" Lord Raikage... that organization... has reappeared."
Jonin the Hidden Cloud Village Land of Lightning, inside the Raikage's Office, a Jonin responsible for intelligence gathering broke out in a cold sweat, reporting on the intelligence he had just received—intelligence powerful enough to shake the entire Ninja World.
"It's not ' Menma,' but... the member with the Mangekyō Sharingan."
The intelligence Ninja respectfully presented a sealed scroll and a stack of high-resolution photographs to the desk. "Latest news from Stone Village... the Tsuchikage has urgently issued official announcements to all countries..."
The Fourth Raikage A, sat upright in his chair, his face ashen. He picked up the stack of photos, his thick fingers squeezing the edges of them until they were slightly wrinkled.
The first image is a distant aerial view. The background shows the enormous village of Stone Village, nestled within a massive Yamanaka. However, where a towering, isolated mountain peak that should have been a natural barrier on the outskirts of the village now stands... there is only a huge, deep pit.
The inner walls of the pit exhibit a vitrified luster, as if a piece of a complete landscape painting had been brutally carved away.
The second, the third... photos taken from different angles and distances all repeat the same fact: a mountain, a massive mountain hundreds of meters high with rocks hard enough to serve as a fortress, was easily and completely erased from the map not long ago.
The fact that no smoke or dust from the explosion spread to the village and did not affect any of the Iwagakure buildings or people demonstrates the caster's precise control over the power.
Raikage's breathing became heavy, and his knuckles cracked as he gripped the photograph tightly.
It's not just " Menma "... do the other members of the [Jin] organization also possess this... cataclysmic power, enough to easily flatten a mountain and alter the terrain?
However, amidst this heavy, almost suffocating atmosphere, Raikage felt a strange sense of relief deep inside.
A realistic assessment prevailed over the initial shock.
Because as long as the [Ember] organization exists, a perfectly neutral "Sword of Damocles" hanging over the heads of all nations, any attempt to provoke a large-scale war, whether driven by ambition, fear, or any other reason, will be slashed by its sharp edge.
The "deterrence" that Stone Village just experienced is the most vivid example. Even the notoriously stubborn Ōnoki had to immediately issue a statement, attributing all previous deliberate friction and probing to "mismanagement," and solemnly guaranteeing that he "absolutely had no intention of starting a war" and "absolutely cherished peace"...
This deterrent also applies to Konoha.
Although the Fifth Hokage Jiraiya's governing style currently appears to be conservative, and his relationship with Uzumaki Naruto is both that of teacher and friend, politics is always full of uncertainties.
What if... what if a power shift occurs within Konoha in the future, replaced by a more hawkish and ambitious leader? What if that leader attempts to utilize Uzumaki Naruto and the now-resurrected Minato Namikaze's strategically significant personal strength to disrupt the existing balance and seek expansion or dominance...?
In the past, this would have been a nightmare that kept Kumogakure and all other great powers awake at night.
But now, there is [Ember].
It will not allow any country, including Konoha, to abuse its advanced combat power to launch a war of aggression. No matter how strong Uzumaki Naruto or how fast Minato Namikaze is, if their actions are judged by [Jin] as "acts of war that disrupt peace," they are very likely to provoke the organization's intervention.
In this way, the "offensive" side of Konoha's formidable top-tier combat power was firmly locked down by [Jin] as a "safety bolt".
From the perspective of Hidden Cloud Village ) and from the Raikage's personal perspective, this constitutes a... sense of security.
"Well..."
The Fourth Raikage sighed heavily, slowly releasing his grip on the photos and letting them scatter across the large table.
Previously, he hoped more than anyone else that [Jin], this mysterious organization that operated outside the rules and possessed overwhelming power, would completely disappear.
Because its very existence is the greatest challenge and denial to the traditional ninja village system and the authority of the "Kage."
On the other hand, when a "variable" like Konoha appears in the Ninja World, whose strength expands rapidly in a short period of time and is enough to break the traditional balance, he has no choice but to... reluctantly... hope that this "arbitrator" who forcibly establishes a new balance can continue to exist and be strong enough, fair enough, or rather, follow the principles it proclaims.
This is an extremely contradictory mindset. It's abhorring the sword hanging overhead, yet it's also something we have to rely on to deter potential, perhaps even more dangerous, adversaries.
"Continue to closely monitor all of [Jin's] movements, leaving no stone unturned. At the same time, intensify the collection and analysis of intelligence on Konoha, Iwagakure, and the high-end combat forces of other major powers."
The Raikage finally gave a solemn order, "Furthermore... in response to Iwagakure's announcement, keep the wording neutral, simply stating that you have received and understand it. No further comment is necessary."
"Yes!" The intelligence Ninja solemnly accepted the order and quickly withdrew.
Inside the [Ember] organization's base, the atmosphere was different from the grim and tense one might imagine; in recent days, it had instead exuded a subtle sense of idleness.
Originally, after successfully thwarting the Akatsuki's conspiracy and capturing several of its members, the organization was prepared for a busy period—interrogating, assessing, and disposing of these capable and complex prisoners.
However, to everyone's surprise, after that naval battle, their leader " Menma " gave a few brief instructions and then vanished without a trace, not appearing at the base for quite some time.
Only the occasional, extremely brief instructions transmitted through specific channels indicated that he was alright, but his whereabouts and what he was busy with remained unknown.
Thus, the prisoners, who were tightly confined in special cells at the deepest level of the base and protected by multiple Sealing Jutsu and physical barriers, found themselves in an awkward state of "idleness".
They are provided with only limited food and water each day, and are supervised and checked to prevent self-harm or other accidents. Apart from that, no one comes to "disturb" them.
This state of uncertainty, awaiting trial with no resolution in sight, is more agonizing than torture for some hot-tempered prisoners.
Meanwhile, another active member of the base— Deidara —did not return directly to the base after bombing the warship in Rain Village that day. Instead, he took a detour through some hidden corner before finally returning to the base on his clay giant bird.
He did not return alone. Two people were being roughly "carried" by the giant clay bird's claws.
One of them was an elderly man with gray hair and beard, whose face looked weathered but who possessed the gentle temperament unique to doctors.
His face was slightly pale with pain and anger. He glared at Deidara, "I'm just a wandering doctor traveling throughout the Ninja World! I'm a nobody! You... you madman! Why did you attack me without warning? I've never had any connection with your [Jin] organization!"
Deidara, upon hearing this, simply picked at his ear dismissively. "Old man, you're so noisy. Who cares how many people you've saved? You're the target the leader ordered us to be. You just happen to fit the bill, and you just happen to be hanging around nearby, hmm."
"So I invited you to be my guest. Is there a problem with this artistic way of inviting you? Hmm."
His so-called "artistic invitation" was clearly a matter of directly injuring Shinnō with Explosive Clay, rendering him incapacitated, and then forcibly taking him away.
The other person Deidara brought back was dressed in simple male traveler's attire, trying to wrap her chest with strips of cloth and cutting her hair short, but her delicate eyebrows, slender frame and neck lacking an Adam's apple easily revealed her true gender.
She too was injured, her eyes fixed intently on Deidara. She was Shinnō's apprentice, and when Deidara attacked her master, she risked her life to save him, the outcome of which was self-evident.
They were subdued almost instantly and brought back together.
"Release my master!" Even though she was captured, the girl's voice remained defiant. "You [Jin] organization claim to uphold peace, right? Why are you attacking us healers without cause?!"
Deidara's reaction was simply to yawn and wave to the base's internal staff who had rushed over, "Hmm, lock these two up somewhere too. We'll deal with them when the leader returns."
After saying that, he ignored their protests and angry glares and went back to his laboratory outside the base.
Thus, two more resentful new "residents" joined the vacant base cells.