Preparations of the Rock and Cloud Ninja

Land of Earth!

Iwagakure!

"Father, this is Konoha's statement addressed to the ninja world!"

Kitsuchi handed the folded letter in his hand to Ōnoki with a strange expression.

"Konoha?"

"Now that things have come to this, what else could they possibly be sending out? Don't tell me they're begging for mercy?"

"Heh!"

"It's useless. Since they rashly attacked the Land of Fire's daimyo, they must bear the corresponding consequences!"

"Still, if they really want peace, perhaps we can negotiate some terms. That way, even if the war doesn't yield what we want, we won't come out empty-handed."

Ōnoki did not notice Kitsuchi's twitching mouth as he directly unfolded the letter in his hand.

"Father, are you alright...?"

Kitsuchi cautiously called out twice as he looked at his father, who seemed as though someone had grabbed him by the throat.

"Father..."

"Fa—"

Bang!

"How outrageous!!!"

"This is absolutely outrageous!"

"What does the Hokage mean by this? What does he mean, he'll respond with force?"

"Forget the fact that Iwagakure hasn't even deployed troops yet—even if we had, with Konoha in its current state, shouldn't they be placating us nicely?"

"How dare he? How dare he humiliate me like this?"

"Ah... ah... ah..."

"I'm furious to death..."

With a hum!

The enraged Ōnoki directly crumpled the letter in his hand into a ball.

Then, he formed Dust Release in his palm and reduced it to dust, leaving not even ashes behind.

Faced with his old father's fury, Kitsuchi stood innocently to one side and quietly waited for him to calm down, not daring to interrupt at all.

"Ah... ah... ah..."

Crack!

Hiss!

"Ow, ow, ow!"

"My old back!"

Ōnoki's chest heaved violently in his rage, but the sharp pain from his waist soon made it impossible for him to keep carrying on.