Fleeing from Konoha

"How’s it going, C?"

In the Hidden Cloud’s lounge, the Fourth Raikage sat with his arms crossed on the board of the bed, casting his gaze toward his guard, Jonin C, and asked him.

"Rest assured, Raikage-sama, no one is eavesdropping around us."

C used Perception Ninjutsu to sense the environment, nodding to the Fourth Raikage.

Upon hearing C’s assurance, the other guard, Jonin Darui, spoke: "Even though it’s a Neutral Country, their attitude earlier was truly aggressive. It feels like things are becoming troublesome."

C replied, "Don’t say that, Darui. After the Five Kage Summit, whether the Land of Demons can maintain its status as a Neutral Country is still uncertain. Moreover, this is the fate of a defeated country. Although Chiba Hakushi hails from Konoha, his attitude towards war is completely different from Konoha’s mild approach and has a few similarities to our Hidden Cloud’s style."

Darui nodded without refuting.

During the Third Great Ninja War, Konoha was undoubtedly the largest victorious nation; however, it ended the war unconditionally without demanding compensation from Hidden Sand, Hidden Rock, and Hidden Cloud.

In contrast, Hakushi, originally from Konoha, is undoubtedly much more aggressive towards the defeated countries.

In any case, the Land of Wind cannot accept the compensation terms proposed by the Land of Demons, which involve giving the entire northwest region to the Land of Demons to quell the turmoil.

This is the basis for the current inability to negotiate a peace treaty between the Land of Wind and the Land of Demons.

Both sides are in a deadlock over compensation.

"Boss, what do you think we should do next?"

Darui looked at the Fourth Raikage.

The Fourth Raikage gave a small, calm nod, showing none of the agitation he had earlier in the day when he first arrived.

"The fact that the Land of Demons can decisively defeat Hidden Sand’s Ninja squad this time, regardless of the means, none of the Five Great Nations can afford to ignore. What I care about is only one thing, whether supporting the Land of Demons can lead them to disrupt the Western Continent’s dynamics as I hope, plunging it into chaos among the Wind, Earth, and Demons."

Strictly speaking, the rise of the Land of Demons has not deeply impacted the Land of Lightning across the continent, even involving overlapping interests. The Western Continent was originally the joint governance of the Wind and Earth countries, so the Land of Lightning cannot intervene extensively. Once intervened, it would face joint suppression by the Wind and Earth nations.

Now, a powerful third-party force—the Land of Demons—has emerged strongly, disrupting the balanced governance of the Western Continent by the Wind and Earth countries.

This will undoubtedly put the Wind and Earth nations on the defensive, and a little carelessness could trigger a war.

By then, to avoid the Land of Lightning, Land of Fire, and Land of Water from reaping the benefits, the other uninvolved countries might be dragged into it, potentially igniting the Fourth Great Ninja War.

The situation is extremely delicate, and any slight disturbance could destabilize the balance, plunging the Ninja Realm back into flames.

It’s hard to judge whether that would be beneficial or detrimental to the Hidden Cloud.

Just as Darui was about to say something, C suddenly hushed, signaling to quiet down, and began sensing with Perception Ninjutsu.

As C started using Perception Ninjutsu, a knock on the door followed.

"C, who is it?"

Darui asked softly.

C finished sensing and softly said to Darui and the Fourth Raikage, "It’s Chiyo from Hidden Sand."

The Fourth Raikage, with a thoughtful look, instructed C, "Let her in."

"Yes, Raikage-sama."

C nodded and walked to the door, opening it to let the visitor outside in.

◎

About half an hour later, Chiyo, accompanied by Pakura, exited the Hidden Cloud’s lounge, heading back toward the Hidden Sand’s lounge.

Walking down the corridor lit by the lights, Chiyo appeared somewhat troubled; how to put it, negotiating with the Hidden Cloud’s Fourth Raikage wasn’t as smooth as she had imagined.

Although he didn’t clearly express his stance, the Fourth Raikage and the Hidden Cloud obviously came with their own set of beliefs beforehand.

"What should we do next, Elder Chiyo?"

Pakura asked softly.

The attitude of the Fourth Raikage left her very dissatisfied, but she also understood that as one of the Five Kage, any decision he made was not something she, as a Hidden Sand Jonin, could question.

From the perspective of different countries, the Fourth Raikage’s choice is probably the most rational.

One cannot assume that just because the opponent is muscular, they are a person lacking wisdom.

"Go find that old man Onoki. With the Hidden Cloud’s attitude unclear, Hidden Rock is the only ally we can pull in. After that, try to keep Hidden Mist neutral."

As for Konoha, Chiyo temporarily had no thoughts.

Evidently, Konoha has already reached some secret agreement with the military of the Land of Demons, tilting the decisions at this Five Kage Summit entirely towards the Land of Demons.

Fortunately, there are still other Kage to pull in, preventing Hidden Sand from falling into complete isolation.

If that happens, the situation for Hidden Sand will indeed become passive.

No matter what, using the northwest region of the Land of Wind as compensation to end the war, that condition is simply too harsh.

The Land of Demons shows no sincerity in peace talks.

Although the high-level military of the Land of Demons was once from Konoha, they have not adhered to Konoha’s traditional philosophy. Instead, they have followed a path similar to Hidden Cloud’s hegemony.

With such an ambitious neighbor emerging in the Western Continent, if not suppressed at this time, the Land of Wind and Land of Earth will find no peace, and the west will fall into prolonged disputes over interests.