Yes, the Hokage!

"Flying Thunder God".

The Fourth Raikage gritted his teeth: "At the last moment of the retreat, some guy blocked my attack with the Flying Thunder God Technique and the Rasengan."

"what?!"

These words immediately caused an uproar in the conference room.

"The Golden Flash, it's the Golden Flash attacking?"

"Impossible! That guy is already the Fourth Hokage, how could he leave the village so rashly?"

"Our spies within the Land of Fire haven't sent any information, so it can't possibly be him!"

"..."

This shows just how terrifying Minato's reputation and intimidation are. Just mentioning the Flying Thunder God Technique and the Rasengan caused chaos in the conference room. This is the most radical and trouble-loving member of the Cloud Village.

"Quiet down, everyone!"

The Fourth Raikage roared and slammed his fist on the table. The poor conference table, though repeatedly reinforced, was already struggling to withstand a single punch from a Kage-level ninja. Now, after taking a second punch, it shattered into pieces, splinters flying everywhere. However, everyone present was prepared and easily dodged the splinters, returning to their seats effortlessly. They even managed to hold onto their water cups carefully.

"Lord Raikage..."

At this time, the Fourth Raikage's secretary was not Mabui, but another older, busty mature woman who said with a helpless expression, "If you keep throwing tantrums like this, the budget for the Raikage's office will be overspent again."

"This is not the time to say such things! Konoha has captured my brother, and I will never let them get away with it!" The Raikage was furious, but he managed to maintain his composure. "Although that guy was wearing a mask, his hair that was showing was black, and if the Yellow Flash had come in person, I would not have been able to escape unscathed."

He shook his arm. Although the Rasengan he had just used was charged up beforehand, it felt weak when it hit him. It was definitely not the same as the Minato Namikaze who always drew blood.

"So... Konoha has a second Flying Thunder God ninja?" Everyone's expressions were not good. The Flying Thunder God has extremely high value in both strategy and actual combat. One golden flash is already deadly enough. Now that a second one has appeared, Konoha will become more and more difficult to deal with in the future.

"I don't care what kind of Thunder God technique he uses!" The Fourth Raikage raised his arm, but there was no table left for him to bang on. "Konoha has captured Bee, I'm declaring war, I want them to return Bee to me!"

Although he was very excited, the elders were relatively calm. Right now, Kumogakure had lost its core fighting force, the Eight-Tails, and the AB combination was not in place. On the other hand, Konoha had the ability to directly invade the Land of Lightning and capture the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki. If they were to start a direct war again...

Several middle-aged elders exchanged glances, and finally the eldest elder cleared his throat: "Lord Raikage, the fact that Bi was assigned to the Cloud Thunder Gorge is a top secret of Kumogakure. Apart from the higher-ups, only a few elites responsible for guarding the Cloud Thunder Gorge know this. However, Konoha doesn't seem to have conducted a thorough search within the Land of Lightning. Instead, they went straight to the Cloud Thunder Gorge. There's probably more to this than meets the eye..."

"You mean there's a traitor among the higher-ups?" The Fourth Raikage's gaze swept over everyone in turn, then he shook his head. "Impossible! You are all elders who have fought alongside my father all this way. You would never betray the village. Those guarding Cloud Thunder Gorge are also your nephews and nieces. I trust them too."

It has to be said that the Will of Lightning is somewhat useful. If it were someone like Danzo who was tricked by Feng Lan through the plot, he would have conducted a thorough investigation on the spot. However, there was no internal strife in Kumogakure. It seems that good brothers are sometimes more useful than family.

“Regardless of whether there is a traitor or not, Konoha Village knows our situation so well that it would be dangerous to launch a war rashly.” The elder was clearly skilled in speaking, not mentioning that we couldn’t win, but only saying that we were afraid of falling into a trap. “Besides, Killer Bee is currently being held hostage. If we are too impulsive, we might provoke them to do something to harm him.”

"But now that their fate is uncertain, am I supposed to just swallow my anger and wait?" The lightning around Raikage began to surge again.

"His fate is unknown, so isn't that the same as being dead..." someone muttered quietly.

The elder glared at the guy who was spouting nonsense. Aiben was young and hot-tempered, and his brother had been captured, so he was already furious. You should have helped him calm down, but instead you were adding fuel to the fire.

"Waiting idly is not a solution. Since it was Konoha's doing, we will send a diplomatic letter to the Third Hokage directly using the Ninja Hawk. The wording at the beginning will still be stern and tough, but the ending will be slightly more moderate, indicating that as long as Konoha returns Bee, everything that happened before can be forgiven."

Another elder added, "That's right. Konoha's early action was probably because they realized we were preparing for war... To be honest, fighting this unprepared war now might not have been a good outcome anyway. Taking this opportunity to back down would allow them to get Killer Bee back and steadily consolidate the village's power before looking for another chance. It wouldn't be considered a failure."

The Fourth Raikage's face twitched violently. He knew the elders were right, but compared to his own brother...

Although he was worried and angry, Konoha was not the Akatsuki of Shippuden. The Jinchuriki captured by the Akatsuki back then had no chance of survival. Now, Konoha had captured Killer Bee for other purposes. So the elders were right. If he acted rashly, he would only put Bee in danger.

Therefore, just as Feng Lan had predicted with 90% accuracy, no matter how unwilling the Fourth Raikage was, he could only take a deep breath and say, "Immediately write a letter and demand an explanation from Konoha!"

……

Meanwhile, while the letter was being written in Kumogakure, Fenglan was also writing a letter. To whom? Of course, to Sunagakure.

Why bring Pakura along, and specifically have her intercept the pursuers? It's because if Killer Bee is successfully captured, Konoha and Kumogakure will most likely not go to war. What will happen to Rasa's promise to take sides then?

Furthermore, even if he doesn't take sides, he can still come to me to ask for low-priced supplies. After all, I have an excuse. I don't dare to fight the Cloud Village, so they can't blame me for breaking my promise, right?

Therefore, Fenglan needs to make Sunagakure fulfill its promise again before things calm down and the other party speaks. You don't want to be Konoha's underling? Hmph, sorry, you're going to be that underling.

Right now, there's no need for Sunagakure to send troops to support them. Fenglan's demand is that Sunagakure publicly announce that Akatsuki captured Killer Bee with the support of Sunagakure. The reason is simple: the Third Shinobi World War started because of your Kumogakure's surprise attack on my Sunagakure. Now we want an explanation!

Furthermore, he did not inform Rosa in advance, but instead allowed Pakula to expose his identity. He only started contacting them after Killer Bee had already been captured, which clearly indicated that the two sides were not on equal footing and that Rosa needed to understand the identity of his underling.

Could Rasa refuse? Obviously not, because Konoha hadn't yet fulfilled its promise to start selling supplies at low prices, so this deep bond was something he had to accept.

Moreover, Fenglan has given him an opportunity. How much benefit Sunagakure can get from Kumogakure with Killer Bee's help depends entirely on Rasa's own abilities.

This would not only weaken Kumogakure, but also allow Amegakure to be completely controlled by Konoha, and Sunagakure to be highly aligned with Konoha. This is a plan that kills three birds with one stone.

Writing this letter now is Fenglan's way of showing Luosha that our deal will continue; otherwise, not only will the promised help and benefits be lost, but Pakula, as a hostage, will also die.

That's why he saved Pakula.

The only reason.

Chapter 103 Five Kage Summit

Soon after, Amegakure issued a public statement to the ninja world, claiming that Kumogakure was the culprit who started the Third Shinobi World War and caused great damage to Sunagakure. The Akatsuki organization of Amegakure, out of a sense of justice and righteousness, kidnapped Killer Bee, the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki who committed numerous crimes during the Third Shinobi World War, in order to seek justice for Sunagakure!

Immediately afterwards, Rasa formally announced to Kumogakure that Killer Bee had been transferred from Akatsuki to Sunagakure, and that if the Fourth Raikage wanted his Jinchūriki back, he must agree to his four demands:

First, Kumogakure must publicly acknowledge that the outbreak of the Third Shinobi World War was caused by Kumogakure launching a military attack on Sunagakure first, and formally apologize to Sunagakure for this.

Second, compensation shall be paid to Sunagakure for the direct economic losses suffered during the Third Shinobi World War, including but not limited to village reconstruction, ninja compensation, and material losses, totaling a certain amount.

Third, open the small country corridor between the Land of Fire and the Land of Lightning, allowing Sunagakure caravans to travel freely through Konoha within the Cloud Village's territory, and reduce or waive transit tariffs.

Fourth, as one of the parties responsible for the war, Kumogakure must hand over the list of core commanders who planned the "surprise attack on Sunagakure" operation and hand it over to Sunagakure and Konoha for joint trial.

Finally, Yahiko stood beside Rasa and delivered a passionate speech, as if he were a champion of justice: "The Akatsuki has no intention of starting a new war, but we feel that this corrupt and outdated ninja world should not continue like this. Killer Bee is justice in our hands. If Kumogakure wants to redeem him, they should first live up to this justice."

It has to be said that this combination of punches stunned everyone!

The people of Kumogakure were bewildered. They couldn't understand why it was Sunagakure who announced the kidnapping of Killer Bee when it was Konoha. They also couldn't understand why Amegakure and Akatsuki were jumping around in the middle.

The spectators from Iwagakure and Kirigakure were stunned. This announcement contained a wealth of information. Although it seemed to be Sunagakure seeking revenge, the shadow of Konoha could be seen everywhere. Things like opening the small country corridor between the Land of Fire and the Land of Lightning, the joint trial between Sunagakure and Konoha, and the fact that the delegation had previously made a show of going to Amegakure was even more obvious.

Therefore, they dare not make any rash statements when the true situation is unclear.

Even Konoha was stunned. When the Third Hokage received the diplomatic letter from Kumogakure, he did guess that Feng Lan had captured Killer Bee using the power of the First Hokage. But before he could figure out how to respond to Kumogakure or to profit from the situation, the public statement had already been released!

F3 wanted to ask Fenglan what was going on, but none of them knew where Fenglan was, and even when they asked Shuimen, the answer was the same!

This kid is acting like a general in the field who doesn't follow orders. He didn't consult with the village's Kage before doing anything. If it weren't for Minato's absolute trust in him, Konoha would have suspected that Feng Lan was going to become a rogue ninja and declare himself king.

But the Third Hokage thought about it carefully. Could he really settle accounts with Feng Lan afterward? The answer was no. As long as Feng Lan successfully dealt with Kumogakure, he would be a hero of the village. Moreover, the fact that he dared to act in this way clearly meant that the First and Second Hokage had given their approval. Even if he did settle accounts later, the village wouldn't be afraid.

Therefore, all the Konoha leaders can do right now is wait and continue to strengthen their defenses, lest the Hidden Cloud Village really go crazy and attack.

……

When the public statement was conveyed to Kumogakure, the Raikage was so angry that he smashed his office.

"Damn Sunagakure! They actually dared to ask Kumogakure for a public apology and compensation! The most outrageous thing is that they want to publicly try our people?!" The Fourth Raikage smashed through the office wall with a single punch. "What right does that Rasa have to make such demands?!"

The secretary next to him looked helpless and could only quickly arrange another high-level meeting. This time, they found a secluded and quiet place outdoors to hold the meeting, so that Lord Raikage would not waste office funds meaninglessly.

"It's obvious that Konoha is behind this." The elder gave the answer immediately. "It was Konoha who kidnapped Killer Bee and used it to put pressure on us. Sunagakure is a subordinate, and Amegakure is just a lackey. But... even when beating a dog, you have to consider its master."

He knew what the Raikage was thinking and quickly said, "Lord Raikage, calm down..."

"Calm down my ass!" The Raikage punched the ground so hard it created a crater. "My brother is in their hands, and they're treating me like an ATM! A mere Sand Village... I'm going to annihilate them!"

"Konoha is the mastermind behind the whole thing. If we directly send troops to attack Sunagakure or even Amegakure, Konoha will definitely not sit idly by. We will be attacked from both sides, which will be very disadvantageous for us."

The elder advised kindly, "Especially since Killer Bee is probably still being secretly imprisoned by Konoha. Even if we destroy Sunagakure and Amegakure, we may not be able to find him."

Just as Rin was Obito's weakness, Killer Bee will always be the Raikage's weakness. Mentioning his younger brother, this bull with bloodshot eyes finally calmed down and started panting.

"Moreover, according to my analysis, if we declare war on Sunagakure or Amegakure, it will play right into Konoha's hands."

"How to say?"

"Think about it, Sunagakure and Kumogakure were the ones who took the lead in this matter, but Konoha, who were hiding behind the scenes, reaped all the benefits. How could they be willing to do this? The three parties' power was not equal to begin with. The fact that they were able to cooperate was probably because the other two were coerced and lured by Konoha."

After all, he was someone who could sit in the position of Grand Elder, and he really had some skills: "If we rashly send troops, that will leave Sunagakure and Amegakure with no way out and make them completely side with Konoha. If this behemoth really uses this as an opportunity to completely control Sunagakure and Amegakure, I'm afraid we will no longer have the ability to fight against it."

"On the contrary, if we don't fall for it, we can sow discord among them and make their cooperation less solid. If we don't let their alliance collapse on its own, at least if they are less united internally, our chances of rescuing Killer Bee will greatly increase."

"Hmm, that makes sense." Raikage took a deep breath. "So, what methods should we use to retaliate?"

"That is of course..." A cold glint flashed in the Grand Elder's eyes, "The Five Kage Summit!"

Soon after, the Hidden Cloud Village issued a public statement, first accusing the Sand Village of fabricating all its claims as pure fake news. Therefore, the Hidden Cloud Village called on the Five Great Nations to hold a Five Kage Summit to restore justice to the Hidden Cloud Village and peace to the ninja world in a fair, just, and open manner.

Of course, after the official strong statement, they also had to admit defeat a little. Kumogakure said that they could discuss both paying money to redeem Killer Bee and opening up trade, provided that Sunagakure brought Killer Bee to the talks.

As for the interrogation commander, it was even less likely to be mentioned. Originally, Sunagakure only used it as a bargaining chip to pressure the other party, and did not expect Kumogakure to actually agree, because if it were to be tried, everyone from the Raikage to most of the elders would probably be guilty.

……

In Amegakure, Yahiko, upon learning of Kumogakure's public announcement, first breathed a sigh of relief, but then inexplicably felt a surge of resentment and anger.

From beginning to end, the Fourth Raikage didn't mention anything about Amegakure or Akatsuki, treating them like mere passersby. Compared to the Five Great Nations, small countries were simply too insignificant and powerless...

[Calm down, it's actually a good thing that Amegakure wasn't mentioned. As long as Kumogakure doesn't intend to wage war against Amegakure, Konoha's influence here will decrease, giving Akatsuki more opportunities to develop.]

He took a deep breath, quickly stood up, and prepared to personally tell Feng Lan about this matter.

Upon arriving at their temporary residence in Konoha, Yahiko approached Hizashi, whom he was somewhat familiar with, and asked, "Where is Lord Furan?"

"My lord, the Jinchuriki is being interrogated in the secret chamber downstairs." Hizashi looked helpless. "However, it seems the interrogation isn't going too smoothly; his voice is hoarse every time he comes out."

So there are people even you can't handle?

For some reason, Yahiko felt relieved after hearing about this: "Mr. Hizashi, could you pass on a message for me? Tell him that Yahiko has important information to share."

“No need to send a message.” Rishima smiled. “Lord Fenglan said that if you need to see him, you can go directly there. I will lead the way.”

[But at least he can predict my personal actions without any problems.] Yahiko's heart, which had just relaxed, started to pound again.

"Lord Fenglan."

After knocking on the door of the secret room, Ri Cha pushed it open. Since the door was soundproof, they wouldn't hear Feng Lan answering from inside.

However, the moment the door opened, both of them were stunned.

Killer Bee's treatment was quite luxurious. Not only was he bound in prison shackles all over, but two wooden dragons also circled around him, continuously absorbing his chakra to prevent him from suddenly unleashing his tailed beast and escaping.

But his expression was calm and composed, and he even seemed to want to laugh. On the contrary, Feng Lan, who was sitting opposite him, was pale and looked helpless from head to toe.

“Hey Killer Bee, can’t we communicate in a way that humans can understand?” Feng Lan said helplessly. “I don’t need your help to persuade the Raikage. Just let him know that you’re safe and sound and that you’re still alive and haven’t been abused. I don’t need you to side with Konoha. As long as you can maintain this neutral attitude, I can give up demanding additional ransom from Kumogakure.”

However, Killer Bee wasn't buying it at all: "Neutral, give up? You dare to show off your rhyming tricks in front of me? Putting aside the fact that these conditions are completely unattractive, your terrible rhymes alone make me want to beat you up!"

As everyone knows, Feng Lan's greatest skill is speaking to people in a way that suits them, analyzing the pros and cons to get the other party to choose the path he offers—a rather cunning strategy. Unfortunately, Kirabi simply wouldn't talk to him; he's a rapper, damn it.