At night, in a small inn in Konoha.
The leader of a caravan from the Land of Lightning stuffed an intelligence scroll into the mouth of a summoned beast, then released the Summoning Technique.
After completing the delivery, he slumped to the floor and chatted with his assistant, his eyes vacant.
"Konoha truly lives up to its reputation as the village founded by Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara, the strongest shinobi of the Warring States Era. Even those children are that powerful..."
"With towering mountains ahead and young tigers behind, where does that leave the future of our Iwagakure?"
His assistant tried to comfort him:
"Don't be so pessimistic, sir. Ōnoki, the grandson of Lord Mu and the Tsuchikage, is a genius of our Iwagakure too!"
The caravan leader mulled over those words again and again. As if he'd thought of something, a glint of ruthlessness flashed in his eyes.
"That's right. Ōnoki, the grandson of Lord Mu and Lord Ishikawa, represents the towering mountain and young tiger of our Iwagakure. But Konoha has far too many young tigers."
The light in the assistant's eyes flickered uncertainly. He lowered his voice and asked, "Sir, are you planning to make a move?"
The caravan leader curled his lips into a cold smile.
"Exactly. This time, we're posing as a Kumogakure caravan. As long as we snuff out Konoha's geniuses before they can grow, then pin the blame on Kumogakure, even Senju Hashirama will become nothing more than a killing tool for us to control, no matter how strong he is."
The assistant's throat tightened as he raised an issue they couldn't ignore:
"But if our people are exposed, can the village withstand that man's fury?"
The words were like a razor-sharp truth, slicing through the caravan leader's wishful thinking.
Even if