Konoha: The thirty-year-old Uchiha is not motivated.

That night, all was quiet.
The Hokage's office, however, was brightly lit and filled with smoke.
Hiruzen Sarutobi, pipe in hand, hunched over his desk, meticulously examining a highly detailed map of the ninja world, his brows furrowed in deep thought.

"despair!"

Suddenly, a dark figure emerged from the corner and respectfully knelt on one knee.

Where is that guy from Sunagakure now?

Hiruzen Sarutobi, without even looking up, asked the ANBU member responsible for monitoring the Sunagakure delegation.

"Reporting to Lord Hokage, it's on West Street."

"Uh"

Upon hearing the familiar place name, Hiruzen Sarutobi, a frequent visitor to West Street, straightened up with a strange expression.
Going to places like that right after arriving?

Are all young people like this nowadays?
"Alright, let the guests relax. You just need to focus on their protection."

As a fellow enthusiast, Hiruzen Sarutobi expressed his understanding and respect, and even felt an urge to exchange ideas.

The ANBU members who received the protection mission vanished in the blink of an eye. Hiruzen Sarutobi took a puff of his pipe, his eyes filled with even more contemplation.

At the same time, his gaze slowly moved down and landed on a secret letter marked for the Third Hokage.
The letter's seal had been broken, and it was signed "Third Generation Kazekage".

As for the contents of the letter, he had just finished reading it, and could only conclude that Sunagakure was planning something big this time.
"crunch~"

Just then, several figures who had come together pushed open the door and entered.

"Hiruzen, what brings you here so late?"

Mitokado Homura, who was leading the group, pushed up his glasses, revealing a look of confusion that was hidden by the glare.
"She just finished applying a face mask, Hiruzen, could you please not hold meetings after get off work hours next time?"

Xiaochun, who had just switched dorm rooms, rubbed her still damp hair, her well-maintained face full of resentment.
She had just finished showering and was about to put on a face mask before taking her beauty nap, but her meticulous daily routine was completely disrupted by Hiruzen Sarutobi.

"I'm sorry, I didn't want to call you here so late at night, but things just happened so suddenly."

Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded apologetically to the two, his gaze then falling on Akimichi Torifu, who was yawning behind them.
"Torifu, didn't Danzo come with you?"

"Ha~ I haven't seen him for a while. He even refused when I asked him to go out for pig's head meat last time."

"Never mind, it's the same whether he's here or not."

He had just sent his secret agents to inform the Shimura clan. If Danzo didn't come, it meant he had something more important to do.
Time was of the essence. Hiruzen Sarutobi shook his head and placed an open secret letter in front of the three of them.

"See for yourselves."

"Hiruzen, this is..."

Mitomon frowned. He called them here so late at night just for a letter?

Is it
Seeing Hiruzen Sarutobi's solemn expression, Homura Mitokado's heart skipped a beat.
Could it be a letter accusing him of corruption?
Is the public so enthusiastic now? He just learned how to embezzle.

"Hiruzen, let me explain."

"what?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi stared blankly at his friend who had suddenly knelt down, his prematurely aged face filled with question marks.
"Yan, why are you performing such a grand ceremony at this time of year?"

"Uh, that letter wasn't addressed to me?"

Mitokado Homura, kneeling on the ground and preparing his confession, blinked in confusion.
"Does writing require me to have a meeting in the middle of the night?"

He glared at his friend, who had been up to no good lately, and spoke up in a disapproving tone.

"Your little troubles aren't enough to qualify you for the meeting yet. Keep trying."

"Ahem. I just noticed everyone's in a low mood, so I wanted to liven things up a bit."

Realizing she had made a fool of herself, Mitomon Haru awkwardly stood up with a laugh, dusted off her knees, picked up the letter from the table, and began reading it with the curious Koharu and the others behind her.
As the story progressed, the expressions of the three gradually became as solemn as those of Hiruzen Sarutobi.
"This Sand Village has grand ambitions!"

Mitokado Homura adjusted his glasses and said in surprise,

"Did they strike gold? How dare they do this?"

Koharu, turning over in her dorm, covered her mouth, her surprise even greater than that of Mitokado Yanagi.
"To actually dare to challenge the Land of Earth, I can only say that the new Third Kazekage is this guy."

Akimichi Torifu was wide awake at this moment, and gave Chiyo a big thumbs-up with admiration.
"None of that matters."

Hiruzen Sarutobi gently shook his head, his gaze falling on the letter Mitokado Homura had returned. He asked with a deep look in his eyes, "..."

"The important question is, how should we, as allies, express ourselves?"

When the allied forces of the Lightning, Earth, and Water kingdoms invaded the Land of Fire, Sunagakure intended to send troops to assist, but Hiruzen Sarutobi politely declined.

The reason was simple: he feared the Sand Village would hold him back.
It wasn't that he looked down on this staunch ally; there was no doubt that Sunagakure's overall combat strength ranked last among the Five Great Shinobi Villages.

In addition, due to geographical limitations, its overall economic development has always lagged far behind the other four major ninja villages.

Asking the Sand Village for help would harm both them and ourselves.

The Sand Village's fighting strength is weak, making it destined to be unable to shoulder the heavy responsibility of direct combat. Its poor economic conditions and outdated equipment mean it will inevitably rely on Konoha for supplies, and any casualties will also have to be borne by Konoha.

All things considered, Hiruzen Sarutobi felt that coming to Sunagakure was worse than not coming at all.

The Sand Village, though politely refused, didn't say much. Instead, they sent a batch of valuable supplies, making Hiruzen Sarutobi, who had been judging others by his own petty standards, feel somewhat embarrassed.

Therefore, the relationship between the two villages did not deteriorate as a result. On the contrary, after the war, Sunagakure and Konoha became even closer, frequently sending delegations to exchange ideas and learn from each other, and sharing resources for a time.

However, this time, the delegation led by the son of the second Kazekage brought them a bombshell.
The Land of Wind is planning a major operation. The Sand Village, which has been biding its time for years, intends to carve out a large chunk of flesh from the Land of Earth, which is still reeling from its defeat.
"Can't we just stand by and do nothing?"

Mitokado Homura frowned gravely. The Third Kazekage's letter made it very clear: Sunagakure was preparing to attack its old neighbor, the Land of Earth, taking advantage of the situation to seize several smaller countries between the two nations, forcing them to choose sides and not act like the Land of Grass, wavering on both sides.

"The land of birds and the land of demons don't matter, but the land of rain is different."

Hiruzen Sarutobi shook his head, his gaze falling on the map spread out on the table. He pointed heavily at a country marked with the character for "rain."
"This place must not be allowed to be taken by either side."

As everyone knows,

Neighboring large countries do not share a direct border; usually, several smaller countries act as a buffer zone between them.

For example, the Land of Fire,

Between the Land of Lightning and the Land of Rice and the Land of Iron,

Between the Land of Earth and the Land of Rain, the Land of Grass, and the Land of Waterfall, the hometown of Prison City, lie...
Between the Land of Wind and the Land of Rivers lies the vast Land of Rivers, serving as a buffer zone.

Beyond the sea lie the powerful Whirlpool Country and the mysterious and wealthy Wave Country, among others.
These small countries were mostly weak and lacked ninja villages.
Even if there were ninjas, most of them were weak and incompetent rogue ninjas.
It could be said that the sole purpose of these countries is to act as a deceleration buffer in great power wars.

To avoid being attacked from both sides in a war and becoming a target of rampant oppression by the two major powers, these smaller countries would cleverly align themselves with one of the two neighboring powers.
In exchange for receiving protection, the native ninjas of these small countries would do dirty and arduous work for their "big brother" (their powerful patron), and nobles and commoners alike would give priority to hiring the "big brother's" ninjas for missions.
This shows that a small country that depends on you can not only act as a free lackey, but also bring considerable economic value.
Coincidentally, between the Land of Earth and the Land of Wind lie several small countries, such as the lush and verdant Land of Birds, the land of demons with its traditional customs, and the land of rain, a vital transportation hub.

The most strategically significant of these is the Land of Rain.

The Land of Rain, bordering the Lands of Earth, Wind, and Fire, possesses a unique geographical advantage and has always been a vassal state that the Land of Wind has long coveted.
But compared to the two-faced, opportunistic Land of Rain, the Land of Rain is much more assertive.
In recent years, especially under the leadership of a ninja named Hanzo, the native Amegakure ninja of the Land of Rain have neither accepted the recruitment offers from the Land of Earth nor become vassals of the Land of Fire, and have also explicitly rejected the attempts to win them over from the Land of Wind.

Everyone can understand this move; after all, no one wants outsiders to interfere in their country's affairs.
However, the Land of Rain was a small country, and Amegakure was a ninja village without even a Tailed Beast Rider.

Speaking of this, we must mention the Land of Waterfalls.

After the Land of Earth's failed invasion of the Land of Fire, the previously submissive Takigakure suddenly turned against them, unilaterally announcing a break with Iwagakure.
This sudden betrayal enraged Onoki, who was already in a bad mood. He couldn't understand who gave Takigakure the courage to betray him.
So he led his troops to Takigakure, intending to teach this ungrateful wretch a lesson. But when he arrived, he found that Takigakure had a new leader, someone he knew.

Looking at Kakuzu, who was adorned with gold and silver and dressed in fine silks and satins, Onoki weighed his options carefully and finally decided to swallow his pride and leave with his men in a huff.

After Hiruzen Sarutobi's reminder, Homura and the other two frowned slightly and pondered for a moment before quickly understanding their friend's concerns.
"The geographical location of the Rain Country is indeed somewhat special."

His only concern was that if the Land of Rain became the Land of Wind's subordinate, it would have a negative impact on the Land of Fire.
After all, there are no permanent friends, only permanent interests.
Even though Sunagakure and Konoha have been at odds for years, there's no guarantee they won't turn against each other in a few years and pull off some kind of Konoha Destruction Plan.
"Hiruzen, you're overthinking it. Putting aside the outcome of the struggle between Sunagakure and Iwagakure, the ninjas of Amegakure are no pushovers."

Due to their national circumstances, the Rain Ninja, living between the three great powers, honed their abilities to the limit with limited resources. Their average combat strength was no less than that of the ninjas from the great powers, and they successively developed many unique assassination techniques.
In the ninja world, when it comes to assassination missions, the Rain Ninja are undoubtedly the best.

"So what? A small country is still a small country. Without sufficient resources as a backing, failure is inevitable."

He shook his head slightly, took a deep drag on his pipe, and the hot smoke stimulated his trachea, injecting a little vitality into his tired body.
"So, according to you, we should get involved?"

Akimichi Torifu frowned. He was a straightforward person and always spoke his mind.

"No rush. This is destined to be a protracted battle. Let's remain on the sidelines and wait for the right moment to enter the fray."

Although the Third Kazekage did not specify in detail the methods by which Sunagakure would wage war in his letter, given the current order of the ninja world, a direct, all-out war is not the best option.

Following a standard procedure, the two sides will most likely first compete on business matters, namely task assignments, and then on how to win over Amegakure.
When the conflict between Sunagakure and Iwagakure escalates to the point where it cannot be resolved through negotiation, war will break out as scheduled. That will be the best opportunity for Konoha to launch a sneak attack.
"Hiruzen, who are you planning to assign this mission to?"

"Yan, I trust you the most."

"I'm sorry, Hiruzen, I've been too busy with work lately and I really can't spare the time."

This kind of dirty and tiring work of stirring up trouble is something that the self-disciplined Mitokado would naturally not want to do.

Being greedy won't get you any money; it's just a thankless task, and if you're caught, it will ruin your reputation.
"Koharu?"

"Hiruzen, as you know, I only recently joined the medical department, and I'm juggling multiple tasks. I'm so busy every day, you can see I even have crow's feet around my eyes!"

Xiaochun, who's switching dorms, isn't stupid. Ignoring the lucrative medical department to go and do sabotage is a complete waste of my youth.
"Sigh~ all of you, one by one, you're all..."

Knowing that the two were deliberately making excuses, Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed deeply, his eyes filled with disappointment.

Seeing Hiruzen Sarutobi sighing and groaning, Akimichi Torifu blinked in confusion.
Why don't you look for him?

Have you forgotten?

"Hiruzen, Hiruzen! Me! Me!"

So he immediately raised his hand and volunteered.
Unexpectedly, Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't even glance at him. After frowning and pondering for a moment, he decided on a suitable candidate in his mind.
I've chosen you, Little Tuantuan!
The dirty task of disrupting the peace of the ninja world and throwing the order of the Land of Rain is entrusted to you and your Root!

"Ah!"

Meanwhile, Danzo, who was enjoying a rare moment of leisure in a foot massage parlor on West Street, opened his eyes, rubbed his sore nose, and looked at the Root member kneeling on one knee in front of him with a puzzled expression.
"Hiruzen wants to have a meeting with me? Tell him I'm monitoring the Sunagakure representative and don't have time to go."

After assigning the task of responding, he shifted his position and continued,

"Also, tell him to withdraw the Dark Division. We can leave this dirty and tiring work to Root. There's no need to waste resources on it."

"Yes."

After the Root ninjas left, Danzo got up, pushed open the small door of the private room, and looked down from the second floor.

In the lobby on the first floor,
A young man with spiky hair was clumsily flipping through the technician catalog, looking like a clueless newbie scratching his head, which was quite comical.

"Madam, that guy is probably here for the first time. Arrange a more experienced technician for him so he can experience the local customs and culture of Konoha."

Danzo curled his lip in disdain, then gestured to the foot massage parlor madam who had been waiting nearby, instructing her to properly serve the guests who had traveled from afar.
"Leave it to me, Master Hiroshi. Our signature mature women's team will definitely give this guest an unforgettable experience."

That's right, it's that veteran female technician team with an average age similar to that of a prisoner!
"Ok?"

Upon hearing this, Danzo narrowed his eyes, his face full of displeasure, which frightened the madam so much that she broke out in a cold sweat.
"I'll change it right away."

Unexpectedly, Danzo waved his hand...
"One time isn't enough. Anyone who doesn't know better would think we in Konoha are neglecting our guest and have arranged a three-day, three-night package for him." (End of Chapter)