Halfway to the village, Naruko met up with the ANBU who were rushing directly toward her. "Woah! Relax, I'm good."
They all landed in front of her looking around wearily, before Captain Leopard spoke up, "The enemies?"
Naruko shook her head. "Don't worry, we're good." She narrowed her eyes before saying, "I didn't use that Jutsu on Sunagakure but for another reason." 'I also wanted too see - are you spying on me Zetsu?' Not allowing any questions to be asked she continued moving. "C'mon, we'll be moving full-speed we need to get back to Gramps. He'll want to know that Sunagakure is officially our ally in this war, confirmed by the Kazekage himself."
With that said she jumped up onto a branch and leaped forward, of course not going full speed - she meant full ANBU Speed. "Keep up, and don't ask questions." 'I really don't want to explain that I was just so excited I busted out an S-class Nature Jutsu. If I need to answer, let's just say I thought I sensed someone. Which to be fair - I wanted to see if Zetsu would show up.'
Shaking those thoughts away she'd focus on the branches in front of her. "One of you begin writing down my verbal report for me while I explain the meeting. I'm sick of doing paperwork and reports."
A moment later a sullen Tiger pulled out a scroll. "Alright, now how it all went down was..."
-Hokage Office, Cleared-
Curling up into her chair Naruko let out a groan. "I looked like an idiot Gramps! I thought the Yondaime Kazekage was an arrogant idiot, and I came into that mission under the assumption I'd have to persuade him not to let his Shinobi die trying to kill me or something. But that was never his plan."
Hiruzen chortled while still doing his work, "Like many who live in the Leaf, you underestimated the other nations. It was eye-opening, was it not?"
Naruko hurriedly shook her head both up and down, but also to the side. "No! I didn't underestimate the other nations, I underestimated Sunagakure specifically. I always thought they only existed as one of the Five because of that old bat Chiyo!"
Hiruzen raised an eyebrow before putting down his paperwork and letting out a sigh. "I suppose I've been a bit remiss on that, as I wanted you to focus on your training and the village before you became a Jonin. Ignoring Amegakure which is an interesting spot, you know that Sunagakure has the lowest amount of Shinobi among the Great Five, yes?"
Naruko nodded. "Yeah, it's by a fair amount too right?"
Hiruzen grinned. "Indeed, ignoring the Genin Corps of Suna as much like the other Great Nations they use them for internal security during wartime, do you know how many battle-ready Chunin & Jonin Suna has?"
She blinked before shaking her head. "Not really." 'I'd assume around 10,000 based on the 4th War However. But if they kept some in reserve, plus the fact that Konoha Crush happened...'
"Suna has the lowest population of Shinobi, but they have somewhere between 25,000-27,500 combat Chunin & Jonin." 'That... makes SOME sense especially if they lose more and more in 'Canon' as their economy gets worse, and the fact that Gaara + Konoha Crush. But that's a lot more than I thought.'
Instead of mentioning the other great nations Hiruzen posed another question, "Do you know how many Shinobi most of the villages outside of the Great Five have?"
"I guess based on that, like 10,000 combat Chunin & Jonin?"
He snorted. "No, Amegakure is the only one who could field that. No, most Shinobi Villages outside of the Great Five have somewhere between 500 and 2,000 Chunin & Jonin. But even that doesn't take the entire picture into account. Remember - Suna may have the lowest population, but their puppet corps is over 3,000 member strong. So if each puppet-user can only wield two puppets that still means..."
"That Sunagakure has over 30,000 combat-effective Shinobi." Naruko exhaled. "I didn't realize the difference was that big."
Hiruzen had a somber look. "There's a reason we are the Great Five. We are the largest. The strongest. We have the best training - even those that don't come out of one of the Five Great Academies are on average better than a lesser villages Chunin or Jonin. Of course - most of these Shinobi have to deal with our own countries, and the countries under us issues well as missions around the world, even in war. But now you know the difference. Even Sunagakure the 'Weakest' of the Great Five, is a behemoth that can't be underestimated."
"You hear of the Kakashi Hatakes. You hear of if I may be so arrogant - the Asuma Sarutobis. But what about the dozen other Shinobi just as important, nearly just as strong as them - but can't be stationed on a war front? What about the ones that die a nameless death in ANBU, or on some long-term mission? The ones stuck on village security, 'watching' a Daimyo, or something else? Those who die in missions that can't be publicized. Or die on the war front and don't manage to survive. Let this be a lesson Naruko - never underestimate one of the Great Five."
Naruko nodded along with her own somber look on his face. 'I forget - They are the Five Great Nations of our world. Each of the countries is titanic in size, with sprawling allies, and even then - most of the armies aren't the 'Super Soldier' Shinobi, but the common man. But even then. There shouldn't be so many Shinobi like Kakashi Hatake or Asuma Sarutobi. So... where do they all go old man?' Another question she would not get an answer to, nor did she ask the question.
She allowed the somber moment to last for a while before saying, "Alright Gramps, let's talk about the teams for the upcoming graduates. Of course, I recommend..."
-Side Story: Pakura & Samui -
Landing on a hilltop in the Land of Cones, Pakura would have a somber look on her face as she prepared for the battle to come. Her eyes tracked a heavily gifted blonde woman from Kumo as she landed on the hill as well. 'Tch. Sending her, it appears as if we won't be getting an easy kill on someone important.'
Getting down to business immediately Pakura would say it outright, "I'm afraid that Kazekage-sama has decided to turn down your Raikage's deal Blade of Kumo."
The taller, bustier stern-faced woman frowned slightly. "That's a shame." Even while slowly gripping her blade and talking to a shinobi from a different village Samui's voice was even-toned and commanding, "Will you let me leave peacefully Pakura? Or do you insist on fighting?"
Pakura didn't answer verbally, but instead launched a super-heated fireball directly towards Samui. "A shame. Raikage-sama was willing to offer quite lenient terms as well, how uncool."
Her blade was unsheathed as Water & Lightning began to coat it before she slashed out cutting the fireball in half. "Quite hot, I think you need to chill out."
With that said they clashed. With Pakura's eyes slowly getting more and more serious as the battle waged on. "Your chakra is strong enough to resist the effects of my Kekkei Genkai?"
"I'm not that cool. You simply need to actually hit me - something you can't do." Her Sword met another Scorch Style: Steaming Murder. A moment later Samui lunged forward intending to cut Pakura in two, only for her to deflect it with two hurried handseals.
"Wind Style: Wind Blade" A wind blade emitting from Pakura's forearm managed to deflect the blow.
Samui jumped back. "It appears this fight is useless, do you insist on fighting still?" In response, Pakura continued to form more and more Scorch Style: Steaming Murders as fireball after fireball appeared.
"How not cool..."
-An hour later-
Leaping away Samui slowly prodded her arm where her skin was completely mummified. "Pakura needs to cool out. Now I'm going to have to take a day off for a spa day... All that for a useless battle. She knew we couldn't beat each other. I'm better than her, but her Kekkei Genkai is too dangerous, so neither of us could go all out." Shaking her head she continued leaping back towards the nearest Kumo outpost.