Reactions from Various Villages

Baki nodded with a bright smile, indicating that he understood.

"Well, that's it, I'm going to get back to work."

Saying that, Rasa condensed sand under his feet once more, soaring straight out of the window.

Sunagakure's finances were currently close to a deficit, and he was still busy refining gold dust to sell and subsidize the village.

Land of Earth.

Inside the Tsuchikage Building office in Iwagakure.

A short but imposing old man sat in the primary seat, who was none other than the Third Tsuchikage Ōnoki, the personal disciple of the First Tsuchikage and the Second Tsuchikage, and the current pillar of stability in Iwagakure.

Below him sat a crowd of elders.

Right now, the council of elders was chattering endlessly, all discussing whether they could take advantage of Konoha.

Ōnoki slammed the table. "Quiet!"

Ōnoki still commanded authority, and the council of elders instantly fell silent, all eyes converging on him.

Ōnoki made his executive decision. "Konoha merely lost Sarutobi Hiruzen, which has not caused them any serious impact. We will not participate, dismissed."

The elders did not dare to raise the slightest objection either, and after they left, a little girl skipped in.

Ōnoki, who had just been as majestic as a prison, immediately revealed a doting expression upon seeing the little girl, yet before he could even speak, he heard his precious granddaughter say, "Grandpa, can I go outside the village to play with Deidara-gii?"

Ōnoki's expression stiffened. "No way, no way, Grandpa is telling you, you are not allowed to go find him."

Kurotsuchi asked again, "Then when is Deidara-gii going to stay outside the village until, when is he coming back?"

Ōnoki snorted coldly. "We'll let him come back after he has reflected enough."

Inside a house in Iwagakure, a boy wearing glasses finished reading the slip of paper in his hand, a trace of surprise flashing through his eyes. Immediately afterward, he swallowed the paper, and his originally numb gaze grew somewhat spirited.

Silently, he came to the window, gazing out at the distant sky. I can finally go back, I wonder if Mother Director is doing well, along with the companions... he thought quietly. At the mere notion of the word "return" instantly written on the paper, he could not help but leap for joy.

Land of Lightning.

Inside the Raikage Building office in Kumogakure.

A tall, dark-skinned, powerfully built man paced back and forth in the room, his expression grave as if pondering something very important.

At that moment, the door was knocked upon.

The muscular man snapped his head up. "Enter!"

A tall, thin figure walked in, saluting, "Lord Raikage."

"Ah, Darui, you're here. This is intelligence urgently sent back from Konoha by our people. Take a look and give me your reference."

Fourth Raikage A impatiently retrieved the intelligence from the desk and handed it to Darui.

Darui had dark skin, long white hair, bangs covering his left eye, and thick lips. He bore tattoos of the characters for "Lightning" and "Water" on his left and right shoulders respectively, and carried a blade strapped to his back.

Darui took the intelligence and read through it carefully, unable to conceal the look of astonishment in his eyes.

"To think that Fierce Eye Fugaku actually had the guts to usurp power? One must look at him with new eyes after three days apart."

Darui said with surprise.

Fourth Raikage A waved a hand. "Uchiha Fugaku is a spineless fellow not worth fearing. I'm wondering, is this an opportunity to invade Konoha?"

Ever since that old fogey Sarutobi Hiruzen became Hokage, he had basically never left Konoha, and had never crossed blows with him. Hearing Konoha people boast that Sarutobi Hiruzen was the strongest Hokage in history, he, the Fourth Raikage, was unconvinced.

Yet for Sarutobi Hiruzen to actually be killed by Uchiha Fugaku, it seemed his title of the strongest Hokage in history did not live up to reality, and was merely an empty name.

Darui pondered for a moment, shaking his head. "Lord Raikage, my suggestion is to remain still and wait."

Before Darui could finish speaking, Fourth Raikage widened his eyes and asked impatiently, "Why?"

If anyone else faced such an eager Raikage, they would certainly feel extremely unnatural, but as the Fourth Raikage's guard, Darui was long accustomed to the Fourth Raikage's hot temper. Unhurriedly, he explained, "The reason is very simple. According to the intelligence currently passed back, Uchiha Fugaku's coup this time was very successful. After killing the Third Hokage, no intense internal conflict erupted within Konoha. Only Sarutobi Hiruzen died, which did not deal too great a blow to Konoha's strength."

Darui thought for a moment. "We might as well dispatch people once more to scout for more intelligence, and then judge whether to attack Konoha."

"Fine, I get it. Then I'll leave this matter to you to handle."

The Fourth Raikage agreed with a trace of reluctance.

Though he was a reckless brute, he was no fool. Hearing Darui's analysis, he did not act on impulse either, instead consenting to Darui's opinion.

Darui nodded and went off to attend to the task.

Two days later, Kirigakure in the Water Country, far out upon the great ocean, finally received the news.

Kirigakure had not planted any sleeper agents within Konoha, mainly because they were up to their own necks in trouble themselves, so how could they possibly have the energy to send people to plant operatives in other villages?

Ever since Karatachi Yagura returned to normal, he had issued the Water Country's isolationist policy, completely sealing Kirigakure off. First, he held a meeting to announce his past state of being controlled by genjutsu, along with his decision to abdicate and yield the position to anyone who could produce fine governance.

Subsequently, facing the talent-starved situation, he even declared the pardon and recall of Kirigakure rogue ninjas who had defected from the village.

As for the news of Konoha's usurpation, it was brought back by a certain Kirigakure rogue ninja currently in the Land of Fire upon hearing the rumors.

At that moment, the Mizukage Building conference room was packed with people.

Karatachi Yagura rubbed his temples with a headache.

Having governed for the past few days, the festering state of Kirigakure had him on the verge of a breakdown.

Massive fiscal deficits, a scarcity of talent, subordinates filled with mutual distrust, and everyone living in a state of terror lest Karatachi Yagura repeat the same old disasters.

He too found every step difficult.

Hearing the news of the usurpation in Konoha, he realized this might be an opportunity.

Yet after convening a meeting to discuss it with the crowd, the elder Genji, who possessed power and status on par with the Mizukage, was the first to voice opposition.

He felt that the current Kirigakure lacked the strength to provoke a behemoth like Konoha.

Even though Konoha had lost the Third Hokage, their ninja numbers had basically not suffered a sharp decline. During this coup and power seizure by the Uchiha Clan, Konoha had not suffered much impact or weakening.

Genji's words won the agreement of the majority of Kirigakure Jonin, leaving Karatachi Yagura with no choice but to abandon the notion of milking benefits from Konoha.

Yet Kirigakure genuinely had no money left. Where was he supposed to go to secure funds?

According to a loyal subordinate, the salaries of the Jonin squad had gone unpaid for ages!

At the thought of this, Karatachi Yagura's head split with pain. Truly, he had no idea what to do about this mess.

Meanwhile, two individuals who did not belong here set foot upon the island where Kirigakure was located.