Raikage A

Grandma Qiu handed the scroll to Xing Ran without saying a word, as though she could no longer be bothered to look at him. Then she became one with her recliner again.

But even without using his sensory abilities, Xing Ran, who silently turned and left, knew that Grandma Qiu had felt a fleeting moment of worry—or perhaps regret. Humans were not made of wood or stone; who could truly be without feelings? Though they had not spent much time together, Xing Ran was undoubtedly the most outstanding junior Grandma Qiu had ever taught. He learned everything after seeing it once, and learned it incredibly fast. What teacher would not like a student like that?

But she also knew that Xing Ran was only a Genin. His ability to survive on the battlefield was at the very bottom of the food chain. The more emotion she invested, the more pain she would suffer in the future. Grandma Qiu had always avoided becoming too attached to Xing Ran. Rather than sticking to her principles, her current behavior was more like an old woman's tsundere streak.

In the north of the continent stood mountains that pierced the clouds, where deafening thunder constantly echoed. The mountain ranges here were dense and crisscrossing, while the rivers flowing down from the central mountains carved winding coastlines at their mouths. The scenery was magnificent. There were also many hot springs here, nearly enough to rival the Land of Hot Water. But this was not the Land of Hot Water—it was the Land of Lightning, named for its endless thunder.

The ninja village of the Land of Lightning was Kumogakure. As a nation second only to the strongest of the Five Great Nations, the Land of Fire, its ninja leader was likewise known by the title of Kage.

Kumogakure possessed the Two-Tails and Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, and it was also a militant ninja village that championed swordsmanship and Nintaijutsu. In order to strengthen the nation, it also devoted itself to studying the ninjutsu and ninja tools of other countries.

Such a powerful nation possessed military and economic strength among the very best in the ninja world. Yet even the Land of Lightning could not bear the logistical burden of endlessly sustaining a war with no victory in sight.

This was Kumogakure, its architecture resembling the terrain of the Land of Lightning—grand and imposing. As the village's central structure, the Raikage Building looked like a spinning top floating in the air, incredibly cool. But no matter how beautiful a building was, someone still had to take care of it.

At that moment, a tremendous crashing noise erupted from the Raikage's Office.

The source of the noise was a burly man nearly two meters tall. He had dark skin, pale yellow hair, an exceptionally muscular build, and wore a white cloak along with a broad belt and heavy armor.

Raikage A, the newly appointed Fourth Raiden, was glaring furiously as he smashed the broad office desk to pieces.

"Lord Raiden, our logistical pressure is already immense. Please take better care of public property." A calm, steady voice rang out immediately after the Raikage finished smashing things. Its owner wore glasses with a chain attached, the kind that could be removed and left hanging around the neck at any time.

Those old-fashioned glasses, paired with that wrinkled old face, repulsed the Fourth Raiden. This old woman was always telling him what he should do and what he should say. She was endlessly irritating, making A increasingly eager to replace his Raikage assistant.

"Those damn Hokage! Damn Konoha! Either fight or make peace! All this whining and beating around the bush—they're trying to drag us down! Damn it, Konoha's Hokage are all scheming bastards. And that old fossil Ōnoki—the older he gets, the more timid he becomes. We've done so much already; the meat's right at their mouths. Would it kill him to squeeze Konoha for something?" A ignored his old assistant's words. He was visibly agitated, cursing like a crazed beast.

Yet A's seemingly casual complaint caused the Raikage's Office to fall silent. Several Elder Advisors left behind by the previous Raikage exchanged glances. The Raikage might have been young, but his words had clearly dealt a significant blow to the people who truly held power in the village.

"Indeed. If we keep wrangling with Konoha like this without end, we'll collapse before the war is decided. We can't let Konoha lead us around by the nose." A sturdy, white-haired man in a white robe was the first to echo the Raikage's words.

The Raikage's Office then seemed to enter discussion mode. The higher-ups argued heatedly: those who had previously advocated quitting while they were ahead, and those determined to fight Konoha to the bitter end. After a full hour of debate, they finally reached a consensus. They would negotiate, but they would also fight. Whatever they could not obtain at the negotiating table, they would seize on the battlefield.

Everyone understood the strengths, weaknesses, and intentions of both nations. After enduring the siege of various countries, Konoha's national strength had declined from the untouchable heights it had enjoyed before the Third Shinobi World War. For the Land of Fire, which had always regarded itself as the strongest nation in the ninja world, its top priority was to cut its losses as soon as possible and use its immense national strength to recover quickly. Therefore, the Land of Fire did not want to fight.

At that point, if the Land of Earth could use the rogue ninja incident as an excuse to remain entangled with Konoha, then Konoha would have to station more forces along its border against the possibility that the Land of Earth might turn hostile at any moment. In that case, even with its long supply lines, the Land of Lightning would still see a glimmer of victory.

But things were different now. The Land of Fire could focus all its strength on the Land of Lightning, while the Land of Lightning, plagued by its long supply lines, had also reached the end of its strength. The Land of Lightning no longer wanted to fight either, because it could see no hope of victory.

But the traditions of the Land of Lightning did not include the humiliating practice of losing for reasons unrelated to battle. The pro-war faction had always been the mainstream, even when everyone knew that continuing the war would bring them no benefit.

But that was simply Kumogakure's culture. The Yugito Clan preferred settling problems directly with their fists. Circuitous political methods were always the last resort among last resorts, so most of them held the mindset that if they dared to risk everything, they dared to pull the emperor from his throne.

The Yugito Clan was the ruling family of Kumogakure in the Land of Lightning. They were naturally large and powerful in physique and excelled at Lightning Release. Since the First Hokage, every Raikage had come from this clan.

The Yugito Clan was a people with a strong sense of clan identity and unity.

And in wartime, that strong sense of unity easily led to more extreme decisions. They were often unafraid of sacrifice, and the conviction of fighting to mutual destruction so that the collective could gain greater benefits was widespread.

Although the newly appointed Fourth Raiden, A, had ascended to the Raikage's throne through his personal strength and become the "boss" in everyone's eyes, he possessed more than just power. In the original story, the Fourth Raiden was also a strong man fully worthy of bearing the title of Kage. His mind might not have been the sharpest, but it was definitely above the level of an ordinary Cloud Ninja.

Having just received Konoha's latest rejection of their negotiation terms, the higher-ups could no longer sit still. Yet during the meeting, everyone clung to their own views, and no one noticed Konoha's purpose behind repeatedly dragging out the negotiations. They were either discussing lowering their demands or making grand declarations about fighting Konoha to the end.

Now, a single sentence from the Raikage finally pinpointed the issue and accelerated the unification of their opinions.