Ōnoki's Worry

Iwagakure, inside the Tsuchikage Building!

Ōnoki sat alone in the Tsuchikage's office. His expression was grave as he seemed to be deep in thought.

On the desk before him lay a scroll that had only recently been opened, containing information about Kumogakure.

Originally, after his meeting with the Fourth Raikage in the Land of Iron, their two villages had temporarily formed an alliance to prevent Konoha from unifying the Shinobi World.

At the time, Ōnoki had proposed that the Fourth Raikage lead the Kumogakure ninja forces through the Lands of Frost and Hot Water, then launch a direct, fierce assault on the Land of Fire.

Meanwhile, he would lead the Iwagakure ninja through the Land of Stone and begin taking the Land of Fire from the other side.

Ōnoki had made that plan in order to avoid letting the war break out within the Land of Earth. No matter how the battle went, at the very least, the civilians of the Land of Earth would not be caught up in it.

However, the Fourth Raikage had flatly rejected his proposal, and the reason was simple: the threat posed by Kirigakure.

Although Kirigakure's overall strength ranked near the bottom among the Five Great Ninja Villages, surpassed only by Sunagakure, in the past, neither Iwagakure nor Kumogakure would have taken Kirigakure seriously.

But things were different now. Even if Kirigakure's overall strength was lacking compared to the other ninja villages, it was still one of the Five Great Ninja Villages, and its Fifth Mizukage, Mei Terumi, was a powerful Kage-level expert.

Therefore, before dealing with Mei Terumi and the Kirigakure ninja forces she led at the border of the Land of Lightning, the Fourth Raikage would never lead Kumogakure in an assault on Konoha.

The Fourth Raikage's attitude on this matter had