"Mm~~ no, you reek of alcohol."
"Come on~ don't mind it."
"..."
Jiraiya's return was a shot in the arm for Konoha. No village would ever complain about having too many powerful fighters. It could be said that Jiraiya's return had once again transformed Konoha's high-end combat strength.
The gap between Konoha and the other villages would widen considerably, especially compared to shinobi villages like Sunagakure.
Sunagakure ranked at the bottom among the Five Great Shinobi Villages, with a pitifully small number of top-tier fighters.
Although their ideals differed, Jiraiya's return did not disrupt Ronglin in any way. His plan to unify the entire Land of Fire continued as before.
All of Konoha began operating at high speed, leaving many villagers as curious as Jiraiya. There didn't seem to be any recent conflict, so why was the village gathering its shinobi forces?
Unfortunately, as long as the Hokage's Office Building issued no announcement, all the villagers could do was speculate and gossip.
Three days passed in the blink of an eye, and Konoha's atmosphere grew increasingly tense. Every villager was baffled. What exactly was going on?
"Move!!!"
With all preparations complete, everyone sprang into action at Ronglin's command.
"Hmph, those bastards actually want me to bow my head to Konoha? Keep dreaming."
In the darkness of night, the Daimyo was seething after being persuaded by the politicians under him, with nowhere to vent his anger.
He was utterly baffled by the whole matter. He was innocent too, yet everyone insisted it was his fault. Even several trusted politicians kept urging him to lower his head to Konoha and put this matter behind them as soon as possible.
The Daimyo was furious at that. Konoha should be the one apologizing, shouldn't it? They even dared threaten him. Did they not remember