They could only take a step back and trouble Rasa and Sunagakure instead, but now Konoha had withdrawn—how could that possibly work?
"Jiraiya, you have been to the Land of Rain and are relatively familiar with everything within it. I want you to lead this operation. Of course, Minato will accompany you as well. I need the two of you to capture Amegakure in the shortest possible time."
Just as Ōnoki and Ay were about to persuade Ronglin to reject Sunagakure's goodwill, Ronglin decided to make a move against the Land of Rain.
"Kid, uh..."
Jiraiya subconsciously raised his hand, intending to ask a question, but "kid" slipped right out. Minato, seated beside him, hurriedly nudged his single-minded teacher. How could he address someone so casually at a time like this?
Sure enough, everyone else turned to look at him.
No matter how close Jiraiya was to Lord Hokage, he could not fool around in such a formal setting!
Kid? What kind of address was that?
"Cough, cough!!"
Jiraiya was instantly embarrassed. He gave a dry cough and turned his head away.
Fortunately, Jiraiya had a quick-witted disciple in Minato. Seeing that his teacher was embarrassed and struggling to save face, Minato spoke up.
"May I ask, Lord Hokage, why does the Land of Fire need to annex the Land of Rain?
"From what I know, the Land of Rain does not seem to be a small country with a pleasant environment. On the contrary, its conditions are harsh. It rains heavily all year round. Even if the Land of Fire takes it, there would be no benefit to us. Instead, we would have many homeless people to support."
"We would also need to deal with the dangerous public order within the Land of Rain. The sheer number of Rogue