"Did Ōnoki agree to our request?"
At the border of the Land of Fire, the booming voice of the Fourth Raikage, A, thundered as he looked at the travel-worn Dodai.
"He rejected our proposal for war," Dodai replied with a sigh, shaking his head. He had already been mentally prepared for failure the moment he was dispatched to the Land of Earth.
The Third Great Ninja War hadn't left behind any real victor.
Even Konoha, which lasted until the bitter end, was severely weakened by the conflict.
Iwagakure had it worse—starting the war with ten thousand shinobi, only to be reduced to around three thousand by its end.
Their losses were devastating.
To make matters worse, both of their tailed beast jinchūriki were captured.
Right now, Iwagakure was still licking its wounds and desperately trying to raise a new generation.
How could they possibly risk getting involved in another unpredictable war?
"That old bastard," the Raikage growled, slamming his fist down on the wooden table before him.
The force shattered it, sending splinters flying in all directions. His voice brimmed with frustration at Ōnoki, who was known for shifting with the wind.
If it weren't for the Gelel Stone mine, A would've already turned his attention to Iwagakure.
Konoha was a hard bone to chew, but couldn't he at least rip off a piece of flesh from Iwa?
At the very least, it would boost the name of Kumogakure across the shinobi world and attract more merchants to hire them for missions.
Even though, after the defeat in the war, the Daimyō of the Land of Lightning didn't cut military spending like the Daimyō of the Land of Wind had—in fact, he increased it at A's request—a shinobi village still relied heavily on merchant contracts and missions to thrive.
It wasn't just about paying ninjas for missions—it was also about nurturing them, helping them grow through experience.
All the ninja villages wanted to defeat Konoha.
It wasn't only because Konoha controlled the most resource-rich land in the Land of Fire, with the best geography.
Defeating them would bring tremendous benefits.
It was also because of Konoha's reputation in the shinobi world. Naturally, it attracted a large number of merchants.
After all, the founders of Konoha were once the most powerful and renowned ninja clans!
From the Senju to the Uchiha, and even during the successive Great Ninja Wars—even when Konoha was on the verge of collapse, they always emerged as the victors in the end.
Such strength, combined with the Land of Fire's resources and favorable environment, naturally drew in clients who needed to hire ninja.
As long as they had a choice, the first village that came to people's minds when hiring ninja was always Konoha.
The Land of Fire shared borders with many large and small countries, making its geographic location extremely advantageous.
If any village could break the perception that Konoha was the strongest, then aside from the immediate benefits they'd gain from weakening Konoha, they would also enjoy a steady stream of long-term rewards from their growing reputation.
"What about the alliance?" the Raikage, A, asked in a deep voice.
"They refused as well," said Dodai, shaking his head again.
"He doesn't even need to send troops—just put on a show of force, apply a little pressure, maybe distract Konoha a bit. He won't even do that?" A was visibly annoyed.
This condition had already been the fallback plan he and Dodai came up with after their earlier discussions.
Yet Ōnoki still refused?
"I think Ōnoki has already figured out our intentions. He doesn't want to get dragged into this with us," Dodai said, understanding Ōnoki's cautious stance.
Even though forming an alliance with the Cloud Village only required a symbolic gesture and taking on some minor risk, they could've reaped certain benefits afterward.
But clearly, Ōnoki didn't trust the Cloud Village.
War was unpredictable. Any sudden development could easily pull Iwagakure right back into the quagmire of conflict.
And right now, Iwagakure couldn't afford to be shaken by another war.
The Gelel Stone mine was indeed valuable—but war and plunder weren't the only ways to get it.
At the very least, Iwa's intelligence division had discovered that Konoha hadn't kept the mine entirely to themselves.
They were cooperating and sharing it—at least partially—with Sunagakure.
In fact, some custom-made puppet toys circulating out of the Sand Village were rumored to use cut and refined Gelel Stones as their energy cores.
If Sunagakure could get access to the Gelel Stone from Konoha, then Iwagakure might also have a chance.
When it's time to gamble, Ōnoki never lacked the resolve to go all in.
But when it's time to step away from the table, he never hesitated either.
What Iwagakure needed now was to recover its strength and nurture the next generation—not to start another conflict.
Having experienced three Great Ninja Wars, Ōnoki knew better than anyone: once war breaks out, there's no putting the brakes on.
"We'll have to wait for news from Kirigakure," said Raikage A, unwilling to give up so easily.
Konoha and Suna were allied now. Even though the Cloud Village had recovered its strength the fastest, taking on both of them alone?
Not even Raikage A was that reckless.
The defeat in the Land of Rivers and the shock brought by Nagato had already crushed the arrogance he once held after gaining new strength.
Even though he had now mastered the power of the Hollow, Raikage A had never forgotten where that power came from.
Although Raikage A was confident that the Hidden Cloud had the most advanced understanding and control over Hollow powers in the entire ninja world, who could say for certain that Konoha hadn't developed a similar mastery?
If bad news came from the Hidden Mist as well, then Raikage A would have no choice but to test the waters first.
If it was confirmed that Konoha and Sand had formed an alliance, he would have to retreat quickly and send a diplomatic mission to try a different approach.
If they couldn't seize the advantage, then they'd have to pay for it.
Just like how they purchased resources and weapons from other nations and villages.
A few days later, the delegation sent to the Hidden Mist returned with good news.
The Mist hadn't rejected Raikage's proposal.
While they didn't outright declare participation in the war, they did promise to send troops to the front lines to pressure the Konoha and distract part of its forces.
Upon receiving this news, Raikage A finally breathed a sigh of relief. Though the plan hadn't gone perfectly, at least it hadn't completely failed.
In truth, this was still a battle between the Konoha and the Cloud.
The Sand and Mist were more like supporting players.
At least, Raikage A didn't believe the Sand would sacrifice everything just to help Konoha.
According to intelligence reports, the Hidden Sand currently didn't have enough manpower for a full-scale war.
Even their external mercenary missions had drastically decreased in number.
In fact, quite a few internal missions within the Land of Wind were now being outsourced to Konoha ninja.
The Raikage didn't believe that the Sand Village would have no complaints about this situation.
…
Konohagakure.
"The delegation sent by Ōnoki?"
Orochimaru looked a bit surprised as he read the letter. He was cautious and suspicious of the message from his old rival from the Third Great Ninja War.
Orochimaru considered himself quite familiar with Ōnoki's personality.
"Is it because of the Gelel Stone mine?"
After reading the contents, Orochimaru began to understand.
So this was it—Ōnoki was trying to take advantage of the situation with the Cloud Village's interference to claim a share of the profits from the Gelel Stone.
However, unlike the aggressive and forceful methods used by the Cloud Ninja, Iwagakure was proposing cooperation—trying to strike a deal between the two great villages.
****
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