"Alright. Let's contact Konoha."
A few seconds later, Chiyo picked up her teacup, took a sip of hot tea, and said with a complicated sigh,
"Sunagakure may finally be able to breathe again. I only hope the Fifth Hokage, Uchiha Ren, doesn't disappoint us."
"Mm."
Ebizō set down his own teacup and nodded seriously. He clearly understood what Chiyo was really implying.
After all—
once Sunagakure submitted to Konoha, the two villages would be tied together. Their fortunes would rise and fall as one.
So the Fifth Hokage, Uchiha Ren, absolutely could not afford to fail.
Whoosh!!
But at that moment—
accompanied by the sound of air splitting—
the office doors suddenly opened.
Before Chiyo and Ebizō could even react, the Fifth Hokage, Uchiha Ren, wearing the Hokage's white cloak, appeared inside the office.
"How is that possible?!"
"Fifth Hokage, Uchiha Ren… why are you here in Sunagakure?"
Bang!!
Seeing who had arrived, Chiyo and Ebizō were so shocked that they shot to their feet, looking as if they had seen a ghost.
There was no helping it.
Neither of them had expected the Fifth Hokage to suddenly appear inside the office like this.
It was nothing short of a shock.
And the moment they remembered the conversation they had just been having, both Chiyo and Ebizō's expressions changed slightly, their hearts tightening at once.
The only reassuring part was this—
the conclusion they had reached was to submit to Konoha and seek the Fifth Hokage's protection.
At least that much had worked out in their favor.
"A wise choice."
At that moment, Uchiha Ren stretched lazily and said in a calm voice,
"Chiyo. Ebizō. At least you two understand the situation."
"Otherwise, next year would've become Sunagakure's memorial year."
There was no doubt about it.
After bringing Kirigakure under control, Ren had remained there for several days to settle matters before leaving and heading straight for Sunagakure.
His goal this time was simple:
to take the One-Tail jinchūriki, Gaara—
and, while he was here, complete a proper check-in at Sunagakure.
As a result, the moment he arrived, he overheard Chiyo and Ebizō discussing submission to Konoha.
Since the two had already agreed on it, Ren had no reason to stay hidden.
He simply showed himself and granted them the chance to formalize that decision.
"So you really did hear everything…"
Hearing those words, Chiyo's expression stiffened slightly, but deep down she also let out a quiet sigh of relief.
"Fifth Hokage… Sunagakure is willing to submit to Konoha."
"That's right…"
Ebizō added with a bitter expression,
"Konoha's strength is overwhelming. We believe Sunagakure only has a future if it stands with the Fifth Hokage, Uchiha Ren."
"Mm."
Uchiha Ren nodded in satisfaction, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly.
Then he said,
"In that case, I'll gift these bottles of Hero Water without side effects to Sunagakure."
As soon as he finished speaking, Ren waved his hand—
and more than ten bottles filled with Hero Water appeared on the table.
"Hero Water… without side effects?"
"If Hero Water truly has no side effects, then it's practically divine water…"
Looking at the bottles on the table, Chiyo and Ebizō exchanged a glance and both saw the same shock in each other's eyes.
Clearly, neither of them had expected the Fifth Hokage to hand over such a major gift the moment they met.
They had both heard of Hero Water before.
Now that more than ten bottles of side-effect-free Hero Water were sitting in front of them, both Chiyo and Ebizō felt as though this stroke of luck had come far too suddenly.
"Oh, right. Find time to send the One-Tail jinchūriki, Gaara, to Konoha."
At the next moment, as if remembering something, Uchiha Ren added in a calm tone,
"You lack the strength to guarantee Gaara's safety."
Chiyo and Ebizō's expressions changed at once, and both fell silent.
"There's another force in the shinobi world collecting tailed beasts right now."
Ren continued evenly,
"So the best place for the One-Tail jinchūriki, Gaara, is Konoha."
Recently, after analyzing the intelligence gathered by Konoha, they had reached a startling conclusion—
another force seemed to be secretly growing in the shadows of the shinobi world.
And after Iwagakure and Kumogakure openly severed ties with Konoha one after another, the truth had become even clearer.
At first, Ren had found it a little surprising.
But after thinking it through, it all made sense.
Back when he destroyed Akatsuki, he had already known that Black Zetsu and the masked Uchiha Obito's final move would be to revive the legendary Uchiha Madara.
Especially after Nagato's death, Ren had already sensed it coming.
Now it seemed obvious—
Madara had indeed been revived.
And now, he was plotting in secret, trying to strike back at Konoha and revive the Ten-Tails.
Unfortunately for him—
he was already too late.
The road Madara wanted to walk was the very road Ren was already walking.
And Ren intended to leave Madara with no path left at all.
"We understand."
"Fine. We'll let Gaara go with you to Konoha."
Chiyo and Ebizō were both intelligent people. After a brief hesitation, they agreed without further resistance.
To be honest, both of them had long been troubled over what to do with Gaara.
Because of everything he had gone through, Gaara's mind had become unstable and deeply dark.
Now that the Fifth Hokage had personally made the request, they were more than willing to let Konoha take over the burden of dealing with him.
"Good."
Whoosh!!
As soon as the words fell, a sharp sound of air cutting echoed through the room.
Uchiha Ren vanished from the office in an instant—
leaving behind only Chiyo and Ebizō, both wearing helpless expressions.
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