"Our strength alone is naturally not enough, but what if we bring the Kumogakure along?"
Getting up and going to the window, the Third Kazekage pulled open the black curtains a crack, allowing the sunlight outside to shine into the room and bring a glimmer of light into the dark environment.
"Those guys, even in peacetime, never forget to plunder power, Kekkei Genkai, Six Paths Tools, and even Tailed Beast. They will never let go of any opportunity to fight against Konoha."
The Third Kazekage was very confident in his analysis, believing he had seen through the brute force-bound brutes of Kumogakure.
"I'll personally negotiate with Kumogakure. As for the Daimyo, I'll leave it to you, Ebizo."
The Third Kazekage fixed his gaze on Ebizo, awaiting his response.
"If we don't wage war, will Sunagakure also fall into an abyss due to its decline in missions...?" Ebizo pondered for a while and finally came to a conclusion.
It seems that war with Konoha is inevitable, and my sister is determined to seek revenge on "Konoha's White Fang"...
"I understand. I will tell my sister about this when I get back and tell her to be prepared."
Ebizo nodded, got up, and left the room.
After closing the door and glancing back, Ebizo stopped and finally left under the urging of his guards.
"Sister, isn't Scorpion home?"
Upon arriving at Chiyo's residence, Ebizo pushed open the door but didn't find Sasori. He looked curiously at his older sister.
"That child is researching new puppet technology in a secret room and shouldn't be coming out anytime soon. What's wrong? Is something the matter?" Chiyo puzzled when she saw her younger brother looking for Scorpion as soon as they met.
"Really? Perfect, there's something I need to tell you."
Upon learning that Sasori was in the secret chamber, Ebizo recalled how Sasori had been researching puppets, almost completely absorbed in his own world, and finally felt relieved. "The Kazekage is preparing to attack Konoha."
"Really about Konoha?"
Upon hearing the news, Chiyo Teng immediately stood up from her seat, her eyes brimming with excitement.
For many years, ever since her son died at that man's hands, Chiyo has dreamt of Hatake Sakumo countless nights, watching him kill her son and daughter-in-law again and again in her dreams.
For the sake of Sunagakure's future, she concealed the hatred in her heart and continued to train hard even as she approached retirement age, all so that one day she could personally cut off Hatake Sakumo's head.
"That's true, but that's not what I'm worried about. What I'm worried about is the help the Kazekage has found." Looking at the excited Chiyo, Ebizo sighed and expressed his concern, "The Kazekage has chosen to attack Konoha together with Kumogakure."
"I've had quite a few dealings with the people of Kumogakure. Although they seem like a bunch of carefree and unintelligent individuals, that's just a facade. They're a group of people who can cleverly use appearances to deceive their enemies and gain advantages for themselves."
"In that case, as a high-ranking member of the village, why don't you raise this issue with the Kazekage?" Chiyo frowned after hearing Ebizo's concerns. Although she had fought against the Cloud Ninja, she had not interacted with them on other occasions, so her understanding of them was naturally not as extensive as that of Ebizo, who was in the intelligence field.
"You know, sister, that the Strongest Kazekage, because of his title and the villagers' admiration for him, has made decisions on his own, bypassing the higher-ups, on multiple occasions."
When it comes to this Strongest Kazekage, Ebizo has mixed feelings of love and hate.
He is indeed very capable, but he is also somewhat stubborn and self-willed in his dealings with others.
"Just like in the last Shinobi World War, if it weren't for his orders, the team wouldn't have been able to advance along such a dangerous path, which ultimately led to Sasori's parents..." Ebizo was interrupted by Chiyo before he could finish speaking.
"Alright, Ebizo, let's not dwell on the past. Kazekage was doing it for the village. After all, we haven't been able to make a breakthrough on the main battlefield, so taking this risky tactic was a last resort. It's just that Sakumo's strength is too great; he was able to defend the stronghold with only a small force and even wipe out our team."
Although she knew there were huge problems with the Kazekage's command, the other party was the Kazekage, and even someone as high-ranking as Chiyo could only try to find a way to make amends for him.
Hiruzen Sarutobi: What? There really are such high-ranking officials? I don't believe it, this must be a scam.
Behind the door to the secret room, Scorpion, who should have been focused on studying the puppet, stood quietly, listening to Ebizo and Chiyo's conversation. After things calmed down outside, he returned to his workbench.
"A village? Kazekage? How laughable..."
Scorpion glanced at the Forehead Protector he had placed on the table beside him, shook his head, and gave a cold smile.
"This is a great opportunity!"
A few days later, upon receiving the letter from the Kazekage, the Third Raikage excitedly slammed his hand on the table, smashing it to pieces under the watchful eyes of the higher-ups.
"There seems to be something wrong with the quality of this table."
Looking at the shattered table, the Third Raikage's lips twitched, and he sat back down in his chair.
The well-trained Cloud Ninja appeared immediately, efficiently cleaning up the area and then moving a new table in front of the Raikage. Their movements were fluid and practiced, clearly indicating that they did this often.
"The Kazekage's letter clearly states that we will jointly attack Konoha, and after the war, they will only demand the Land of Land of Rivers as spoils of war, and will support all the conditions we offer to Konoha."
Seeing the table being put back in its place, the Third Raikage nodded to his subordinates and then relayed the contents of the Kazekage's letter to the high-ranking officials present.
"A land of plenty has always been a dream of Sunagakure. Their several clashes with Konoha have all been aimed at gaining ownership of the Land of Rivers. It's not surprising that they would offer such terms."
A high-ranking official who had served under the First Hokage Raikage knew Sunagakure very well. "Back when Lord Hashirama convened the first Kage Summit, when Konoha proposed a policy for distributing the Tailed Beast, the First Hokage Kazekage directly rejected Hashirama's plan, citing Kazekage fact that the village already possessed the One-Tails Beast, and demanded that Konoha grant him a piece of fertile land."
"I know about this. After the First Shinobi World War, Konoha used force to reclaim this land, which caused Sunagakure's economy to plummet."
Another senior executive, who was also quite old, chimed in.
"In that case, the intelligence seems highly credible." After the older high-ranking officials had finished expressing their opinions, the young Dodai then offered his own perspective. "However, it is also an undeniable fact that Sunagakure's strength is too weak. If we were to form an alliance with them to jointly attack Konoha, our efforts would undoubtedly be far greater than theirs. All Sunagakure can do is to tie down Konoha's southern forces."
"But we also face pressure from Iwagakure. In my opinion, if we want to conquer Konoha, we must first find a way to end the endless friction with Iwagakure."
Looking at Dodai with admiration, the Third Raikage had a high opinion of the young man he had personally promoted. "That's right. Those guys from Sunagakure are fickle and naturally opportunistic. Although they currently have a Kazekage who is said to be the strongest in history to maintain Kazekage, they don't have any other outstanding ninjas besides him."
"That so-called strongest Puppet Master, Chiyo, can't even defeat a junior like Tsunade. It's laughable."
While the Third Raikage acknowledged the Third Kazekage's strength, he didn't have a high opinion of the Sunagakure he led.
But...
"It's enough to tie down a portion of Konoha's forces. For us, their purpose is to prevent Konoha from unleashing their full power against us! This time, we're determined to send Hiruzen Sarutobi and that Danzo guy to Danzo!" The Third Raikage slammed his hand on the table again as he spoke with great excitement.
Hmm, the table broke again.