"The intelligence is accurate. I just returned to the village from Konoha myself. I had originally planned to send the information about the Perfect Jinchūriki back to the village first before considering an alliance with Konoha. I didn't expect that old Raikage to be even faster than me."
"Tsuchikage."
Inside the conference room, the daimyo of the Land of Earth could no longer sit still. Anxiously, he asked, "So that means the village—and even the Land of Earth—will face threats from both Konoha and Kumogakure in the future?"
Glancing at the anxious daimyo, Ōnoki hesitated before replying gloomily:
"At the very least, the pressure from Kumogakure will be greater. As for Konoha, they just finished their war with Sunagakure, so they'll focus on recovery for a while. What I'm truly worried about is Kumogakure."
Everyone present knew perfectly well what the relationship between Iwagakure and Kumogakure was like. Friction never ceased, battles could erupt at any moment, and one careless move could turn it into a shinobi war.
Konoha would prioritize recovery only if Kumogakure did not start a war. Once Kumogakure did, as its ally, even if Konoha did not want to fight, it would have no choice but to enter the fray.
When that happened, Iwagakure would face the risk of being attacked from both sides.
"Then what do we do? Are we supposed to keep yielding to Kumogakure from now on?"
"Yield my ass! Yielding will only make Kumogakure push its luck!! If they can form an alliance, so can we."
"Where's your brain? Who can the village ally with at this stage? Konoha and Kumogakure are in the same boat, Sunagakure is practically Konoha's dog, and Kirigakure is still in the middle of internal strife. Who exactly are you going to ally with?"
"..."
"That still