Hidden Cloud Village
"Boss, spies from Konohagakure have sent good news." Darui opened the door of the Raikage Office and said with a lazy smile.
"Ohh, did that coward Sarutobi Hiruzen really agree to those terms?" Raikage Ai asked with curiosity. The only reason he agreed to sign the joint declaration was because he felt that he could milk Konoha with this matter. Now it seems that Sarutobi Hiruzen is really a follower of the Will of Thunder.
"Hmm? No, they haven't agreed, but something even better happened."
"Hahahaha, then wait. Let me hear the good news with everyone." Hearing that something even better had happened, Ai wanted to hear it with everyone. Now the entire ninja world is moving towards chaos, and they, the strongest ninja village, naturally want the biggest pie. Hearing the loss of their enemy is their greatest morale boost, and he can further unite the village.
"Okay, I will call for a meeting now." Darui also thought of all this, so he nodded and left the office.
"Hahaha, Samui, what do you think happened? Did that bastard Hiruzen die in anger?"
"Raikage-sama, you still have documents to sign. Before the rest of the jonin arrive you should complete them, or else you will once again have to do a night out." Samui, who was standing behind Ai, said coldly.
"Hmph, today Konoha has suffered a loss, we will work tomorrow in celebration. LET'S GO!!!"
Ai, as if angered hearing his future predicament, slammed his hand against the table, breaking it and letting all the papers scatter all over the floor. Then, without giving Samui any chance to control him, he got up and left the Raikage Office.
Sigh
---
Few minutes later
"Ahem, so let's start today's discussion. A few days ago, as you know, the boss signed the joint declaration along with Takigakure and the other Great Ninja Villages regarding Konoha stealing the Seven-Tails and the Hero's Water of Takigakure.
Before signing it, for the benefit of Kumogakure, the boss added the clause of compensation as one of the conditions of the declaration. And this clause is the most beneficial for our Kumogakure whether Konoha agrees or doesn't agree.
It's a test for Konoha. If they do not agree with the terms of the declaration, especially the compensation section, then that means that Konoha doesn't want peace in the ninja world and has forced Kumogakure to declare war on the unjust Konoha for the sake of the ninja world. With this proper cause we will have the moral high ground in this war, and we can pressure the Land of Fire diplomatically as well.
If they agree with the terms, then that means that Konoha is not ready for the war and is in a dire state. After taking the compensation, when the people of Konoha have thought that they are safe for a while, we will attack in surprise, taking over a large portion of the Land of Fire before they can even react. After that, with the help of the other ninja villages, we can divide the village without too many losses."
Hearing the trap Ai created for Konoha, all the ninjas present were impressed and looked at Ai with admiration. Although Ai looked confident on the surface, inwardly he was confused.
Did I think this far?
He just wanted to rob Konoha, but since his subordinates could comprehend his vision, then he would be even more happy.
"But what we didn't even expect was that Konoha would dare to have internal conflicts with its own ninja clans. According to our previous research, after the death of the Fourth Hokage, Konoha isn't stable. The Uchiha clan wants to rebel and become the next Hokage, and the Hokage faction is incompetent. Instead of uniting in this crisis, they detonated.
The Uchiha clan refused to give Seven-tails and Hero's Water back and declared war against Takigakure. Then they blackmailed the Hokage faction for a lump sum of 150 billion ryō just for agreeing to fight the war, and after that they demanded a sum of 500 million ryō a day for fighting this war.
The years long suppressed conflict detonated and the war between the two factions started. We have even recieved the news of Seven-tails appearing in the sky of Konoha and most importantly one of the Legendary Sannin Jiraiya has been killed by Itachi Uchiha during this war. "
"Whattt? Cough, cough, cough!" Ai, who was previously drinking tea, threw all the tea in his mouth onto the table, coughing heavily.
"Raikage-sama!!!" Seeing their beloved leader almost choking to death, one of the ninjas patted his back heavily, finally calming Ai down.
"Darui, are you sure the news is true? Or is this distracting news sent by Konoha to manipulate us?" Ai immediately thought of a few conspiracy theories regarding this news.
"Don't worry, boss. The spy who gave the news is absolutely loyal and wouldn't betray Kumogakure. Additionally, the Uchiha didn't even leave a complete corpse of Jiraiya for Konoha. A day ago news came from our black market agent that Uchiha Natsuki deposited Jiraiya's head and took the bounty we had posted on his head. We have already bought that head from the black market, and we can have all the information of Konoha within a week."
" Hisssss " For a moment all the people took a deep breath. The Uchiha clan not only killed Jiraiya but also took his bounty. They haven't seen such a cold blooded ninja who can sell his village's hero and their information so easily not even leaving a complete body for funeral.
Then came laughter.
"Hahahahaha, God is helping Kumogakure, God is helping Kumogakure."
"In the Third Great Ninja War that master-disciple pair blocked our march into the Land of Fire. Now within a decade both have died within Konoha itself. When we conquer Konoha we must give appreciation to the Uchiha clan. Jihahahahha." One of the elite jonin laughed out loud, giving his suggestion to Ai.
"Teach, you are right. We must honour the contribution of the Uchiha clan killing that pair of master and disciple. Hahahaha." Ai, hearing this, nodded with satisfaction.
"The Uchiha clan has made an immense contribution to the rise of Kumogakure."
"Raikage-sama, now that Konoha has lost Jiraiya and is in internal conflict, should we launch a surprise attack against them?" one of the jonin suggested.
"Yes, we should destroy Konoha before the other ninja villages react, stabilising the position of the first ninja village in the world."
"Hahaha, then I, Zaraki, will behead all the dogs of Konoha, making the reputation of Blood Sword Zaraki resound throughout the ninja world. Hahaha."
" Hmph, Dream on. With my thunder release I will destroy Konoha resounding the name of Blue wolf of Kumogakure throughout the world. You should just quietly guard the village and dream. "
" What did you say you bast—"
BANG!!!
"You bastards!!! When will you apply your tiny brains and think for a moment????" Ai, hearing the comments and boasting of the jonin, slammed his hand against the table, breaking it, and shouted with rage.
"Darui, speak." Darui, hearing the tone of Ai, reluctantly became alert and started speaking in a strategic way.
"Yes, boss
Now that the Uchiha and Konoha are in a conflict, we should fan the flames between them so that it moves towards a fight to the death between the two factions. During the fight we can support one of the factions with either finance or weapons, or even act as mercenaries, so that one of the factions is at least destroyed or on the brink of destruction. Then we can betray the winning faction and win the war against them with the least casualties."
CLAP CLAP CLAP
"Good." Ai finally smiled.
"Boss, Darui, that is indeed a spectacular plan. As expected of the right-hand man of Raikage-sama."
"As expected of Darui-sama."
"With Darui-sama, Konoha wouldn't even know how it was destroyed, just like a butterfly trapped in a spiderweb."
Seeing the ninjas flattering Darui instead of further refining this plan, Ai once again became angry. Kumogakure now has the strength to become the strongest ninja village, but in the end it is still a brute force. If only they could have an exceptional strategist. Although Dodai is excellent, he is getting older, and in the new generation there is no successor.
"Alright, we will discuss further plans tomorrow. Everyone leave. War is coming get stronger quickly."
A few minutes later only the core ninjas of Kumogakure were left in the meeting hall.
"Samui, do the younger generation of the Nara clan have any outstanding ninjas?" Ai asked with curiosity. The Nara clan is known for their outstanding IQ and brains. If Kumogakure can get a Nara bloodline, then their Kumogakure will really be invincible.
"The current most outstanding ninja in the younger generation of the Nara clan appears to be the son of Nara Shikaku, but not too much information is available due to the lack of disturbances in Konoha involving the younger generation," Samui replied in an emotionless tone.
"Hmm, try to recruit him." With that, Ai left the office as well. As for whether the young master of the Nara clan would join Kumogakure, well, Ai didn't consider that. If that brat isn't sensible, then they can just kidnap him. Although their previous two attempts weren't successful, Ai didn't believe Konoha could stop him the third time.
With that Kumo-Epstein-Gakure once again started to plan how to kidnap another child for their evil use.
---