A piercing hawk cry tore through Konoha's night sky.
Under the emergency summons, figures shot from all corners of the village, heading straight for the Hokage Building.
When Shuji stepped into the Hokage's office, the room was already filled with the village's jōnin and special jōnin.
The air was heavy as lead, oppressively suffocating. Uchiha Fugaku's figure was prominently among them, face grim. Looking around, only the Hyūga clan shinobi were conspicuously absent.
The Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen sat in the main seat, the low pressure emanating from him unlike anything Shuji had seen before.
"The Cloud envoy Akai is dead."
That brief sentence made the already heavy air nearly freeze. All eyes focused on the Hokage, holding their breath for what came next.
"The Cloud envoy Akai infiltrated the Hyūga main house compound tonight, attempting to kidnap the main house eldest daughter Hyūga Hinata." Sarutobi Hiruzen's gaze swept the room. "After being discovered by Hyūga Hiashi... he was killed on the spot."
Suppressed gasps and barely restrained murmurs instantly erupted among the crowd.
Shock, confusion, and anger collided silently.
Jōnin Commander Nara Shikaku was first to break the silence. "Hokage-sama, may I ask where are the other two from the Cloud envoy's party?"
His thinking was exceptionally clear. Akai's death could not be changed. The first task now was to control the remaining two and prevent news from spreading immediately.
Then slowly consider how to handle this matter and how to negotiate with Kumogakure.
Sarutobi Hiruzen closed his eyes, exhaustion showing fully. An Anbu beside him stepped forward to answer. "The other two Cloud shinobi... have been confirmed missing."
"What?!"
"Missing?! How is that possible!"
"What exactly is Anbu doing?!"
After brief deathly silence came even fiercer uproar.
Three Cloud envoys. In Konoha's core area. One died in the Hyūga compound. The other two vanished under their noses? This was not dereliction of duty. This was disgrace! How did Akai infiltrate the Hyūga compound? How did the other two break through surveillance?
Nara Shikaku frowned tightly, quickly suppressing the scene's commotion, speaking again. "If so, the alliance with Kumogakure will be difficult to continue. Given the Raikage's habits, he will certainly use this to pressure us."
"On the western line, because of our alliance talks with Cloud, Iwagakure's offensive had already weakened. Now with the Cloud envoy dead and two escorts missing without trace, we must immediately notify our ally Sunagakure to watch their defensive line."
"Simultaneously, report the situation to the Daimyō. The Cloud envoy's actions must be explained as well."
Under the jōnin commander's clear analysis and deployment, the private voices gradually subsided.
The jōnin's gazes returned to the Third Hokage.
Sarutobi Hiruzen met those gazes, feeling his shoulders heavy as mountains.
He had already heard Anbu's report. Akai had been under surveillance all along. Not until the Hyūga clan reported killing an intruder did the monitoring point discover Akai had vanished into thin air, along with the other two without a trace.
In Konoha's very heart, the situation had spiraled this far out of control!
"Does anyone have other questions?" Sarutobi Hiruzen spoke.
Shuji raised his hand. "Hokage-sama, has there been any abnormal military intelligence from the Hot Water Country border line recently?"
This point was extremely important. Important enough to determine where the village's limited forces should be committed.
Nara Shikaku looked over. As direct leader of all jōnin, he naturally recognized Shuji.
As soon as this question was raised, he immediately realized there was a point missing from his previous thinking.
If Akai's behavior was authorized by Cloud's leadership, meaning all previous goodwill and peace intent were merely disguises, then Cloud's frontline forces must recently show coordinating movements.
But if Cloud forces showed no movement...
"The most recent report came back this morning. Cloud's frontline shows no abnormal activity." The jōnin responsible for Cloud intelligence answered.
As expected, there's a problem...
Shuji understood and said nothing more. He saw Nara Shikaku's expression and knew this Konoha strategist had also figured it out.
Kumogakure's pursuit of a peace alliance with Konoha was forced behavior from realistic considerations, not some leadership's whimsical peace desire.
Akai's unauthorized action seemed more like an individual or small group's desperate gamble attempting to sabotage negotiations.
This meant that as long as this incident was not a carefully planned war trigger by Cloud, then the envoy's death itself would only bring turbulence to the alliance but could hardly fundamentally shake the general trend toward bilateral talks.
One Akai's death meant nothing. Even if all three died, it would not solve the problems Kumogakure faced.
Under the general trend, even if Cloud clashed with Konoha again over this, it would quickly subside.
After all, while Konohagakure's war-weariness was severe, these three years they had not let other ninja villages penetrate Fire Country.
That meant Fire Country's production and order remained stable. If Cloud insisted on restarting war, Konoha still had capacity to drag them into the quagmire.
Look at Lightning Country by contrast.
Konoha only needed to repeat old tactics, blockading overland trade routes to Lightning Country, preventing grain entry. Cloud's grain prices would rise again.
Kumogakure had money. They could rely on strong financial power to continue purchasing grain at high premiums, maintaining frontline supply and village supply stability.
But what about the tens of thousands of common people in Lightning Country? Could the Raikage use money to fill ninja stomachs and also fill the rumbling hungry bellies of Lightning Country's starving masses?
Once Lightning Country fell into turmoil from famine, would the Lightning Daimyō still have capacity to provide financial support?
With foundations shaken, how long could Kumogakure hold out?
Therefore, negotiations' foundation remained. The real crisis now was actually the western line. Once Iwagakure forces seized this opportunity to launch major attacks and tear open the western defensive line, if Cloud on the eastern line saw an opening, only then might the Raikage grit his teeth and continue fighting despite domestic pressure. Only then would Lightning Country be forced to continue supporting this war.
The reasoning was clear.
Nara Shikaku spoke again. "Hokage-sama, there are two urgent priorities. First, immediately order Hot Water Country frontline commander Jōnin Kitamura to strengthen vigilance, consolidate defensive lines, strictly guard against Cloud taking advantage, but actions must show restraint, and avoid active provocation."
His gaze swept the jōnin present, finally returning to the Third. "Second, rapidly dispatch elite forces to reinforce the western line! Before Iwa reacts and launches large-scale attacks, we must fortify defenses, stabilize our Suna ally. Absolutely cannot let the western line become the breakthrough point!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen took a deep breath, pressing down all the weight and exhaustion in his chest. He slowly stood. His aged gaze swept these pillars supporting Konoha, finally stopping on Nara Shikaku's face.
"Execute as Shikaku says!"
"Everyone, begin preparations immediately! Specific deployment orders will follow."
He bowed slightly.
"Everything... I entrust to you all."
"For Konoha..."
A brief pause, as if condensing all the weight.
"For... our home."
Chapters in advance there: patreon.com/Thaniel_a_goodchild