The western front in the Land of Lightning.
"Lord Raikage, what happened?"
Dodai went straight to the point as he entered the Fourth Raikage's tent.
"It's a reply from Neji."
Yozuki A waved the scroll in his hand.
"Konoha has agreed to peace talks with Kumogakure and will hand over thirty percent of its mission income for the next five years as war reparations." Yozuki A excitedly shared the good news with Dodai.
"Peace talks?"
Dodai was momentarily stunned.
Konoha had never been the one to initiate peace talks before, and the war reparations it was offering were quite generous.
The Land of Fire was vast and rich. Thirty percent of its mission income amounted to a fortune.
Could this be one of Konoha's schemes?
Just then, a Kumogakure Anbu rushed in and handed Yozuki A a confidential letter.
Yozuki A opened it and glanced over it. His eyes immediately widened, and he exclaimed in disbelief, "The Third Hokage is dead?"
"Is that really true?"
Dodai exclaimed as well.
Ever since the war began, the Third Hokage had remained safely at the rear, sheltered from wind and rain. How had he suddenly died?
Yozuki A continued reading. A moment later, the furrow in his brow eased. "It was Orochimaru. Given his abilities, he might have been able to kill the Third Hokage."
With that, Yozuki A handed the scroll to Dodai.
Dodai took it and glanced over it. He finally understood, and let out a relieved breath.
He had been overthinking it. Konoha had suffered internal turmoil.
With the Third Hokage dead, Konoha urgently needed to choose a new Hokage and stabilize the situation. It had no choice but to make peace with Kumogakure.
Kumogakure was surrounded on all sides and desperately short on troops, constantly robbing Peter to pay