The people of Sunagakure Village aren't willing to take that gamble—because if they bet wrong, the consequences will be devastating.
To put it simply, if they don't fight back, the worst they'll have to do is grit their teeth and endure it. It's annoying, but not a big deal.
Besides, the message has already been sent back to the village. It's up to the higher-ups to make the final decision.
But if someone makes the wrong call and war breaks out, that person will go down in history as the one who doomed the village.
Right now, Sunagakure Village is in no condition to support a full-scale war.
Meanwhile, Konohagakure is only getting stronger as time goes on.
After two days of travel, Soro finally arrived at the border camp. He had been sent by Rasa to handle the issue of the seized trade goods.
As a mediator, he would represent Sunagakure Village in negotiating with Konohagakure's border forces.
Before that, though, he needed to stop by his own camp to gather the latest intelligence and updates.
Something felt off.
The moment Soro arrived, he sensed a heavy tension in the air. The entire camp looked like it was preparing for battle, with everyone on high alert, as if a fight could break out at any moment.
Something big had happened.
Realizing this, Soro went straight to the command post and sought out the elite Jonin in charge of the camp.
"What? You're saying Konohagakure is showing signs of preparing for war? They keep sending people into the Land of Wind, provoking you over and over, trying to get you to make a move?"
Soro never expected to be hit with such shocking news. For a moment, he was completely stunned.
I came here to mediate a dispute over some seized trade goods, not to deal with a potential war!
Has Konohagakure lost its mind? What are they even trying to do?
Right now, both the Konohagakure and Sunagakure Village camps are on edge, just waiting for the other side to make a move.
All it takes is a single spark, and war will erupt at the border.
Even though it was just a small battle, small battles could easily turn into full-scale wars.
At that point, Konohagakure and Sunagakure wouldn't be able to avoid fighting, even if they wanted to.
Because once things reached that stage, there was no turning back.
After gathering all the intel, Soro felt relieved and let out a deep sigh.
"You made the right choice. Right now, the most important thing is to stay calm. We absolutely can't act on impulse. If a fight breaks out, there's no telling if it'll escalate into a full-blown war between our villages."
"Since the message has already been sent back to the village, we just need to wait for Kazekage-sama's decision. Until we receive orders, we can't start a fight on our own."
"But the Konohagakure ninjas…"
"Let them be. If they dare to provoke us like this, it means they have confidence and a plan.
Konohagakure has probably regained enough strength to start thinking about war again."
After considering the situation, Soro abandoned the idea of heading to Konohagakure's camp to negotiate on behalf of the trade caravan.
At this point, who the hell cared about the caravan?
War could break out at any moment—negotiating trade disputes was the last thing on anyone's mind.
Soro had the authority to handle trade issues.
But if the situation escalated to war, it was beyond what a single elite Jonin could handle. They could only wait for the village's orders.
Fortunately, the message had already been sent back to the village. Based on the timing, they should be responding soon.
Some goods were confiscated, and a few caravan members were detained—this was nothing major for Sunagakure.
Even close allied villages had small disputes like this all the time.
Didn't Sunagakure often seize cargo from Konohagakure's caravans?
After sending someone to mediate, Rasa didn't pay much attention to the matter.
But then, a new problem arose.
"Konohagakure's ninjas keep crossing the border into the Land of Wind and provoking us?"
Rasa's eye twitched slightly.
This was already a dangerous sign.
If the Konohagakure ninjas were just trying to provoke them, they could easily make an excuse like, "We got lost," wander around, stir up trouble, wait for a response, and then retreat.
The only purpose of that would be to annoy Sunagakure.
Nothing more.
But Konohagakure's actions weren't just meant to annoy them.
They were deliberately provoking Sunagakure, trying to enrage them into attacking first.
Konohagakure wanted war.
That was Rasa's first thought.
But then he hesitated—was that really possible?
Konohagakure had never been the type to start wars with other major villages.
Since the village was founded, they had only launched an attack once—against Amegakure.
But even then, Amegakure had provoked them first.
Besides, Konohagakure didn't fight Amegakure alone—Sunagakure and Iwagakure had also joined in. It was a chaotic battle involving multiple sides.
"Call for Chiyo."
"Yes, Kazekage-sama."
Anbu immediately carried out Rasa's order and went to bring Chiyo to the Kazekage's office.
Chiyo was already quite old and had mostly retired.
If it weren't for Rasa insisting, she would have long since stepped back and retired alongside her younger brother, Ebizo.
"Looks like something important is happening in the village, sister," Ebizo said with a chuckle, holding his fishing rod.
"Probably. I wonder when this old lady can finally retire for good and get some proper rest."
Sighing, Chiyo held her waist as she slowly stood up. She glanced at her brother, who had fully embraced the life of a fisherman, shook her head helplessly, and left.
Ebizo, once the head of the intelligence department, had been forced into retirement after taking the blame for certain events.
Konohagakure had plenty of dark secrets, and so did Sunagakure.
Both Ebizo and Pakura—who had been tricked into going to Kirigakure to die—were victims of such schemes.
Fortunately, Ebizo wasn't killed. Rasa wouldn't dare touch such a respected intelligence officer.
Since he couldn't be dealt with directly, the only option was forced retirement—just like the Third Hokage.
"What's so important that Kazekage needs to see this old lady?"
Chiyo walked unsteadily into the Kazekage's office, her frail appearance and slow movements deceiving to the eye.
If you mistook her for a helpless old woman, you would regret it deeply.
Rasa knew better than to put on airs in front of Chiyo. He nodded in greeting before handing her a scroll from across his desk.
"Ninjas at Konohagakure's border camp have seized goods from several merchant caravans and arrested some people?"
Chiyo slowly read through the scroll, mumbling to herself,
"Repeated provocations?"
In that moment, her hunched back straightened, and she suddenly looked full of energy.
The frail, elderly expression from before was completely gone.
"Kazekage, these two incidents aren't just coincidences. There must be a connection."
Rasa's expression grew serious.
"I think so too. Konohagakure wouldn't target us for no reason. If seizing the merchants' goods was just an accident, then repeatedly sending people into the Land of Wind to provoke our ninjas—forcing them to respond—means they want a fight to break out."
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