Through the analysis of Homura Mitokado and Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Hidden Sand Village's conspiracy has been largely deduced.
Utatane Koharu gritted her teeth and said, "Those guys from the Hidden Sand Village are truly good at scheming. This way, they not only resolve internal hidden dangers but also can cooperate with Iwagakure to attack Konoha and seize benefits from it!"
Danzo frowned deeply and said, "But if the Hidden Sand Village had cooperated with Iwagakure to attack Konoha from the start, Ōnoki shouldn't have refused. Why did they go out of their way to start a war with Iwagakure?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi speculated, "The Hidden Sand Village is short on resources, and the Land of Wind's Daimyo seems to have been continuously cutting the Hidden Sand Village's budget. As a result, the number of Ninja in the Hidden Sand Village has been decreasing, almost by half compared to the Second Shinobi World War.
War is war. Even with cooperation with Iwagakure, there will surely be casualties. For the Hidden Sand Village, which has far fewer Ninja than the other four great Ninja Villages, they probably aren't truly interested in cooperating with Iwagakure to fight us Konoha.
I think the Hidden Sand Village is planning to guide Iwagakure and us Konoha into war, then retreat behind the scenes to watch from the sidelines, and then look for opportunities to plunder resources from either us Konoha or Iwagakure."
Homura Mitokado sighed, "Kazekage Rōsa, the newly appointed Kazekage of the Hidden Sand Village, although hastily appointed, is not a simple character. Hiruzen, we Konoha must prepare for battle now."
Hiruzen Sarutobi fell silent, deep in thought.
After a moment, Hiruzen Sarutobi decided, "Next, Konoha will assemble Ninja troops and dispatch them to the Land of Grass, which borders the Land of Earth. We will first occupy advantageous terrain and fight Iwagakure in the Land of Grass.
Then Konoha will abandon its positions in the Land of Hot Springs, and all Konoha Ninja in the Land of Hot Springs will also be transferred to the Land of Grass. Our main enemy will then be Iwagakure.
At the same time, we will send more Ninja to the Land of Rivers, which borders the Land of Wind. Although we judge that the Hidden Sand Village will choose to retreat behind the scenes later, in the early stages, the Hidden Sand Village will certainly still put on a show with Iwagakure."
Hiruzen Sarutobi picked up his pipe and took a deep puff, sighing somewhat dejectedly, "I have to say, the Hidden Sand Village's plan is indeed quite formidable. They've calculated that Ōnoki has no choice but to cooperate with them, and we also have no choice but to engage in battle."
Homura Mitokado also sighed, "How could it not be formidable? After all, they are using the disappearance of their Third Kazekage as a reason for war. With a Village's Kage missing, they can forge any evidence they want, and we truly have no way to counter it."
Utatane Koharu narrowed her eyes and looked at Homura Mitokado, "Homura, when you were analyzing just now, I felt like you had turned into a child, and a child with a very big head."
Homura Mitokado asked in confusion, "A child? My analysis was so good, my image should be somewhat grand, right? How could I be a big-headed child?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi said in a deep voice, "Alright, enough with the small talk. We're going to be busy now. Let's each carry out our duties and quickly relay the orders!"
...
Inside the Iwagakure Tsuchikage Building.
Ōnoki had naturally already heard those rumors.
Looking at the Hidden Sand Village's alliance cooperation document in his hand, the veins on Ōnoki's forehead bulged. He gritted his teeth and said, "Did they calculate that I would definitely agree? I truly underestimated that brat named Rasa!"
An Advisor frowned and asked, "Tsuchikage-sama, are we really going to agree to the Hidden Sand Village's alliance? Their Hidden Sand Village is full of petty people, completely untrustworthy!"
Ōnoki's nose would turn bright red whenever he got angry, and now Ōnoki's nose had already turned red.
However, Ōnoki was not as furiously irritable as last time. Suppressing his anger, he said, "Of course I know that poverty-stricken place is full of petty people, but now we have no choice.
Those scoundrels from the Hidden Cloud Village aren't fighting Konoha Ninja in the Land of Hot Springs anymore; they're specifically harassing us. And with these rumors out, those guys from Konoha aren't fools; they can certainly see some clues and might have already gathered Ninja, preparing to fight us.
If we don't agree to the alliance, then this mess will have to be entirely taken over by us Iwagakure. If the Hidden Sand Village retreats into their Village, who do you think will go to that desolate place to fight them?
Will Konoha go? Will the Hidden Cloud Village go? Will we go?"
Ōnoki's series of questions left the Iwagakure high-ranking officials sitting there speechless.
The Hidden Sand Village truly relies on its harsh environment and extreme poverty to be fearless.
Most importantly, they really seemed to have no way to deal with the Hidden Sand Village.
To attack the Hidden Sand Village, they would first have to cross the desert region of the Land of Wind, and just crossing the desert region would be enough to give them a hard time.
And the desert is the Hidden Sand Ninja's home ground. Even if they successfully reached the Hidden Sand Village's gates, the Hidden Sand Village would have home-field advantage, and they wouldn't have the upper hand in a battle.
Even winning would be meaningless. The Hidden Sand Village has no money and no resources. They can't possibly bring sand back, that would truly be foolish.
After a long exhale, Ōnoki rationally analyzed, "Now we can only cooperate with the Hidden Sand Village. If nothing unexpected happens, Konoha must already be preparing now, and may even have started acting.
If we don't agree, we will face the pressure from both the Hidden Sand Village and Konoha directly. The Hidden Cloud Village will definitely get involved, and then we'll be in big trouble.
By cooperating with the Hidden Sand Village, we can free up time to solve the problem of the Hidden Cloud Ninja harassing us, and then attack Konoha together with the Hidden Sand Village. Konoha is not that poor place like the Hidden Sand Village; it's overflowing with wealth, and even a casual scrape yields benefits, so we have no reason to refuse cooperation with the Hidden Sand Village.
However, those guys from the Hidden Sand Village definitely want to use us, wanting us to charge into battle while they pick up the scraps behind. Heh, there's no such free lunch.
After the alliance with the Hidden Sand Village is formed, you will transmit the order to the captains of each Ninja troop, and even the captains of the Ninja squads. When cooperating in battle with the Hidden Sand Village, tell them to charge first. If they don't charge, we won't either.
If they want to drag it out, let them. Anyway, we Iwagakure can afford to drag it out; only they know if their Hidden Sand Village can."
The Iwagakure high-ranking officials in the conference room all said in unison, "Yes!"
...
Hiruzen Sarutobi's orders quickly reached the Konoha Garrison in the Land of Hot Springs.
When Jiraiya and Minato Namikaze learned of it, they were stunned.
The situation had changed too quickly. In the blink of an eye, their Konoha was about to become the target of all.
And Shindai used the identity of a relative of the Third Kazekage to lure the Third Kazekage out of the Village, and then Konoha Ninja attacked the Third Kazekage?
If they hadn't known that Shindai was at the Konoha Garrison in the Land of Hot Springs and hadn't gone to some Hidden Sand Village, they might have actually believed it... just kidding!
This rumor was truly outrageous.
Note:
Hello everyone!
First of all, I want to send my warmest wishes to you and your families. May your Lunar New Year be filled with warmth, reunion, and joy. I hope you all stay healthy and have a wonderful year ahead!
I have a small announcement: I will be taking a Lunar New Year holiday starting on February 15th, 2026, and will return on February 23rd, 2026. During this time, I want to rest, spend time with my family, and enjoy the traditional New Year atmosphere.
Don't worry! During this break, I will prepare new chapters so I can post them regularly when I return. So please be patient and wait, the upcoming story will be even better!
Thank you so much for your support. Wishing you a happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year!