Traveling through three generations: Making Konoha great again!

Hidden Cloud Village.

The Third Raikage crossed his arms and closed his eyes in deep thought.

Before him lay Konoha's statement in response to Kumogakure and its announcement to the entire ninja world.

Beside the Third Raikage was his son, the Fourth Raikage, who was also recognized by Kumogakure as the next Raikage.

And the trusted new strategist, Tutai.

What do you think?

The Third Raikage's deep voice rang out: "Konoha's reaction is not simple..."

Contrary to stereotypes,

The Hidden Cloud Village has always presented itself as a "barbarian" group, but the Third Raikage, their mastermind, possesses a very delicate mind.

His so-called rage and savagery were merely a disguise, designed to make his schemes more effective.

"Konoha was in such a mess during the Second Shinobi World War, and they still dare to be so tough?"

The young and spirited Fourth Hokage, A, retorted, "We fought on par with Sunagakure and Amegakure, and after the war, they didn't even ask for much reparations; they just wanted to end it all!"

"Dad, I'd say there's something wrong with them!"

The Third Raikage glanced at his son: "Is there a problem? Tell me..."

"They must have developed forbidden war techniques!" the fourth generation Ai said with certainty.

"So what are you planning to do? Take the village's ninjas and test their mettle?" The Third Raikage slapped his son on the back of the head.

The physically strong fourth-generation Ai was beaten badly by his even stronger father.

"You need to learn to use your brain. Just fighting and killing won't get you anywhere in the ninja world for long!" The Third Raikage taught his son.

"You need to understand military strategy and know your opponent's thoughts and state of mind."

"Even if Konoha is bluffing, look at Hiruzen Sarutobi's words; he's already pushed his patience to the limit and is on the verge of exploding!"

"Even if we could fight now that we've lost Burubi, we can't let Kumogakure face Konoha in this state alone!"

The Third Raikage's gaze shifted to the earthen platform.

The new strategist of Kumogakure, who also possessed the Lava Release bloodline limit, immediately spoke up: "Lord Raikage is right. A person with the will to die will bite off the flesh of their enemy even at the cost of their life."

"After the Second Shinobi World War, the Third Hokage's prestige in Konoha and the shinobi world declined to some extent. His tough stance was probably to stabilize morale and the situation."

"With such a response, the Third Hokage is determined not to back down, so even if we defeat Konoha, we will definitely lose more than we gain."

Third Rai nodded: "Kid, do you understand?"

The fourth generation Ai nodded thoughtfully; although he was impulsive in his youth.

But by his father's side, he absorbed the qualities needed to become the Raikage, just like a sponge.

"Furthermore, we need to seriously consider the 'second Hokage's will' mentioned by the Third Hokage..." Tsuchikage said solemnly.

"Although I did not experience the era of the Second Hokage, I have heard of it in the classic texts."

The Third Raikage clicked his tongue and nodded.

"That guy is indeed an extremely difficult opponent..."

"All sorts of underhanded ninjutsu are constantly emerging, making them impossible to defend against, and their power is immense!"

"His personality is as hard as iron, which is why the Second Raikage wanted to form an alliance with him, but those two bastards ruined it..."

The "trash" mentioned by the Third Raikage refers to Kinkaku and Ginkaku, the most dangerous rogue ninjas of Kumogakure.

During the alliance ceremony, they launched a surprise attack on the Second Raikage and Tobirama Senju using the Six Paths Treasures, resulting in serious injuries to both Kage.

Upon hearing his father's words, the fourth-generation Ai looked solemn.

Is Tobirama Senju a man who can gain his father's approval?

"Although I admire the Second Raikage's compassion and magnanimity..."

"But there were no outsiders here. To be honest, I didn't approve of forming an alliance with Tobirama Senju at the time."

"Given time to develop ninjutsu, who knows what he might come up with... In any case, Kinkaku and Ginkaku are definitely rogue ninjas that Kumogakure will never forgive, because they hurt the Second Raikage."

"But killing Tobirama Senju might not necessarily be a bad thing for Kumogakure," the Third Raikage said.

The fourth-generation Ai was stunned.

Is this really the kind of evaluation?

"The Shadow Clone Technique and the Dark Guard system, which are used in every village, were created by him."

"Leaving aside Water Release, the Flying Thunder God Technique, which allows for large-scale teleportation using multiple anchor points, is essentially an enhanced version of the Heavenly Transfer Technique."

"You understand the strategic value behind this, right?"

"He has done things like summoning the dead through the Impure World Reincarnation technique, manipulating the enemy's friends and relatives, and entering the enemy camp to detonate explosive tags that can cause a chain reaction of explosions."

"I heard that the First Hokage even forbade him from conducting research, which meant that he couldn't produce these results in just a few years..."

The Third Raikage said quietly.

The fourth-generation Ai's face turned ashen.

He finally understood why his father had said those "outrageous" words earlier...

To ally with such a person is indeed like dancing with wolves.

"I think the First Hokage, while saying he forbade it, was actually secretly condoning it..." the Fourth Hokage, A, said indignantly. "Otherwise, how could he have developed so many techniques in such a short time?"

The Third Raikage waved his hand and glared sternly at his son.

"Don't talk nonsense!"

"The First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, is not someone a junior like you can presume to comment on..."

"He, known as the God of Shinobi, truly possessed a heart for peace, but the ninja world could not tolerate such thoughts." The Third Raikage then changed the subject:

"So, have you understood the deeper meaning behind Hiruzen Sarutobi's words?"

"He mentioned the First Hokage, implying that the concept of 'tailed beast balance' was first created by Konoha, while Kumogakure was the village that coveted other people's tailed beasts."

"Using Tobirama Senju as a deterrent, we are telling the various hidden villages that Konoha's patience has reached its limit..."

"He's playing the card of the Thousand Hands Brothers' prestige."

Tsuchikage picked up where the Third Raikage left off: "That's right, and we have no choice but to accept it."

Diplomacy is a complex matter.

It involves the reputation of one's ancestors, the situation of various villages in the ninja world, wording, interests, and so on...

But it is also extremely important.

If you understand the game, it turns a one-on-one situation into a two-on-one or even a three-on-one situation...

"So, is the matter with Burubee just going to be left like this? Father..." Fourth Generation Ai sighed, unwilling to accept it. "Someone has to pay a price!"

"We haven't even found his body, and there are so many dead and wounded members of the Dark Guard. It must have been done by someone!"

Just as Hiruzen Sarutobi had guessed.

Orochimaru and his group's actions went unnoticed, and the Hidden Cloud Village was unaware that Konoha was behind it.

But since something has happened, a mature leader should try their best to mitigate the losses.

For example, they could use this as an excuse to try and extort some supplies from other villages...

"Haven't you realized our problem yet!"

Lightning surged around the Third Raikage: "While it's almost impossible, even if Konoha did it, can the village really fight them?"

"With this response, the village can't find any allies to fight Konoha. And if Konoha can really assassinate Brubi without leaving a trace, are you really going to let the village fight this enemy alone?!"

"Your job is to improve the village's security, lead everyone in extra training, and make them stronger!"

The Fourth Hokage, A, who had been loudly reprimanded by the Third Hokage, clenched his fists and shouted back:

"Yes, Father! I was wrong!"

"Yes, that's my good son."

The Third Raikage nodded and said to Tsuchikage beside him, "Prepare to respond to Konoha."

"We acknowledge that Hiruzen Sarutobi is the Hokage who inherited the will of the First and Second Hokage, and because our two countries once had a foundation of a friendly alliance..."

"Kumakuha admits its judgment was somewhat hasty. They have found traces of the forces coveting the Eight-Tails and hope to reach a consensus with Konoha to one day jointly punish those who disrupt peace!"

Tutai immediately replied: "Understood!"

This boosted Hiruzen Sarutobi's reputation.

The subtext is: don't escalate the situation any further and actually start a war...

The Third Raikage narrowed his eyes, gazing towards Konoha.

Although theoretically speaking, Hiruzen Sarutobi is most likely just a case of "a rabbit will bite when cornered".

But he secretly felt that this old rival seemed to be displaying a different kind of ability...

"Forget it, I don't have time to think about Konoha."

"The preparation of Jinchūriki for the Two-Tails and Eight-Tails must be put on the agenda immediately!"