Iwagakure, Tsuchikage's office.
Ōnoki floated in midair, his aged fingers lightly stroking his chin.
A report from Konoha and Sunagakure lay quietly on the desk before him.
Sunagakure had been defeated.
Utterly crushed.
Nishidai Kazekage Rasa had died in battle.
The advisor elders, Chiyo and Ebizo, had both perished.
Over a thousand sand ninja, along with their families, had all become Konoha's prisoners.
"Grandfather!"
"Is the information about Sunagakure true?"
"Mm."
"Konoha's Uchiha Yao is even more terrifying than we imagined."
Kurotsuchi's fists clenched unconsciously.
"Then we..."
"We do nothing."
Ōnoki cut her off.
Kitsuchi, standing beside them, asked in a deep, muffled voice.
"Father, what do you mean?"
Ōnoki snorted coldly.
"The ones in the greatest hurry right now aren't us."
"It's that simple-minded, muscle-brained Raikage from Kumogakure."
Kitsuchi hesitated at those words.
"Will A realize the danger?"
"He's a brute himself, but the people under him aren't a bunch of fools." Ōnoki's tone carried a trace of certainty.
"Kumogakure's strategists understand better than anyone that with Sunagakure finished, who will be next?"
"By now, he's probably unable to sit still."
Ōnoki had lived far too long and weathered far too many storms.
Konoha becoming the sole dominant power—
That was not a situation he, nor A of Kumogakure, wanted to see.
Uchiha Yao.
That name was like a boulder weighing on everyone's heart.
"Unlike Uchiha Madara back then."
"Madara was pure destruction."
"But this Uchiha Yao understands conquest and the establishment of order. That is what makes him truly terrifying."
Thoughts raced through Ōnoki's mind.
Konoha had annexed Sunagakure, and its strength had expanded to an unprecedented degree.
Who would be next?
Iwagakure, or Kumogakure?
He understood better than anyone the truth that when the lips were gone, the teeth would feel the cold.
But an alliance... would