The dark brown mountain that had once blocked the trade route between the village and the Land of Birds had been destroyed not long ago by the rogue Iwagakure shinobi, Deidara.
And now, a new gate of Iwagakure stood proudly where the mountain once rose. Merchants poured through in wave after wave, eager to seize the opportunity of newly opened trade routes and make as much money as possible.
Inside the Tsuchikage's office, the desk was buried beneath piles of documents. Ohnoki's small figure was nearly hidden behind them, but the crisp sound of a stamp hitting paper echoed continuously.
"There are so many documents… how long will it take me to finish all this?"
Despite his grumbling, he couldn't hide the smile tugging at the corner of his lips.
This was money. Every stamp meant another tariff collected on goods flowing in and out. For a village that had just spent a fortune building the headquarters of the Ninja Association, this was a timely rescue—an opportunity to fill the deficit caused by the costs of construction and labor.
Knock knock knock!
The urgent knocking made Ohnoki's smile widen slightly.
"Sounds like another batch of merchant approvals. Come in!"
The door opened, and Ohnoki's son, Kitsuchi, entered with a thick stack of documents. He placed them on a side table, then drew a reddish-brown scroll from his chest and handed it to Ohnoki.
"Old man, this is intelligence from our agent in Kumogakure."
"It says that after Uchiha Hikaru and the Konoha delegation arrived, they didn't immediately begin the main negotiations of their mission."
"Jiraiya seems to be in private discussions with the leader of Nadeshiko Village—Lady Tingxiang."
"You should read this before continuing."
Ohnoki had been ready to wave him off and read it later, but the moment he heard Uchiha Hikaru, he shot up from his chair, floated to Kitsuchi's side, and snatched the scroll.
"Help me sort the rest. I'll look into what that boy has done now."
Kitsuchi sighed silently and shook his head.
Ever since the establishment of the Ninja Association, anything related to Uchiha Hikaru—no matter when or what he was doing—Ohnoki would drop everything and investigate immediately. He'd jumped out of bed in the middle of the night more than once to review Hikaru-related reports. (￣▽￣*)
Ohnoki unrolled the scroll and read every line carefully. As he continued, his thick white eyebrows gradually drew inward, nearly touching the bridge of his nose.
More than ten minutes later, he destroyed the scroll with Dust Release, then turned to Kitsuchi with a heavy expression.
"Kitsuchi, aside from visiting Kumogakure, has Konoha made any other moves?"
Thud.
Kitsuchi put down his stamp, stood up straight, and answered seriously.
"In Konoha, according to intelligence from the caravan spies and our information network… it's the same as before. The First Hokage, Hashirama, returned to the village two months ago and then set out for Sunagakure again. Two days ago, a caravan near an oasis witnessed a large-scale Wood Style jutsu planting trees. Judging from the scale, it had to be Hashirama himself."
"In Kirigakure, according to workers managing the construction of the Kirigakure Ocean Bridge funded by Konoha, Uchiha Itachi, Uchiha Fugaku, and Akimichi Choza are assisting with the engineering. There is also a man who looks like Zabuza's younger brother. However, Mizukage Mei Terumi hasn't appeared recently—we don't know what she is doing."
"In Amegakure, the new Minister of Finance is Kakuzu, the former infamous bounty hunter. He immediately implemented drastic reforms to tariffs and trade policies. This came from the village's trade department."
"As for the Ninja Association, Akagi has reported back: Konoha has officially rescinded the wanted order for the Akatsuki. Reason unknown."
"And a transport team returning from the Land of Fire reported that a volcano on the southern border suddenly erupted. There was a huge natural phenomenon—something like a massive black shadow emerging from the crater."
Kitsuchi pointed to several scrolls stacked in a corner of the desk.
"All of that was scheduled to be reviewed—"
Before he finished, Ohnoki appeared at the pile, tearing open scroll after scroll. The more he read, the darker his expression became. Slowly, he turned his head stiffly toward Kitsuchi.
"Such important intelligence—why didn't you let me see it immediately when the documents arrived?" Ohnoki spoke through clenched teeth.
"Didn't you say it had nothing to do with Uchiha Hikaru and wasn't urgent…?" Kitsuchi scratched his head awkwardly. (・・;)ゞ
Ohnoki froze, speechless, then hurried back to the main desk, pulled out a blank scroll, and wrote rapidly. When he finished, he shoved it into Kitsuchi's hands.
"Quickly! Have someone deliver this to Uchiha Hikaru—no!"
"If we send it to Kumogakure, those damned fools will delay it. Send it to Konoha—to Tsunade herself!"
"You—no, have Kurotsuchi go!"
Kitsuchi hesitated, thinking of how Kurotsuchi had been emotionally unstable since Deidara abandoned the village again and announced a six-month retreat.
"She's… not in a good mood lately. She said she wanted time alone—"
"Shut up! So what if she's my granddaughter!?" Ohnoki roared.
"She's a shinobi! Personal feelings do not matter! The village comes first!"
"No matter what method you use—Kurotsuchi will carry out this mission! Classified S-rank!"
Ohnoki kicked Kitsuchi out and sat alone amid the mountain of documents. The excitement he felt earlier had vanished completely, replaced by deep unease.
"Damn you, A… damn you, Raikage. You let Samui receive Uchiha Hikaru, hoping to seduce him and steal bloodline secrets you could never obtain."
"Nadeshiko Village and Jiraiya… looks like Konoha is starting to move against the smaller nations too, forcing them into the Ninja Association."
"The pie will only grow smaller. We must pressure the nobles of the Land of Earth immediately. Relying only on the Daimyo's permission won't be enough. We can't delay any longer."
"Among the Five Great Nations, only Iwagakure and Konoha have yet to establish close ties. If we don't accelerate, we won't even be able to drink the soup left behind—worse, we'll be reduced to fighting over scraps with minor villages."
"No. I will never allow that!!"
His hand trembled slightly as he pressed his palm against the desk, eyes burning with determination.
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