As they were talking, a Jonin burst in, panic etched across his face.
"Raikage-sama, it's urgent! Seiki Shimaseki from Konoha says he wants to see you—he's already waiting at the village entrance!"
A's eyes widened in surprise. "You're certain it's him?"
The Jonin nodded vigorously. "That kind of man—you'll never mistake him for anyone else once you've seen him!"
Upon hearing this, A instinctively glanced to his left.
Meeting Raikage's mournful gaze, Dodai remained calm. "Raikage-sama, would you like me to dismiss the guards around first?"
"Dismiss? Why would—" As A spoke, he suddenly realized—Dodai must think he's definitely getting a beating, so he's trying to get rid of the 'audience' beforehand?
Thinking about this, A gritted his teeth and said, "No need!"
The Jonin who had just entered then said worriedly, "Raikage-sama, should you go out first to hide and avoid this?"
"What? Would I, the great Raikage, be afraid of him in my own village?" Ashamed and angry, A raised his voice, "Let him come in! I'll wait right here!"
"If he's coming as a guest, fine. But if he dares to cause trouble, hmm hmm...I'll make him taste the power of my fists!"
The Jonin couldn't help but look at him with admiration, thinking secretly, "No wonder he's the Raikage! Even when about to get beaten, he still insists on protecting the dignity of Kumogakure!"
A couldn't help but frown—why was this guy looking at him with such insolent eyes?
Soon, the Jonin went out to greet Seiki.
Sitting in his seat, A looked serious.
"Dodai, if we really end up fighting, do you think I have a chance to win?"
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Dodai looked at him in surprise. "Raikage-sama, is this your way of making a joke?"
A twitched at the corner of his lip. "Don't mess around—I'm serious!"
Dodai sighed. "Isn't this question itself already ridiculous?"
Seeing that Raikage insisted, Dodai said with a faint smile, "Raikage-sama, you've always loved fighting, right? Why not just enjoy the experience this time?"
A's face darkened. "I do like fighting, but that doesn't mean I enjoy being beaten to a pulp!"
He could accept a fair fight, or even one that was slightly one-sided. But being beaten from start to finish? That wouldn't be fun at all!
At that moment, light footsteps were heard outside the door.
Immediately straightening his posture, A picked up the documents on his desk, putting on an appearance of calm indifference.
"Seiki-sama, please come in. Raikage-sama is inside!"
Perhaps not wanting to witness Raikage's humiliation, after delivering Seiki, the Jonin quickly left.
Unconcerned, Seiki calmly stepped into the room.
"Raikage-sama!"
"Brother Seiki! Haha, it's been so long!" Upon hearing the voice, A stood up with pretended surprise, then looked at Dodai with dissatisfaction, "A guest has arrived, why didn't you remind me?"
With a mechanical fake smile, Dodai replied, "It was my mistake."
"Let's start with a little small talk," A said. "Shūseki, my friend, how did you find the time to visit our Hidden Cloud?"
Shūseki spoke up. "Raikage-sama, I came here today to discuss the misunderstanding between Konoha and your Hidden Cloud!"
Seeing that Shūseki didn't try to pressure him with authority, A relaxed slightly, yet feigned confusion and asked, "What misunderstanding?"
Dodai interjected, "It should be about the incident a few days ago when Hayashiro represented our Hidden Cloud to negotiate an alliance with Konoha, but was killed by someone from the Hyūga Clan!"
"Ah, this incident!" A suddenly understood, immediately displaying righteous indignation. "Shūseki, my friend, it's not that I don't respect you, but honestly, Konoha has gone too far this time!"
"Forget about the Hyūga from your side killing our man—they even accused Hayashiro of trying to steal their eyes! How could our Hidden Cloud ever do something so despicable?"
Watching Raikage's 'righteous fury,' Shūseki inwardly sighed. Didn't you acquire it through deceit and trickery?
Wasn't it all through deceit and trickery?
"And even if Hayashiro really did something outrageous, he should've been dealt with by us Hidden Cloud shinobi, not be killed by someone from Konoha! That makes us wonder whether that Hyūga really told the truth!"
Seeing Raikage wanted to continue, Shūseki quickly interrupted, "Actually, resolving this issue is quite simple!"
A was taken aback, "Simple?"
Thinking in typical Hidden Cloud logic, the simplest solution, of course, was to settle things with fists!
Thinking this, A felt a surge of anger, "This bastard definitely wants to punch me again!"
Shūseki, of course, had no idea what A was thinking. He merely smiled and asked, "Raikage-sama, surely you've heard about the Impure World Reincarnation—the forbidden jutsu created by The Second Hokage?"
"It's not about punching me..." A exhaled in relief, only to immediately widen his eyes, "Wait—are you suggesting we reincarnate Hayashiro?"
Shūseki nodded with a smile, "Take a dead prisoner as a sacrifice, recall the soul of this deceased Hidden Cloud shinobi back to the mortal world, then use Genjutsu to make him tell the truth—problem solved. If you don't trust me, you can even appoint the ninja who uses the Genjutsu!"
Upon hearing this, A broke into a cold sweat.
Originally, he had thought even if Konoha produced evidence, he could simply shift the blame onto Hayashiro as an individual, keeping Hidden Cloud itself uninvolved.
After all, every village had a few Rogue Ninja, didn't they?
But if Hayashiro directly implicated Hidden Cloud in the killing, that would become quite troublesome!
"Haha, how could I possibly distrust you?" A awkwardly laughed, avoiding eye contact. "But wouldn't doing something like this be a bit inhumane? A dead prisoner is still a human life—killing them so cruelly really is excessive!"
"Never would I have thought the Hidden Cloud leader could be so kind-hearted!" Shūseki sighed, then continued, "Then let's adjust a bit—we can carry out their execution normally first, and then use the corpse as a sacrifice. With my current abilities, achieving this isn't difficult!"
"Cough cough, cough cough!" A suddenly began coughing violently, shooting Dodai glances while coughing.
"Raikage-sama, are you having a sore throat?" Shūseki asked with concern.
"Raikage-sama's body is... quite sensitive. Maybe he just caught a chill!" Tsuchi Dai lightly teased the Raikage before turning serious. "[Impure World Reincarnation] is a cursed abomination. How could we possibly let such a matter stain your noble name, Seiki-sama?"
A's eyes flashed with approval as he slammed the table. "[Impure World Reincarnation]—it's better never to use that cursed jutsu at all!"
"How about this: Seiki, you explain this matter yourself. I'll give you that much respect! Afterward, I'll dig deep to uncover the truth—no innocent person will be wronged!"
Seiki's expression turned odd. Usually, wouldn't there be a follow-up—like "and I won't let any guilty person slip through the net"?
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