"A conspiracy? Where are all these conspiracies coming from?!"
The Fourth Raikage, A, smacked his younger brother straight to the ground with an annoyed grunt. "Stop thinking about nonsense. If I've come here in person, it means I'm here to uphold the dignity of Kumogakure."
If they were up to something shady, he'd have just sent his little brother. What kind of status did he have?
If the rest of the shinobi world found out the Raikage himself had stooped to sneaky behavior, wouldn't that tarnish the reputation of Kumogakure?
And besides, this was an era of peace. Anyone reckless enough to stir up war would immediately become a target of the other villages.
They weren't like Sunagakure—those penny-pinching hypocrites with no sense of honor. The kind who'd sign a peace treaty one day and start a war the next.
Still…
He had to admit—Sunagakure's rapid development over the past few years was alarming.
We'll need to keep an eye on them.
"So you really came to enter the competition?" Killer Bee asked seriously as he climbed back to his feet. "Oh yeah—"
"Stop. Don't rap."
A smacked him back down again.
"That pitch-black character? What the hell is that supposed to be? That's not the Fourth Raikage."
Flexing his burly arms, he growled, "There's no one that ridiculous-looking in Kumogakure. It's a straight-up insult to the office of Raikage. Are they saying I have no pride?"
"Oh yeah~ The Third Hokage looks like a wrinkly monkey, the Third Tsuchikage's a big-nosed dwarf, really we're all the same—half a dozen of one, six of the other—yo, dumbass—"
Before he could finish—
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Bee was flat on the floor again. The wooden planks beneath him cracked loudly under the impact.
Just as A was preparing to deliver a stern lesson on why big brothers are like fathers, the doorbell rang.
"Ding dong, ding dong~"
"Hello, we've received a guest complaint about excessive noise coming from your room. Please keep things down and avoid disturbing others."
"And also… according to your hotel agreement, any intentional damage to the premises will be subject to triple compensation. Kindly take note."
Then—
Silence returned outside the door.
The Fourth Raikage looked down at the broken floorboards and his still-unmoving little brother.
"…How much is triple compensation again?"
Why the hell were these floorboards so damn flimsy?
He sighed internally.
I heard… the food here is free?!
—
"Is everything arranged?" Yashamaru asked.
"All set," the hotel floor manager responded confidently. "We've got Sunagakure personnel stationed all around them. If they do anything suspicious, we'll know immediately. Also, I heard their floor cracked earlier. We can use that as a reason to inspect or swap out their room."
"Perfect."
Yashamaru nodded in approval, then turned a sharp gaze toward the hotel manager. "The Kazekage suspects they're up to something. You need to be on full alert. We must not overlook anything unusual."
"Understood."
The manager nodded solemnly. "Rest assured, if anything strange happens, we'll—"
He didn't finish.
"Manager! Manager!"
A panicked hotel staffer came running in.
"What is it now?!" the manager snapped. "This is the most luxurious hotel in the entire shinobi world. Panic like that is disgraceful to Sunagakure!"
"But… but…"
"But what?!"
"Those Kumogakure shinobi you told us to keep an eye on—they're in the restaurant, eating like maniacs. They're about to finish off today's entire food supply!"
"?!"
—
"They ate everything?!"
Rasa spat out his tea, spraying it all over the White Zetsu clone in front of him.
"They paid for the floor damages," Zetsu said. "But now they're pissed and binge eating."
Rasa rubbed his temples in frustration.
"So damn petty…"
Especially shinobi—if they really went all in, who knew how much they could eat?
He paused to think, then turned back to the Zetsu clone. "Have you figured out what they're planning?"
"Doesn't look like they're planning anything," Zetsu replied, scratching his head. "We've just been hiding under the floor."
When the floor cracked earlier, they nearly got caught. It was too close for comfort.
"Looks like that Raikage really is here because of his game character. Said it was too dark."
"…"
Seriously?
There's no way that's true.
He's supposed to be a tough guy. No way would a man like that leave his village just because of some dumb in-game character model.
Rasa scowled. "Fine. Keep monitoring them. And assign Zetsu clones to track the other villages' shinobi as well. Whatever you do, don't get caught."
After all, Sunagakure was a free village. No such thing as surveillance or restricting tourist behavior here. That would damage their image.
"As for the restaurant…"
With more ninja pouring in, offering unlimited food simply wasn't sustainable. If this kept up, they'd be bled dry.
Food was expensive in the desert!
As Zetsu disappeared back underground, Rasa muttered:
"We need to cancel the free-refill policy ASAP."
—
"Savage…"
Jiraiya munched slowly on a dessert as he watched the mountain of empty plates pile up so high that the diners behind them couldn't even be seen.
He'd already heard the rumors—Kumogakure had busted up the hotel room and paid triple in damages. Clearly, this was their way of getting their money's worth.
Heh, reminded him of Tsunade. She once destroyed hotel property too, and he was the one who ended up footing the bill. Not to mention… he'd also landed in the hospital afterward.
Now that he thought about it, it felt like he lost billions back then.
That settles it! Once the Konoha shinobi get here, I'm gonna gorge myself. Gotta eat back every single ryo that Sunagakure's conned out of us!
Unfortunately…
He rubbed his stomach and sighed in disappointment.
Unless he entered Sage Mode, there was no way he could match those Kumo monsters in appetite.
"When the hell is Konoha gonna show up…"
—
Meanwhile…
Somewhere in the desert within the borders of the Land of Wind, outside Sunagakure—
"We're almost there."
This time, Danzō wasn't staying hidden in the shadows like he had during previous missions. He was walking openly alongside the Konoha and Fire Country contestants headed for Sunagakure.
As the coach and investor for the Konoha team, there was no need for secrecy anymore.
Besides, Hiruzen had no money, while he had both funds and manpower. So what if he was the coach?
Naturally, a squad of ROOT shinobi had also been dispatched to escort the group. They wouldn't be seen, of course—they operated silently, just as he'd trained them to: guarding the contestants of Konoha from the shadows, faithfully embodying his doctrine of selfless devotion.
Danzō sighed with sentimentality, fingers brushing the photo tucked at his waist. He thought of Hiruzen's warning before departure.
Then, the corners of his mouth curled into a cold, dismissive smirk.
"You're overthinking it… Hiruzen."