The Land of Rice Fields, as a neighboring country of a great nation, was relatively fortunate.
It only bordered one great nation—on its left was the neutral Land of Iron, and on its right was the Land of Hot Water, which technically had a ninja village but was functionally irrelevant.
After the First Great Ninja War, the five major powers of the shinobi world, seeking to reduce friction between themselves and simplify post-conflict reconciliation and negotiations, established a policy to avoid directly bordering one another. This left smaller countries to act as buffer zones.
Following the Second Great Ninja War, the five great nations began actively weakening and dividing the smaller nations around them to prevent scenarios like the rise of Ame.
By the time of Masashi, these so-called buffer zones had become stages for tragic theater: suppressed and exploited during peacetime, and devastated during conflicts.
Yet, the level of suffering varied. Countries like the Land of Grass and the Land of Rain were among the worst hit.
The Land of Rice Fields, however, was not a disaster zone. Its geographical luck meant it avoided being the primary scapegoat for the costs of war when Kumo and Konoha clashed, thanks also to the neutrality of the Land of Iron nearby.
However, during conflicts between Kumo, Konoha, or Suna, the Land of Rice Fields was still at risk of becoming collateral damage. Unlike the Land of Hot Water, which wholeheartedly aligned with the Land of Fire, the Land of Rice Fields was too cautious to offend anyone—even though it was formally an ally of the Land of Fire.
So when the Raikage asked to use the Land of Rice Fields as a meeting ground, it didn't dare refuse.
When A and his elite guard stepped into the country, his first thought was of his father, who had passed through here during the Third Great Ninja War.
Kumo's decision to fight Suna during that war had surprised many—no one expected Kumo to travel so far to engage Suna in a conflict, even if it was for a tailed beast.
Compared to other villages, Kumo's combat style heavily leaned on ninjutsu and taijutsu, with limited battlefield control techniques. Thus, the power of tailed beasts was critical. Like Konoha, Kumo invested heavily in jinchūriki research, albeit with a more straightforward approach: trial and error at the cost of human lives.
After countless sacrifices, Kumo did perfect the method for producing stable jinchūriki and successfully trained one. Unfortunately, before they could celebrate, Konoha wiped them out.
The rivalry between the two villages was relentless.
This time, A had brought only a small team to the Land of Rice Fields: his elite guards and members of the ANBU.
Kumo was currently short on high-level combat power; every resource had to be conserved.
He was confident in his own strength—after all, becoming Raikage required being undefeated within Kumo.
As he traveled through the Land of Rice Fields, A observed that while it wasn't as prosperous as the Land of Hot Water, it was far better off than the Land of Frost. Unfortunately, its alliance with the Land of Fire meant most of its missions went to Konoha, with only a small fraction trickling to Kumo.
This infuriated him.
Kumo needed more missions to train its shinobi.
To achieve that, Kumo either had to decisively defeat Konoha on the battlefield or force it into a public act of submission. Either method would secure a share of Konoha's mission income.
Standing atop a hill, he gazed into the distance, his face unusually calm.
"What do you think Konoha will do?" he suddenly addressed his head guard.
"They'll likely refuse negotiations, citing unequal status."
"This is the consequence of losing the tailed beasts," A said. "We need to regain that power as soon as possible."
"Yes, Raikage-sama."
"Are you certain it's in the Land of Rice Fields?"
"Yes. All evidence suggests so. Based on the reaction from the Eight-Tails chakra left by Killer B-sama, its revival is near. Sooner than expected, likely due to some other factor."
"That doesn't matter. Sooner is better. Once the Eight-Tails is sealed, it's time to consider increasing our number of tailed beasts."
A thought of the jinchūriki who had left Kumo.
How ridiculous—to lose control of their own jinchūriki! If that was the case, they might as well be put to use by Kumo.
Suna could even be roped in to help. Everyone knew Suna focused solely on the One-Tail and had little interest in other tailed beasts. But if capturing them meant gaining resources, Suna might cooperate.
"Raikage-sama," the guard interrupted his thoughts, "Orochimaru is here."
A turned to see two figures in black cloaks with red clouds approaching, along with Kumo's own jonin, Matsu.
"You're too slow, Orochimaru!"
"Raikage-sama, don't be so impatient," Orochimaru replied. "Didn't I bring your ninja back safely?"
Matsu hurried to present a document to A.
"Matsu, what happened to your leg?" A immediately noticed his relative's limping gait.
"Apologies, Raikage-sama. The rest of the envoy didn't survive."
Seeing the Raikage, Matsu finally felt a sense of relief and recounted the events in detail.
"Masashi again?" A roared in anger.
First, he had killed Killer B. Then, he captured Yugito. Now, he had slaughtered the envoy and crippled Matsu!
What irked him even more was Matsu's description of Masashi's strength.
"So you're saying this Masashi has grown very strong?" A turned to Orochimaru. "How much do you know about him?"
"So he has become this powerful? Truly worthy of the Uchiha name," Orochimaru mused with interest, just as Kakuzu stepped forward.
"Hold on!" Kakuzu interrupted, his tone blunt. "That's additional service."
"Hm?" A glared at Kakuzu. "You're with Akatsuki too? Are you trying to haggle with me?"
The Fourth Raikage was known for his temper, and many feared him—but not Kakuzu.
"Is there a problem?" Kakuzu sneered. "Extra intel means extra payment. You want more? Pay more."
Who was he trying to intimidate? Short-change him, and he'd crush him.
Orochimaru smirked, stepping aside to let the confrontation play out.
Sensing the tension, the Kumo guard interjected, "Money isn't an issue, but the information must be accurate."
Kakuzu nodded and turned to Orochimaru.
"Go on, then."
He stepped aside, unfazed. When Pain had recruited him into Akatsuki, they had agreed: Kakuzu managed the organization's finances.
Even if it was public money, as the manager, he had his rights.
A's anger dissipated, replaced by admiration.
Initially, he had wanted to smash Kakuzu, but now he found him... endearing.
This man wasn't picking a fight—he was simply meticulous about matching payment to services rendered.
Such people were usually reliable.
But still... were there really missing-nin this principled?
Interesting!
A had a bold idea.
---
The new correspondence from Kumo had finally arrived at Konoha once again.
This time, the messenger from Kumo was, quite literally, just barely a chunin.
Naturally, someone of that rank wasn't allowed into the Hokage's office for diplomatic talks, but the messenger didn't mind at all. If possible, he didn't even want to set foot in the forests of Konoha.
Everyone in Kumo knew by now: the current Konoha was crazy. The last delegation they sent was nearly wiped out in an instant by the White Ghost right in the forest.
Only one jonin from the Yotsuki clan had survived, but even he had lost a leg.
No one wanted to encounter that maniac again.
So, after delivering the letter, the Kumo ninja fled immediately, running like a ghost was chasing him.
"What's his problem?" muttered Tetsuka, who had just received the letter at the gate of Konoha. "Did a dog chase him or something?"
A ninja from the Inuzuka clan standing nearby shot him a glare.
But then, remembering this particular teammate's personality, the Inuzuka ninja let it go.
Subtly insulting people was too advanced for Tetsuka. Besides, trying to argue with this dense guy would only be infuriating, and fighting him wouldn't be easy either.
Currently, Tetsuka's Sharingan had five tomoe.
For most members of the Uchiha clan, it was rare for the tomoe on both eyes to progress symmetrically. It was perfectly normal for one tomoe to develop at a time.
Since he hadn't reached three-tomoe yet, Tetsuka still considered himself a chunin.
Minato had considered promoting him to jonin and inviting him to join the jonin ranks, but Tetsuka declined.
As one of Masashi's closest comrades, he held himself to a high standard—he wouldn't join the jonin until he reached three-tomoe.
He was a principled man who didn't take advantage of the village.
"Doggie, I'm heading to the Hokage's office. You hold down the fort here, okay?" he said to his teammate.
"Can't you call people by their names properly…?" The Inuzuka ninja sighed. "You're going to get yourself punched one day."
"Maybe, but ordinary people can't touch me," Tetsuka replied smugly. "The clan elder used to beat me all the time when I was a kid, but now that he's old and can't hit as hard, so the clan leader's taken over."
"And you're proud of that?"
"You don't understand. The elder said it was to toughen me up, and the clan leader said I have great potential. One day, I'll become the second strongest man in the clan, after Masashi."
You actually believe that nonsense?
The Inuzuka ninja resisted the urge to retort, doubting he would even understand.
"I give up. Just go already—I don't want to see you today."
"Really? Great! I'll finish up and then pick up my brother. Thanks for covering for me!"
Thrilled, Tetsuka left with a grin, thinking his teammate was the nicest person ever.
To finish quickly, he sprinted to the Hokage's office, handed the letter to the ANBU stationed there, and dashed off before anyone could question him.
The ANBU barely had time to notice that the document was sealed with fire wax, signifying it was from Kumo.
So, they gave up on chasing after the fool and rushed upstairs to deliver the letter instead.
Soon, the document was on Minato's desk.
"Please summon the elders, the Advisor, Masashi, and the ANBU Commander," Minato instructed the ANBU member. Then, after a moment's thought, he added, "Also, I need to know the Raikage's recent activities. Please investigate."
"Yes, Hokage-sama."
Once the ANBU disappeared, Minato didn't immediately open the letter. Instead, he took out the draft plan Masashi had previously given him.
It was a simple, straightforward outline on a single sheet of paper:
Hold a meeting.
Release the Two-Tails. Hokage fights Raikage one-on-one, while everyone else handles the Kumo ninjas. If needed, everyone gangs up on Raikage.
Minato felt it—Masashi didn't just dislike Kumo; it was as if they had personally desecrated his ancestors' graves.
He sighed silently, then heard footsteps approaching.
The office door opened, and the invited guests entered.
Leading the group was Hiruzen, already dressed in full battle gear.
"Minato, are we ready to move out?"
"No, Sandaime-sama, Kumo's letter just arrived. I haven't read it yet," Minato replied with a wry smile.
Because he also saw another retired heavyweight: Torifu.
This was a true veteran.
A member of Tobirama's squad, he had once demonstrated unparalleled power on the battlefield with his Partial Expansion Jutsu. After Hiruzen became Hokage, Torifu managed the village's defense.
Though slightly younger than Hiruzen, he was still quite strong despite his age.
Seeing his stern expression, Minato wanted to sigh again.
So, aside from me, no one really care about negotiating, huh?
But he understood.
If Jiraiya had been harmed, he wouldn't have been able to forgive it either.
"What does Kumo say, Hokage-sama?" Masashi asked.
He had been summoned straight from the training grounds and arrived instantly using the Flying Thunder God.
"Let me take a look." Minato opened the letter and skimmed it.
"The Raikage agreed. The negotiations will take place in the Land of Hot Water. He didn't reject our proposed location but stipulated that each side can bring no more than five people."
"Five people, huh…" Masashi frowned. "That's not enough to split up."
"Fugaku, I'll have to trouble you to stay and guard the village," Minato said.
"Understood." Fugaku nodded. "I know what's at stake."
Minato then turned to Masashi.
"I won't fully comply with Kumo's demands. You'll come with us—we'll take six people."
"Sandaime-sama, given the current situation, we should have Jiraiya-sensei return to the village."
"Yes, I've already asked someone to contact Jiraiya," Hiruzen said with a nod. "And if Tsunade could return as well, that would be ideal. But I'm afraid she still can't let go of her pain."
At this, Hiruzen's expression grew somber. As her teacher, he felt responsible for Tsunade's suffering.
Danzō, why couldn't you leave that line untouched? If not, you might still be alive today…
But now…
Hiruzen clenched his fists.
The jutsu Muzo had taught him—this time, he would use it.
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