Deliberate Leakage of the Quota List and the Chain Trap of Induced Intervention

It was late at night.

Only Baishi and Shikaku Nara remained in the Hokage's Office. The ANBU operative had long since withdrawn, yet the chill of the night he had brought seemed to linger in the air.

Baishi slowly spread Amegakure's Scroll across the desk.

The paper was fine washi, and the handwriting elegant, yet it carried an unquestionable arrogance. There were not many categories on the list, but the numbers behind each one were like poison-coated blades.

Especially the entry for Dragon Whisker Grass.

Not only had the requested quota risen by thirty percent over previous years, but the unit price had directly doubled.

Standing beside him, Shikaku Nara merely glanced at it before his brows furrowed tightly.

"This is extortion," he said in a low voice.

"Yes, and no." Baishi lightly tapped his fingertips against the desk, producing a dull sound.

He was not looking at the list, but at the countless lights of Konoha beyond the window.

"Amegakure is like a patient laid over a fire right now. Akatsuki is the fire, while we and Sunagakure are the ones standing nearby and handing them knives." Baishi's tone was calm, as if he were reviewing a chess game that had nothing to do with him. "They are eager to prove that they can control the resources of the Land of Rain and earn themselves a ticket to the table. So the higher their demands and the tougher their stance, the more it reveals their inner weakness."

Shikaku Nara said nothing. He knew the Hokage did not need analysis—only execution.

Baishi withdrew his gaze, rolled up the list, and casually placed it atop a stack of documents awaiting filing at the corner of the desk. It was neither conspicuous nor particularly confidential.

He picked up another report concerning Kyoto's