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In the following days, the noise of Konoha slowly faded into silence.
Handling captives, calming villagers, questioning for intelligence—Minato and the Konoha higher-ups were swamped, overwhelmed with work.
Shin, however, remained distant, occasionally summoning theater troupes and dancing girls for entertainment.
Cleaning up the mess was not a concern for him, the daimyo.
His Shadow guard had already carried his will to the capital.
A letter, issued in the name of Shin, the daimyo of the Land of Fire, would soon land on the desks of the daimyo of the Land of Lightning, Land of Earth, Land of Wind, and Land of Water.
The war game was over.
Next, it was time for the political game.
In the Lightning capital, unlike its usual hustle and bustle, the daimyo manor was strangely silent at this moment.
Just a moment ago, urgent intelligence from the Land of Fire had arrived.
"Defeated?"
"Four thousand elite troops, completely wiped out?"
"The Raikage and the jinchuriki, captured alive?"
A minister muttered to himself, completely unable to believe the contents of the intelligence report.
Initially, there was a heated debate in the imperial court about whether to send troops.
One faction, led by civil officials, strongly opposed it, believing the risk was too great and not worth the gain.
But the daimyo, unknown to them, acted on his own.
It wasn't until large-scale military supplies were allocated that they realized what was happening.
Now, the worst outcome had come true.
On the main seat, the daimyo of the Land of Lightning sat silently, his eyes fixed on the intelligence in his hand, his mind in chaos.
He was both furious and terrified.
A person in Kumogakure uniform stepped forward, his face full of grief and anger.
"Your Highness! I request to fight! Let's gather all national forces and fight to the death with the Land of Fire! To avenge the Raikage!"
"That's right! Let's wash away this shame!"
The Kumogakure faction immediately echoed his words, and shouts of battle once again rang out.
"Fight to the death?"
A voice spoke, filled with heavy sarcasm.
A civil official stepped out and scolded, "I said it before, this move was too reckless!"
"Now, the most elite troops of our Land of Lightning, along with the Raikage and the jinchuriki, are all prisoners. Tell me, what do you plan to fight with?"
His words instantly silenced the noise.
The civil official glanced at the silent daimyo.
Finally, he turned his gaze to another official.
"The Raikage is unmatched in bravery, and the four thousand Kumogakure are battle-hardened elites! Why did they lose so quickly? So badly?"
"I'd like to ask the officials of the Ministry of Finance!"
"Were the military supplies you allocated to Kumogakure enough?"
"Was the front-line supply stolen by certain individuals, leading to our army's defeat!"
These damning words instantly shifted the conflict in another direction!
The Minister of Finance, who had been singled out, fell to his knees with a thud, sweating heavily.
"I've been wronged! Daimyo-sama!"
"Every military supply has a record! I would never dare to steal military funds!"
"Hmph, records? Records can be faked!"
"Exactly! It must be your stealing of military funds that harmed the Raikage!"
For a time, the hall was in chaos.
The civil officials who had initially opposed sending troops seemed to find an outlet for their anger, all pointing their fingers at the Ministry of Finance and related logistics officials.
They dared not accuse the daimyo, who made the final decision, so they could only find a scapegoat to bear the blame for this defeat!
"Enough!"
The daimyo of the Land of Lightning slammed his hand on the table, roaring!
The argument in the entire hall suddenly ceased.
"When the nation is in danger, and our most elite troops are prisoners, you are here arguing endlessly!"
"You..." He wanted to say more, but finally held it back. "Court dismissed!"
With that, he flicked his sleeves and left, leaving the ministers to exchange confused glances.
No one knew what the daimyo was thinking.
Walking through the long corridor, the daimyo of the Land of Lightning headed toward his bedchamber.
His steps were heavy.
The setting sun stretched his shadow long.
Thinking of the failure of this operation and everything he would have to face next, shame, anger, helplessness, and fear—all sorts of emotions began to surge.
He had walked this path to his bedchamber countless times, but today it felt especially long.
He had wanted to shut himself away and lick his wounds alone, but reason told him that avoiding things would not solve any problems.
The military defeat pressed down on him like a mountain.
Just as he reached a fork in the road, his steps suddenly stopped.
To the left was his bedchamber, a temporary safe place of peace.
To the right led to that secluded courtyard he rarely visited.
A thought, uncontrollable, welled up from the depths of his heart.
Perhaps she could help him.
With this thought, he turned without hesitation and walked toward the right.
At the same time, the intelligence of the Land of Lightning's surprise attack spread rapidly throughout the shinobi world.
In Iwagakure, at the Tsuchikage building.
"Bang!"
"What did you say? Four thousand Kumogakure, along with the Fourth Raikage and the Eight-Tails jinchuriki, all fell in Konoha?"
The elderly Third Tsuchikage Onoki slammed his fist on the table, and the hard rock surface instantly cracked.
An amazing aura burst from his short body.
"Yes, Tsuchikage-sama."
Upon receiving the yes answer, Onoki's beard bristled. "Is the intelligence source reliable?"
"It was relayed by our informants in the Land of Fire, absolutely reliable."
Onoki fell silent, his face filled with disbelief.
Even Kitsuchi next to him was stunned, unable to believe it.
Onoki pressed on, "Why was there no intelligence about such a large-scale military movement by Kumogakure?"
"This..."
Facing the Iwagakure shinobi who knew nothing, Onoki was furious.
This problem was too serious.
The Kumogakure army had suddenly appeared at Konoha's doorstep, without anyone knowing!
This broke the long-standing rules of war in the shinobi world!
If Kumogakure could suddenly appear in Konoha today, did it not mean they could also suddenly appear in Iwagakure?
What was the point of the so-called border defense line then?
Thinking of this, Onoki couldn't help but break into a cold sweat.
Things were about to change.
Just then, another Iwagakure shinobi hurried in. "Tsuchikage-sama! An urgent letter from the daimyo manor has arrived!"
Onoki grabbed the letter and quickly opened it.
The content of the letter was simple.
The daimyo of the Land of Fire invited the daimyo of the Land of Earth to a daimyo conference, and the daimyo asked him to come along.
"Father, what should we do?" Kitsuchi asked from the side.
"Go, of course, we must go." Onoki slapped the letter on the table. "We must find out how Kumogakure sneaked in!"
In Sunagakure, the atmosphere in the Kazekage building was even more gloomy than in Iwagakure.
Having just suffered a defeat and had its budget cut by the daimyo, Sunagakure was already in chaos.
Kumogakure's terrible defeat brought them an even greater shock.
The Fourth Kazekage Rasa sat in his chair with a gloomy expression, the gold dust in his hand constantly gathering and scattering, showing his inner chaos.
"Land of Fire, Daimyo Shin..."
He repeatedly chewed on the name.
An existence that could easily hold down the Eight-Tails jinchuriki.
Did it not mean he could also easily hold down the One-Tail Shukaku?
Also, how did Kumogakure appear in Konoha?
These thoughts sent shivers down his spine.
"Rasa, a letter from the daimyo manor has arrived." Ebizo handed over the same letter.
Rasa read it and remained silent for a long time.
"Prepare. I need to see the daimyo."
He made the same decision as the Tsuchikage.
No matter what, this conference must be attended.
This concerned the future survival of Sunagakure.
Compared to the shock and quick reactions of the Land of Earth and Sunagakure, far away overseas in the Land of Water, in Kirigakure, the atmosphere was somewhat strange.
Bloody Mist Village.
The Fourth Mizukage Yagura sat high on the Mizukage's seat, listening to his subordinates' reports, without any extra expression on his face.
As if Kumogakure's tragic defeat and the Raikage's capture were merely unimportant matters.
"Understood. You may leave."
After dismissing the Anbu, only Yagura remained alone.
Soon, two figures appeared.
It was Uchiha Obito and White Zetsu, who had run from Konoha in a hurry.