"It's not that serious—at least not yet," said Orochimaru, shaking his head. "The Raikage didn't break through Nagato's defenses. His surprise attack has already failed.
The last Shinobi World War ended only a few years ago. The villages haven't even fully recovered yet. Even if a new war begins, it would be limited to small, local conflicts."
Then Orochimaru turned his gaze toward Minato.
"As for this new Fourth Raikage… Minato, do you have anything to say?"
Minato, who had fought the Raikage brothers several times during the war, thought for a moment before replying.
"My impression of the Fourth Raikage is that he's just a repeat of the Third Raikage. He's the kind of man who won't stop until he achieves his goal. And he doesn't care about his reputation outside of the Cloud Village.
In my opinion, since his surprise attack failed, he'll soon try another method to pressure us into giving up our interests."
"Things that can't be obtained through force... are achieved by other means instead? If that's the case, then the other side isn't just some reckless brute after all."
Tsunade spoke thoughtfully.
The relationship between Konoha and the Hidden Cloud wasn't exactly friendly.
Almost every Great Ninja War saw the two villages clashing in battles, big or small.
But the reason Kumo-nin had never managed to gain the upper hand against Konoha wasn't just because of Konoha's overall strong ninja force.
A key factor was the Hyuga clan's Byakugan, which greatly restrained Cloud-style taijutsu.
In fact, the Byakugan was a counter to all taijutsu-based shinobi.
With its ability to see through the body's chakra pathways, its 360-degree vision, and the Hyuga's unique fighting style that allowed them to release chakra from any part of the body, their attacks could precisely strike acupoints and even damage a ninja's internal organs directly.
That made Cloud-style Lightning Release Taijutsu especially vulnerable.
Unless one had speed on par with the Raikage—so fast that even the Byakugan couldn't keep up—no Kumo jōnin would ever consider engaging a Hyuga in close-quarters combat.
Even if close combat was what they specialized in.
"Well, he is a Kage after all," Jiraiya laughed lightly. In his eyes, a Kage was no longer just a pure ninja—they were half-politician as well.
"Kagetsu?" Orochimaru turned to the side and looked at Nara Kagetsu. "What do you think the Raikage will do next?"
"War... or alliance."
Kagetsu closed the notebook in his hands and replied calmly.
The current Raikage's personality, judging from his behavior, is impulsive and reckless but not foolish.
From the intelligence we gathered about the Hidden Cloud Village before, we know one thing: the Fourth Raikage liked to use force to solve problems and didn't care much about his reputation outside.
In recent years, the Cloud Ninja have taken advantage of our focus on war and recovery to steal and kidnap many secret techniques and talented people across the ninja world.
It's clear he wants to build an organization similar to a technology development department. He won't give up the benefits hidden in the Gelel Stone mine.
So my guess is, with his personality, he would risk everything and start a war to threaten us, forcing us to hand over control of the Gelel Stone mine.
Going further, he might even drag in the Hidden Rock, Hidden Mist, and some smaller villages to pressure us.
"The Third Raikage was killed by the Rock Ninja," Jiraiya clicked his tongue, narrowing his eyes at Kagetsu's speculation.
"If he were a reckless fool, he'd naturally hate and oppose the Rock Ninja. But if he's a capable Raikage, even with an unerasable hatred between the Cloud and Rock, as long as it benefits the Cloud Village, he would do it," Kagetsu nodded slightly to Jiraiya, sharing his opinion.
"If the Cloud Ninja insist on starting a war, are we prepared to face it?" Orochimaru asked.
Since the Cloud Village first showed some aggressive signs, Konoha has been preparing for another possible war.
But for some reason, the Cloud has remained quiet, while Konoha seems to be on edge.
"Though the Hidden Cloud Village suffered great losses in the Third Great Ninja War, under the Third Raikage's heroic efforts, the core strength left after the war wasn't wiped out by the Rock Ninja, leaving the Cloud from collapsing completely.
According to intelligence, with the support of the Daimyo of the Land of Lightning, the new Raikage, Ai, has strengthened the Cloud Village by raiding and kidnapping smaller ninja villages and secret technique clans, making the Cloud Village's vitality the fastest to recover among the Five Great Nations."
He did not start a war when we were at our weakest. Perhaps it's because he hasn't yet sorted out the chaos within the Cloud ninja, or fully absorbed the forces merged into the Hidden Cloud Village.
Kagetsu paused for a moment, glanced at Pakura, then said again, "If the Cloud ninja insist on starting a war, with the help of the Sand and Rain ninja, I think we can handle the worst-case scenario.
But the Amekage from the Hidden Rain Village will probably need Lord Jiraiya to visit in person."
Upon hearing this, Jiraiya's face immediately fell. He knew exactly why Kagetsu deliberately mentioned Yahiko.
The Amekage is known as a peace seeker who values order and stability.
And now, with Konoha's permission and the Sand ninja temporarily ignoring it, the Hidden Rain Village is developing with full effort.
After all, this opportunity is rare for both the Rain Village and the Land of Rain.
Back then, Hanzo started a war, having the Rain Village fight alone against the Sand and Konoha, who treated the Land of Rain as a battlefield. It was all to gain such an opportunity.
But in the end, he still failed.
It's not hard to get the Rain ninja to join Konoha's allied forces. The hard part is how many ninja the Rain Village can actually send.
Even more difficult is that the current Amekage and the Rain Village's leaders are all Jiraiya's students.
Under Konoha's new government system, they must consider their faces and cannot push the Rain Village too hard like before.
Destroying this good situation for the Rain Village would also be a big loss for Konoha's interests.
After all, the Rain Village is now a major part of Konoha's economy.
Of course, all of this depends on the Rain Village's current strength.
A ninja who killed Hanzo, repelled the Fourth Raikage, and possesses Sage of the Six Paths's eyes—even without Jiraiya's connection—deserves respect.
As a teacher, Jiraiya felt conflicted about dragging a disciple who sought peace into the battlefield.
"The Sand Ninja are strong and loyal allies of Konoha," Pakura stated firmly.
Although the Sand Ninja were not yet back to their peak strength and didn't want to see war, if it involved the Gelel Stone mine's ownership, the entire village—from top to bottom—would not let go when it came to protecting their interests.
"Then send the intelligence back to Sunagakure," Orochimaru said decisively. "Jiraiya, you will represent Konoha and visit Amegakure. Make sure your disciple is ready to face the war. If the situation worsens, the three village leaders must meet."
"I understand," Jiraiya nodded slightly. The situation had not yet reached the stage Shika predicted. The ninja world was still filled with war-weariness.
Even though the Raikage had brought the Iwagakure and Kirigakure forces together, it seemed more likely they were trying to intimidate than to fight directly.
A few days after the Hokage meeting, Konoha received intelligence that a large force of Cloud Ninja had appeared at the border, seeming ready to start a war.
The shadow of war seemed to spread across the ninja world once again.
Merchants were the most sensitive to such changes. Many who had made profits by relying on Konoha and the Sand Ninja were shaken when they sensed a new ninja war might be coming.
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