The Sand Shinobi fell silent. Fugaku had a point. Sunagakure had fought countless wars over the years.
Victories had been few. The leaders of the Land of Wind had repeatedly voiced their dissatisfaction with Sunagakure and the Third Kazekage.
They had squandered vast sums of money and resources over the past few years, gained nothing, and ended up being forced to sign the Staircase Mountain Treaty.
"I'll consider it," Chiyo said.
Fugaku nodded. "I'll give you one day. Don't forget Sunagakure's current position. Even without Sunagakure, Konoha can win this war.
"You saw what happened today. Aside from having more troops, Kumogakure still falls short of Konoha in every other respect.
"If Sunagakure keeps going through the motions like it did today, don't blame Konoha for taking action. Think it over carefully, Chiyo.
"Otherwise, whether these thousand Sand Shinobi make it safely back to Sunagakure may be another matter."
Fugaku rose and left the tent. The Sand Shinobi remained inside, their faces grim. Only after he had gone some distance did anyone speak.
"He's gone too far. Chiyo, what do we do? Are we really going to accept Konoha's demands, fight for them, and risk our lives against the Cloud shinobi?"
"If it comes to that, we fight them instead. We can secretly contact the Raikage, coordinate with Kumogakure from both sides, wipe out the Konoha shinobi, and march into the Land of Fire.
"Then the Staircase Mountain Treaty we just signed will be worthless paper. It won't bind us at all."
"I say we agree for now, then secretly contact the Third Kazekage and get his approval. After that, we can contact the Raikage and coordinate our attack.
"And there are no Konoha shinobi stationed in the Land of Rain right now. The Third Kazekage could personally lead the