The Kazekage quickly retracted his imposing aura and sat at the head of the table, addressing the senior officials around him. "Tell me everything that happened during my absence."
"Yes," one of the officials acknowledged, already prepared. He opened his notes and began recounting everything that had occurred in Sunagakure during this time.
Although Anya had anticipated heavy losses during the Third Battle, only when he heard the actual figures did he truly grasp the scale of the devastation. Even after combining all available resources—including current students—the total number of ninja in Sunagakure did not exceed five thousand. This number had completely fallen below the ranks of the Five Great Countries. The only reason the village had survived at all was its unique geographical location and harsh environment.
With such limited combat strength, how dare Sunagakure launch an offensive against Konoha? What gave them the confidence?
Could it be that without the Kazekage's leadership, everyone had simply lost their minds?
It wasn't until the end of the report that Anya finally understood. Sunagakure had secretly formed an alliance with Iwagakure, and both sides had agreed to launch a joint attack on Konoha, naming this operation ["Hurricane Operation"].
From the looks of it, they intended to unleash a hurricane against Konoha. If this plan were executed, Konoha would face enemies on three fronts simultaneously—it would indeed be a difficult situation to handle. It had to be admitted that the Tsuchikage was quite capable; having learned from the painful lessons of the Third Battle, he had chosen this timing perfectly.
The person who had agreed to this alliance was currently the interim leader of Sunagakure—Rasa.
Remaining silent for a long time, he finally stood up respectfully and said, "Kazekage-sama, since you've returned, the previous alliance agreement naturally no longer applies. So shall we... proceed to cancel it, then?"
The Kazekage waved his hand, interrupting him. "Rasa, during my absence, you've performed admirably. This heavy loss suffered by the village is mostly my fault. After the Third Battle concludes, I plan to take responsibility and resign, allowing you to become the next Kazekage."
Upon hearing this, the entire meeting room fell silent—not a single sound was heard.
After a long pause, Rasa finally recovered from his shock, hurriedly declining the offer. "How can that be? You're our village's strongest Kazekage—I'm nowhere near qualified for such a role."
"This matter is settled," said the Kazekage, pulling out the armband symbolizing the next Kazekage. He solemnly handed it to Rasa. Seeing this scene, the senior officials remained silent, tacitly accepting the decision.
Although the reason for the Third Kazekage's sudden disappearance had already been clarified, he was still inevitably held accountable. Furthermore, the Daimyo of the Land of Wind had used this as an opportunity to reduce Sunagakure's budget, further worsening the village's already dire situation. Now, Rasa had stepped forward to save the village, making it reasonable for him to assume the position of the Fourth Kazekage.
Feeling the weight of the armband in his hands, Rasa gripped it tightly and said, "Yes, Kazekage-sama. I won't let you down."
After settling this matter, the Kazekage continued, "Konoha has always been our eternal rival. I fully support this Hurricane Operation, and I will personally lead the charge..."
"Absolutely not."
Before the Kazekage could finish speaking, nearly half of the senior officials interrupted him simultaneously. "We're only cooperating with Iwagakure. Why must the Kazekage himself get involved? In our opinion, Rasa is a perfect fit."
"I agree with you," said Anya. "Lord Kazekage, now that you've already chosen Rasa as your successor, he should naturally be given an opportunity to prove himself."
"Kazekage must absolutely not go to the frontlines himself. He just returned to the village, and there's a mountain of administrative affairs waiting for him to handle!"
Voices erupted all around—everybody was speaking at once, each giving their own reason why Kazekage must not leave the village.
Anya sensed their emotions through her chakra and quickly understood their thoughts. It seemed Kazekage's sudden disappearance had left them all deeply shaken, and they feared another disappearance if he left the village again. Such a blow, they did not want to experience for a second time, so they collectively tried to stop him.
Understanding this, Anya smiled bitterly—this really felt like tying a noose around one's own neck. Originally, by manipulating Kazekage to intervene in the war, she would have had much more maneuvering room, even influencing the outcome of the Third Great Ninja War to some extent. But now, she might be stuck here indefinitely.
Anya suspected that after this meeting ended, large numbers of Anbu would soon be assigned under the guise of protection to closely monitor the Kazekage puppet. Even Sasori wouldn't escape scrutiny. After all, since Chiyo first laid eyes on Sasori, her gaze hadn't left him—not even for a moment—as if her precious grandson might disappear the instant she looked away.
Damn it! Why didn't I foresee this earlier? Although successfully deceiving Sunagakure's upper echelons and gaining partial control over the village, I've trapped myself inside as well. Most critically, what about the meeting in a few days? If I don't show up, Haku might come searching. That could cause even bigger problems.
At this point, there was no turning back. With so many objections, Anya naturally couldn't push forward stubbornly. She could only play along and agreed, "Since that's everyone's opinion, Rasa, I'll entrust this important task to you."
Rasa thumped his chest and vowed, "Don't worry, Lord Kazekage! I promise to complete the strategic mission."
After setting the tone for war, the remaining issue was strategic deployment—specifically determining how many ninja to deploy, something the higher-ups couldn't reach consensus on due to severe manpower shortages.
If too many were sent, the village would become vulnerable; sending too few would do little more than irritate Konoha and reveal their actual strength, making them seem weak.
The debate dragged on with no clear resolution. Finally, everyone turned to Kazekage for help.
In fact, while they passionately debated, Anya had been silently pondering too. When the entire conference room finally fell silent, Anya, controlling Kazekage, slowly spoke, "I've decided—we will launch our attack with two thousand ninja."
"Won't that number be too small?" one elder disagreed. "Iwagakure is deploying over ten thousand ninja. Even though we're faking an assault, if they discover our actual forces are less than one-fifth of theirs..."
"I understand your concern," Kazekage interrupted with a smile. "Although our force only numbers two thousand, we can publicly claim five thousand."
"That won't work. Konoha's intelligence network will immediately expose our deception."
Kazekage turned to Sasori beside him and said, "As long as Sasori's on board, anything's possible."
Understandingly, Sasori stepped forward and said, "I obtained a large number of puppets from the Loulan Ruins. They can be used to create a puppet army. Once dressed in ninja uniforms, they'll be indistinguishable from real humans."
"Then we're all good."
The Kazekage waved his hand decisively and issued his final command: "Very well! From this moment on, all ninjas will cooperate with Sasori for the puppet modifications. Ten days from now, we will launch our attack against Konoha exactly according to Hurricane Operation's plan."
Several elite Jonin confidently replied, "Yes sir!"
Chiyo smiled contentedly when she saw this scene. With a strong leader, Sunagakure Village was no longer the helpless place it once was—bullied by others without resistance.
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