"Lord Hokage, we have just received a request for aid from the Land of Frost."
Inside the Hokage's office, a slender female Anbu suddenly appeared and presented a perfectly sealed letter to Minato Namikaze, who was browsing through the planned clauses of the new round of agreements signed between Konoha and Kirigakure.
She spoke in a low voice.
"According to the intelligence officer who received the letter, some abnormal movements have recently appeared in the Land of Frost. Because our village has no spare attention to allocate elsewhere for now, we have not yet sent personnel to investigate. The client who sent this letter is a merchant from the Land of Fire who has cooperated with Konohagakure many times. He judged that there may be some connection between the two matters, so he had someone deliver it to the village as quickly as possible, hoping you would personally review it."
"The Land of Frost?"
Minato Namikaze put down the drafted clauses he had already read more than halfway through. He took the letter from the female Anbu, opened it, and carefully read through it.
After that, his originally fairly relaxed brows immediately tightened into a serious and old-fashioned "川" shape.
He turned his head and handed the request for aid to Shikaku Nara beside him, signaling for him to take a look as well.
Then he turned to Jiraiya, who had come specifically to see the results after hearing the negotiations were about to end, and said in a grave tone,
"Jiraiya-sensei, did you tell me before that in the coming period, although the Land of Lightning and the Land of Earth would not launch another large-scale war against us, they would use other methods to sanction the Land of Fire and Konoha, suppressing the speed of our recovery?"
"It was Nagato who talked to me about that topic before he left Konoha."
Jiraiya heard the implication in Minato Namikaze's words. His expression froze slightly, and he immediately asked,
"What happened? Have Kumogakure's people already started acting in the Land of Frost?"
"The letter does not mention Kumogakure. It only says that a group of powerful wandering shinobi of unknown origin attacked their caravan and killed all the Konoha shinobi who should have escorted the caravan back to the Land of Fire. Then, recently, something seems to have gone wrong inside the Land of Frost as well. Some discordant voices have begun appearing internally. They are worried that without shinobi escorts, they may not be able to transport the caravan's goods back to the Land of Fire intact, so they hope we can send a group of shinobi to receive them."
Minato Namikaze shook his head and briefly summarized the contents of the request for aid to Jiraiya.
After listening to the contents of the letter, Jiraiya also frowned tightly and bit his finger.
"Wandering shinobi who suddenly appeared, huh? That really is a convenient excuse… They could be genuine wandering shinobi or missing-nin. They could also be vanished Root members. They could even be Kumogakure shinobi who removed their forehead protectors. But as long as we cannot find corresponding evidence, they will definitely be wandering shinobi."
"Not only that. The letter also mentions that, just like them, there are several other merchant caravans from the Land of Fire trapped inside the Land of Frost with no way forward or backward. They are simply smaller in scale and lack the ability to directly contact Konoha, unlike this large caravan that sent the request for aid."
Shikaku Nara put down the request for aid in his hand, his expression thoughtful and serious.
"The Land of Frost is a country that merchants from the Land of Fire must pass through when traveling north to trade. Goods from the various large and small northern countries can basically all be traded inside the Land of Frost. If large-scale supplies are to be transported from the Land of Lightning back to the Land of Fire, the Land of Frost is also the best route for them to save costs… If that country falls into chaos, the impact on the Land of Fire's merchants will be quite large."
"Then, Shikaku, do you think the abnormal movements in the Land of Frost are connected to Kumogakure?" Minato Namikaze pressed his fingers together and asked his advisor very seriously.
"If this happened at another time, I might judge it as an internal problem of the Land of Frost. After all, their shinobi village has been suppressed in business by Konoha and Kumogakure year-round, so their strength has never been able to develop. If something like a transition of the Land of Frost's Daimyo occurred, they might come out and move around a bit to fight for more say…"
Shikaku Nara spread his hands, wearing a helpless expression that said, "I am not an idiot either."
"But with this happening under the current situation, if someone says Kumogakure's shadow isn't behind it, I absolutely won't believe them."
"In other words, Kumogakure has already begun trying to win over the Land of Frost's shinobi village and pull them to its side, correct?"
Minato Namikaze pondered as he simply wrote a few words on the blank paper before him.
"As for the price, they are using commissions Konoha temporarily cannot accept?"
"Very likely."
Shikaku Nara sighed. His feelings were complicated as he looked at the agreement on the desk, one he had participated in negotiating from beginning to end.
"It seems the ones targeting the mission resources Konoha holds are not limited to behemoths like Kirigakure…"
"In that case, smaller shinobi villages like Kusagakure may also be drawn over along the way?"
"Although Iwagakure and Kumogakure will definitely take the lion's share of the resources snatched from Konoha, the leftovers should also be enough for these small-country shinobi villages to eat their fill."
Jiraiya touched his head of white hair and spoke half helplessly, half thankfully.
"The number of shinobi Konoha can still send out to carry out missions has dropped to less than one-third of what it was before the attack. Such a large cake will absolutely be enough to drive those small shinobi villages struggling to survive between us and the other great nations crazy… Fortunately, the Land of Rain is now Akatsuki's base, instead of still being ruled by Hanzo's Amegakure. Otherwise, they definitely would not mind launching another war against us."
"Akatsuki…"
Mentioning that name, Minato Namikaze's expression also eased slightly.
He looked at the map hanging in the Hokage's office and said with a bitter smile, "With them there, at least Kusagakure will not dare launch a war against us. And if Sunagakure or Iwagakure wants to fight across nations, they must also be wary of Nagato's strength…"
"For Sunagakure, it's not just being wary."
Jiraiya chuckled, sounding slightly proud.
"In the Fourth Kazekage's eyes, Nagato's deterrent power is probably not much worse than Rei Kaguya's… With him around, Sunagakure's side will be much easier to talk to."
"In other words, Sunagakure's worst possible stance will only be neutrality, and they will not lean toward Iwagakure and Kumogakure?" Shikaku Nara asked with some pleasant surprise.
"Probably. After all, they do not have enough strength to contend for hegemony in the shinobi world, and they also have quite a few conflicts with Root. As long as neither side actively starts a war with them, maintaining neutrality should be their long-term strategic choice."
Jiraiya's answer reassured Shikaku Nara.
However, when he saw the shinobi world map in the Hokage's office, he could not help smiling bitterly again.
"If Iwagakure and Kumogakure truly intend to use this method to suppress Konoha, then we really have obtained an alliance treaty from Kirigakure that leaves endless future trouble… That Lord Mizukage had already anticipated all of this long ago?"
"Probably."
Minato Namikaze took a deep breath and spoke firmly.
"However, Konoha is not a village that can be defeated so easily… Even a life-and-death war sweeping across the shinobi world could not bring us down. How could the Will of Fire passed down through Konoha's generations be so easily changed by external suppression and the temptation of an 'ally'?"
"Mm. Minato is right. Konoha's Will of Fire is not something that can be changed so easily."
Jiraiya looked at Minato Namikaze's resolute gaze and smiled in relief, expressing his agreement.
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