Time slowly passed.
While Konoha was conducting its frantic investigation, the other major Ninja Villages also immediately launched various investigations.
The intensity of the action was nothing short of frantic!
There was no alternative.
Although the major Ninja Villages currently feel disgruntled toward the Daimyō, and often even wish to kill them, essentially, after thousands of years of conditioning, everyone has grown accustomed to the basic structure of being ruled by the Daimyō.
The so-called 'Ancestral Country Bloodline' of the Daimyō is nonsense; frankly, it is more like a power called 'habit.'
Although the Daimyō impose various restrictions on the Ninja Villages, everyone, while unhappy and wanting to go to extremes, is strictly constrained by one crucial factor.
That is—management!
The core personnel of the major Ninja Villages are all Ninja; perhaps the high-ranking members have some administrative ability, but fundamentally, these skills are not important.
You must first become a powerful Ninja before you consider your management and planning capabilities.
This point cannot be reversed!
Therefore.
Perhaps the major Ninja Villages have some administrative ability, but it is limited to managing their own respective Village affairs, and even then, they barely manage to scrape by.
To put it plainly, a Ninja Village is an organization of force!
It is precisely for this reason that the major Ninja Villages fundamentally lack the confidence or the ability to manage the entire Land of Fire.
Although the abilities of the Daimyō and Nobles are quite ordinary, and the citizens of various countries do not live well, wouldn't even bad rules be better than no rules at all?
As long as the Daimyō can collect taxes and allocate funds to the Ninja Villages, everyone can manage to get by.
Even if they are inwardly dissatisfied, they can endure it for the sake of survival.
After all... everyone is a Ninja!
But what about now?
All the Daimyō and Nobles have been slaughtered, without even a single bloodline heir remaining. Naturally, this has left the major Ninja Villages stumped.
Although everyone wished to eliminate the Daimyō and Nobles, now that the Daimyō and Nobles are truly gone, the moment they considered how to maintain the operation of their countries, the brains of all the Ninja Village high-ranking officials almost crashed... In the Land of Lightning, inside a hospital.
"Mabui, investigate!"
"Mobilize one-third of the Village's Ninja, and deploy all Anbu! We must find the mastermind behind this!"
The Fourth Raikage, lying on the hospital bed, instantly grew grim.
Yes!
The Raikage lineage and the Daimyō lineage have always maintained a harmonious relationship due to blood ties.
Upon hearing that all the Daimyō and Nobles were instantly killed, the Fourth Raikage, who had just suffered a devastating defeat, immediately began shouting in anger.
"A, don't get angry!"
"Yes, Lord Raikage, something is suspicious about this!"
"According to feedback from our Village spies, it wasn't just the Land of Lightning; the Daimyō and Nobles of the Land of Earth, the Land of Sand, and even the Land of Fire, and many smaller countries, have all met with disaster."
"Although we haven't received reports on the situation in other countries, it's likely similar."
"This was a premeditated act of slaughter. Simple investigation, in my opinion, won't be very effective, because whoever is capable of pulling off something this massive is certainly not an ordinary force."
"Therefore, in my old man's view, the primary task is to figure out the true objective of the mastermind."
"Especially because the timing is too coincidental!"
"The Akatsuki Organization just captured a Tailed Beast, and just as we were preparing to propose holding a Five Kage Summit to discuss how to deal with the Akatsuki Organization, the mass killing of the Daimyō and Nobles suddenly occurred..."
"I have a faint feeling that these two incidents must be connected!"
"This Akatsuki Organization is a huge problem!"
"..."
Inside the ward, everyone spoke up.
Everyone expressed their thoughts, clearly hoping the Fourth Raikage could calm down and think.
In response to this.
After hearing these words, the Raikage's expression grew even gloomier.
After a long while.
He finally spoke coldly: "Whether there is a mastermind can be discussed later. For now, we must immediately send people to investigate. We must clearly demonstrate this stance, otherwise, I fear other Ninja Villages will slander us and claim that Kumogakure was responsible."
"After all, we have a motive, don't we?"
"If all the Daimyō and Nobles die, then the Ninja Villages will completely replace the Daimyō and Nobles."
"On this point, it's not just our Hidden Cloud Village; other Ninja Villages also have the motive to do this."
"Especially Sunagakure and the Hidden Mist, those two Ninja Villages are constrained by their Daimyō, and their annual financial allocations are repeatedly slashed..."
"Killing the Daimyō and Nobles of all countries simultaneously is a classic strategy of muddying the waters—it achieves one's goal while concealing oneself, thereby preventing the Daimyō and Nobles of other nations from uniting against them."
"Therefore, do as I say!"
"Regarding the talk of a mastermind, I suggest we immediately contact the other Ninja Villages and convene a Five Kage Summit as soon as possible for discussion, and while we're at it, resolve the matter of the Akatsuki Organization."
"For now, we must show our stance immediately. We absolutely cannot let other Ninja Villages slander Kumogakure and pin the blame on us!"
The Fourth Raikage spoke coldly.
Don't be fooled by his seemingly simple and reckless appearance; as a Kage, he is not truly foolish. That persona is just for show.
To be frank—it's just a public image!
But what is the reality?
During the Third Great Ninja War, when his father, the Third Raikage, was killed by Iwagakure, he, despite his anger, remained calm enough to immediately form an alliance with Iwagakure to target Konoha—that's how ruthless he is.
Don't look at how he constantly clamors for fighting and killing; essentially, he has never done anything that resulted in a loss for himself!
Even during peace negotiations with Konoha, he managed to exploit the death of a Ninja, attempting to extract a Byakugan from Konoha.
Although his goal ultimately failed, leading the Hyuga Clan to side directly with New Konoha, in the original work, he still forced Hyuga Hizashi to commit suicide and created a rift between the Hyuga Clan and the Konoha High Command.
It can be said... the Fourth Raikage is quite capable of strategic planning. Therefore, even though this incident was extremely sudden, he instantly grasped the key points and ultimately made the same choice as Uchiha Jin.
Regardless of whether the truth can be uncovered, the stance of investigation must be displayed immediately!
Meanwhile, on the other side.
Following the Fourth Raikage's words, the people present finally recovered their senses and couldn't help but marvel at the ruthlessness of the mastermind's calculations.
Fortunately... their own Kage was reliable; he not only saw through the situation but also immediately provided a solution.
"Agreed!"
"Lord Raikage is right. Never mind the other things for now; launching the investigation is the most important step."
"No problem!"
"..."
After a brief moment of contemplation, everyone present nodded in agreement.
Immediately following this.
The entirety of Kumogakure instantly launched a massive operation, with countless Ninja rushing throughout the Land of Lightning to begin a large-scale investigation... Iwagakure, Iwagakure Office.
Although Ōnoki only sustained minor injuries, considering the complexity of the situation, he left his recovery at the hospital and returned to his office.
Kitsuchi's expression was extremely serious as he immediately began his report!