Konoha, Hokage's office.
Funan sat in the main seat, his gaze fixed on a map, deep in thought.
Konoha needs to react strongly. They had endured too much. If they endured any more, they would end up becoming real ninja turtles.
In the room, the shinobi gathered were prominent figures of Konoha.
Except for a few, like Tsunade.
The Konoha hospital, after the recent great battle, was in absolute chaos; it was impossible for her to free herself to assist.
Apart from her, all of Konoha's major leaders were present.
Funan looked up and declared, "Send Jiraiya to the Iwagakure border to lead the Konoha shinobi there."
"Kakashi and Guy will be his assistants and will accompany him."
"Understood!" Jiraiya replied in a deep voice.
Kakashi and Guy nodded without protesting.
"I have reinforced the shinobi detachment in that area. There are seven thousand in total. They are only to defend, not attack. That will be enough," Funan continued.
He paused in thought, then added, "As for the Tetsuhi and Komehi brothers, who are fighting against Kumogakure, they need reinforcements."
"Elder Fugaku, Shisui, Itachi, you all go!"
"Take the three-tailed beast with you!"
"Also, select thirty jonin from the Uchiha clan."
The announcement left everyone speechless.
Gathering such a powerful group? Was the Hokage planning to destroy Kumogakure once and for all?
Funan continued, "As for the Land of Iron…
After thinking for a moment, he said, "Elder Soji, you will go!"
"Understood!" Uchiha Soji replied, with a bow of her head.
Soji, the former leader of the Uchiha clan's Dove Faction who later joined Funan, was a highly skilled ninja, just one step away from the level of Kage. Furthermore, his prudent and mature attitude made him the perfect candidate to oversee the Land of Iron.
Funan is not ready to destroy the samurai now, so it is just right to send him to keep an eye on the other side.
No one needs to be sent to Kirigakure.
On the other hand, Funan showed a strange expression as she thought of Sunagakure.
They had suffered greatly at the hands of Funan.
Over the years of cooperation with Konoha, Sunagakure had managed to restore and strengthen itself considerably, becoming one of the three most powerful villages. But everything changed overnight.
In the final battle, Sunagakure's forces were divided into three groups.
One part, led by Chiyo, composed of several dozen jonin, had the mission of sowing chaos within Konoha.
Another group remained in Sunagakure.
The last group was their main army.
What was the result?
All of those led by Chiyo died in Konoha, except Chiyo.
The loss of so many jonin was a devastating blow to Sunagakure.
The main army was stuck, unable to advance thanks to Gaara.
Meanwhile, those who remained in Sunagakure fell victim to Kakuzu and Hidan's brutality.
Kakuzu and Hidan were, without a doubt, top-notch fighters.
For this reason, Sunagakure had left Ebizo in charge to confront them.
However, Kakuzu, sensing something suspicious, immediately went into hiding and activated the undercover agents he had been preparing for years, unleashing devastating chaos.
Kakuzu had remained in Sunagakure for more than six years, long enough to accomplish many things.
Especially considering that his greatest skill was trade. This allowed him to build an extremely complex network of connections, to the point of having allies even among the elders of the Sunagakure council, some of whom did not wish anything to happen to him.
That was precisely the reason why Ebizo failed.
Furthermore, Kakuzu left a clear message with his actions: in the shinobi world, there also exists a fearsome creature, and his name is the merchant.
It was at that moment that the people of Sunagakure realized that without Kakuzu, they had lost too much.
With Funan's support, Kakuzu had become deeply involved in the supply of essential goods for daily life.
Now, without Kakuzu, many of those basic goods had disappeared from the market.
Getting used to luxury is easy; returning to austerity is difficult.
In the desert, many products that made life easier could only be found in Kakuzu's shops.
Without them, not only were the civilians of Sunagakure dissatisfied, but even some shinobi refused to accept it, beginning to protest.
Many influential people in power supported these protests.
Furthermore, Kakuzu had spent large amounts of money to hire a sizable group of missing-nin, who carried out targeted assassinations against Sunagakure's higher-ups who opposed him.
For their part, those who supported Kakuzu offered help in secret.
There were protests outside, murders in the shadows, and in the middle, a group of old men tipping the scales.
After a round of combined punches, Ebizo was stunned.
Sunagakure, one of the five great shinobi villages, was in total chaos.
After a week of fermentation, Suna's top leaders were horrified to discover that Kakuzu had such influence in Sunagakure.
Products they considered insignificant and never valued were destabilizing their village.
Suddenly, they began to feel that the village where they had grown up seemed strangely unfamiliar to them.
"What does this mean?! Do you even understand what your behavior implies? It is treason, blatant treason!" Ebizo shouted at the Council of Elders, pointing furiously.
Although some elders nodded in support of his words, most remained silent.
Silence was their form of protest.
"Ebizo-sama..." said Baki, a new elder, standing up.
"We are not trying to confront you. But honestly, Sunagakure has been working well together with Konoha. The development we have achieved in recent years is something we have all seen, and it is undeniable. Why cut off this relationship of "Suddenly? We need an explanation."
Many elders of Sunagakure nodded.
Some of them really wanted the best for the village.
Everything was going well, with unprecedented progress, and now, breaking cooperation with Konoha? How could they accept that?
With Konoha's help, Suna's development in the past six years had surpassed that of the previous three decades.
As village elders, they had the responsibility of ensuring the well-being of Suna.
"Can't you accept it? Do you need an explanation?" Ebizo sneered and said coldly, "Have you forgotten that you are shinobi? Are you thinking of betraying the village?"
"The traitor is you!" An icy voice echoed.
Two people entered the room.
"Gaara?"
"Pakura?"
"You traitor!" Ebizo glared at Pakura. "You still dare to return to Sunagakure? Catch her!"
Immediately, a large number of shinobi sprang into action. Several elders stood up.
Pakura looked calm and said: "Listen carefully, elders of Sunagakure. Ebizo and Chiyo are involved in a plot to assassinate the Kazekage and cause his death. Arrest him immediately!"
"What?"
All the elders of Sunagakure stood up.
Even the shinobi who were about to act were petrified.
"Pakura, what's going on?"
They were shocked and angry.
The information they had just heard had left them in a state of shock: the Kazekage had died.
Although some elders might have discontent or even resentment towards Rasa, they could not deny that he was the heart and backbone of Sunagakure.
With an icy glare, Pakura fixed her sights on the stunned Ebizo and said, "Ebizo and Chiyo allied themselves with Konoha's missing-nin, Orochimaru, to assassinate the Kazekage!"
"What nonsense are you talking!?" Ebizo jumped up and shouted, "It must have been you! You and Konoha teamed up to kill the Kazekage and now you're trying to pin all of this on me!"
Pakura let out a sarcastic laugh. "It seems that Ebizo-sama believes my words very much. I barely mentioned that the Kazekage had died, and you already assumed it was a fact. Did you already know about his death?"
"I..." Ebizo was speechless.
In fact, he already suspected it.
The conversations he and his sister had with Rasa made it clear to them that the Kazekage had lost all loyalty to the village and had completely surrendered to Konoha. Given that situation, knowing what his sister was like, he did not rule out that she might have taken extreme measures.
So when he heard the news, he was so shocked and terrified that he lost his composure and blurted out those words.
The other elders cast disbelieving glances at Ebizo.
Baki said: "Pakura, the Kazekage-sama, he really..."
Gaara said coldly: "I saw with my own eyes that Orochimaru disguised himself as my father, and he admitted that he killed my father and was going to assassinate the Hokage."
Ebizo immediately said: "Even if that's true, maybe Pakura was involved! I've dedicated my entire life to Sunagakure…!"
Pakura ignored him and said: "I've always wondered something. Our village had a good relationship with Konoha. Although the pact favored them more, we also gained benefits. Konoha never intervened in our internal affairs. So why did we suddenly decide to ally with other villages to attack Konoha?"
"The Kazekage ignored the elders' objections and acted on his own!"
"Now it all makes sense. You allied with Orochimaru, assassinated the Kazekage, and then used his identity to issue the order to attack Konoha."
"That's not true! That's not how it happened!" Ebizo shouted.
Pakura nodded coldly. "Then explain this to me: Why did you and Chiyo, who always refused to come out of retirement even when the Kazekage asked you for help many times, decide to act this time without anyone asking you to?"
The elders exchanged distrustful glances at Ebizo.
And what's more, Chiyo not only showed up, but she personally led the attack.
From the beginning, some elders had already found all this suspicious.
Ebizo opened his mouth several times but couldn't say a word.
What could he say?
That he and his sister discovered that the Kazekage was being manipulated by the Hokage in secret and that, in retaliation, they decided to attack Konoha?
Who would believe that?
But it was the truth.
Ebizo is simply inconsolable.
"You can't answer?" Pakura added in an icy tone. "Then I'll tell you: it wasn't just the Kazekage who died. All the jonin who accompanied Chiyo on her mission also died. Only she managed to escape with her life."
"What?!"
The exclamations of astonishment almost made the place tremble.
Baki, his face pale and his voice trembling, asked, "Pakura, you say that… the forty-three jonin who participated… all died?"
"Yes!" Pakura said without hesitation. "Konoha showed no mercy to the invaders. They killed them all. Only Chiyo managed to escape."
Some of the elderly fell heavily into their seats, completely dejected.
In their minds, they had thought that because of years of cooperation with Konoha, they would treat them leniently even if they attacked.
At most, they would pay a large sum to get the prisoners back.
Perhaps, with a humble enough attitude, they wouldn't even have to pay.
The result...
Now they were all dead.
Moreover, they had greatly underestimated the chances of defeat.
With four villages and the Land of Iron attacking in unison, they thought Konoha would fall easily.
The idea of plundering Konoha seemed like a unique opportunity to strengthen Sunagakure, leading it to become the main shinobi village in the future.
However, everything had gone wrong in the worst possible way.
Not only had Sunagakure been stolen during this time, but the jonin who attacked Konoha were also annihilated.
Ironically, the troops on the borders, where the greatest losses were expected, turned out to be the least affected.
The elders are simply crying without tears.
"Ebizo!"
Soon, several old men looked at him with eyes full of hatred. One of them, gritting his teeth, exclaimed: "Tell us if this is all part of your plan, you damn traitor!"
Ebizo almost vomited blood.
Did they want to put all the blame on him?
They are dreaming.
"Me, a traitor?" he replied coldly. "Don't try to blame everything on me! When it was decided to attack Konoha, I proposed the idea, but you elders simply remained silent!"
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