"Lord Hokage!"
A ninja rushed to Minato Namikaze at top speed, then dropped to one knee and said urgently, "Emergency intelligence from the reconnaissance unit: the entire force... has been wiped out!"
Minato Namikaze, Temari, Ōnoki, and the others all paled.
The Fourth Raikage immediately erupted in fury. "That bastard Uchiha Houka, this is all his fault!! If he hadn't insisted on letting that brat Hyuga Neji serve as the reconnaissance unit's captain, how could the entire force have been wiped out like this?!"
"Who are the survivors?" Tsunade asked.
"The survivors are reconnaissance unit captain Hyuga Neji and member Hyuga Tokuma," the ninja responded. "Hyuga Tokuma has already arrived. Would Lord Hokage like to see him?"
Minato Namikaze nodded. "Bring him in."
"Yes!"
As soon as the man left, the Fourth Raikage stepped forward again, bristling with aggression as he began accusing Neji.
"Over a hundred members of the reconnaissance unit were wiped out. Why is Neji, the captain, unharmed? And the other survivor is Hyuga Tokuma, another member of the Hyuga Clan. It's far too suspicious!!" Like an enraged beast, the Fourth Raikage fixed Minato Namikaze with a fierce stare. "Lord Hokage!! You need to give every ninja in the Allied Shinobi Forces an explanation!"
"Lord Raikage, before we have clarified what happened, please do not place all the blame on Konoha!" Nara Shikaku said with a frown.
"Fine. Then let's see how that Hyuga Clan survivor explains himself!" the Fourth Raikage snorted.
Not long afterward, Hyuga Tokuma appeared before them, one arm missing.
"Lord Hokage, I'm sorry. I've let you down!"
Hyuga Tokuma dropped to his knees, his face full of dejection.
"What exactly happened?" Minato Namikaze asked calmly.
There was a trace of warmth in his voice. He was not explosively furious as Hyuga Tokuma had