"The Fourth Raikage, A?"
Orochimaru spoke after reviewing the intelligence report sent from the Land of Rivers. Nara Kagetsu had already distributed the report to the others.
Inside the meeting room sat several of Konoha's new generation leaders: Nara Kagetsu, Uchiha Fugaku, Jiraiya, Namikaze Minato, and Tsunade.
Aside from the Konoha members, there was also a kunoichi wearing a Sunagakure forehead protector—Pakura.
Pakura had grown quite composed about attending these Konoha meetings. She understood one thing clearly: she would only be invited when discussions involved cooperation between Sunagakure and Konohagakure.
The first time she was summoned to such a meeting, she had been startled and on edge the entire time, sitting as if on needles.
But after attending several meetings, she grew used to it and came to understand Konoha's tone and style.
After she reported the nature of these meetings to her own village, Sunagakure reciprocated.
Whenever there were mission briefings involving joint efforts between the two villages, they would include Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado—Konoha advisors stationed there.
Over the past two years, much of the collaboration and communication between Suna and Konoha had been facilitated through such meetings.
Discussions would be held, messages relayed, agreements reached, and finally, the two Kage would meet formally to sign the terms.
If any issues arose, they were also raised during these sessions.
Though the process was somewhat tedious, it provided a reliable channel for the two villages to communicate and work together.
As a result, what had once been a simple diplomatic mission stationed abroad had grown increasingly important over the last two years.
The number of personnel had increased, and they were even granted certain privileges.
Due to the principle of mutual respect, Rasa had no choice but to promote Pakura to the position of Chief Advisor—even if it meant giving her followers a moment to breathe, it no longer mattered.
At this point, he no longer saw Pakura as a threat to his position as Kazekage.
The alliance with Konoha had greatly improved the village's economic situation and even brought slight changes to the harsh environment of the Land of Wind.
But as a responsible Kazekage, Rasa still didn't like the idea of Pakura representing Sunagakure alone on foreign missions.
He felt that Orochimaru's decision to assign two former Konoha advisors carried a deeper intention than he'd initially expected.
Rumors had already reached Pakura's ears—the Fourth Kazekage intended to send one of the Chiyo siblings to Konoha.
Given the lingering grudges between Chiyo and Konoha, it was more likely to be Ebizō. Then again, it could end up being both of them.
"Have the Kumo-nin set their sights on the Gelel Stone mines too?" Pakura's brows furrowed as she finished reading the intelligence scroll.
She had absolutely no fondness for those barbaric shinobi of Kumogakure. Especially since they had been the instigators of the Third Great Ninja War.
Back then, during the chaos caused by the Third Kazekage's disappearance, Kumo nearly broke through their defenses and brought Sunagakure to the brink of destruction.
Now, after only two years of peace and recovery following the war, Kumo was once again preparing for conflict.
The anger in Pakura's heart surged. She was not the type of ninja to sit by quietly.
In her eyes, the new Fourth Raikage was still deliberately targeting Sunagakure.
The Gelel Stone mines—Konoha had generously shared that resource with them, allowing the enhancement of puppets and the development of new puppet technologies.
If the Gelel Stone mine was taken by the Hidden Cloud, Pakura didn't believe for a second that those savages would allow the Hidden Sand to share in the profits.
If they restricted the flow of Gelel Stones, then even the current research into the new generation of puppets in the village would come to a standstill.
The massive investment made in the early stages would either go to waste, or—at the very least—be on hold until they could reclaim the mine and restore the supply.
That's why, no matter what, Pakura didn't want to see the Hidden Cloud succeed. She believed things were just fine the way they were now.
Konoha and Sunagakure were peacefully coexisting—friendly, cooperative, developing together, progressing together.
After personally witnessing the changes in both villages over the past two years, she fully supported and believed in this alliance.
At the very least, these ideals, and the collaboration between the two villages, had brought real benefits.
Both villages and their countries had grown stronger.
The economy was no longer struggling, and even the harsh environment was gradually improving through efforts to re-green the land.
Having lived through war and the village's decline, Pakura cherished everything they had now. So did the shinobi of Sunagakure.
"If necessary, the Sand can join forces with Konoha to form a joint shinobi army. Those barbaric Cloud ninja have no right to set foot on the land of River, which belongs to both of us," Pakura declared.
Even if she didn't report this to the village, she knew the higher-ups would agree with her.
Right now, Sunagakure was fully tied to Konoha's chariot, but no one wanted to get off.
Even if some Sand shinobi felt uneasy about how closely the village was becoming tied to Konoha—or how dependent they were becoming—there was nothing they could do about it.
Sunagakure had gradually developed a kind of Konoha-dependency.
Or rather, once they broke away from Konoha, the village's vibrant and thriving progress would be dealt a heavy, perhaps devastating blow.
The interests of many ninja—and even the nobles—would suffer. It might not be fatal, but it would be deeply damaging.
Unless someone else was willing to make up for the losses.
But who would willingly cut off their own flesh to feed them?
Even though the Kazekage and the senior officials of Sunagakure had realized the situation, they still couldn't bring themselves to act ruthlessly.
Especially since Konoha hadn't used any underhanded tricks this time. Everything had been laid out openly.
Even the rare mineral, the Gelel Stone—Konoha hadn't kept it a secret from Sunagakure. In fact, they had even allowed Suna and their allies, like Amegakure, to share in the profits.
Of course, Konoha took the biggest share. But that was only because their technology allowed them to make the most out of the Gelel Stone!
Konoha's purification techniques, Suna's Gelel-series puppets, and Ame's access to shared technologies had formed an unbreakable alliance.
And their connection wasn't just about the Gelel Stone mines.
At this point, the villages most invested in Konoha's stability were none other than Sunagakure and Amegakure.
If Konoha fell into chaos, those two villages would likely suffer as well.
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