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The ninja world was in an uproar.
Standoffs were happening everywhere.
Even though more than ten days had passed since the Sand and Sound launched their joint ambush on the Leaf, the dust still hadn't settled. This was especially true because the Hidden Leaf had yet to appoint a Fifth Hokage. With no strong signal of stability coming from the village, the other nations watched with unblinking eyes. Every village that had once been defeated by the Leaf was now staring at them with unveiled malice.
Among them, the Hidden Cloud Village (Kumogakure) was the most aggressive.
Years ago, during the "Byakugan Affair," the Cloud had nearly started a war with the Leaf. Back then, Hiruzen Sarutobi's diplomatic maneuvering removed their excuse for war, and the Cloud ultimately backed down out of fear of the Leaf's strength and the need to keep an eye on the Hidden Stone's reaction.
But now, the scars of the Third Great Ninja War had long since healed. After more than a decade of silence, the Cloud had returned to its peak strength and felt ready to look down on the rest of the ninja world once again.
The death of the Hokage. The loss of the Nine-Tails. The casualties among their ninja ranks.
To the short-tempered Fourth Raikage, A, this looked like the golden ticket. Of course, hot-headed as he was, the Fourth Raikage wasn't reckless. His "smash first, ask questions later" combat style didn't mean he was brainless.
If he was going to make a move, he would demand thorough reconnaissance first.
Most importantly, he knew how to prioritize.
In the Raikage's eyes, the number one priority was determining the location of the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki, Menma Uzumaki.
Dealing with the Hidden Leaf came second.
After all, the Nine-Tails was a Tailed Beast even stronger than his own village's Eight-Tails.
However, nearly ten days had gone by, and his Intelligence Squad still hadn't produced a single shred of useful information.
Land of Lightning.
Hidden Cloud Village.
Top floor of the central administrative building.
In the main office...
BANG!
The Fourth Raikage finally lost his patience.
A massive fist slammed down with crushing force.
CRACK!
CRASH!
The desk, which had clearly been replaced not too long ago, let out a mournful creak before shattering into pieces.
The other Cloud ninjas in the room didn't even flinch. They were used to it. Their Raikage had a temper far worse than his predecessors. While he could control his emotions on major strategic decisions, the more he suppressed himself there, the more he needed to vent physically elsewhere.
The average lifespan of a desk in this office was about three to four months. The longest survivor hadn't even made it to the half-year mark.
"What the hell is going on?! It's been ten days! I'm not asking for GPS coordinates, but give me something! What is the Intelligence Squad doing? Sleeping?!"
The Raikage's eyes were wide with rage, his towering, muscular frame radiating a terrifying, chilling aura.
An ordinary Cloud ninja would be shaking in their boots seeing the Raikage like this. But the people in this room were his absolute inner circle, long accustomed to his outbursts.
On the left was Dodai, the one-eyed man with an eyepatch. In terms of seniority, he had been a top strategist since the Third Raikage's era; even A had to show him basic respect.
On the right was a dark-skinned young man with white hair and bangs covering his left eye—Darui, widely recognized as the strongest candidate for the next Raikage.
Then there were the two women: a dark-skinned beauty and a blonde woman with a rather... magnificent figure. These were his trusted aides and secretaries, Mabui and Samui.
This group formed the Cloud Village's core decision-making council.
"He left with Orochimaru, after all. It is naturally difficult to get a bead on them in such a short amount of time, Lord Raikage," Dodai said in a calm, leveled voice.
"Hmph! That doesn't mean we should have zero intel! This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The Leaf has finally shown a massive opening; we cannot afford to miss it. And you know that old fossil from the Hidden Stone is thinking the exact same thing!"
The Raikage knew Dodai was right, but he couldn't accept it. He wanted to drag Menma back to the Cloud right now.
"We still need to give it time. Furthermore, Lord Raikage, I suggest we avoid the brute force approach. Since Menma Uzumaki chose to defect, it means he can't go back to the Leaf. Don't forget, his identity as the son of the Fourth Hokage is now public knowledge across the ninja world. We don't need to worry about the Leaf reclaiming him.
"The boy is only twelve years old. He is highly malleable. If we approach him as equals, we might be able to persuade him to join us willingly, rather than trying to break him."
Dodai paused, his tone turning serious.
This wasn't the first time the Raikage had heard this pitch.
When the news first broke, Dodai had suggested a friendly approach. But the Fourth Raikage felt that was too risky. Menma wasn't a ninja raised in their village.
Capture Menma.
Extract the Nine-Tails.
Seal it into a loyal Cloud ninja.
That was what the Raikage considered the "correct" move. He was ready to lead the capture squad himself the moment they had a location.
"I agree with Dodai-san, Lord Raikage. A twelve-year-old boy has a lot of potential. His identity means he has an unresolvable hatred for the Leaf. That is an angle we can exploit. If it goes smoothly, we could save ourselves a lot of trouble," Mabui, the representative of the rational faction, added seriously.
They knew better than anyone how strong a Tailed Beast was.
Their village possessed two of them.
If they tried to violently capture the strongest Tailed Beast... well, one only had to remember the battles between the Third Raikage and the Eight-Tails to understand the risk. Anyone could see the danger.
Especially from Dodai's perspective. As strong as the Fourth was, he still lacked the sheer grit of the Third Raikage, the strongest in their history.
"We can talk about that later. The priority right now is confirming the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki's location. Aside from that, is there any further news on the Leaf?"
The Raikage frowned and thought for a moment. He didn't want to change his mind so easily, but he was rational enough to listen to reasonable advice from his subordinates—most of the time. However, he remained stubborn on certain points.
It was a common flaw among all the Raikages.