Ye didn't answer, just looked at the wind and snow in the sky calmly.
Time passes.
The distant Land of Lightning, Kumogakure, Raikage Tower top.
The blizzard whipped against the thick floor-to-ceiling glass, making strange noises like wild beasts gnawing.
Ai was sitting in a large chair, clutching a battle report that he had not yet finished reading.
There were rapid footsteps outside the door, and several Hidden Cloud remnants, covered in blood, stumbled in.
"Crack!"
The thick fingers tightened, veins popped out, a corner of the solid wood handrail shattered, and wooden thorns dug into the palm of his hand, but Ai seemed to feel no pain, and all the muscles in his body were spasming.
"You... tell me again?!"
His voice seemed to be squeezed out from the depths of hell, and an irrepressible blue electric light exploded from his body.
There was a crackling sound, and the leather sofa next to it was split into a pile of smelly coke by high-voltage current.
The lights in the entire office were flickering on and off like crazy, and the chandeliers were swaying on the ceiling.
Four bloody men were kneeling on the floor, their hair disheveled, their ninja uniforms were torn into rags, stained with blood and flesh.
Some people's arms were bent at weird angles, some people's eyes were still bleeding, and their bodies were shaking like chaff.
"A thousand elites... all... all gone...Konoha only used three hundred Genin..."
The leader, Hidden Cloud Jonin, knocked his head against the stone slab, and blood fell to the ground on the spot. His cries were filled with madness that had shattered his mind.
"Lord Raikage, the information is all false! The news from the Daimyō Mansion is all a show played by Konoha! They have not run out of food, and they are not bankrupt! That is a slaughterhouse!"
"The ones dispatched by Konoha are not ANBU at all, but a group of companies Genin!"
Snot and tears mixed with blood flowed down his face, and his voice became hoarse.
"But they wore a kind of dark gray armor! Hundreds of us smashed it down with Lightning Release, and the iron shell was completely sucked clean!"
"Master Darui fired Lightning Release Chakra Mode, and was punched by that Genin... just one punch! Lightning Armor was shattered on the spot, and the sternum was completely broken!"
"The Taijutsu and speed that we are so proud of are just a joke in front of those monsters!"
Another one, Chunin, who had a broken arm, kowtowed desperately and answered the words incoherently.
"Can't be beaten! Can't run away! Kakashi led people to block the road, and our people were slaughtered unilaterally like dogs! A thousand people... a thousand brothers, all gone!"
There was a muffled "bang" sound, and the iron-wood handrail in Ai's hand that could block the knife was crushed into a handful of powder, which leaked onto the carpet from between his fingers.
He stared at a pair of bloodshot to scarlet eyeballs, breathing heavily, and his whole body seemed to explode at any time.
At this point, Ai still couldn't believe it.
Thousands of elites were wiped out by three hundred Genin?
Land of Lightning, Kumogakure.
Raikage Tower Top.
Four bloody Hidden Cloud remnant soldiers were kneeling on the floor, their foreheads pressed against the cold ground, their bodies shaking non-stop.
Raikage A kicked the solid wood table in front of him, and the heavy table body hit the wall, falling apart with a loud noise, and the broken wood fell to the ground.
Violent Lightning Release Chakra spurted out of Ai's body, and blue electric arcs ran wildly against Qiu's knotted muscles.
The chandelier was broken down by electric current, the office flickered on and off, and the air was filled with a burnt smell.
"A thousand elites."
Ai stared at the four people on the ground, his teeth chattering.
"Being wiped out by three hundred Konoha Genin."
Every time he spoke a word, the electric arc in the room became more frenzied.
"Darui was seriously injured and on the verge of death. Lightning Release Chakra Mode was torn apart by a set of Iron Shell armor."
Ai's eyes were bloodshot and he strode up to the four remaining soldiers.
The violent Chakra pressure came down, and it became difficult for the four of them to breathe. They lowered their heads in despair, waiting for the wrath of thunder.
Ai didn't move a finger from them, and his casserole-sized fist hit the floor in front of the remaining soldiers.
After the loud noise, the solid stone slab collapsed on the spot, and cracks spread in all directions until they reached the root of the wall.
The four remaining soldiers were so frightened that they were trembling and crying for mercy.
"Lord Raikage, we are incompetent, we deserve to die!"
"Shut up!"
Ai gritted his teeth and swallowed down the anger that was about to explode. When he spoke again, his voice was low and hoarse.
"That weird Chakra Armor is the root cause of Darui's defeat."
"If you can bring the information back alive, you have completed your mission."
Ai retracted his fist, stood up straight, and glanced at the four people with a heavy gaze.
"But what happened today is all rotten in my stomach!"
"Whoever dares to utter even a word in the village and cause panic is the Hidden Cloud sinner!"
"Do you understand?"
"Understood, Lord Raikage!"
The four remaining soldiers nodded wildly.
"Go down and get Medical Corps to treat your injuries!"
Ai waved his hand, and when the remaining soldiers retreated and the door was closed tightly, he could no longer suppress the rage and regret in his chest, turned around and punched the wall hard.
The reinforced concrete collapsed and rubble fell.
Hidden Cloud must not get wind of this defeat first.
Ōnoki and Rasa Those two old Fox will never miss the opportunity to tear flesh from Hidden Cloud as long as they smell a little smell of blood.
The door hinge turned, and Mabui walked in quickly, holding an emergency battle report in his hand and frowning.
"The main forces of Lord Raikage, Iwagakure, Sunagakure and Kirigakure have all moved."
"They received exact information from Daimyō's Office of the Land of Fire and concluded that Konoha has run out of food and is on the verge of collapse internally."
"Konoha is out of food?"
Ai turned around, his eyes were bloodshot, and his sneer was both cruel and sober.
"If it is true, where did the three hundred sets of monster armors that can swallow Lightning Release come from?!"
Mabui asked in a low voice, "Are our main forces still gathering?"
Ai walked to the window and listened to the blizzard beating on the glass outside.
"Continue to assemble, but first move troops to the border. Do not cross the line even a step."
"I want to see if Ōnoki and the others can find out the truth about Konoha for Hidden Cloud!"
"We will make plans after those three companies bump into Konoha's armored troops and find out whether there are 300 or 3,000 sets of those things!"
Angry as hell, Ai would never be so stupid as to risk the entire Hidden Cloud's national destiny to protect other villages from thunderstorms.
Land of Wind border, Sunagakure assembly area.
Rasa stood on the top of the sand dune, looking down at the densely packed Puppet Master troops below.
The yellow sand was swept up into the sky by the hot wind, and the flag of Sunagakure buzzed.
"Lord Kazekage."
A Sunagakure Jonin hurriedly climbed onto the sand dune.
"The intelligence of Daimyō's Office of the Land of Fire has been confirmed, and coupled with the rumors we received in Black Market, Konoha has indeed significantly reduced military expenditures."
Rasa narrowed his eyes.
"Daimyō, just listen to half of it."
"If Minato Namikaze collapsed so easily, we wouldn't have to suffer so much when Third Shinobi World War."
Jonin nodded yes and continued the report.
"In addition, the logistics department has just finished inventorying the supplies. The Explosive Tag we urgently purchased from Black Market are not in the same quantity and are nearly 20% less."
Jonin swallowed.
"The packaging was in good condition, but the paper felt wrong and the delivery was too urgent. At that time, only the top layer was randomly inspected."
Rasa has been dealing with gold all year round, and slight errors in its quality have never been hidden from his eyes.
"Sunagakure is short of money, so every penny must be spent wisely."
"Give me the order to postpone the advance of the large forces and build a defensive formation on the spot!"
"Deploy a vanguard team of fifty people, take the batch of Explosive Tag bought by Black Market, and go ten miles ahead to conduct a minefield EOD drill."
"I want to see the effect with my own eyes."
The sun has climbed higher, and heat waves are rising over the desert.
Ten miles ahead, dozens of Explosive Tag were thrown into the minefield one after another. After landing, there was no movement, and not even a spark came out.
Rasa stared at the waste paper on the ground, his expression terrifyingly gloomy.
"Lord Kazekage, Chakra leads are drawn with Plant Ash..."
Jonin, who reported the news, was covered in cold sweat.
Rasa crushed the dud bomb Explosive Tag in his hand, and when he spoke again, his voice was bone-chilling.
"What a Konoha, what a Black Market!"
"Spreading information about food shortages, tempting Daimyō Mansion to attack, then turning around and making another plan to drain our military spending and destroy our logistics."
"If the entire army presses forward today and Explosive Tag collectively misfires during the battle, Sunagakure will be completely doomed!"
Rasa turned to look in the direction of Land of Fire.
"Inform the entire army to cancel the raid plan and secure the border."
"No one is allowed to cross the line of defense without my order!"