A few days later, news that Iwagakure had been attacked by the Akatsuki spread across much of the Shinobi World.
Many shinobi villages found the news hard to believe. Iwagakure had only recently formed an alliance with Amegakure, so why would its ally attack it?
Many shinobi village leaders, including the Third Hokage, suspected that this might be another scheme concocted by Ōnoki and the Akatsuki.
Deliberately circulated news could be false.
But the intelligence delivered by spies and the stretch of ruins in Iwagakure were difficult to fake.
Ōnoki would hardly order his own shinobi village destroyed for the sake of cooperation, unless the Masked Man had taken control of him.
Soon, the Third Hokage convened a high-level meeting to confirm the truth of the rumors circulating outside and ask for opinions.
The Advisory Duo remained silent. With the younger generation's rise, their opinions no longer carried decisive weight, so they chose to watch their words and actions.
With her arms folded across her chest, Tsunade said, "Iwagakure brought this on itself. They actually allied themselves with those villains in the Akatsuki."
Jiraiya nodded in agreement. "Iwagakure certainly got what it deserved, but both the Four-Tails and the Five-Tails have fallen into the Akatsuki's hands. That's not good!"
The Third Hokage gave Jiraiya and Tsunade a helpless look. He had asked for their opinions, but neither had offered any useful suggestions.
At moments like this, the Third always looked toward Danzo's seat, but Danzo was absent for once.
And for an utterly ridiculous reason, at that.
He was off protecting the smiles on the villagers' faces and had no time to attend a high-level meeting.
The Third knew this might be the influence of the Hashirama Cells rather than Danzo's own wishes.
But a shinobi village needed someone to