A bombshell spread across the Five Great Nations: Akatsuki, which had vanished years ago, had established a new base in the Land of Rain and risen from the ashes!
Multiple clues came together, forming what seemed to be a flawless chain of evidence.
Every daimyo and noble across the Five Great Nations instantly reached the same conclusion.
The massacres of noble families, the stolen goods flowing abroad, the Land of Rain's sudden wealth-all of it had been orchestrated by the revived Akatsuki!
They stopped dwelling on Konoha's involvement and directed all their fury at the Land of Rain.
Official orders poured in, piling pressure on their nations' Kage: dispatch troops immediately to surround the Land of Rain, destroy the reborn Akatsuki, and capture the culprits behind it all!
The Four Great Kage knew perfectly well that someone had engineered the entire affair to frame her.
But every piece of evidence presented to the public pointed to the Land of Rain. They could not openly favor Sarada.
After much deliberation, the four hidden villages refrained from sending troops straight into war.
Instead, all four formally issued diplomatic inquiries and sent them to the Land of Rain.
Their wording was stern, demanding that Sarada appear publicly, explain the source of her wealth and the massacres of noble families, and give the entire Shinobi World an answer.
Looking at the four official inquiries stacked on her desk, Sarada leaned back in her chair and let out a long, troubled sigh.
She shook her head in self-mockery.
"My fault. I let greed get the better of me and got careless."
"If I'd just left after finishing the mission, everything would've been fine. But I coveted those nobles' gold and jewels and left an opening. Naruto found my weak spot and set me up."
Standing