The Great Powers' Game

Konoha, Hokage's Office.

Having settled the village's internal affairs, the next, more important issue is how to handle the relationship with Sunagakure.

"Let them come. We've already lost the battle, why should we be afraid of them? They should be the ones worrying now. Iwagakure has been eyeing them for a long time. Now that they've lost so many men, aren't they afraid Iwagakure will take advantage of their misfortune?"

Danzo was quite disdainful. Although he disliked Jiraiya, he had to admit that Jiraiya had done a really good job this time. After this First Shinobi World War, it would be difficult for Sunagakure to recover on the Southern Front.

"That being said, there's no guarantee that Sunagakure resort to desperate measures. They have a long tradition of doing so; didn't they launch the first attack on Konoha during Second Shinobi World War to divert attention from internal conflicts?"

Mitokado Homura also expressed his concerns. Indeed, individual will often differs from collective will.

Just as almost everyone hates and opposes war, when the scale is expanded to a village or a country, war is often a necessity.

It could be for personal gain, to divert attention from internal conflicts, or more likely simply a matter of public opinion.

A moment of silence fell over the scene.

Finally, Hiruzen Sarutobi broke the silence, "Strengthen our defenses first. Sunagakure will definitely send envoys. They still have quite a few prisoners in our hands. We'll see what demands they make then!"

Danzo's eyes flashed with excitement, like a wolf eyeing its prey, ready to bite off a chunk of flesh.

Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura were much more restrained, less blatantly greedy, but still eager to try. In the end, Konoha won the battle, and the victors should enjoy the fruits of victory.

On the same day, Sunagakure also received news of the defeat at the front. Unlike Miyo, who was completely unaware of the war beforehand, the Sunagakure leadership was fully aware of the cause of the war.

That's why they found it so incomprehensible that a war they thought they could win had ended in defeat.

According to the reports from the ninjas who escaped, they had fallen into Konoha's trap and been lured into an ambush. Konoha reinforcements arrived, which led to their encirclement and defeat.

The Sunagakure leadership naturally couldn't just believe the one-sided accounts of these defeated soldiers, so a large number of intelligence personnel were dispatched, especially spies planted within Konoha, who were also required to find out the details of the battle as soon as possible.

Regardless of the process, the outcome of the war was certain: Sunagakure lost all its strongholds in the Land of Rivers and was driven back to the Land of Wind. In addition, more than a hundred ninjas were captured in this battle, including the front-line commander-in-chief, Shamon.

"Speak up, everyone, what should we do next!" The Third Kazekage sat at the head of the table, looking down at all the high-ranking officials of Sunagakure, his eyes seeming to hold Sabaku, his aura imposing.

Everyone present remained silent. They had all just received the news and were still processing it, so they didn't really have any good ideas.

An eerie silence fell over the room until Chiyo, sitting in the first seat on the right, finally spoke.

"Regardless, we haven't officially declared war on Konoha yet, so there's still room for maneuver. Let's send envoys first to exchange the ninjas captured by Konoha!"

With Chiyo leading the way, the issue of prisoners of war was immediately discussed on the field.

"Can this be exchanged back? If it were me, I definitely wouldn't exchange it. Wouldn't that be aiding the enemy?"

"If they don't change it, we'll fight them to the death!"

"What can we fight with? We're down to half our men on the defensive line, and now we have to figure out where to replace them."

"Let's team up with Iwagakure and attack Konoha together! I don't believe they won't give it to us!"

Suddenly, all sorts of ideas popped up, turning the meeting room into a bustling marketplace with constant buzzing.

A loud thud as someone slammed their hand on the table silenced the noisy conference room. Everyone turned to look at the Third Kazekage, who sat at the head of the table.

"This is a meeting, not your own home where you can say whatever you want. Don't you have any manners?!" Kazekage was clearly angry. What kind of time is this to be fighting for power and arguing over a little bit of a voice?

He turned to Chiyo on his right. "Elder, what are your thoughts?"

Chiyo slowly picked up the cup on the table, took a sip of tea, and put it back on the table before calmly saying, "An envoy must be sent, otherwise who will be willing to work hard in the future? If people's hearts are scattered, what kind of Sunagakure will there be!"

As for the conditions—ransom, a mission from the Land of Rivers, or, if all else fails, agreeing to stop stationing troops in the Land of Rivers, as long as the people are returned first—any of these are acceptable!

"Absurd!" An elder slammed his fist on the table, his eyes blazing as if he were about to breathe fire. "We fought so hard to win over the Land of Rivers, how can we just give it up like that!"

Chiyo looked at the elder with an expression of utter disbelief, not even bothering to open her mouth again.

It was Ebizo was sitting to her left, who spoke up to explain, "Let's rescue them first. We can take back what we promised to give them later. Besides, whether Konoha will even have time to deal with the affairs of the Land of Rivers at that time is another matter!"

The elder who had just spoken fell silent. He realized that his heart was too kind and couldn't compare to the cunning of these political players. He should just focus on fighting!

Seeing that no one else had raised any objections, the Third Kazekage made his decision. "Then this matter is settled. Elder Chiyo, we'll trouble you to handle this mission. The village is giving you full authority to represent us. You can make your judgment based on the actual situation. As long as you bring everyone back, the village will accept all the results!"

Upon hearing this, the room fell silent. Even knowing that the Third Kazekage might be putting on a show, the fact that he could speak so frankly was truly worthy of everyone's loyalty!

"Since Lord Kazekage has said so, then this old woman will make the trip and bring back all the children from Sunagakure!" Chiyo immediately declared, promising to set off as soon as possible to complete the mission.

"Now that we've finished discussing the prisoners, let's continue our discussion on the village's next steps."

"Let's replenish the ninjas along the border first. Even if we can't reach the original number, we can't let it be like this, with such a large border area and not even 1,500 people."

"First, draw some personnel from both the Land of Earth Line and the Land of Rain Line."

"No, Iwagakure has been making frequent moves lately. If we draw personnel from there again, we won't have enough troops Iwagakure suddenly attack us."

"Let's transfer people from the villages. Have the major clans send some more men, enough to make five hundred to go first. Once those prisoners return, the border garrison will be about the right size."

This is the main purpose of this meeting: how to replenish troops when there is a shortage of personnel on the Northern Front border and manpower cannot be drawn from other defense lines?

It's time for all the major families in the village to contribute. You've taken up so many of the village's resources and enjoyed so many benefits all this time, just for this moment.

The patriarchs of the various families present, facing the intense gazes of the other high-ranking members, knew that this was a responsibility they could not escape.

The first Clan Leader nodded in agreement to send out ninjas.

Then came the second, and the third.

Under the prevailing trend, it didn't take long for all the families to agree to this arrangement.

With the two most important issues resolved, the remaining issues remain uncertain for the time being. We can only make further arrangements once the specific investigation results are received.

Thus, the meeting came and went in a hurry, but the situation facing Sunagakure became increasingly severe. Not to mention the strong pressure from Konoha, other fronts were not sure how long they could remain stable after this battle.

Those attending the meeting were all intelligent people from Sunagakure, and they all naturally understood that now it was up to the Third Kazekage to decide what to do next.

In today's Ninja World, all nations have deployed troops to their borders. Everyone is on guard against each other, and the slightest disturbance makes everyone tense.

I'm afraid someone might launch a surprise attack without warning, causing me heavy losses.

Naturally, in a large-scale war like the conflict between Sunagakure and Konoha, other countries received specific intelligence a day or two later than Sunagakure and Konoha.

After reviewing the intelligence report, the Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, immediately ordered the reinforcement of troops to the Land of Fire Land of Wind.

On the one hand, they strengthened their defenses against Konoha.

On the other hand, we need to see if there are any profitable opportunities in the direction of the Land of Wind.

It's important to understand that, compared to the Land of Wind, although it's mostly desert, the oases there offer relatively pleasant environments. The Land of Earth, however, is largely barren rocky terrain with rugged walls, making it far less suitable for human habitation.

This is why the Land of Earth always attacks the Land of Wind in every war. There's no other way; Land of Earth is just too difficult.

Almost simultaneously, a burst of boisterous laughter erupted from the Raikage's Office in Kumogakure.

"Those sand rats from Sunagakure are truly a bunch of trash. They outnumbered us and still got killed!" The Third A, said to Karui, who was standing beside him, while holding up a large dumbbell, "Do you think we should send someone infiltrate and see if we can gain any advantage?"

Karui was speechless. Traveling from the Land of Lightning to the Land of Wind would require passing through at least five countries, and by sea, it would require breaking through the maritime blockade of the Land of Fire and the Land of Water. No matter how you looked at it, it was a troublesome and unprofitable undertaking.

She really didn't know what the Lord Raikage was thinking. Did he just make this decision on a whim?

After a lengthy explanation, Karui finally dispelled the Raikage's unrealistic idea. However, in the end, the Raikage still ordered an additional 500 ninja troops to be added to the Border Troops of the Land of Fire.

They were also taken aback by Konoha's fighting strength and had to take certain precautions.

Meanwhile, in Kirigakure, far away in the Land of Water, the Third Mizukage was implementing his Bloody Mist Village policy to strengthen his power, completely ignoring the trivial matters of Sunagakure.

They simply increased the intensity of patrols at sea. Although Konoha wouldn't actively provoke Mist Village, it's better to be safe than sorry. Necessary precautions are still necessary.

While news arrived from all directions along the border of the Land of Fire that the opposing ninja village had reinforced its forces, Jiraiya and Nara Shikaku were conducting tactical simulations on a new sand table.

Not long ago, the village's commendation document was delivered to Jiraiya. Everyone in the Camp, even the ninjas in charge of logistics, received corresponding rewards, but Jiraiya himself was not praised.

Jiraiya was well aware of the trickery involved; it was simply a way of putting him, the frontline Commander, in a difficult position.

But he didn't regret it. The opportunity was once in a lifetime. If he had reported it to the village, given Jiraiya's understanding of Hiruzen Sarutobi, the matter would most likely have fallen through.

Looking at the intelligence report in his hand, Jiraiya help but jokingly say to Shikaku, "I bet the village is already complaining about us, saying that our actions have greatly increased the pressure on all the defense lines."

Shikaku was speechless upon hearing this, but upon closer reflection, it was indeed possible. The fact that Jiraiya's name was not included in this commendation made him feel that the Village Higher-Ups had acted in a poorly considered manner.

Regardless, the war was won, and even to appease the people and maintain morale at the front, this shouldn't be done. Is it really because Jiraiya a disciple of the Third Kazekage that there are no such restrictions?

And those two Jonin Advisor who were sent over—it's obvious they don't even trust the higher-ups at the front lines, which is why they sent these two to monitor them!

At that moment, an intelligence ninja quickly entered the tent, interrupting Jiraiya and Shikaku's thoughts.

"Lord Jiraiya, the ninjas patrolling the front lines have spotted someone claiming to be a messenger from Sunagakure and requesting to come to the village to see the Hokage-sama."

Jiraiya and Shikaku exchanged a glance, immediately understanding the meaning in each other's eyes: They arrived really quickly!

How many people are there, and who is the leader?

"There are four people in total, and the leader is Chiyo from Sunagakure!"

"It's that old hag! She's really bold to send an envoy to Konoha!" Jiraiya muttered to himself. Influenced by Tsunade, he didn't have a good impression of Chiyo.

"My lord, what should we do? Should we see her?" Shikaku inquired about Jiraiya's arrangements. They needed to handle this formal mission with caution.

"What's the point of seeing her? We can't kill her anyway." Jiraiya waved his hand dismissively, then said to the reporting ninja, "Send men to follow them and escort them to Konoha. Don't let them out of your sight during that time."

"Yes!" The intelligence ninja acknowledged the order and left.

"They must be after those prisoners, but I wonder what decision the village will make!" Shikaku said with some worry.

"What else can we do? We went through so much trouble to capture them, we can't just release them without giving them any benefits, can we? There's no such thing as a free lunch!" Jiraiya seem to care. "We should focus on studying the defenses of the Land of Rivers."

Chiyo looked at the several Konoha Ninja surrounding her, who were tense and full of hostility. Four Chunin were considered an elite squad.

If she weren't an envoy, she would have poisoned those four long ago. None of these border ninjas these days have their hands unstained with the blood of Sunagakure Ninja.

Chiyo suppressed her murderous intent and waited for them to let her go.

Not long after, another group of Konoha Ninja arrived with orders from headquarters to allow passage and escort the messenger to Konoha.

Thus, a Konoha team, ostensibly for escort but actually for surveillance, accompanied Chiyo and the Chiyo towards Konoha.

Just as they were about to arrive at Konoha, a Communication Hawk from the Land of Wind finally caught up with the group and delivered some of the latest intelligence to Chiyo.

They retrieved the letter tied to the Communication Hawk's leg, deciphered its contents, and discovered the true course of the First Shinobi World War, its causes and consequences, and the reactions of various countries during that time.

After reading the letter, Chiyo casually waved her hand, and the complete letter was instantly cut into fine powder by the Wind Blade. This showed that Chiyo was not only skilled in Puppet Technique, but also in Wind Style.

Matsushita Taichi is quite an interesting kid. It seems that Konoha has produced another powerful medical ninja after Tsunade.

Thinking about it, Chiyo frowned. It seemed that among the bounties posted on the underground black market some time ago, there was also a person named Taichi Matsushita. It seemed that he was also a restless person, which made him an even greater threat to Sunagakure.

Considering the reactions of other countries to Konoha, Chiyo's brow unfurrowed; it seemed this mission would be easier than she had imagined.