Suspicion and sensitivity are basic qualities for a leader.
They cannot simply believe everything, nor can they easily deny everything. After all, leaders have to make decisions, not just for themselves, but also to be responsible for everyone else. Therefore, they need to think more.
This extra thinking is worthwhile. Like a butterfly flapping its wings, a seemingly light command from above might force subordinates to endure unimaginable storms.
A leader's responsibility is to prevent this, to find the relatively suitable options from many choices. Thinking more is a duty that must be fulfilled.
The Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, is currently thinking a lot.
All the information about the incident is clearly laid out on his desk. Various clues suggest that Konoha Ninja indeed attacked Roshi, but there are still some doubts.
For example, Konoha's motive for doing this, and why the news spread so quickly. He, the Tsuchikage, knew about it only slightly later than the villagers themselves... Was someone deliberately pushing this? If so, who are these people?
Here, one needs to consider a question: who benefits the most from a conflict between Iwagakure and Konoha?
A name flashed through Onoki's mind – Kusagakure.
Ever since the Akatsuki organization, the mastermind behind Kusagakure, was exposed to the major ninja villages, Kusagakure had to proactively declare war on Konoha. This was to alleviate the pressure on the Land of Fire from the Land of Thunder and the Land of Earth, in exchange for survival space.
Kusagakure had to do this, otherwise, a country that re-emerged between great powers would be a thorn in the side of all ninja villages.
Under such international circumstances, if the Land of Earth declared war on the Land of Fire, Kusagakure's pressure would greatly decrease. This was an obvious benefit.
The Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, frowned. The suspicion of Kusagakure and the Akatsuki organization rose rapidly in his heart.
Could it be them?
Onoki pressed his slightly swollen temples. He had a headache.
At his age, he still had to scheme against these young people... Sarutobi, that old immortal, at least rested. He himself had been in office for decades.
But what of it? Iwagakure has a gap in talent, with no one of 'Kage' potential appearing to handle such matters.
"Kitsuchi, contact Konoha," Onoki ordered to the outside of the door. "I want to speak with the Hokage now."
"Yes, Tsuchikage-sama!"
...
A quarter of an hour later, in the communication room.
Onoki floated in his seat. After the screen turned from black to white and showed Sarutobi's old face, he began to scold him,
"Sarutobi, what did you Konoha do to Roshi? Send him back quickly, or Iwagakure will never let this go…"
The Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, had a solemn expression. After waiting for Onoki to finish his lengthy barrage of words, he said gravely, "Is this a misunderstanding?"
"Misunderstanding?"
This reaction made Onoki's heart sink, but he still retorted, "What kind of misunderstanding would bring a Jinchuriki from my village to Konoha?"
"The Four-Tails Jinchuriki, Roshi, is not in Konoha!"
The Third Hokage emphasized, word by word, "Those rumors are also being fanned by people with intentions. Konoha is also investigating this matter."
Onoki stared at Sarutobi's old face, unable to find any flaws, but he still pressed aggressively, "Besides your Konoha, who else could capture Roshi in such a short time? Stop putting on an act!"
"Indeed, a Jinchuriki who can fully transform into a tailed beast is quite difficult to deal with."
The Third Hokage paused, then said slowly, "…but besides Jiraiya, who was mentioned in the rumors, there are at least five people who could handle him. If it was a group effort, there would be even more. I think you also have a few suspects in mind, such as…"
"Enough, I don't want to hear your nonsense!"
Onoki's expression turned stern, and he said coldly, "If Roshi is not returned to Iwagakure tomorrow, you will bear the consequences!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the small screen in front of the Third Hokage turned black.
"Onoki, that old fox, is truly difficult to fool…"
Sarutobi Hiruzen sat in the communication room, letting out a slight sigh of relief. "But it's okay, the objective has been achieved."
...
"Old fox!"
After ending the video call he initiated himself, Onoki fell onto his wooden chair and sank into thought.
Kitsuchi was waiting nearby. After a full quarter of an hour, he finally asked, "Father, was Lord Roshi really captured by Konoha?"
"I don't know."
Onoki's answer completely surprised Kitsuchi. His expression changed, "But you were directly declaring war on Konoha just now."
"I was just trying to bluff him. What's so strange about that?"
Onoki glanced at Kitsuchi, his eyes filled with a stern disapproval.
Kitsuchi knew he had asked another foolish question and lowered his head, not daring to meet his father's gaze.
Seeing his son's reaction, Onoki sighed slightly and began to explain,
"There isn't enough information to make a judgment, so I intended to get some information from Konoha. But that old fox Sarutobi was watertight."
From the small detail of the time it took to make contact to his reaction to Onoki's stern questioning, it was completely the demeanor of someone who had heard rumors from the black market and was about to explain.
This video exchange only ruled out one very unlikely possibility – that Konoha intended to use Roshi as a hostage to force Iwagakure to attack Kusagakure.
"You mean, the Hokage anticipated that you would probe him, so he put on this act?" Kitsuchi suddenly understood.
"There's a possibility, but there's also a possibility that he wasn't acting."
Onoki said a technically true but unhelpful statement.
If Sarutobi Hiruzen had anticipated it beforehand, with his cunning, he would naturally have been prepared. If he didn't know, his outward appearance would be the same.
Now, it was as if Sarutobi was acting and Sarutobi genuinely didn't know, both states were packaged in a black box. Unless it was broken open, the truth could not be known.
Unfortunately, he had no way to break open the box at this time.
Glancing at Kitsuchi, who was still pondering, Onoki said slowly, "The truth can be dealt with later. The most important thing now is how to deal with the storm of Roshi's disappearance."
It was related to a Tailed Beast and a Jinchuriki. Even the smallest matter could become a big one. When it became a widespread issue, it meant that it could not be brushed aside and an explanation was needed.
Onoki had three options. One was to officially confirm the rumors and send troops to attack Konoha. The second was to blame the Akatsuki organization and attack Kusagakure.
Both of these options would consume manpower and resources, and more importantly, carry the risk of being exploited by the mastermind.
If it were the Fourth Kazekage of Sunagakure Village, whose prestige could not fully control the village and who had to vent the anger of the villagers, he would have to choose between these two options.
But the Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, was different.
Having been in power for decades, without even a 'Danzo', his prestige had long reached the pinnacle of Iwagakure. He could completely choose the third option – remain stationary, neither targeting Konoha nor aiding Kusagakure anymore.
This was the most conservative approach, and also the most stable. Regardless of the truth, he could adapt.
After making the decision, the Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, paused. He suddenly realized who would be the biggest beneficiary of this action, and a bitter smile appeared on his face.
"Was this also anticipated by you?"
He had never given up his suspicion of Sarutobi and Konoha from the beginning. But based on the known information, he still leaned towards the third option.
Because even this idea might have been deliberately created by Kusagakure, and it would be endless if it kept nesting.
And no matter what the truth was, this choice would result in the least loss for Iwagakure.
"Hoo…"
Letting out a long breath, the Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, knew he had lost a move this time.
He leaned towards this being a gamble by that old fellow Sarutobi Hiruzen. But the Hokage was different from the Tsuchikage. With the support of the Land of Fire, even if he faced a pincer attack from both Kusagakure and Iwagakure, it would only be more dangerous, not to the point of village destruction.
"This old fellow…"
Onoki cursed softly.
Hearing this, Kitsuchi subconsciously glanced at his father, his eyes looking a bit strange.
...
In a meeting room within the black tower of Amegakure, Pain, Konan, and Obito were present. The atmosphere was somewhat somber.
Pain's expression was indifferent, and he said coldly, "The matter of the Four-Tails Jinchuriki, that wasn't your doing?"
They had just reached a consensus, and the next day Iwagakure's Roshi was attacked. It was hard to say that this wasn't the masked man acting against their wishes.
From Nagato's perspective, he would naturally suspect him. In fact, Nagato had never trusted Obito from the beginning.
"This has nothing to do with me."
Obito's voice carried a hint of anger. Anyone would be unhappy if a pot of blame fell on them while they were sitting at home.
"This must have been Jiraiya and those few Konoha Ninja squads."
He had also realized by then that the reason they eliminated the White Zetsu monitoring them was not only because they learned about its existence from Orochimaru, but also because the village had issued new missions requiring covert operations.
Unfortunately, at that time, they felt that there was no longer any gain from continuing to monitor, and there was a possibility of being discovered, so they made the White Zetsu withdraw.
Originally, there was also a White Zetsu clone monitoring Roshi's location, so they wouldn't have been caught off guard after the rumors spread. However, Roshi lived in seclusion in a remote place and hadn't moved for a long time. They also lacked personnel for searching for Orochimaru's location at the time, so the clones were transferred. They didn't expect Konoha to suddenly take such a drastic action.
Jiraiya's team being able to steal Roshi was due to many coincidences. They couldn't really blame anyone.
After understanding this, Obito was also filled with anger. How could he not be upset when facing Nagato's questioning?
"If it wasn't you, then it must be Konoha."
Pain's eyes flashed with cold light. "Yesterday, some business between the Land of Earth and Kusagakure was suddenly halted. The exchange of goods became limited transactions. This will greatly hinder the expansion of their power, so…"
Pain's gaze fell on Obito. "Go and confirm Roshi's life or death. If he's dead, so be it. If he's alive, find a way to rescue him from Konoha. If Roshi regains his freedom, the slander that Konoha has thrown at us will naturally dissipate."
Obito nodded slightly, his eyes flashing red. "If you don't say it, I will do this myself."
Collecting the Tailed Beasts and reviving the Ten-Tails had always been his top priority. However, Nagato's delay in taking action had also affected him, making him somewhat complacent.
"Act quickly."
Pain's expression was emotionless, and he said coldly, "The war is about to begin."
In June of Konoha year 55, the newly formed Kusagakure Alliance, under the guise of resisting unfair ninja competition, openly declared war on Konoha, prohibiting all Konoha Ninja from entering their territory, with violators being killed on the spot.
The Third Hokage immediately issued a proclamation, reprimanding Kusagakure for stopping unnecessary war, and simultaneously reinforced the Land of Fire's border to confront the Land of Grass.
The situation in the ninja world was suddenly in turmoil.
...
No matter how heated the fighting was outside, it had nothing to do with Orochimaru, who was in Shikkotsu Forest. He was like the Land of Water, isolated overseas, playing by himself.
Before the splitting technique was completed, his intervention in the ninja world was limited to watching over the Four-Tails Jinchuriki.
"Orochimaru, Orochimaru…"
At some point, a clone of the Slug Sage climbed onto his shoulder and said, "That redhead, he's awake."
"Redhead?"
Orochimaru was stunned for a moment, then realized and smiled, "You mean Iwagakure's Roshi? Don't worry about him. As long as he doesn't escape, you decide the rest. I don't care."
The Slug Sage said softly, "That's not the problem. Shikkotsu Forest is empty. What do you want me to feed him?"
Orochimaru suddenly understood, "Oh, that is a problem."
Currently, he was focused on research, and his food was various large fish transported by killer whale pods.
Due to the rudimentary conditions and lack of time to process, Orochimaru simply ate them raw.
His current body was non-human. Even if something was slightly rotten, he could digest it without any problem. The raw or cooked issue was naturally not a concern.
But Iwagakure's Roshi was a normal human.
Even though his combat power as a Jinchuriki far surpassed ordinary people, his digestive system was still the same as an ordinary person's. He couldn't just gnaw on raw seafood.
Those bacteria could cause mild bloating and diarrhea, and in severe cases, even poisoning and death.
For a top combatant of a ninja village to die from a few pieces of raw seafood, not on the battlefield, would be truly hilarious.
The thought of this possibility made Orochimaru find it amusing. His gaze involuntarily flickered to the small thing on his shoulder.
As expected of a summoned creature that had always followed medical ninja, Manda or the three Snake Queens would not have noticed such a small detail.
"You want me to start a fire for him, right? That's a small matter."
Roshi had a sealing technique on him, so he couldn't use Chakra. Naturally, he couldn't solve this problem himself. As for twirling sticks to make fire, that would be too ridiculous.
Thinking of this, Orochimaru suddenly frowned and looked around Shikkotsu Forest,
"There doesn't seem to be any plant here that can be used as firewood?"
The Slug Sage swayed its body and said softly, "That's the problem."
Without firewood, how can one start a fire? He couldn't perform the act of being a stove three times a day for Roshi.
The lamp spirit laughed madly, "This is the seabed. You can dig down and see if there's any combustible ice, hahaha…"
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