"Uncle Raikage, I'll be going too. I need to hurry and get back to training," Ziyun said, taking his leave as well. He was planning to raise his mastery of the Door-Door Fruit to 70% first.
"Wait, Ziyun. There's something I need to tell you." The Third Raikage looked at Ziyun, his gaze intent.
"What is it, Uncle Raikage?" Ziyun had a feeling that what the Third Raikage was about to say was a little out of the ordinary.
"Ahem... Ziyun, I've given it careful thought. That brat Yotsuki A has too much of a temper, and he's nowhere near as strong as you. So I've decided that you'll be the next Raikage. Don't let me down."
The Third Raikage spoke to Ziyun after thinking it over for a while.
Though Ziyun was only ten, the vision and strategic thinking he had displayed were far beyond those of his peers. They even surpassed those of the Third Raikage himself.
On top of that, his talent as a shinobi rivaled that of Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha. Ziyun was undoubtedly the best choice for the next Raikage.
"What? Me, the Raikage? Isn't it too early? There are still a lot of Ninjutsu I want to learn."
Ziyun was a little surprised. He didn't really want to be Raikage, because there was too much to do.
The paperwork he had to handle every day would be as tall as a small mountain, and he would have to deal with all kinds of emergencies too. It was exhausting.
For now, Ziyun only wanted to focus on training and grow stronger.
"Ziyun, according to Hidden Cloud Village's rules, the strongest person in the village is the Kage. Do you think A has any hope of surpassing you in his lifetime? You can't break the rules."
Seeing no sign that Ziyun intended to agree, the Third Raikage grew serious.
It was precisely because of this rule that Hidden Cloud Village had so few usurpers and defectors.
After all, in Hidden Cloud Village, might made right.
"That's right, Ziyun. Don't turn it down. Besides, nobody's asking you to take office now. We're just agreeing that you'll be the next Raikage."
Dodai also spoke up to persuade him.
As his teacher, he wanted to see Ziyun become Raikage and lead Hidden Cloud Village to the pinnacle of the shinobi world.
But Ziyun didn't see it that way. Being a Kage was exhausting.
Just look at the Kage of the major villages. They were all only in their forties, in the prime of their lives, but they looked like old men in their fifties. Ōnoki even looked as though he was nearly sixty.
Ziyun didn't want to look like he was in his sixties when he was only in his forties.
Ziyun was just about to decline when a Hidden Cloud Anbu appeared in the office.
"Lord Raikage, Konoha just declared war on us!"
"According to reports from the front, Konoha's Anbu Captain, Hatake Sakumo, is leading 3,000 Konoha Ninja toward us!"
Soon, another Hidden Cloud Anbu arrived with intelligence.
Hearing this, Ziyun nearly burst out laughing.
Ever since he, the Third Raikage, and Dodai had returned to the village from Konoha, Hatake Sakumo's name had spread throughout Hidden Cloud Village. Of course, it wasn't under the title of White Fang of Konoha, but as Konoha's Anbu Captain.
Now everyone in Hidden Cloud Village knew that Hatake Sakumo was Konoha's Anbu Captain.
If Hiruzen Sarutobi found out, Hatake Sakumo's time as Anbu Captain would be over.
"Leading 3,000 shinobi? Konoha is coming at us in force this time."
At the news, the Third Raikage couldn't help frowning. He then turned his gaze to Ziyun.
"Ziyun, what do you think?"
"Me?" Ziyun was taken aback. Why was Uncle Raikage reacting so differently from what he had expected?
From what Ziyun knew of the Third Raikage, he should have immediately led a force into battle himself upon hearing the news.
"I don't think Hidden Cloud Village should fight Konoha head-on right now. They really are powerful."
Without giving it much thought, Ziyun began analyzing the situation with a serious expression.
If the Third Raikage attacked head-on, Hidden Cloud Village would be at a disadvantage.
"Not many shinobi in Hidden Cloud Village know the three Ninjutsu Shave, Tekkai, and Finger Pistol yet, only about 200. Our strength on the battlefield isn't enough to go head-to-head with Konoha."
"If we could increase the number of shinobi who know those three Ninjutsu to around 2,000, Hidden Cloud Village would be able to put up a fight against Konoha. Unfortunately, there's too little time."
Ziyun thought it was a pity.
If Konoha had given Hidden Cloud Village another six months, Hidden Cloud Village would certainly have been able to fight Konoha head-on.
Unfortunately, Hiruzen Sarutobi was in his prime, a far cry from the indecisive old man in the original story.
The speed at which Konoha had declared war made that clear. Ziyun had barely returned to Hidden Cloud Village with the Uzumaki Clan when Konoha declared war. The timing was just right.
"Then what should we do? Avoid fighting them altogether?" Dodai asked.
"Of course not. Don't forget, Kumogakure isn't Konoha's only opponent. Sunagakure, at least, has wanted to go to war with Konoha since a month or two ago."
"So all we need to do now is stall for a while. Once Hidden Sand Village joins the war, we'll attack with everything we have!"
"By then, Konoha won't be able to cover all its bases, and there's a good chance it'll suffer a crushing defeat."
After Ziyun finished his analysis, he noticed that the Third Raikage and Dodai were staring at him, their eyes gleaming.
"Uncle Raikage, Teacher Dodai, were you testing me?" Ziyun understood immediately.
"Hahahaha! Ziyun, with that kind of strategic vision, how can you still turn down the position of Fourth Raikage? No one else is better suited to it!"
The Third Raikage clapped his hands and laughed, applauding Ziyun's analysis.
In fact, Ziyun's thoughts were much the same as his own. Hidden Cloud Village would be at a serious disadvantage against Konoha one-on-one.
But with Hidden Sand Village involved, things would be different.
After all, the Third Kazekage was quite ambitious.
The leader of the Land of Rain, Hanzo of the Salamander, was just as ambitious. If he could also make a decisive declaration of war on Konoha, their chances of defeating it would increase greatly.
"All right, it's settled, then. We'll stall for a while and send out our main force once Hidden Sand Village declares war."
"Before that, I'll lead 2,000 Kumogakure shinobi to meet this Kage Level powerhouse, Hatake Sakumo."
The Third Raikage decided to follow Ziyun's advice, but he still chose to go to the battlefield.
That was Hidden Cloud Village's way. As the strongest person in the village, he had to be on the front lines when the village was in trouble.
Every generation of Raikage was the same.
Ziyun, meanwhile, was in no hurry to go to the battlefield. It wasn't his stage yet. He would raise his mastery of the Door-Door Fruit first.
With the Door-Door Fruit, at least no one would be able to hit him during the Second Shinobi World War.
"Konoha declared war on the Hidden Cloud Village? Hahahaha! Heaven is helping me! I think the Third Hokage must have been kicked in the head by a donkey. Doesn't he know the Hidden Sand Village has been watching him like a hawk?"
"On my orders, lead 3,000 Sand Ninja to the Land of Fire at once and declare war on Konoha!"
The Hidden Sand Village, Kazekage's Office.
After learning that Konoha had declared war on the Hidden Cloud Village, the Third Kazekage burst out laughing.
The Hidden Cloud Village wasn't particularly strong at the moment, but it was still one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages.
With Sunagakure joining in, two great shinobi villages would be fighting Konoha alone. They had a good chance of defeating it.
He had waited a long time for this opportunity.
But the shrewd and calculating Chiyo, standing nearby, disagreed with the Third Kazekage's plan.
The Third Kazekage was too young, the youngest of the Kage of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, and a little too impatient.
He was quite strong, though, and was known as the strongest Kazekage, so Chiyo was fairly courteous to the young Kazekage.
"That's right, my sister is correct. Konoha and the Hidden Cloud Village are bound to suffer losses fighting each other. If we declare war now, wouldn't we be taking some of the pressure off the Hidden Cloud Village?"
Beside Chiyo, Ebizo, another member of Sunagakure's leadership and Chiyo's younger brother, voiced his agreement with his sister.
Looking at Chiyo and Ebizo, the Third Kazekage was deeply displeased, but he didn't dare openly defy them.
After all, he had become Kazekage partly thanks to their recommendations.
Moreover, the brother and sister's standing in the Hidden Sand Village was so high that they probably had more supporters than he did as Kazekage.
Going against them was not a wise choice.
Seeing that the Third Kazekage had not objected to her opinion, Chiyo continued:
"There's no need to rush, Kazekage. The Land of Rain also intends to expand its territory and become the sixth great shinobi village. Once Konoha has weakened, we can cooperate with the Land of Rain. Then we'll surely defeat Konoha."
"My sister is right. I've already sent people to discuss the matter with the Land of Rain's leader, Hanzo of the Salamander. We'll have news before long."
Ebizo also spoke up.
Seeing this, the Third Kazekage could only agree to their suggestion and abandon his plan to declare war on Konoha for the time being.
"The Hidden Sand Village has actually held back for so long. That's a little strange."
In the Hidden Cloud Village, three months after Konoha and the Hidden Cloud Village began fighting, Ziyun grew a little suspicious when the Hidden Sand Village still hadn't declared war.
In the original story, Sunagakure had been the first to start the Second Shinobi World War. By all rights, the Third Kazekage should have followed suit quickly.
Yet the Hidden Sand Village still hadn't declared war. Perhaps something had changed.
The Land of Rain had made a move, but it had set its sights on its neighbor, the Land of Iron, and had no intention of attacking Konoha for the time being.
Fortunately, the Third Raikage had listened to Ziyun's advice. Instead of clashing head-on with Konoha from the start, he had used the Land of Lightning's familiar terrain to his advantage and waged a guerrilla war against Hatake Sakumo.
Over the past three months, the two sides' forces had never met head-on. They had only fought a few small skirmishes, and casualties on both sides had been low. It was nothing like a large-scale war.