This was Hibari's first time in Kumogakure. It should be said that at this point in time, very few Konoha shinobi had ever visited Kumogakure.
After tidying his belongings, Hibari quickly went out to gather information. Relying on his youthful appearance, no one seemed to notice the 'threat' he posed.
He approached a fruit vendor, bought a few Land of Lightning specialty fruits that were uncommon in the Land of Fire, and then, while eating, struck up a conversation with the shop owner.
"Ojisan, is business good these days?" Hibari asked, biting into a fruit.
The shop owner looked at Hibari with amusement and asked, "Why are you, a child, asking about these things? What, are you planning to be a small merchant in the future too? Hahahaha."
Hibari feigned a shy smile, then said, "No need to wait for the future; my brother and I are already merchants. We just arrived in Kumogakure today. We're 'itinerant merchants,' often traveling between various countries, but business has been tough recently..."
"Is that so? You're quite capable then. Only arrived in Kumogakure today? No wonder your skin looks different from ours, who are constantly exposed to the sun," the shop owner said with some surprise.
After a slight pause, seeing that there wasn't much business, the shop owner casually picked up a fruit from his stall, wiped it, took a bite, and said, "Yes, business has indeed become difficult. Take these fruits, for instance. Two years ago, we often saw merchants from other countries, especially the Land of Fire, come to purchase them. But in the past two years, due to the constant unpleasantries between us and the Land of Fire, merchants from there don't come here much anymore, and these fruits just don't sell. After all, these things are rare in the Land of Fire, but here in our Land of Lightning, they're just ordinary fruits."
"Yeah, but we also just came from the Land of Fire not long ago. There are still many merchants from various countries there, but today, looking at our Kumogakure, it seems there aren't too many outsiders?" Hibari thought for a moment, then subtly asked.
"Oh, that. Sigh, when I was young, I also went to the Land of Fire a few times. The Land of Fire is indeed much richer than our side, so merchants from various countries originally liked to do business there. But the village wasn't like this originally. However, didn't Second Raikage-sama take office recently? After that, I don't know what happened, but I always feel like the village is a bit xenophobic now. Many people were inexplicably driven out. Those ninja lords don't care about these things, but we, who do business, suffer greatly..." the shop owner said with some melancholy.
'Drove people away?' Hibari's heart stirred slightly, grasping a key point.
He didn't continue talking to the shop owner. Hibari quickly continued to wander around Kumogakure, subtly asking questions to many people.
At noon, the direct sunlight in Kumogakure made the temperature extremely high. Hibari didn't continue wandering aimlessly. He found a cool spot under a tree and sat down. After observing the surroundings and confirming that no one was following him or paying attention to him, Hibari took out a small notebook and began recording.
'Kumogakure's economic level has been declining in recent years, and internal conflicts are beginning to surface. The public seems quite dissatisfied with these matters.'
'In recent days, Kumogakure has been unusually xenophobic, likely guarding against intelligence probing from various factions.'
'Monthly security drills have also increased to twice a month, and large numbers of shinobi can often be seen conducting joint combat exercises.'
He reviewed the dozen or so pieces of information he had just summarized. Hibari's expression was now a little grim. Taken individually, these pieces of information didn't seem like much, but when put together, it was clear that Kumogakure was already nearing the brink of war.
However, after a second thought, Hibari had long been mentally prepared for Kumogakure to start a war. He just wasn't sure about the timing. Now, looking at these simple pieces of information, a casual guess would suggest that war was not far off.
"But the Second Raikage, upon taking office, raised the banner and slogan of peace. He doesn't seem like someone who wants to start a war..." Hibari murmured, stroking his chin again.
After thinking carefully, Hibari felt that Kumogakure likely hadn't reached a consensus yet, and unlike Konohagakure, Tobirama enjoyed extremely high prestige and could make unilateral decisions in the village, even using his superb methods to pacify unruly individuals, such as the Uchiha clan.
In Kumogakure, power had probably not yet been centralized. The Second Raikage had only recently taken office and hadn't even fully consolidated his position. Even if he advocated for peace himself, he wouldn't be able to stabilize the situation.
"If nothing unexpected happens, it should be as I've guessed. However, if the Second Raikage's authority isn't enough to reverse the situation of these internal conflicts, then war will still break out sooner or later... Thinking about it, his authority probably isn't enough, otherwise he wouldn't have died at the hands of a traitor." Hibari muttered to himself again.
Although Kumogakure's internal conflicts were starting to become prominent, they hadn't yet reached a point of intense confrontation. However, once the Second Raikage lost control over the village's internal conflicts, he would only have two paths to take. The first path: step down himself and let someone more capable become the Raikage.
However, no one would choose this option; it would be too humiliating, and he would likely be disgraced in history.
So, the second path... would be to quickly divert internal conflicts.
How to quickly divert them?
The simplest way is to establish a strong common enemy for everyone, and then unite to fight that enemy. Undoubtedly, the Land of Fire and Konohagakure perfectly fit this criterion.
Therefore, Hibari speculated that once the Second Raikage lost control over the internal conflicts in the village, he would inevitably start a war to maintain his rule and solve these problems. If, under his leadership, the war against the Land of Fire was won, his prestige would immediately rise, and he would gain significant benefits. At that point, he would have enough time to slowly resolve these 'historical issues.'
Of course, war isn't something where victory or defeat can be easily predicted, so he would certainly prepare for defeat as well. Thinking about it carefully, if he was smart enough, he could fully utilize the war to 'eliminate' those who opposed him. This way, even if the war was lost, he would have 'resolved' the internal conflicts, wouldn't he? After all, dead people don't have the right to grumble at him.
"No wonder they reconciled and formed an alliance halfway through the war. Perhaps the Second Raikage's goal of eliminating dissidents had been achieved, and he had also understood Konohagakure's strength, which made him want to stop the war. But despite all his calculations, he didn't account for people like the Gold and Silver Brothers who didn't play by the rules. What a huge loss," Hibari said with a chuckle, talking to himself.
After putting away the small notebook, Hibari looked at the iconic Kumogakure power center building. A smile appeared on his lips, and he softly murmured to himself, "But in the end, these are all intelligence and speculations gathered from hearsay. The credibility isn't very high. Ultimately, I still need to go in there and search..."
However, Hibari didn't act rashly immediately. In broad daylight, no matter how capable he was, infiltrating the Raikage's office was very dangerous. He would wait until nightfall. At the very least, he needed to survey the terrain first.
Thus, Hibari quickly continued to wander around Kumogakure.
Meanwhile, in the Second Raikage's office, the Raikage with the somewhat comical hairstyle looked at a document in his hand with a grim expression. After a long while, he said, "Those bastards Kinkaku and Ginkaku are once again inciting those foolish people!"
"Raikage-sama, the Gold and Silver Brothers have high strength and prestige in the village. We can't do anything about them for a while..." a Raikage's aide said.
"Those two bastards have become increasingly radical ever since they were infected by that evil Nine-Tails. All day long, they only think about starting a war. But how can war be started so casually? Konohagakure's strength is not to be underestimated, even if Hashirama was truly severely injured and unable to exert his original strength..." At this point, the Second Raikage's eyes flickered slightly. In truth, he also wanted to 'test the waters.'
However, now was not the time. His opposition to war was to ensure that the war would be more prepared, not like those two bastards Kinkaku and Ginkaku, who would just casually start a war. As for raising the banner of peace, that was merely his delaying tactic, also meant for the other nations.
However, he wasn't completely swayed by the idea of "Hashirama Senju being severely injured." He quickly continued, "Even without Hashirama, we cannot casually go to war with Konoha."
"Then, Raikage-sama, what should we do?" an aide asked.
The Second Raikage thought for a moment, then said, "I see those Gold and Silver Brothers jumping around, and it's all for profit. Otherwise, why would they be working so hard? Aren't they both good at pursuit? Then let's give them some benefits and order them to form a well-trained pursuit unit, to prepare for the future, and also to give them something to do, so they don't just spend all day bothering me!"
At this time, although the Second Raikage didn't see eye to eye with the Gold and Silver Brothers, Kinkaku and Ginkaku were, after all, seasoned experts of Kumogakure. They were even respectfully called exaggerated titles like 'Two Lights in the Clouds' by many militant shinobi.
Therefore, the Second Raikage wasn't thinking of eliminating them or anything. Doing so would be tantamount to getting rid of two of their own great experts, which would be a laughingstock. So, for now, his idea was to try and win over these Gold and Silver Brothers. If he could make them a little more obedient, he would be satisfied.
After arranging this matter, the Second Raikage looked at the map hanging on the wall, his gaze falling upon the fertile Land of Fire. He pondered something for a long time, then softly murmured, "Land of Fire... What a rich place..."
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