Ever since Pakura started following Chiyo, she had nurtured her carefully, and she had made great strides in all areas. Her performance in this war had been especially impressive.
Much better than Rasa, who had once boasted that he would defeat Tsunade but was punched away by her three months ago and had to lie in bed for over a month.
Suddenly being called on, Pakura was momentarily stunned. Then she spoke up, "Chiyo-sama, though I hate to admit it, I'm afraid our chances of winning this war are already gone."
The truth was often harsh.
As soon as Pakura said this, everyone present felt a deep sense of unwillingness and frustration.
"What do you mean by that?" Chiyo frowned in dissatisfaction.
As if she didn't already know they couldn't win?
The key was, there were many ways to lose.
Some were crushing defeats. Some were like surrendering half. Some losses were still honorable. And some ended with both sides devastated.
Although the Suna ninjas had gained some advantage on the southern battlefield, during the first three months they had been utterly beaten on the northern front, suffering tremendous losses.
Konoha had losses too, but they weren't nearly as severe.
What Chiyo really wanted to know was: under the current situation, how to minimize their losses.
She was even considering whether diplomatic means could help recover some of what had been lost.
Pakura understood what Chiyo truly meant, so she continued, "What I mean is, it's no longer possible for us to gain anything from the battlefield. We should shift our focus to outside the battlefield."
"Oh?" Chiyo became interested and said, "Tell me in detail!"
Pakura glanced around and said, "May I speak with you in private?"
Chiyo nodded and said to the others, "That's all for today's meeting. If you have any other issues, you can come to me privately."
Once everyone had left, Chiyo asked, "Tell me your thoughts in detail."
"I remember you once said that before the war began, you received an anonymous letter from an unknown source. It included the marching routes and arrival times of Tsunade, the Uchiha clan, and Sakumo."
"That's true." Chiyo nodded. "Looking back, it's clearly part of Konoha's plot."
"We only sent squads of around a hundred men to ambush those targets, out of caution, but as it turned out, we were tricked. Each of those battles ended in complete failure, our squads were utterly wiped out. We suffered heavy losses and it crushed morale."
But Pakura shook her head and smiled. "I'm not so sure that's the case."
Seeing Chiyo's encouraging gaze, Pakura continued, "I lean toward the idea that this letter was actually sent by Hiruzen, and the purpose was to get Tsunade and the others killed."
Chiyo furrowed her brows tightly. After thinking for a while, she asked, "But Hiruzen is the Hokage. Tsunade, Sakumo, and the Uchiha clan are all pillars of Konoha. Would he really go so far as to sacrifice them, even at the risk of losing the war?"
"I believe he would," Pakura said confidently.
Chiyo asked, "And what's your reasoning?"
"Do you remember before the war started, I was attacked by Konoha ninjas while patrolling the border?"
"Of course I remember."
"At the time, I suspected the attackers weren't really from Konoha, but disguised by ninjas from another village trying to spark a war between us. Later, when some Konoha ninjas helped us, I believed they did so to avoid misunderstandings between the villages."
"But later, I revised my thinking."
"I now believe the ones who attacked us were from Konoha, and the ones who helped us were also from Konoha."
As Pakura laid out her analysis, Chiyo's mind began to open up, and she started to understand. Still, she asked, "And why do you believe that?"
"Because of Shin."
"Shin? What's the issue with him?"
"It's a big one," Pakura affirmed. "Because I suspect the ninja who helped us that time was him."
Chiyo's previously clear thoughts grew muddled again, but she didn't interrupt. Instead, she listened carefully.
"Although the ninja who helped us at the time concealed his identity, his strength gave him away."
"The Uchiha clan has been particularly eye-catching over the past six months, especially Fugaku. He's only 14, yet his power is not to be underestimated. The other Uchiha clan members are also strong, but compared to the one who saved me that day, there's a clear gap."
"Later, I suspected that person might be Fukuyama. But the man who spoke to me that day had a young voice and a flippant tone, which completely contradicted the intel we had on him."
"It wasn't until I heard that Shin had decisively defeated A that I instantly made the connection. I then conducted a detailed investigation into him."
"From there, I began drawing many conclusions, using him as the center of my deductions."
"I have a bold theory, the one instigating the internal conflict between Tsunade and Hiruzen is none other than Shin."
Chiyo tapped her fingers on the table repeatedly, deep in thought about what Pakura had just said.
Pakura didn't rush her and allowed Chiyo to process everything.
After all, what she had just revealed contained a huge amount of information and involved a lot of logical leaps.
A large part of the reason Pakura came to this judgment was due to her own sudden surge of ambition, and her rapidly growing resentment toward the Third Kazekage.
Later, Pakura figured it out: it had to be that man who had used some method on her.
His aim was to stir up internal strife within Suna.
Otherwise, there was no other reasonable explanation.
And from this, she began to wonder, if this man had such abilities, could it be that Tsunade had also been influenced by him?
What he had done to her was probably just a repeated trick.
What further convinced her that she wasn't far off in her deduction was the fact that over the past six months, she too had begun forming all sorts of plans, and bold ideas. In fact, many of these thoughts seemed to arise uncontrollably.
After a long while, Chiyo finally digested all this and said, "Go on."
"Shin, due to an order from Tobirama, was forbidden from engaging in any formal shinobi training. Many people in Konoha know this."
"This ban lasted for seven years. We don't know exactly what happened during that time, but from Shin's deliberate efforts to showcase his value afterward, I suspect Hiruzen may have considered eliminating him, and Shin realized it."
"So he must hold a deep grudge against the Third Hokage. But at the time, he was still weak and couldn't resist."
"Left with no choice, he turned his focus to Tsunade."
"I don't know how he did it, but she ended up becoming his lover. And ever since then, Tsunade, who previously had no desire for power, suddenly started showing ambition for the Hokage position."
"Later, rumors began to spread throughout Konoha, as you're aware, no matter the details, all of them ended up harming Hiruzen and benefiting Tsunade."
"Perhaps Hiruzen realized this and became furious, trying to suppress Tsunade."
"That's how the internal power struggle in Konoha began."