"I think sending people to help is fine. Let's do that."
After a moment's thought, Shihōin Naraku made up his mind.
With proper arrangements, Konoha stood to gain quite a bit this time.
Iwagakure had suffered such heavy losses that they had no choice but to ask Konoha for aid.
Of course, that aid would not come free.
They were willing to offer priority access to assignments on three mission routes for two years.
Beyond that, Iwagakure would make no concessions.
After all, they were one of the Five Great Nations, too. They could not let Konoha's ninja overstep their bounds.
So Iwagakure would certainly keep an eye on the support team Konoha sent this time to prevent anything from going wrong.
"Kurotsuchi has a better grasp of the situation than her grandfather did."
Naraku tapped his index finger on the desk. "When Ōnoki was around, Iwagakure wouldn't reveal even a fraction of its resources, even if it was on its last legs. Whatever else you might say about Kurotsuchi's time in charge, at least she knows when to bow her head."
Shikaku smiled. "That's because Iwagakure suffered such terrible losses in the Fourth Shinobi World War."
"Leaving everything else aside, Ōnoki's death in battle alone was a tremendous blow to Iwagakure."
"Kurotsuchi has already done an excellent job keeping Iwagakure from falling into serious turmoil."
"But this meteor shower has left Iwagakure, which was already in poor shape, on the verge of collapse."
Naraku's lips twitched. "So she had no choice but to ask Konoha for aid."
"That's a good thing, both for us and for Iwagakure."
"When a shinobi village is willing to ask for help, it means they've faced reality."
"The worst thing is stubbornly holding on when they clearly can't manage anymore. Once everything truly collapses,