The aged face of The Elder revealed a faint, shallow smile.
He first stated that he had no intention of competing with the Mizukage for power, and then simply gave his advice on the matter.
The reason was simple!
He was far too old, even older than Ōnoki.
Although he did have two children, they had long since died on the battlefield. Therefore, power held no use for him. Now, he only wished to help Mei Terumī secure her position as Mizukage and ensure the Village could be passed down peacefully.
Of course.
He also knew he wasn't particularly skilled in political strategy; otherwise, despite having many supporters, the Village wouldn't have weakened to its current state.
Having a clear understanding of himself, and keenly sensing a conspiracy behind this matter, he immediately decided to learn from the other Villages.
The Fourth Raikage and Uchiha Jin, he didn't know much about this younger generation, but he knew Ōnoki very well.
Knowing that old fox would never suffer losses, he advised Mei Terumī to lay low for now and simply follow the lead of the old fox, Ōnoki. Perhaps they wouldn't grasp any major trends, but they definitely wouldn't come out worse in the end.
Anyway, the current Hidden Mist is in a sorry state; even grasping major trends wouldn't be of much use. So, it's better to simply seek stability!
Meanwhile, on the other side.
After hearing these words, Mei Terumī naturally held even more respect for The Elder.
Finally.
After a moment of thought, she ultimately nodded.
"Yes, I agree!"
"Let's proceed as The Elder suggests. The Anbu must immediately dispatch scouts to see what the other Ninja Villages are doing."
"Focus on observing—Iwagakure!"
As Mei Terumī spoke, the many high-ranking officials of the Hidden Mist present naturally had no objections.
This—was normal!
With the Mizukage and The Elder in agreement, what could these small fry dare to say?
...Sunagakure, the Kazekage's office.
Similar to the situation in other Ninja Villages, high-ranking officials like Granny Chiyo, Ebizo, and Baki were present. However, unlike the others, the office in Sunagakure was filled with intense arguing.
It wasn't that Rasa lacked authority, but Sunagakure's situation was different from other Villages!
To put it bluntly, one word.
Money!
Sunagakure's poverty was even worse than the currently weakened Hidden Mist Village!
Although the Hidden Mist had endured the long Bloody Mist era, and the recent battle with Obito had made their situation even more dire—greatly reducing their Ninja numbers and leaving them with little money.
But, the problem is.
The Hidden Mist is surrounded by ocean; at the very least, they won't starve. The islands can grow grains, various vegetables, fruits, and they can even export some seafood.
What about Sunagakure?
What does Sunagakure have?
Here, there's nothing but sand, with the occasional cactus. Could they go sell cacti?
Especially since Sunagakure's relationship with the Land of Wind's Daimyo is poor. Previously, he would just slightly withhold financial allocations, but in recent years, he had the gall to stop the allocations entirely. They've been relying on Rasa panning for gold in the desert every day to survive.
There was no other way!
Although the Land of Wind has a few oases of varying sizes, they are all controlled by the Land of Wind's Daimyo. Sunagakure may despise the Daimyo, but they truly dare not directly kill the Daimyo and the nobles.
Now, it's different!
Suddenly hearing that the Daimyo and all the nobles have been slaughtered, even though some clever people in Sunagakure vaguely sensed this was likely part of a conspiracy or scheme, the problem is that Sunagakure, poor to the point of nearly losing their pants, doesn't care!
Damn it, I'm about to starve to death, who gives a damn about your conspiracy and schemes!
Indeed, that was the case.
Even though Granny Chiyo tried her best to persuade everyone to stay calm, repeatedly saying this matter involved a conspiracy that required careful investigation and planning, the problem was that the people in the office simply wouldn't listen.
"Granny Chiyo, we can't afford to wait!"
"You know the Village's situation. Our Sunagakure truly has no money left. If we don't think of a solution soon, everyone will starve to death."
"Especially because of our defeat in the Third Great Ninja War. Although Konoha didn't demand reparations, they took most of our mission shares."
"We must seize it, we must!"
"Anyway, the Daimyo and nobles are all dead. Such a vast amount of wealth shouldn't be left to benefit the local officials and samurai, right?"
"This is life-saving money; we can't waste any more time!"
"We'll deal with other matters later. Right now, eating is the most important thing!"
"..."
Everyone present spoke up.
Their attitudes were almost unanimous: regardless of the circumstances, they must first get some money so the Village can eat.
Everything else can be discussed later!
The few calm voices, like Granny Chiyo's, were almost instantly drowned out by this clamor.
Yes!
Sunagakure truly couldn't hold on any longer.
If Uchiha Jin didn't exist in this world, Sunagakure would at most endure for a few more years before being tricked by Orochimaru into executing the 'Konoha Crush Plan'.
In the original work.
Why was Sunagakure's Rasa willing to contact Orochimaru? To put it bluntly, it was because Sunagakure truly couldn't hold on anymore, hoping to strike Konoha a blow and snatch some benefits and mission shares.
Now, it's different!
Because of Uchiha Jin's rise, attacking Konoha is almost impossible.
Just as Sunagakure was racking their brains, they never expected a great benefit to fall from the sky—their own Daimyo and nobles were all slaughtered?
A good thing!
Truly a heaven-sent blessing!
They even wanted to set off firecrackers to celebrate.
After all, although the Land of Wind is poor, the Daimyo and nobles were not.
Especially with the wealth they had accumulated over so many years, if Sunagakure could seize it all, not only would it solve their current problems, it could even make Sunagakure instantly and immensely wealthy.
Precisely because of this, everyone in Sunagakure at this moment was starting to see red.
Sitting at the head, Rasa crossed his hands on the table, his eyes rapidly shifting. After a long moment of thought, he finally slammed the table.
"Let's do it!"
"Although Lord Chiyo's words make sense, Sunagakure's reality is even more dire."
"Conspiracies and schemes, we can't worry about them now!"
"Surviving is the most important thing!"
"Other matters can wait. Our primary task now is to survive."
"On my orders, head to the Daimyos Mansion!"
"Bring back every last bit of the Daimyo and nobles' accumulated wealth."
"Anyone who stands in the way, one word—kill!"
Rasa stood up, radiating killing intent.
With his words, everyone cheered and began praising Rasa's wisdom.
As for this.
Granny Chiyo and the few other cautious members couldn't help but sigh at the sight.
However.
Although they were also very worried, they had no intention of stopping it.
Because they also understood that what Rasa and the others said actually made sense.
Sunagakure is too poor!
As for conspiracies and tricks, let Sunagakure survive first, then consider them slowly later!