The atmosphere in the Hokage's office was tense.
During the Third Great Ninja War, the Sand Village was the first to start the war, yet also the quickest to surrender to Konoha. The quality of their ninja forces was so poor that even the Daimyo of the Land of Wind couldn't stand it.
Currently, the Sand Village faced a particularly embarrassing situation. Their biggest client, the Land of Wind Daimyo, had been consistently commissioning missions from Konoha instead.
Hiruzen Sarutobi's words had struck the Sand Village's fatal weakness. Besides a nominal affiliation, there was essentially no longer any meaningful relationship between the Sand Village and the Land of Wind Daimyo.
Of course, the Sand Village and Konoha were still allies for the moment, and Hiruzen had no desire to create an open conflict. He slowly picked up his pipe. "Lord Kazekage, you needn't worry too much. There won't be any accidents in this Chunin Exam..."
"Is that so?"
The Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, quietly lowered his head, hiding his expression under his hat. "In any case, if something does go wrong, it's Konoha's fault..."
"Lord Kazekage, watch your words." Homura Mitokado took a sip of tea before speaking in a deep voice. "Compared to the little ones in our village, isn't the Sand Village's unstable jinchuriki the more troublesome issue?"
"It's not really that troublesome..." Koharu Utatane chimed in softly. "Even a genin from our village was able to defeat a rampaging One-Tail. I imagine it shouldn't be too big of a problem."
A genin defeating the rampaging Shukaku... This was indeed a matter of great shame for the Sand Village. But then again, not every genin was Naruto Uzumaki.
The two Hokage advisors took turns taking jabs at the Fourth Kazekage.
But Rasa showed remarkable composure. He let them say what they would without getting the least bit angry, even smiling with some amusement.
The two advisors' hearts tensed. They exchanged a look and said no more.
The Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, was not a prominent figure among the Five Kage. Many people even believed he had only risen to the position because the Sand Village had no other successors.
Now, this unremarkable man, faced with the two elders' mockery, didn't get angry or retort. Instead, he seemed to be letting them mock him as they pleased. This, in turn, made Koharu and Homura feel a bit ashamed of themselves. After all, they were all people of status.
"Since everyone from Konoha disagrees, let's drop the matter..." Seeing the room quiet down, Rasa gently brought up another issue. "There is one more thing. I came to Konoha ahead of schedule this time to seek help from our allies."
"Please, speak," Hiruzen Sarutobi said, narrowing his eyes.
"To be frank, this is a problem that originated in Konoha. We would normally help an ally with any trouble we can, but our Sand Village..." The Fourth Kazekage sighed with some embarrassment, letting the awkwardness of his unfinished sentence hang in the air. He gently clasped his hands and looked at Hiruzen. "Our ninjas in the Land of Rivers have discovered traces of Orochimaru..."
"..."
Hiruzen Sarutobi's arm immediately stiffened. That lawless disciple had always been a thorn in the old man's heart. Whether he chose to pull out the thorn or let it grow, it felt like a mistake either way.
According to Jiraiya, Danzo and Orochimaru had conspired to attack Team 7. This matter had already raised Hiruzen's vigilance. Later, during the second stage of the Chunin Exams, Anko had reported Orochimaru's appearance. Hiruzen had only issued an order to strengthen defenses...
Then Orochimaru attacked Sasuke Uchiha alone. Thanks to Kakashi's obstruction, Orochimaru failed and fled. Hiruzen had thought the matter would end there, but who would have thought the Fourth Kazekage would bring news of Orochimaru again...
"Based on his movements, we suspect he may pose a threat to the Sand Village. Therefore, we need our ally, Konoha, to assist us in surrounding and eliminating him." The Fourth Kazekage spoke reasonably, placing the Sand Village in a very humble position. The Konoha higher-ups looked at each other.
Even setting aside Orochimaru's status as a Konoha rogue ninja, Sand and Konoha had maintained an alliance for over ten years. They had no reason to refuse Rasa's proposal.
Hiruzen pondered for a moment, then put down his pipe. "After the Chunin Exams are over, we will send a suitable..."
"Lord Hokage, that will be too late!" Rasa shook his head, interrupting Hiruzen. He continued softly, "Besides myself, the Sand Village has no one who can contend with Orochimaru. We urgently hope that Konoha can dispatch a number of ANBU and Jonin to the border of the Land of Rivers."
"..."
Hiruzen frowned and only spoke after a long pause. "We will discuss the details of how many personnel to send. We will give you a reply this afternoon or tomorrow."
"I hope Konoha will not disappoint its ally." Rasa raised his head and gave a deep look at Hiruzen sitting in the Hokage's seat, then left the office with his subordinates.
The moment the Fourth Kazekage stepped out, as if out of habit, he lightly extended his tongue and licked his lips.
-----
Konoha Hot Spring Inn.
Out of respect for their ally, the Konoha leaders had arranged for the Fourth Kazekage to stay at this luxurious inn. To avoid any misunderstanding, only a liaison team was left to attend to him.
In Konoha's history, they had only hosted the leaders of two great ninja villages. The first was the Third Raikage, who came to mourn the Second Hokage. The second was this Fourth Kazekage, Rasa.
It had to be said, the Third Raikage was truly bold. He came to Konoha shortly after the Second Hokage had died in battle. The reason Tobirama died was that he chose to lead a small team to a peace negotiation with the Second Raikage, and both of them ended up dying on the way there.
As for Rasa... it was purely because his intelligence wasn't high enough.
When Rasa's figure returned to his room at the inn, he took off his hat, revealing a pair of snake-like eyes. He scanned the room sinisterly.
It was, in fact, Orochimaru.
A white-haired young man appeared quietly in the room. He clutched his mouth, from which blood was seeping. "Lord Orochimaru," he said with a worried look, "you've finally returned..."
"Don't worry about me, Kimimaro." Orochimaru placed his hand on the youth's body, injecting a stream of chakra into the cursed seal within him. "I know my teacher very well. Even after being in charge of Konoha for nearly forty years, he is still as hypocritical and weak as ever. Back then, he didn't dare to kill the Third Raikage. Now, he certainly won't kill the Fourth Kazekage."
Kimimaro grabbed Orochimaru's wrist. "Lord Orochimaru, please don't waste your chakra on me. My lifespan..."
"Rest assured," Orochimaru said softly, patting Kimimaro's head. "You are an important part of the plan. I will keep you alive until that time. Kabuto is still dealing with the traces of us killing the Fourth Kazekage. When he arrives in Konoha, I will have him take care of you."
"Lord Orochimaru!" Kimimaro gritted his teeth. "If I can't hold on until that time, you can use me as a sacrifice... I know that the stronger the sacrifice for the Impure World Reincarnation, the stronger the resurrected person will be."
"..."
After watching Kimimaro for a long time, Orochimaru rubbed the youth's white hair and nodded calmly. "Alright. I promise you."
-----
Bonus:
Fourth Kazekage: Don't just casually go to Konoha, you'll die!
Third Raikage: Are you an idiot?
Third Hokage: We're not taking the blame for this. Who asked you to collude with Orochimaru?
Gaara: In our era, it doesn't matter if you go or not...
Kurotsuchi: Anyway, if you don't go, you die. If you go, you might live...
Darui: I envy the era of the Third Raikage...