The only problem is that the reaction from the Land of Wind and Land of Earth will definitely be intense, and the other great Countries will surely try to pressure the Land of Demons as well.
We have to prepare countermeasures for all of this in advance and can't afford to be careless.
"Well then, I'll be heading out first."
"Mm, go ahead."
Raidenmaru waved his paw, signaling that Ugly Ox could leave.
Ugly Ox nodded, walked out of the room, and left.
Watching Ugly Ox depart, Raidenmaru picked up another red bean daifuku from the plate and started eating. That refreshing sweetness was something he never got tired of.
"Mm… I'm feeling a bit sleepy. The debriefing can wait a little while."
Raidenmaru wasn't in any hurry to contact Headquarters.
Anyway, he just needed to hand this sort of thing off to the people below. If Headquarters changed any decisions, they would definitely notify him at once and adjust the plan for the Land of Bear.
If there was no word from them, it meant the plan was still proceeding along the original route.
Finishing the last piece of red bean daifuku, he picked up a toothpick and elegantly picked his teeth. Then Raidenmaru lightly hopped onto the recliner behind him, his body instinctively curling up there.
He lazily stretched out a paw, yawned, his sleepy eyes closing as he stopped moving, intending to enjoy a nice nap now and go back to work later.
After all, during his days here, he only needed to report to Headquarters when necessary. Most of the time he was doing disciplinary inspection-like work, and apart from that, his job was to eat and sleep.
Compared to the days of selfless toil in the Land of Demons, life here was the real deal.
A bed much bigger and softer than the one in the pet house, endless delicious food, no worries about anyone stealing his turf, and no worries about snacks being snatched. The Akakage in charge here would satisfy his every need.
If he could have a few gentle and lovely maids to attend to him on top of that, it'd be perfect.
This place was heaven, no doubt about it.
Just then, a voice suddenly sounded by his ear:
"You're really enjoying yourself here, Raidenmaru."
Hearing that familiar voice, Raidenmaru's fur stood on end, his drowsiness vanishing in an instant. He lifted his head and looked at Hakushi, who had appeared in the room at some point, and his speech turned stammering:
"F-Father? Why are you here?"
He sounded more than a little flustered.
His eyes started darting restlessly, his paws in front of him scratching at each other on instinct, the excited smile on his face practically forced out through tears.
"I came to inspect the situation here and see if any problems have come up."
The Hidden Star Village was tied to the Land of Demons' arrangement in the Land of Bear. Even with a detailed and stable plan, Hakushi still paid frequent attention to how things were going here.
Unlike the Land of Shadow and Land of Snow, dealing with the issues in the Land of Bear was more complicated.
"How could there possibly be any problems here? Father, you're worrying too much."
Raidenmaru's gaze was a bit evasive.
There really weren't any problems here, but when he thought back on the decadent days he'd spent here over the last two years, then met Hakushi's calm eyes that seemed to see through everything, he couldn't help feeling guilty.
This time Hakushi had suddenly popped in for a surprise 'spot-check' right when he was skiving off to nap, not even giving him time to prepare.
"Setting Ugly Ox and Akakage aside, I hear you've been living a life of wine and luxury here."
"Uh… that's completely baseless. I carry out my inspection work conscientiously every day. It just so happens that my stomach felt a little off today, so I took a short nap…"
By the end, under Hakushi's stern gaze, Raidenmaru's head drooped lower and lower, and his voice grew quieter and quieter.
After all, the fact that he'd been living a decadent life of gluttony and laziness here was the plain truth.
"Forget it, I'm not here to blame you. Your role here was mainly to serve as the bridge between the Hidden Star Village and Headquarters anyway."
Seeing that Hakushi wasn't going to punish him, Raidenmaru quietly let out a breath of relief.
"Father, do you have any other orders for me?"
Raidenmaru asked cautiously, jumping down from the swivel chair onto the desk.
Hakushi glanced at Raidenmaru and said, "The situation in the Hidden Star Village has stabilized, so you don't need to be stationed here anymore. Next, I'm going out to handle something and meet with Tsunade of the Sannin. You're coming with me. After that, I'll assign you to the Land of Waves to assist Ichihime in her operation there."
"Understood."
Raidenmaru answered with his head hanging.
Looked like he wouldn't be able to keep enjoying this high-end, decadent lifestyle in the Hidden Star Village.
The Land of Waves… if Raidenmaru remembered right, that was an extremely poor small Country in the Ninja Realm. Rumor had it that the Country's Daimyo was up to his neck in debt and was currently being hounded by the Land of Demons' Gold Debt Collector.
On top of that, the one taking the lead in the Land of Waves this time was Ichihime. Raidenmaru could already imagine the busy days to come, with no more chance to slack off.
"All right, let's go now. We'll meet up with the Nokizaru Group first."
"Should we go explain things to Akakage?"
"No need. I already spoke with Akakage before coming to see you. From here on, everything in the Hidden Star Village will be handled entirely by him and Ugly Ox."
Hakushi shot Raidenmaru a sidelong look and walked out of the room first. Seeing this, Raidenmaru could only scratch his paws together, jump down from the desk, and trot after Hakushi.