Just as Tōka withdrew from the Land of Earth battlefield and leisurely savored the charm of the rain in the Land of Rain, Kumogakure's declaration of war was dropped like a bombshell, shaking the entire Ninja World.
Yet the most surprising part was that Kumogakure had not declared war on Konoha, but on Iwagakure in the Land of Earth!
"Is this news real?" Tōka glanced at Black Zetsu in surprise, even forgetting to put the ramen dangling from his chopsticks into his mouth.
"Of course it is. The Third Raikage personally led an elite force of over a hundred ninja into the Land of Earth, only to be discovered by Ōnoki."
"To cover his subordinates' escape, the Third Raikage fought more than ten thousand Stone Ninja for three days and three nights, ultimately dying of exhaustion!"
Black Zetsu's words seemed to carry a hint of gloating. In any case, whenever some important figure in the Ninja World died, he was always very pleased.
Tōka recalled that something like this had indeed happened. "Do you know why the Third Raikage infiltrated the Land of Earth?"
"The target seemed to be the tailed beasts," Black Zetsu answered uncertainly.
"Tailed beasts? They wanted to steal the Four-Tails and Five-Tails while Ōnoki was away from Iwagakure?" Tōka sneered. Were the people of the Land of Lightning brain-dead? Why were they always so obsessed with tailed beasts?
Shaking his head, he cast aside the jumble of thoughts. Kumogakure and Iwagakure fighting each other would most likely amount to nothing more than a farce.
The military strength of the Land of Lightning and the Land of Earth was roughly equal. If they fought, neither side would gain the upper hand, and there was little to be gained from it. If the two hidden villages tore into