The morning sun rose from the east, not only reddening the sky but also coloring the eastern sand crimson.
"Ah~"
Chiyo sighed as she stepped down from the balcony and entered the room.
She couldn't count how many times she had seen this sight in her lifetime, yet nothing ever changed.
When Sunagakure was first founded, it was poor—they couldn't even afford a tailed beast and had to make do with the captured One-Tails.
To this day, Sunagakure was still poor!
It was so poor that it was on the verge of starvation, with only one path left!
Tottering back to her seat, Chiyo picked up today's newspaper.
The newspaper had become part of her daily routine.
The intelligence in this newspaper was faster, more timely, and more accurate than Sunagakure's own intelligence, so she had no choice but to read it.
After all, due to poverty, Sunagakure had begun withdrawing its spies from most countries!
Currently, only the spy network targeting the Land of Lightning was still operating.
Chiyo began to read the newspaper, and she had to read it quickly.
Because of a lack of funds, this single copy of the paper was for the entire Sunagakure high command, and she had to pass it on to the next person once she was done!
The moment she opened the Ninja World Daily and saw the headline, Chiyo froze.
Kirigakure? Genshi assassinated by Ao?
"That old man just died? And he was killed by a ninja from his own village?"
A hint of surprise flashed in Chiyo's cloudy eyes.
She knew Genshi. He was a generation older than her and was the true helmsman of Kirigakure.
She hadn't expected him to be killed by his own ninja just like that?
Chiyo wasn't surprised by the cause—being killed by his own ninja.
As everyone knew, Kirigakure produced rogue ninja!
Although those rogue ninja weren't as famous as those from Konoha.
Konoha produced names infamous throughout the entire ninja world, like "Obito Uchiha," "Itachi Uchiha," "Danzō Shimura," and "Orochimaru."
But Kirigakure had more rogue ninja!
They had practically all been forced out during the "Bloody Mist Village" era.
The most recent rogue ninja, "Momochi Zabuza," was quite famous.
She continued reading, looking for why Ao would do this. Searching further down, she found it.
"It was because of the struggle for the next Mizukage candidate?"
Chiyo hadn't anticipated this reason.
"Mei Terumi," she murmured the name, recalling the person, trying to find any relevant information.
Sunagakure's intelligence reports seemed to have mentioned her: This person had a high probability of becoming the Mizukage.
Yet.
Chiyo looked at the newspaper again for confirmation, becoming even more perplexed.
"Why would he do this? Wasn't the probability of Mei Terumi becoming the Mizukage quite high?"
After thinking for a while, Chiyo couldn't figure it out due to a lack of other information.
Sunagakure's intelligence on Kirigakure had always been scarce!
However, this did give her a warning.
During the struggle for the Fourth Kazekage position, although she hadn't been heavily involved, the relationship between the two candidates at the time was also tense.
Now, history was repeating itself, and the position of Kazekage was vacant again!
"It's time to decide on a candidate." Several figures flashed through Chiyo's mind; all were potential candidates.
However.
Chiyo's gaze suddenly fell upon the leaderless Kirigakure. Could Kirigakure be a target for war?
Because of Genshi's death, Kirigakure's internal situation must be in chaos. Furthermore, they had only recently emerged from the Bloody Mist period, a time when their population was thin. It would be the easiest time to strike!
But after a moment of consideration, Chiyo abandoned the idea.
For no other reason than: Kirigakure was also poor!
Moreover, the "tacit agreement" with the Land of Earth was the last straw!
Instead of one village attacking the poor land of Kirigakure, it would be better to join Iwagakure in attacking the lucrative Land of Lightning!
"The ninja world! It's getting messier and messier!"
Upon reading this, Chiyo stood up. She had to personally supervise the children's training!
There was little time left!
"Jonin Ao kills Genshi?"
Ōnoki nearly spat out the tea he was drinking when he saw the news in the Ninja World Daily.
He knew Genshi; he was essentially the equivalent of the Mizukage.
And Jonin Ao?
This person was famous because of a golden arrest warrant issued by Konoha.
Ōnoki had a good memory; the impression he had was that he was the one who had taken Konoha's Byakugan.
Why would he kill the Mizukage?
Ōnoki read further down and generally understood: he had resorted to murder due to the struggle for the Mizukage position.
This was...
This was great news!
"Now Kirigakure will also descend into turmoil!" Ōnoki was actually somewhat happy internally; the weakening of a rival village was a strengthening of Iwagakure.
But...
Why would such an internal conflict suddenly erupt in Kirigakure?
A ninja from one's own village killing their own 'Kage' was a rare occurrence.
It seemed he had never encountered it before.
Wait a minute.
Ōnoki suddenly recalled that dark hand, Obito Uchiha. He seemed to be the one who killed the Fourth Hokage.
No, wait.
The newspapers a few days ago emphasized that the Fourth Hokage died at the hands of the Nine-Tails.
Then... which other Kage in the ninja world died at the hands of his own ninja?
After much thought, it seemed the Third Kazekage of Sunagakure was the most likely, but there was no proof.
But...
Ōnoki was a little confused. Why would someone kill an Elder over vying for the Kage position?
He wanted to give his Tsuchikage position to his unfilial disciple, but that disciple didn't want it!
He even fled the village because of it and joined that organization called the "Akatsuki"!
Killing a Kage like this completely went against the spirit of Iwa!
Thinking this, Ōnoki took a sip of water and began to ponder what benefits Iwagakure could gain from this situation.
After much thought, there seemed to be no benefit!
Kirigakure was not the target in the first place.
There were even disadvantages!
Originally, he had planned to bring Kirigakure into the fold, along with Sunagakure, for a three-pronged attack on the wealthy Land of Lightning!
Now, he had mysteriously lost a helper!
Then, was it possible to bring Konoha into the fold?
Ōnoki sank into contemplation, analyzing the pros and cons!
The Village Hidden in the Rain was the same as always; the rain drizzled down continuously, as if it never stopped.
On the high tower on the western side of the village.
Nagato was also reading today's newspaper. Seeing the news, he couldn't help but muse, "A ninja assassinating an Elder?"
He wasn't very familiar with the internal power structure of Kirigakure, but the Land of Water Observer explained it in great detail.
He had no deep impression of the Land of Water, that island nation located in the ocean.
If he had any particular impressions, there were about two.
One: Obito Uchiha had once controlled the Fourth Mizukage using his Sharingan.
Two: two members of the Akatsuki organization came from Kirigakure, one of whom was already dead.
Other than that, the only thing he truly cared about in Kirigakure was the Three-Tails, Isobu.
As long as that wasn't affected, there were no problems.
However.
"Konan, which squad in the organization is closest to the Land of Water?"
Konan's amber eyes looked at him and said, "Kisame and Itachi Uchiha are the closest to there."
Kisame and Itachi Uchiha?
"Anyone else?" he asked again.
"Other than them, the group of Hongzhong Uchiha and Kakuzu, who are on a mission to harass the Land of Lightning in the Land of Waves, are next."
"Them?"
Nagato muttered, recalling the strength Hongzhong had previously displayed, and made his decision.
"Have Hongzhong and Kakuzu go to the Land of Water to investigate. Pay special attention to the status of the Three-Tails! Also, watch out for Obito Uchiha. He's used the Fourth Mizukage as a puppet before. Perhaps he will try to strike during this chaos!"
"Understood!"
In the conference room, everyone was gathered, but they were all steeped in sorrow, and the atmosphere was exceptionally heavy.
Seated at the head of the table, Gonbee took in the expressions of everyone present.
With a pained expression, he announced loudly, "The incident from yesterday has been thoroughly investigated. It was all Danzō Shimura's doing!"
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