Hinata, Stop Pretending

A week later, Sunagakure of the Land of Wind.

With no Kage at present, Sunagakure's affairs were entirely overseen by the elders among its upper ranks.

At today's regular meeting, an elder who was clearly highly influential rose first and said, "All right, let me be the first to discuss some important intelligence I've gathered for today's meeting!"

Naturally, no one interrupted him. Since this elder had brought it up, it was certainly no trivial matter, so everyone remained silent.

The elder was nearly sixty years old. In a far from calm tone, he said, "Here's the situation."

"According to information sent by spies I placed throughout the ninja world, there seems to have been some unusual activity in the Artisan Ninja Village neighboring our Land of Wind."

"Specifically, it seems that the Four Heavenly Phenomena, one of the Artisan Ninja Village's two major factions, is preparing to use the legendary ultimate weapon of the Artisan Ninja Village to trigger the Fourth Great Ninja War."

The moment he said that, someone naturally objected. An elder spoke up and asked, "Impossible. Leaving aside whether this ultimate weapon even exists, even if it does—"

"Given the Artisan Ninja Village's strength alone, frankly, they can't stir up much of a storm."

As soon as he said that, others immediately voiced their agreement.

Another relatively neutral elder said, "Whether this matter is true or false, we should consider the current state of Sunagakure."

"I trust everyone has seen it. It would be best for us to involve ourselves in such matters as little as possible."

"Of course, that is assuming the threat is not too great. That way, even if things escalate later, we won't be the only ones bearing the risks."

The first elder was clearly becoming agitated. "Naturally, I know all that.