"..."
Sunagakure was unusually quiet that day.
Sweat kept dripping down Baki's face. He did not dare raise his head to look at his Kazekage's expression.
He had just finished berating his subordinates, and now it was his turn to be berated by the Kazekage.
"...Did that old man from Iwagakure go back on his word?"
Fourth Kazekage Rasa's low voice rang out as he asked his question.
"Probably not..."
Baki wiped the sweat from his forehead, then said:
"Judging by the traces at the scene, quite a few Iwagakure ninja died as well. Although we didn't find all their bodies, their losses were definitely substantial."
"...In other words, information about our transaction had already leaked, and these were ninja from a third party?"
"That seems to be the case."
Fourth Kazekage Rasa set down the intelligence report in his hand. Thoughts raced through his mind, and only after a long while did he speak:
"Do you think Konoha did this?"
Baki recalled the contents of the report, then answered with certainty:
"It should have been Konoha. The traces of Fire Release at the scene were very obvious. We even found traces of Fire Release being used at other locations."
The implication was clear. In the entire Shinobi World, Konoha had the most ninja who used Fire Release.
Of course, it was not as though ninja from other villages could not use Fire Release. It was simply that, in this respect, Konoha was highly suspect.
"Heh..."
"...We're supposed to be staunch allies!"
Kazekage Rasa gave an inscrutable chuckle, but he had never taken that alliance seriously from the start.
Allies were there to be betrayed.
Just as with this incident, Konoha was not the only Shinobi Village stirring up trouble.
If he learned of intelligence concerning Konoha, he would also send people to kill and seize supplies.
That was why this sort of fighting always stayed in the shadows. No Shinobi Village would publicly condemn it or anything of the sort.
This time I took the loss; next time it would be your turn to suffer.
The entire Shinobi World had never been peaceful. Conflicts broke out at every moment.
Still, even knowing all that, Rasa felt a pang of heartache.
He had extracted the gold dust for this transaction from underground, little by little, and now it was simply gone...
For Sunagakure, already destitute, this only made matters worse.
"...Send someone to contact Orochimaru. Stay on your guard!"
Rasa made up his mind and gave Baki his orders. "Remember! Be careful!"
Orochimaru was not someone to underestimate. Rasa had never actually made up his mind to cooperate with him, but now he had no choice.
"Yes!"
Baki immediately agreed, though there was another suspicion he did not voice: Orochimaru might also have been behind this incident, aiming to damage Sunagakure's finances and thereby force the two sides to cooperate.
That possibility was somewhat less likely, however, so Baki did not mention it.
"Lord Kazekage, actually... Orochimaru has no good intentions..."
"I know! You may go!"
"Yes!"
Rasa knew perfectly well that cooperating with Orochimaru was like bargaining with a tiger for its skin, but Sunagakure was in a terrible state.
The Daimyo of the Land of Wind was providing less and less funding, leaving them unable to train more ninja or take on large numbers of missions.
The Land of Wind's own environment was even worse. With desert everywhere, there were hardly any resources to support its development, so they could only trade with other countries wherever they could.
But they did not have much money either!
Such a vicious cycle was difficult to break!
That was why, even knowing Orochimaru was unreliable, he could only cooperate with him.
And this incident was merely the final straw that broke the camel's back!
"Hm?"
"What's that?"
Shihōin Naraku, travel-worn after returning to Konoha, raised his head and squinted at Hokage Rock.
"Am I seeing things? It looks like there's a little figure hopping around up there."
Who was so bold?
Who dared mess around on the statues of their own Hokage?
But after another moment's thought, Naraku understood. There was only one person who dared do this and could do it.
Naruto Uzumaki!
"Oh, I remember now. Isn't this the scene where Naruto Uzumaki first appears at the beginning of Naruto?"
Thinking of that scene, Naraku could not help laughing aloud.
Sure enough-
After a bout of chaotic chasing and scuffling, Umino Iruka appeared!
"Naruto Uzumaki!!!"
That furious roar carried straight through all of Konoha.
"Ah!"
With a helpless sigh, Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi turned away from the window and sat down in his seat.
After some thought, Hiruzen Sarutobi took out two files.
One file had a photograph of Shihōin Naraku attached to it, while the other had a photograph of Kakashi Hatake.
"Tap, tap, tap..."
Exhaling a puff of smoke, Hiruzen Sarutobi absently tapped his fingers against the armrest.
"Never mind. There's still some time before Naruto graduates."
"I still need to consider carefully who should be Naruto's teacher..."
Hiruzen Sarutobi was already considering who would become Naruto Uzumaki's Instructor.
Even though Naruto Uzumaki's grades were at the bottom of his class and he could not even manage a clone properly, he would definitely graduate!
Fail to graduate?
No! Hiruzen Sarutobi would not allow Naruto to fail to graduate!
Nor could Konohagakure allow Naruto Uzumaki to fail to graduate!
Thus, Hiruzen Sarutobi was already considering who would become the Instructor of Naruto Uzumaki's Ninja Team in the future.
Because Naruto Uzumaki was the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, becoming his Instructor meant that person was a candidate for Hokage!
Whether through interests or affection, the Hokage had to be able to influence or control the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki!
That was the bottom line!
In fact, this was also apparent from the identities of the tailed beast jinchūriki in other Shinobi Villages. In most villages, the Kage and the tailed beast jinchūriki shared relatively close relationships.
The Fourth Kazekage's son Gaara was the jinchūriki of the One-Tail, Shukaku!
Kirigakure's Fourth Mizukage, Karatachi Yagura, was himself the jinchūriki of the Three-Tails, Isobu!
Kumogakure's Raikage was the sworn elder brother of Killer B, the jinchūriki of the Eight-Tails, Gyuki!
And Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi would appear before Naruto Uzumaki from time to time, posing as a friendly, kindly old grandfather and guiding Naruto's personality and thoughts.
Of course, there were exceptions, but what the major Shinobi Villages sought was for their Kage to keep their tailed beast jinchūriki under control, and emotional ties were the most convenient and effective means.
And now Hiruzen Sarutobi was wavering over who should become the Instructor of Naruto Uzumaki, the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, and cultivate new bonds with him!
Meanwhile, Naraku, who had returned to Konohagakure, also went to see Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Hiruzen Sarutobi had already learned the mission's details from the ANBU who had returned to the village ahead of him, so Naraku merely added a general account of what he had done while covering their retreat.
They would originally have returned to the village together, but the chakra metal seized this time was important, so Naraku had ordered the ANBU members to bring the supplies back first.
Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi puffed away at his pipe, a smile appearing on his wrinkle-covered face:
"The chakra metal was an unexpected bonus!"
"The village can use these metals to forge some special ninja tools!"
"You did very well on this mission."
In truth, the most important part of this mission had been to make the transaction between Sunagakure and Iwagakure fail.
Iwagakure was doing all right, but Hiruzen Sarutobi knew Sunagakure's situation very well.
Sunagakure had suffered considerable losses this time. If Konohagakure traded with them afterward, it could take the opportunity to secure plenty of benefits. Sunagakure was so short on supplies, after all; if they wanted goods, they would have to pay more.
It could even make Sunagakure a little weaker.
Of course, Hiruzen Sarutobi did not want Sunagakure to collapse completely, but it would be better if it were a little weaker.
An ally like that was one Konohagakure could feel at ease with.
Before you continue