"Join Konoha?"
"Why should we join Konoha? Aren't we from Sunagakure? And what's going on in the village? Why is it suddenly prohibited to leave?"
"I'm not sure. Could it be that we're about to go to war again? Damn it, if we can't leave the village, how will we earn money? Has Lord Fourth Kazekage said when we can leave?"
The changes within Sunagakure were significant. Rasa ordered the village to be sealed off, and all the shinobi under his command had entered a state of war readiness because nearly five thousand Konoha shinobi were just outside the village.
The Konoha forces were divided into three large battalions, surrounding Sunagakure completely. Without a Tailed Beast, Rasa had no way of launching a surprise attack on the Konoha shinobi.
The situation with the Konoha shinobi had even alarmed the Daimyō of the Land of Wind, who immediately sent envoys to inquire in Sunagakure.
Since the establishment of the Five Great Nations and Five Great Shinobi Villages, this was the first time they had faced such a situation—having an army of shinobi from a rival nation right on their doorstep.
Upon learning of this, the Daimyō of the Land of Wind lost his appetite; his biggest worry had shifted from how much tax revenue to collect to what exactly the Konoha shinobi were planning.
Since shinobi earn rewards by completing commissioned missions, villages are generally not far from their nation's capital. Now, with so many Konoha shinobi near the capital of the Land of Wind, the Daimyō couldn't sleep at all.
He sent two groups of messengers. Aside from those sent to Sunagakure, he also dispatched envoys to the Daimyō of the Land of Fire to ask what was going on.
Did they still remember the agreements made by their predecessors? How could they let their nation's shinobi act so dominantly?
However, the Daimyō of the Land of Wind's actions would likely prove fruitless. The Daimyō of the Land of Fire, along with the finance and internal affairs ministers—the three most powerful people in the Land of Fire—were now completely under Konoha's control.
Shisui's Kotoamatsukami had commanded them to follow the orders of the Fifth Hokage and adhere to Konoha's directives. Unless they killed the Daimyō and replaced him, the Land of Fire was now a country where military and political power were unified.
But the Daimyō's son was only four years old, and since it was only Konoha growing stronger, Kotoamatsukami had never been exposed in the shinobi world. Aside from Shisui and Yoichi, no one knew that their leniency towards Konoha was due to being under a genjutsu.
Outside Sunagakure, Konoha's camp was only three kilometers away from the village. The shinobi of Sunagakure relied on their high earth walls, not daring to make any offensive moves.
Even the eastern exit of Sunagakure had been occupied by the shinobi aligned with Pakura, dividing the large village into two zones. Rasa had now stationed over seven hundred shinobi in the center of the village, forming a defensive line.
If Pakura's forces made any move, Rasa's shinobi would likely launch an immediate attack.
However, after Pakura emerged from the Kazekage Building, her side made a large move, and Konoha even sent a large force into Sunagakure, taking control of the earth walls at the eastern exit.
When Rasa learned of this, he was so furious that he crushed the desk in front of him with his Gold Dust.
Not long after, his Anbu came to report again: Pakura's forces had started promoting a village unification plan. Hearing this, Rasa's eyes turned red. Without thinking further, he ordered the Anbu to gather his forces.
There was no saving Pakura now. Moments ago, Rasa had even considered admitting his wrongdoings to Pakura, hoping to gain her forgiveness and then negotiate with the Konoha shinobi to ensure the survival of Sunagakure.
But now it seemed that Pakura was the one who needed to be eliminated. She had to be killed, even if it meant starting a war.
"Lord Fourth!"
"Kazekage-sama!"
"Yondaime!"
Once everyone had gathered, Rasa spoke in a grim tone: "You're all aware of Pakura's actions. Let's hear it. Does anyone have any suggestions?"
The dozen or so people in the room remained silent after Rasa's words, the atmosphere heavy with tension.
It wasn't that they were afraid to speak up; the truth was that almost all their options were cut off. Apart from waging war, their only choice was to surrender.
As for any other plans, what could they possibly come up with in the face of five thousand Konoha shinobi and one thousand more led by Pakura?
After a while, Chiyo broke the silence, saying, "Yondaime, using poison could have worked before, but now it seems that Konoha shinobi are likely monitoring even the village's herb gardens. Many of our poisons haven't even reached maturity. If we are to resist, our best chance is to fight to the death tonight."
"Konoha shinobi have grown this bold?"
Rasa could hardly believe it. He felt like the most humiliated Kazekage in history, unworthy of the Kazekage statues behind him.
"Although we haven't found the Konoha shinobi, that feeling of being watched must be because of the Hyūga Clan's Byakugan. Now that Pakura is on such good terms with the Konoha shinobi, it's possible that Hyūga shinobi are among her ranks."
Since learning of Pakura's collusion with the Konoha shinobi, Chiyo had fully aligned herself with Rasa. After all, she harbored an unresolvable grudge against the Fourth Hokage, Hatake Sakumo.
Even though she regretted what she had done to Pakura, she couldn't support Pakura's plan for unifying the villages. Chiyo was possibly the most steadfast supporter on Rasa's side.
"Konoha has many secret techniques and kekkei genkai clans. Given time, they'll likely gather all of our intelligence. If we wait too long to resist, it will be impossible to fight back."
Rasa's heart stirred. He turned to Chiyo and asked, "Elder Chiyo, are you suggesting..."
"Gather all our forces, throw everything we have into wiping out Pakura's group, and drive out the Konoha shinobi at the same time."
Elder Chiyo spoke firmly to Rasa: "Among the Konoha forces is the First Hokage. Although we don't know how Konoha managed to resurrect this God of Shinobi, he's the Hokage who least desires shinobi deaths. If we show them we're willing to fight to the death, there's a chance the Konoha shinobi will stop their assault. This way, Sunagakure might be spared."
The Sunagakure shinobi were stunned into silence by Chiyo's decisiveness. No one spoke for a long moment.
But Chiyo believed this was the most feasible plan. She had lived through the First Shinobi World War and knew the power of Konoha's secret techniques and kekkei genkai. During the chaos of the war, Konoha had dominated, but the First Hokage had voluntarily stopped the fighting.
After the Five Kage Summit, Chiyo learned from the Second Kazekage that the First Hokage had sought peace to prevent further shinobi deaths, which led to the division of the Tailed Beasts.
By exploiting the First Hokage's weakness, there was a chance they could save Sunagakure.
After some contemplation, Rasa turned to Chiyo and asked, "Can this really work?"
"Aside from this, our only option is surrender. After all, the Second Hokage is a Edo Tensei corpse, while the First Hokage has been fully revived. Our chances are still quite good."
"Then let's do it. Garo, distribute all the supplies from the storerooms to the Anbu, jōnin, and chūnin."
Rasa's tone was resolute as he addressed the group: "Everyone, this may be Sunagakure's last chance. If you don't want to become wandering shinobi of a fallen village, then give it your all and fight for a future for our descendants."
"Yes, Lord Fourth!" the Sunagakure higher-ups responded in unison. One by one, they left the Kazekage Building with determined expressions, each ready to risk everything in a desperate battle. It was better to stay in Sunagakure as leaders than to go to Konoha and start from the bottom.
Konoha had no preferential treatment for them. If they went there, they would start as ordinary shinobi. No way!
...
On the other side...
Pakura also sent several teams of shinobi into Sunagakure, distributing Konoha's unification plan, mainly targeting ordinary villagers.
The front of the leaflet outlined the benefits of the unification plan, while the back was an application form. Anyone who filled it out could leave Sunagakure through the eastern exit, where Konoha shinobi would take care of those who defected.
Sunagakure had less than one hundred thousand residents. With just a thousand Konoha shinobi, they could easily accommodate seventy to eighty thousand people. Yoichi had sent several shinobi with the Wood Release bloodline limit to the village.
While their Wood Release was not on par with Hashirama's, it was more than enough to build houses.
After driving the Sunagakure forces from the border of the Land of Rivers and the Land of Wind, Konoha's Wood Release shinobi selected two locations to set up settlements.
For now, they were simple wooden huts, but these areas would later serve as the centers for building oasis towns.
Before departing, Tobirama Senju had been handed this plan by Uchiha Yoichi. After meeting with Pakura, Tobirama showed her the plan, and during the relocation of the families aligned with Pakura, Sunagakure shinobi accompanied them.
"An oasis... It's a rare thing in the Land of Wind. Most of them are controlled by the country's nobility. Even Sunagakure had to build high walls to keep out the sandstorms," Pakura said, somewhat nostalgic.
Many Sunagakure residents had never seen an oasis in their lifetime. Unless they left the country on a mission, they didn't even know what green leaves looked like. For those who remained in the village, seeing green leaves was an unattainable dream.
Living in an oasis was a dream for many Sunagakure villagers. Just seeing that on the leaflet would likely entice many to defect.
As soon as someone couldn't resist the temptation, they would pack their belongings, fill out the application form, and head for the eastern exit. If Rasa's shinobi tried to stop them, Pakura's forces would intervene.
As more people defected, the more resistance Rasa's forces faced, the more the villagers would rebel.
"Second Hokage, it seems like things are going well. Within a week, more than half the village might leave for the oasis settlement. How are the preparations for what comes next?" Pakura asked.
"The Fifth has prepared the supplies. You don't need to worry about the Sunagakure villagers. What you should be concerned about is the Fourth Kazekage," Tobirama responded, arms crossed. There were personnel specifically in charge of the oasis. His only focus was on Rasa and the remaining Sunagakure shinobi.
"Don't underestimate them, young lady. My brother and I attended the First Five Kage Summit. We're very familiar with Sunagakure's ways. Even in the face of disadvantageous situations, they'll fight like lone wolves, desperate to survive. During the First Shinobi World War, Sunagakure was the weakest of the five villages, but they still dared to make outrageous demands of Konoha."
"If it had been me as Hokage back then instead of my brother, there wouldn't be a Sunagakure or a Land of Wind anymore. Your First Kazekage managed to offend all four of the other Kage with a single sentence."
Pakura and the other Sunagakure shinobi twitched at this, but none of them knew the details of events that had happened decades ago. Still, Tobirama wasn't the type to lie about such things.
"So, should we prepare for Rasa to lash out in desperation?"
"War will definitely break out. The Fifth Hokage knows this outcome as well. The Konoha shinobi sent here weren't for show. Tonight, we'll have two more Konoha battalions enter Sunagakure. If Rasa launches a sudden attack, you won't be able to stop him."
Hearing this, Pakura's expression grew serious. After a few moments of contemplation, she nodded in agreement. "Understood. Should we prepare shinobi uniforms for Sunagakure?"
Previously, Konoha's reconnaissance shinobi and the Hyūga Clan members had infiltrated Sunagakure wearing Sunagakure uniforms, gathering a lot of intel on Rasa's forces.
"No need. During the day, stay inside as much as possible. Preparing uniforms would draw too much attention, and the Fourth Kazekage will definitely notice."
Tobirama shook his head, then turned to Hashirama and said, "Brother, when war breaks out, it'll be up to you. Don't show mercy this time!"
(End of Chapter)
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