While Uchiha Obito was escorting Rin to Hidden Mist Village, in the Storm Alliance camp, Sand ninja and Cloud ninja were engaged in an intense tug-of-war competition.
"Go! Go! Go!"
Jinghang cheered loudly for the Sand ninja side, his eyes red, neck thick, and fists waving.
Seeing their Kazekage personally cheering them on, the Sand ninja put all their strength into pulling backward. The red ribbon on the rope actually moved toward the Sand side.
The Third Raikage couldn't sit still. He ran onto the field and stood with the Cloud ninja, waving his bowl-sized fists and roaring with his broken-gong voice.
"You little brats! Didn't you eat? Put some muscle into it!"
Jinghang wasn't to be outdone and waved his arms like a madman.
"Crush them! Pull harder!"
The surrounding ninja watching were infected by the enthusiasm of the two Kage. For a moment, cheering voices and shouts of encouragement thundered like lightning, shaking the earth for miles. Even the Leaf ninja on Konoha's walls heard the commotion and grabbed their weapons, entering combat readiness. Was the Storm Alliance about to attack?
After a long stalemate, the Cloud ninja, renowned for their strength, finally achieved victory.
The Cloud camp celebrated joyously with thunderous applause, as if they'd won the Golden Kunai Cup.
In contrast, the Sand ninja hung their heads dejectedly, many still discussing where their coordination had failed.
"Alright, alright."
Jinghang stepped forward and waved his hands. Everyone instantly fell silent.
"Well, we honor our bets. The Cloud ninja won, so this 200,000 ryō prize goes to Hidden Cloud. I hope our Sand boys don't get discouraged—learn from this experience and win back our face in other events."
Then the Third Raikage spoke up.
"Hehe, our Cloud boys aren't pushovers in other events either. If you want to win back face, you'd better have the strength for it, right?"
"Right!"
The Cloud ninja instantly joined in the cheering.
The idea of holding a temporary sports meet between the two armies was Jinghang's. Prolonged strategic standoffs inevitably kept ninja nerves taut, and excessive tension was unhealthy for ninja physically and mentally.
No one knew when war would break out. If they exhausted all their energy beforehand, what would happen when real fighting started? Besides, 20,000 ninja were all men in their prime with energy to burn. With nowhere to vent in this wilderness—no salons or entertainment halls—troublemakers would inevitably start fights. If things escalated and military discipline had to be enforced, morale would plummet.
The Yan'an Anti-Japanese University spirit said it well: "Unity, tension, seriousness, liveliness." So Jinghang proposed organizing competitive sports meets between the two armies without affecting normal duties and guard tasks. This would relieve the ninja's tense war emotions while strengthening "revolutionary friendship" between the armies.
The Third Raikage readily agreed and suggested adding prizes to stimulate participation. Jinghang nodded in agreement.
The effects were obvious. After several athletic competitions, the ninja's tension greatly eased while relations between the armies became more harmonious. Tactical coordination between ninja squads became more seamless—surely they'd be twice as effective in real combat.
As the competition ended and Jinghang and the Third Raikage were about to return to camp, Xuechi Gaojin suddenly approached with a telegram.
"Sir, urgent message from Senmon."
"Oh?"
Jinghang raised an eyebrow. Senmon was Sand's most successful undercover agent planted in Konoha. With the current tense situation and Konoha's increasingly strict counterespionage work, Jinghang had long ordered him to protect himself and go dormant. For him to risk transmitting intelligence now meant something major had happened.
Jinghang quickly scanned the intelligence, his expression suddenly changing.
"Reply to Senmon: message received. Hereafter, strictly forbidden to transmit any messages. Be sure to protect yourself."
Jinghang said seriously.
"Yes!"
Xuechi Gaojin bowed and withdrew.
The Third Raikage started to excuse himself but Jinghang grabbed his arm.
"Come, I need to discuss something with you."
...
"What? Konoha wants to trade the Three-Tails for Hidden Mist reinforcements?"
The Third Raikage looked at the telegram, amazed both by Hiruzen Sarutobi's audacity and by Sand's intelligence department's formidable capabilities.
For Sand to obtain such crucial intelligence—compared to this, Cloud's ANBU was far inferior. He'd heard Dodai mention that Sand's intelligence department had ten Heavenly Stems agents infiltrating the upper echelons of various ninja villages. He wondered if Hidden Cloud had any...
Jinghang seemed to read the Third Raikage's thoughts and smiled.
"Don't worry, old brother. We're allied nations—if I want to know something, I'll just ask you directly. Why would I need to plant spies? Besides, Hidden Cloud Village isn't naturally suitable soil for undercover agents to survive. Even if I wanted to plant them, I couldn't."
The Third Raikage looked at his wheat-colored skin and smiled knowingly.
"Not at all. I was pondering this Hidden Mist reinforcement matter."
Jinghang didn't pursue the topic further and thought briefly.
"This matter has pros and cons."
"How so?"
The Third Raikage asked.
Jinghang smiled.
"Simply put, if this wartime trade succeeds and Hidden Mist deploys troops as promised, it just means Konoha loses one tailed beast on the main battlefield while gaining 10,000 ninja reinforcements on the flanks.
Hidden Mist's Karatachi Yagura isn't a fool—he won't really risk the little foundation he's built fighting us to the death for Konoha's sake. Besides, people's hearts are unknowable. Alliances of convenience can't compare to our friendship forged in blood."
"Exactly, exactly."
The Third Raikage smiled honestly.
"However, adding 10,000 Hidden Mist ninja will still greatly impact the current strategic balance. I think we need to find a way to stop this trade."
Hearing the Third Raikage's words, Jinghang felt a headache coming on.
The Third Raikage's words made sense, of course. If it were anyone else, he'd unhesitatingly organize an assassination squad to eliminate them. But the Third Raikage didn't know there was a future "Six Paths Gatekeeper" among them. Offending him would bring endless trouble, and the kid wasn't easy to kill either.
Jinghang pondered for a moment.
"You're right—we must stop it. I'll telegram Maki immediately to organize action. But we also need contingency plans for Hidden Mist's participation."
"Exactly."
The Third Raikage nodded.
Jinghang spread out a map.
"If Hidden Mist enters the war, they have two optimal landing points. First is Fire Country's sheltered harbor—no obstacles on this route, allowing direct linkup with Konoha. That would bring the Konoha-Mist allied forces to 25,000, greatly increasing pressure on our main front. Second is our Sand Village's Yuexi Peninsula—penetrating deep behind enemy lines to prevent us from coordinating front and rear. But we needn't worry about this route."
"Why not?"
"Because I left a reserve force on Yuexi Peninsula sufficient to handle them."
"Little brother is truly far-sighted."
"So regardless, we must reinforce the front lines with at least 4,000 more troops. How about it, big brother? Can you squeeze out a few more?"
Jinghang smiled.
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
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