"Damn that Ōnoki!"
With a loud crack, a table split in half under a heavy blow, splinters flying everywhere.
The Fourth Raikage, A, roared so loudly that his voice echoed far beyond the room.
Yugito Nii looked uneasy in the face of the Raikage's rage, but the nearby shinobi like Dodai remained calm.
Even the ANBU moved swiftly, clearing away the broken pieces and replacing the table as if it were routine.
Judging by their reactions, it was obvious this wasn't the first time such a scene had occurred. Many of those present didn't even flinch anymore—everyone, even the ANBU, seemed used to it.
"In the worst-case scenario, the Iwa-nin have also formed an alliance with Konoha," Dodai sighed.
The only silver lining was that Kirigakure hadn't sided with Konoha and instead leaned toward cooperating with the Hidden Cloud.
However, thinking about Kirigakure's current state also made Dodai feel powerless.
The Third Great Ninja War had dealt Kirigakure a devastating blow. Four of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen were wiped out by a single unknown Konoha genin. The remaining three were so frightened they practically went into hiding.
Many of their elite shinobi were lost, and with the sudden death of Yagura Karatachi, one of the top contenders for the Fourth Mizukage position, the reigning Third Mizukage's reputation took a massive hit.
Because Kirigakure was isolated overseas and not directly bordered by the other great nations, a certain air of mystery surrounded it. Very little intel from inside the village usually leaked out.
But even so, the Cloud's diplomatic team managed to uncover some information upon returning—like how the Third Mizukage was now being questioned by several powerful ninja clans within the village.
Even the Daimyō of the Land of Water had sent a formal inquiry.
In this kind of situation, the fact that the Third Mizukage was able to keep his position stable was already quite impressive.
At least for the time being, after just finishing a Great Ninja War, Kirigakure was in no shape to gather its strength again and launch another battle.
In fact, the arrival of the Kumo delegation might have even made the Third Mizukage secretly breathe a sigh of relief.
From Dodai's perspective, if even the envoy group could easily gather intel on the power struggles among the upper ranks, then the internal conflicts within Kirigakure were clearly reaching a boiling point with almost no effort to hide it anymore.
"Can we really win a war against Konoha?" A asked in a deep voice, staring at Dodai.
Dodai stayed silent for a moment. Under A's expectant gaze, he still slowly shook his head.
"Even with our shinobi mastering that kind of power, it's not enough?"
Yugito Nii, the Two-Tails' Jinchūriki, widened her eyes in disbelief.
She had witnessed her Raikage enter the Hollowfication state and fight with that terrifying power.
That wild and crushing force—it felt even more terrifying than the former Third Raikage.
It was overwhelming enough that even just his aura could impact the mental state of everyone around him.
As a Jinchūriki herself, Yugito deeply feared the Fourth Raikage in his Hollowfied form.
And it wasn't just her. Even the Two-Tails within her was extremely wary of that state.
After all, tailed beasts are not easily tamed. Even if you overpower or seal them, they won't just submit willingly.
Whenever they get a chance to come out, they usually do so with a reckless and unhinged fury.
They don't care what happens later—they just want to let out all their suppressed anger and frustration.
But with the Raikage nearby, Yugito felt that even if she wanted to let the Two-Tails come out and get some air, the beast would just turn its back to her and ignore the request completely.
According to the Two-Tails, it wasn't afraid of getting beaten up. After all, tailed beasts had spent thousands of years fighting and getting beaten. That was normal.
But the Hollow power in the Raikage… that was something it absolutely didn't want to get involved with.
That power was more tormenting to tailed beasts than even the darkest desires of humans.
It didn't want to be corrupted by that kind of power at all.
Being influenced by the negative desires of humans might make it more irritable, but at least it could still retain its sense of self. However, being tainted by that Hollow energy—who knew what kind of monster it might turn into?
That's why it resisted Yugito Nii's attempts to train in Hollow powers. It would often disrupt her training, sending her into uncontrollable rages.
Hollow-induced rampages had now become the greatest concern for Kumogakure.
After all, there were only two Tailed Beasts in the village, and they didn't go berserk easily.
But every shinobi who trained in Hollowfication lost control at least a few times.
The Fourth Raikage, A, had quickly secured his position and gained a reputation even greater than the Third Raikage because he was the first to master Hollowfication.
Not only that, he could also guide other Cloud shinobi to train safely in this power.
Once mastered, this power was said to rival even the legendary Sage Mode.
Those Cloud shinobi who had achieved Hollowfication with the Fourth Raikage's help naturally became his most loyal followers.
"Hollowfication, huh?" Dodai glanced at Yugito.
"The power of the Hollow mask was something we Cloud ninja stumbled upon unexpectedly from Konoha.
To harness this power, we've paid a great price. But it's hard to believe Konoha doesn't have a method to control it.
At the very least, they must be familiar with how Hollowfication works. Not to mention, Konoha's top-tier forces are simply too powerful right now.
The retired Third Hokage, the legendary Sannin like Orochimaru, the Yellow Flash, and Shisui the Teleporter… In a small-scale war, just those few could easily suppress everything."
"As for a large-scale war…"
Dodai didn't finish his sentence.
But there was no doubt—no one in the shinobi world wanted to see another Great Ninja War.
They had already happened too often.
And every time, the cost to the entire world was unbearable.
If they could achieve the final victory, it wouldn't matter. But after measuring the strength of both sides, Dodai couldn't be sure that the Cloud Ninja would hold the upper hand and win if they clashed with Konoha.
After all, Konoha's Technology Development Department now had a reputation in the ninja world even greater than Tsunade's original Medical Division.
It was said that Iwagakure had also set up a similar organization within their own ranks to research and develop new types of war weapons.
In fact, except for the chaotic Kirigakure, which was still unclear, the other four great ninja villages, including Kumogakure, had all successively established similar research institutions.
From the information they gathered, aside from Kumogakure focusing mainly on the Hollow Mask, Sunagakure was undoubtedly concentrating on puppets and energy, Iwagakure seemed to be working on some kind of mass-produced weapons, while Konoha was involved in everything—just like its reputation for leading at the forefront.
"Then send a delegation. The three Kage also held a Kage Summit once; we have to join it too," A said with a sigh, suppressing his frustration and urge to fight as he ordered Dodai.
Though hot-tempered and fond of solving problems with force, as Raikage, he could still set emotions aside to judge the situation and make decisions based on reality.
Since Konoha showed a willingness to negotiate, if taking power by force failed, then negotiation was the next step.
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