at raising children—after all, he had never even been in love, let alone raised a child.

The second reason was that he was not in Konoha; he had no fixed abode and roamed the world, so naturally he could not take a child with him. Thus, he left the child in Konoha.

As for the third reason, it was because he had grown up in Konoha and knew it very well, so he naturally assumed that the Third Hokage would take good care of the Fourth Hokage's child.

But now, his disciple's child had been taken away without a sound.

Jiraiya was instantly furious. As soon as he regained his freedom, he left Konoha without delay to track down the one who had taken Naruto, intending to bring him back.

He didn't even say goodbye to Wang Bo.

Of course, retrieving Uzumaki Naruto might have been part of the reason; the other part was probably that he didn't want to stay in Konoha and work for Wang Bo.

Although Wang Bo was now the leader of Konoha, one must not forget that he had seized this position by force.

Even the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, had died at Wang Bo's hands. It was impossible for Jiraiya not to hate Wang Bo.

Wang Bo figured that Jiraiya's hatred for him was like an endless river, ceaseless and overwhelming. If given the chance, Jiraiya would probably seek revenge.

After all, Sarutobi Hiruzen was his teacher.

So, using the retrieval of Naruto as an excuse, he decisively left Konoha. Whether he could actually bring Uzumaki Naruto back was uncertain, but even if he did, he would probably not return to Konoha.

Because Konoha was no longer the Konoha he knew. To protect Uzumaki Naruto from being used by Wang Bo, he would likely take Naruto and wander the world, severing ties with the current Konoha.

As for Wang Bo, he didn't care at all about Jiraiya's behavior. Although Jiraiya was strong, Wang Bo had no shortage of such experts under his command.

Having one more or one less Jiraiya made no difference; it didn't affect the overall situation.

Thus, Konoha's ninjas soon discovered that although Konoha had a new leader, the overall structure had not changed much.

However, those former high-ranking officials, such as Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura, were kicked out by Wang Bo, removed from the upper echelons, and became unemployed.

These people were not only of no benefit to Wang Bo's control of Konoha but were also huge obstacles, so Wang Bo kicked them out and stripped them of all their positions.

Of course, some were unwilling, but after Wang Bo had a good talk with them using his fists, they willingly gave up their positions.

Wang Bo then placed his own people in those positions, firmly grasping all the key departments of Konoha.

Although there were still some ninjas in the shadows who refused to accept Wang Bo as an outsider unworthy of controlling Konoha, due to the disparity in strength, they not only dared not resist but had to follow Wang Bo's rules.

This made them extremely frustrated.

But Wang Bo paid no heed to their superfluous thoughts. After conquering Konoha, he quickly extended his power to the Fire Country's daimyo.

Just as he had said: crush Konoha, overthrow the daimyo, and take control of the Fire Country.

Now that Wang Bo had crushed Konoha and firmly held it in his grasp, it was time to fulfill his promise and overthrow the Fire Country's daimyo to take control of the Fire Country.

In Wang Bo's view, the world of Naruto was a bizarre one.

Clearly, Konoha possessed overwhelming power, yet it still respected the daimyo. Even the Hokage's son, Sarutobi Asuma, was one of the Twelve Guardian Ninjas protecting the daimyo.

In reality, the daimyo's strength was very ordinary, utterly vulnerable compared to a ninja village.

Any ninja village could easily crush the forces around the daimyo.

Yet despite this, ninjas still respected and even feared the daimyo.

This puzzled Wang Bo greatly.

The most typical example was the ninjas of the Wind Country.

After Sunagakure's defeat in the war, the Wind Country daimyo continuously reduced the number of ninjas and the village's budget, forcing Sunagakure's combat strength to decline. As a result, the Kazekage, Rasa, had to personally use Magnet Release to gather gold sand to bring stability to the village.

This gold sand was then used as the village's funds, serving as Sunagakure's capital for trade with other countries.

When Wang Bo saw this, he was utterly baffled.

Clearly, the Wind Country daimyo was just an ordinary person. A single genjutsu could control him and turn him into a puppet.

Then Sunagakure wouldn't need to reduce the number of ninjas or the village's budget.

Nor would the Kazekage need to gather gold sand.

Yet no one had ever done this one move that would solve multiple problems—it was simply unbelievable.

Could it be that the daimyo's prestige was so high that ninjas were unwilling to offend him?

Undoubtedly, that was nonsense. The harmonious coexistence between the two must have been based on some unspoken understanding.

This was probably related to the One Village, One Country policy proposed by Hashirama Senju, which involved interests in many aspects, creating a tacit understanding between the village and the country.

But regardless of what understanding existed between the ninja village and the daimyo, Wang Bo didn't care.

So, after taking control of Konoha, he unhesitatingly moved against the daimyo.

Although the Fire Country daimyo had the Twelve Guardian Ninjas, these twelve were at most elite jonin. Together, they were no match for Haku alone, let alone the fact that the Twelve Guardian Ninjas were incomplete.

After all, Sarutobi Asuma had become Wang Bo's prisoner, so the Twelve Guardian Ninjas were naturally incomplete.

Therefore, Wang Bo sent just Haku, who defeated the ninjas around the daimyo and captured him.

This process was effortless and went smoothly.

After all, Haku's current strength was top-tier in the ninja world, almost unmatched by any expert. Even against Uchiha Madara, if he couldn't win, he could retreat calmly.

Using Haku to deal with a daimyo was like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

Of course, the daimyo did have an army, but it was not used to fight ninjas; it was meant to protect the peace of the Fire Country.

After all, besides ninjas, this world also had bandits, robbers, and wandering samurai.