Gekkō Raito shrugged it off. "So what if they know? What are they going to do, bite me?"
What was done was done. There was no undoing it now.
"Konoha will definitely make a move. They can't afford to lose face."
If Konoha kept playing deaf and dumb after a slap in the face like this, how could it keep calling itself the number one shinobi village?
Meanwhile, at Konoha's Hokage Building.
Tsunade looked at the intelligence scroll in her hands, her temples throbbing and her blood pressure soaring.
That little bastard Gekkō Raito had actually started poaching from Sunagakure!
This was a slap in Konoha's face!
As the leading power in the shinobi world, Konoha had always had Sunagakure, a fellow member of the Five Great Nations, trailing along as its little sidekick.
Now Gekkō Raito had forcibly stolen that sidekick away. How was that any different from publicly declaring Konoha incompetent?
"What kind of mush does that brat have for brains? Does he really want an all-out war with Konoha?"
Reason told her that he probably did not, but if Konoha swallowed this insult, keeping everyone in line would become difficult.
Just as Tsunade was tearing her hair out.
Shikaku Nara pushed the door open and entered, his expression grave.
"Lord Hokage, sorry to interrupt. I've heard about the business between Kirigakure and Sunagakure. Since it's urgent, I came straight here."
Tsunade waved a hand weakly. "You're just in time. Hurry up and think of something. What should Konoha do now?"
Shikaku gave a bitter smile and spread his hands. "Lord Hokage, we've actually been backed into a corner. There's only one way forward-strike back."
Tsunade let out a long sigh and slumped in her chair.
Strike back!
It was easy to say. She truly did not want