บท 216: Chapter 216
"Yaneko, the matters to follow will need your attentive oversight, ah."
"Iwagakure has actually gone to war with Konoha, this is indeed good news, ah."
Within the Raikage building in Kumogakure, the Fourth Raikage, A, showed an excited expression as he looked at the report in front of him.
For him, whether it's Iwagakure or Konoha, neither village harbored his favor.
One is the village that caused his father's death, and the other constantly contests with Iwagakure for the title of the strongest ninja village.
Without mincing words, he held no affection for either village, even harboring immeasurable disgust!
Although various reasons had prevented him from taking retaliatory actions against Iwagakure thus far, his hatred for the village was firmly rooted.
He had taken actions against Konoha and even achieved certain results.
However, he was well aware that Konoha's potential had always been consistently high, and their war potential was beyond the ordinary imagination.
Only after ascending to the position of Raikage did the Fourth come to profoundly understand the fearsomeness of Konoha.
Because Konoha, in all honesty, occupied the most fertile land in the entire ninja world, controlling the most convenient routes throughout.
With such a foundation, as long as Konoha had a period to recuperate and regroup, they would inevitably rise again.
Seeking to defeat Konoha with mere petty schemes was fundamentally an impossibility.
Only by thoroughly forcing Konoha to weaken itself, diminishing its war potential, might it be possible to push it into the abyss.
Back in the day, his pressuring of Konoha, although placing it in a severely difficult position and causing it to lose prestige in the ninja world, was constrained due to his concerns about driving Konoha to desperate measures, and thus, he did not further extort.
Sarutobi Hiruzen was weak; this was essentially a consensus throughout Kumogakure.
But even the weakest person might leap up and bite; after all, the old man once bore the title of a great shinobi.
Even if he's now akin to a doddering bear, it doesn't mean he's bereft of power.
Now, this great shinobi has died, and according to reports, Konoha is effectively under the control of the Eight Great Clans.
Even Jiraiya, who once nurtured a figure like Namikaze Minato, despite being the Fifth Hokage now, in reality, is nothing more than a puppet.
Such a Konoha, it's truly hard to say it possesses any convincing combat power.
And Iwagakure is somewhat in a period of vulnerability at the moment; most critically, they've now lost a leader, Kitsuchi, the effects of which are unimaginable.
Under such circumstances, that these two villages would still erupt in war gives the Fourth Raikage quite some thoughts.
"Should I find a way to fish in troubled waters, to try and do something when these two villages are at their worst?"
Once this thought emerged, the Fourth Raikage could scarcely contain himself.
He has indeed been quite uncomfortable recently, and the main reason for this discomfort is due to that damned Konoha! After Konoha successfully impeached him, the impact it brought to the entire ninja world was unimaginable, even forcing him to attentively manage the affairs within his own village.
Honestly speaking, life during this period has not been so pleasant for him.
That feeling, where everyone appears to harbor ambitions and where there's a need to doubt their potential subversive activities, is really terrible! Fortunately, Kumogakure remains relatively 'pure'.
Although indeed, there are quite a few people exceptionally dissatisfied with the father-son inheritance of the Third and Fourth Raikage, as it almost seems like the position of Raikage is treated as familial property.
But the Fourth Raikage, A, has also demonstrated sufficiently strong power, which allows him to sit quite securely in the position of Raikage.
Perhaps pure strength, in other ninja villages, is not the core requisite to become a Kage.
After all, a Kage also needs to have other capabilities, and even the emergence of a Kage is a compromise and recognition of various forces.
But for Kumogakure, which almost pathologically worships the strong and where every individual seems to prioritize muscle over strategy, it's different.
They place whether one is strong at the forefront, they have always firmly believed that a Kage without strength is the ultimate sorrow!
The Fourth Raikage might have problems in many areas, but there is one point where he is absolutely unproblematic: his strength is genuinely assured.
Under his power, which is strong to a despairing degree, no one ultimately chose to oppose him, and even if they did, they would be conquered by his strength.
Therefore, he is now in the mood to pay attention to information from other villages, and only in the current environment does he have the interest to involve himself in the affairs of Iwagakure and Konoha!
"However, I also cannot be too proactive in declaring my stance, and even more so, I cannot easily let them discern my thoughts, otherwise..."
The Fourth Raikage, while being a brash man, has seen some growth from his long tenure in the position of a Kage.
He's acutely aware that he holds grudges against these two villages, but aren't these two villages equally antagonistic toward his Kumogakure as well? If he makes too bold a declaration of intent, or even enters the fray too prematurely, who knows whether these two villages will still come to blows.
They both bear animosity toward him, so uniting to launch an attack against him is certainly not an impossible scenario! So, waiting for these two villages to first throw their own ranks into disarray, waiting for their situation to worsen before making a strong entry, is the best choice.
"Only by wanting to understand these situations more accurately, it is best to immerse oneself within them."
The Fourth Raikage's thoughts are exceptionally sharp, and he has conceived numerous ideas in his heart.
He has not lived comfortably in Kumogakure recently, so now he can indeed try venturing out.
Moreover, although he has 'pacified' the thoughts of many people in the village, he probably cannot placate everyone's sentiments.
He needs something to prove himself, to demonstrate that he is the most suitable Raikage for Kumogakure, to confirm that he is the person who can lead Kumogakure to glory.
Having thought this far, the Fourth Raikage has made up his mind, so he quickly called for Dodai.
For the Fourth Raikage, although he has cultivated many trustworthy individuals throughout the village, such as Darui, Bee, Samui, and Atsui, etc.
But truly speaking of utmost trust, and acknowledging someone whose abilities can change his village, in his heart, there is only Dodai.
Dodai's role in Kumogakure is indeed similar to that of Nara Shikaku in Konoha.
"Lord Raikage, while the idea is good, isn't this somewhat too willful?"
Upon hearing the Fourth Raikage's words, Dodai couldn't help but furrow his brows, even though he must admit he was indeed tempted and must acknowledge that their Raikage has matured.
If it were in the past, perhaps this Raikage, in an impulse, would have wanted to take action from the start.
Now, he has begun to learn to think, to understand that the games between the ninja villages always stem from interests, and to know when to make a move to gain everything.
Moreover, Kumogakure joining this war is essentially establishing authority for the Fourth Raikage and can also secure more for Kumogakure.
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