Sunagakure (Sand Hidden Village), Kazekage's Office Building.
Night had fallen, and candlelight flickered in the conference room.
The conference room was large, and the central round table was even larger. The dim light was insufficient to illuminate the entire room.
Baki noticed the dark room. He frowned slightly, cursing under his breath: Has it really only been a few days since I left, and the village ninja have become this lazy?
Seeing the situation, he reached out and grabbed a passing attendant who was lighting candles, demanding, "Hey! Why aren't the lights on?"
The ninja immediately recognized Baki and patiently explained in a low voice, "Lord Baki, the village doesn't have much fuel left. We have to conserve."
"This..."
Baki's voice trailed off. His gloomy expression immediately softened, and he even felt a bit sheepish.
Has the village's financial situation become this dire? We have to conserve power even in the conference room?
"Baki!" Chiyo called out from across the table.
Baki released the attendant and turned to face the aged Chiyo-sama.
"Is Konoha's Uzumaki Naruto truly that difficult to deal with?" Chiyo's cloudy old eyes stared intently at him, waiting for the answer to this question.
Instantly, the eyes of many others also turned to him.
After the failure of the [Konoha Crush Plan], Sunagakure couldn't even get any news, only learning that the plan had failed through the next day's Ninja World Daily.
They also learned the story of Uzumaki Naruto: defeating dozens of Suna ninja in an instant, crushing the First and Second Hokage, and being hailed as the "God of Shinobi!"
The news was met with immense skepticism among Suna's high command. Even Chiyo would not have believed it if her brother hadn't had secret contacts providing partial information.
Even now, Chiyo found it hard to believe.
As the leader of the invasion of Konoha and a firsthand witness, Baki was naturally the most informed source on Konoha and Uzumaki Naruto.
Therefore, everyone was eager to know what exactly happened at the Chunin Exam site.
"Well..."
Being stared at so intensely by so many people, especially the elders of the Hidden Mist, Baki felt the pressure.
After taking a moment to compose himself, he chose to tell the truth.
"I'm afraid... he is even harder to deal with than the newspaper suggests!"
The moment the words left his mouth, the high-ranking officials were aghast.
"Nani?"
"That boy is only twelve. Can he really be that strong?"
"How could anyone appear who can defeat someone as powerful as the First Hokage?"
Bang!
"Enough!" Chiyo slammed the table and shouted.
Her cold eyes swept over the room. The murmurs gradually subsided until they vanished completely.
Hoo~
Chiyo took a deep breath, easing the heavy pressure on her chest that was making it hard to breathe. She was never known for having a good temper; in fact, she was rather fiery.
She was long past the age where she should be enjoying retirement. The deaths of her son and daughter-in-law, and her grandson's defection, made her reluctant to get involved in Suna's management.
However, reality forced her into this position.
Hearing Baki's answer nearly made her faint.
"What else? Give us a detailed account of the situation at the time." Chiyo's aged eyes flashed with a sharp light.
"The situation was dire. We originally planned to lead with Gaara's One-Tail, but things went beyond our expectations..." Baki recounted the events in detail.
Everyone present listened in silence.
The descriptions of a small figure violently beating the One-Tailed Shukaku with nothing but his fists left everyone gasping in disbelief.
Is that even human?
"...Later, Uchiha Obito suddenly fled. For the sake of victory, I had no choice but to lead as many people as possible to attack the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki simultaneously. Fifty-odd ninja, including over a dozen Jōnin, all charged at Uzumaki Naruto. We didn't expect..."
Baki sighed heavily. Even recalling the scene now, he still felt a lingering fear.
He took a deep, suppressed breath to calm his panic before continuing, "We didn't expect that Uzumaki Naruto, who was surrounded, would unleash a single flash of light that instantly dealt with all of us."
"Only now do I roughly understand what happened."
Baki, who had been explaining with his head down, suddenly looked up, his expression utterly sincere.
"Chiyo-sama, Uzumaki Naruto is simply too powerful. He is impossibly strong. Unless..."
Remembering the escaped Uchiha Obito, Baki stopped speaking.
He genuinely believed that even if Uchiha Obito were to return, the result against the powerful Uzumaki Naruto, especially given his subsequent victories over Orochimaru and the First and Second Hokage, was uncertain.
"Here is the latest newspaper. Take a look." Chiyo motioned for an attendant to hand her newspaper to Baki.
It was an issue of the Ninja World Daily.
Baki took it, and the headline immediately caught his eye.
"Uzumaki Naruto was actually defeated?" His face was full of shock, his mouth hanging open.
A powerhouse like Uzumaki Naruto was defeated by someone else? That's unbelievable!
"That's right. He was defeated by Uchiha Itachi. Though it was a crushing defeat!"
Chiyo's weathered voice rang out. "Although this [Konoha Crush Plan] failed, our plan itself was not flawed. It was just an unexpected variable. We didn't foresee Uchiha Obito's betrayal."
"Have we issued a bounty for that traitor, Obito?" Baki asked.
Chiyo glared at him, murmuring through pursed lips.
Sunagakure was so utterly destitute that they didn't have the money to issue a bounty for Uchiha Obito!
Wouldn't that money be better spent turning on the electric lights in the conference room?
This Baki!
No wonder he's been a Jōnin for years but only ever served as a squad leader.
"We'll discuss that later."
Scanning the group, Chiyo stated again, "Uzumaki Naruto has become the greatest threat to peace in the ninja world!"
"Unless this person is eliminated, the ninja world can never truly know peace. Our Sunagakure has no future, and the ninja world has no future! I will write a secret letter to the Kages of the other three Great Nations, asking us to try and reach a consensus."
Chiyo sharply pointed out, "We cannot eliminate this person with Suna's strength alone, unless we have external support."
"According to intelligence, Uchiha Itachi is a member of the Akatsuki organization and accepts mercenary work, but..."
Here, Chiyo's finger, which was tapping the newspaper, paused. "Everyone here should know the situation in Sunagakure. The most crucial problem right now is that the village's money is insufficient for us to continue operating."
Chiyo had actually sugarcoated the words.
The actual situation was even more critical.
After Chiyo took power, she realized the severity of Suna's financial straits.
When Rasa was alive, it was tolerable, as he sold Gold Dust refined from the desert to mitigate the village's financial crisis. But after the [Konoha Crush Plan], Rasa was brutally killed, and a large number of Suna ninja were captured.
The ransom and compensation payments left Suna's finances reeling, perpetually on the verge of collapse.
Suna's finances had been poor ever since their relationship with the Fire Daimyo soured, but the current state—where collapse was imminent—was rare.
Chiyo knew that as one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, Sunagakure could easily cease to exist if they weren't careful!
She found this utterly unacceptable!
To have fought for Sunagakure her entire life, only to witness it become an insignificant small village in her old age?
Hearing Chiyo's words, everyone present nodded silently. They, too, aside from a few individuals, were aware of Suna's economic situation.
The village was about to go bankrupt!
Because Suna was so poor, the internal factions were relatively harmonious, with few major divisions.
Therefore, after a frank discussion and deep exchange during a high-level meeting, Suna's leadership finally reached a consensus: the hatred toward Konoha and Uzumaki Naruto must be temporarily put aside.
Uzumaki Naruto was currently at his peak, and Sunagakure planned to avoid his sharp edge and prepare for a later ambush.
The immediate goal was to gather the entire village's power to make money.
As for how to make money?
Sell the Gold Dust they could!
Sell the Iron Sand they could!
Of course, the above were only temporary relief measures. The most important thing was to raid! To plunder!
The target?
Naturally, the Land of Lightning—the wealthiest in the ninja world, but now lacking its 'nuclear weapon' [the Killer B/Eight-Tails Jinchūriki].
Morality?
Reputation?
None of that was as important as filling their stomachs!
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An Important Announcement: Time to Write Our Own Novel!
Hello everyone!
Thank you all so much for your support; it truly helps me keep going!
I have some exciting news: after translating many fanfics, I've decided it's time to start writing my own Novels! I plan to begin with a new fanfic—I'm currently thinking of either the Avatar: The Last Airbender or Douluo Dalu universe, featuring a Neutral protagonist.That is exactly what I meant by Neutral Protagonist (This refers to the character's Alignment. A Neutral Protagonist is not strictly bound by concepts of absolute good or evil, nor are they necessarily tied to Law or Chaos. Their actions are generally motivated by their own survival, personal goals, or a desire for balance, operating in a morally gray area.)
Once I've written a few fanfics and gained more experience, I can then move on to developing my own original novel soon after.
If you want a direct hand in shaping the main character's destiny and giving input, be sure to join the poll!
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HOW YOU CAN PARTICIPATE:
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