Gathering

"Takuma is a senior figure among Iwagakure's forces in the Land of Rain. From our dealings with him, you must have seen how well he understands the bigger picture, Kazekage.

"Yet even he suddenly attacked the Sand Shinobi during this clash. He's a man who puts the larger cause first, so there's something strange about it.

"The Stone-Sand Allied Forces were making excellent progress until they encountered the reinforcements led by Orochimaru and Fugaku Uchiha. That was when things began to go wrong.

"Since you and I have both come to the Land of Rain, why don't we join forces once more and invade the Land of Fire? Once we're in, Iwagakure will give you a satisfactory explanation for this incident," Ōnoki said.

The Third Kazekage weighed his options. He had no intention of letting the matter go so easily.

But the Sand Shinobi force under Chiyo had already suffered heavy losses. If Sunagakure parted ways with Iwagakure now, it had no hope of invading the Land of Fire alone.

"You've thought this through, Tsuchikage. Joining forces to invade the Land of Fire is indeed our priority. But after several bouts of infighting, our troops must have built up considerable resentment toward one another.

"We can cooperate, but we should keep our forces separate to prevent another clash. With each of us watching his own troops, we can stop anyone who tries to stir up trouble and investigate what happened."

"Agreed. I hear the Third Hokage has arrived at Konoha Camp. Tomorrow morning, we can see his strength for ourselves and find out whether he lives up to his reputation," Ōnoki said.

They quickly agreed to launch their attacks at the same time the next day.

At Konoha Camp, inside the Command Headquarters.

"The Kazekage and Tsuchikage have met again.