Iwanin Raids the Border

Calling me over in such a rush—something major must have happened.

Pulling out a chair, Rasa sat opposite the desk and asked, "What happened?"

Chiyo's expression was grave, her voice heavy with worry. "Just moments ago, our scouts sent back intelligence.

Iwagakure is claiming their Four-Tails Jinchuriki has gone missing, and under that pretext, they have dispatched a large force of ninja into the Land of Wind, claiming they are searching for the lost Jinchuriki.

They have already wiped out several of our outposts both inside and outside our borders. The situation is extremely tense."

"Heh."

Rasa couldn't help but let out a scoff, teasing, "Two Scales Onoki is quite the talent. If he wants to make a move on us, he should just say so; why bother with such a pathetic excuse?"

A Jinchuriki is important to a village, but not that important.

In the original story, every village except Konohagakure sent their Jinchuriki to the battlefield; only Konohagakure treated them like nuclear weapons to be hidden away—though that was also because Konohagakure was simply too strong.

Take the Third Shinobi World War as an example: Konohagakure had the Sannin, Minato Namikaze, Danzo, and Hiruzen Sarutobi—six Kage-level powerhouses, each capable of holding their own.

What about the other villages? If they didn't trot out their Jinchuriki, they would be ground into the dirt by Konohagakure.

Even so, using a missing Jinchuriki as an excuse to enter the Land of Wind was a stretch. Wasn't this just like those cross-provincial arrests for petty crimes?

"Indeed."

Chiyo nodded, her face looking even more aged. She hadn't expected war to arrive so soon. "It must be that our recent troop movements were too frequent and were detected by Iwagakure.

This squad of ninja was likely sent by Two Scales Onoki to probe for information.

If they manage to discern our true strength, we can be certain that Iwagakure will not let this opportunity to kick us while we're down pass them by."

Points +1+1+1...

Rasa lowered his head in thought. From this point on, things had already deviated from the original plot. It wasn't Kumogakure that moved first, but Iwagakure testing the waters.

But this was only logical. A typical transmigrator might have struggled, but he had started as a Kage-level powerhouse, preventing Sunagakure from falling into chaos. The impact was massive.

The butterfly effect was more beneficial than harmful to him. The hardships were only temporary; once he survived this hurdle, the situation would be entirely different, and the points would roll in.

"So what do we do now? Stop the war preparations, or send people to stall the Iwagakure forces?"

Ebizo, disguised as the Kazekage, folded his hands, his heart filled with anxiety. Sunagakure was not yet fully prepared; if war broke out now, they would suffer a total defeat across the board.

"Absolutely not!"

Chiyo slammed her hand on the table, rejecting Ebizo's suggestion. She said firmly, "The Kazekage has passed away; that is an indisputable fact.

Once the news leaks, we will certainly be attacked from all sides. Even if we let young Rasa take the seat now, war cannot be avoided.

His combat record isn't glorious enough. Not only would his own people not submit to him, but the other villages wouldn't believe he could hold Sunagakure together.

Our war preparations must not stop, or we will be forced into a completely passive position once the war begins."

Rasa nodded; Chiyo's thoughts aligned with his own.

Succeeding as Kazekage wasn't as simple as just sitting in a chair. It meant a transfer of political power, which would inevitably cause instability in the village—and that instability was exactly what the other villages were waiting for.

Even if he were to head north to Iwagakure right now and chop off Two Scales Onoki's head, people would still question his strength, claiming that perhaps Two Scales Onoki had just thrown out his back and Rasa had merely picked up the scraps.

People are blind; they only believe what they want to believe.

Ultimately, it was because Sunagakure was too weak. Weakness is the original sin; if you are weak, you deserve to be beaten.

"Then what now? If we don't send people to stall them, we can't just let them run wild within the Land of Wind, can we?

If this drags on, our secrets will be exposed.

Being too aggressive won't work either. Two Scales Onoki is a hardliner; if we send troops to surround and annihilate them, Iwagakure will have their justification for war."

Ebizo's brow was furrowed, his eyes bloodshot. Having played the role of Kazekage for so long, he finally understood the difficulty of the position. Managing every little thing was exhausting.

When a village is weak, the worries are endless.

What to do? Naturally, it was time to give them a taste of hell.

Rasa's desire for battle stirred. He asked, "How many did they send, and where are they roughly?"

Hearing the intent to fight in Rasa's voice, Chiyo was silent for a moment before pulling out a map of the Shinobi World.

Pointing to a location, she said, "According to our scouts, there are at least thirty of them. They broke through at this point and are moving in a Z-pattern, gradually advancing into the Land of Wind.

The team is led by the Iwagakure elite jonin, Mahiru, who is very fast and skilled in swordsmanship.

Furthermore, there is the Kekkei Genkai user, the Explosion Release ninja, Hunter. Both are extremely troublesome opponents.

At this moment, they have likely split into several small squads, as their mission is to gather intelligence."

Rasa rested his chin on one hand, looking disdainful. An elite jonin named Mahiru? He'd never heard of him. A name that pretentious sounded like a total scrub.

As for that Explosion Release ninja, he seemed to have been reanimated during the Fourth Shinobi World War. He hadn't expected to run into him during the Third.

No matter. He'd slaughter them all!

Ebizo pondered for a moment. Making them disappear without a trace was likely the best approach. He cautioned, "Do it discreetly.

We aren't ready for war yet, and we don't want this incident to become the reason for a conflict with Iwagakure.

You know how it is—Two Scales Onoki is incredibly stubborn, paranoid, and loves to take risks."

Rasa nodded. "When it comes to cutting people down, I'm the best at it."

Chiyo was not entirely at ease and asked, "How many people do you intend to take? It's best not to bring too many, otherwise, it will attract attention."

There was one more thing Chiyo didn't say: in fact, bringing Pakura along would help ease the tension between the two and unite the smaller factions within the village.

"Since we want to be discreet, we might as well be discreet to the end."

Rasa smiled, clasped his hands behind his head, leaned back, and spoke with ease: "It's just Iwagakure's bad luck.

I heard that near the location where they broke through, an organization called the Celestial Organization was recently established.

The leader of the Celestial Organization is a Kage-level powerhouse with a strong sense of territoriality; he will slaughter any enemies who enter his sphere of influence.

Because the Four-Tails Jinchuriki went missing, Iwagakure sent out ninjas to search, and they inadvertently trespassed into the Celestial Organization's territory.

The two sides clashed, and the Iwagakure ninjas were wiped out. Listen, how pleasant that sounds."

"By this calculation, it has nothing to do with our Sunagakure. No matter how they try to argue, they can't pin this on us."

Chiyo nodded. Shifting the blame was perfect, but there was still one thing she couldn't figure out. She asked with suspicion, "Where did you get this intelligence?

When was this Celestial Organization established? If their leader is truly that powerful, it's impossible for us to have heard absolutely nothing about them."

"It was established a minute ago."

Creating an alias is addictive; it's time to roll out a new one! And while I'm at it, I'll find an organization for the Himura Kenshin alias.