Hinata, Stop Pretending

"We're in an incredibly awful situation, aren't we?!"

"But if we looked at it another way, perhaps we could use this opportunity to achieve some of our goals directly."

The Fourth Raikage, Ay, seemed somewhat displeased as he said, "Hmph. Back when those trash from the Four Heavenly Phenomena came asking to cooperate with us, I already said it. This so-called ultimate weapon, whatever it might be..."

"Something so vague and intangible could never compare to becoming stronger ourselves. But every last one of you kept lecturing me. Well, look at us now! Something went wrong, didn't it?!"

"Who's to say the leak about this matter wasn't very likely the work of the Four Heavenly Phenomena? If I'd known, I should've smashed those bastards to pieces from the start."

Shii did not pay attention to the still-indignant Fourth Raikage.

Instead, he continued, "Although our position is rather awkward, if you think it through carefully, you'll realize that the major nations absolutely cannot truly join forces against Kumogakure without reservations."

"Leaving aside whether the information has even been confirmed, even if it has, in this shinobi world where profit comes first, the higher-ups of the other ninja villages must be thinking about how to claim this so-called ultimate weapon for themselves."

"But right now, there are still no clues about the ultimate weapon. As the spark that set off this incident, we can use it as a pretext to do a few things."

"For example, we can spread rumors to drive a wedge between the other ninja villages."

"That would give them misgivings no matter what. And with that, there's no way they could cooperate sincerely."

"With that premise in place, this so-called alliance would be nothing more than empty talk on paper. It simply wouldn't be realistic."

"Of course, during