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If Kisame completed his mission smoothly, it would be a cause for universal celebration. They could simply dispatch someone to bring him back to the new base. But if Kisame's mission ended in failure – even if he survived – he would forfeit any right to learn the location of the new base. After a failed mission, whether Kisame could even keep his miserable life intact remained a serious question. Attempting to abduct someone right under Kazuki's watchful eye, especially when Kazuki had already received advance warning, was a task of staggering difficulty. One careless misstep, and Kisame's only remaining option would be death.
"BASTARD!!!" The pitiable desk once again fell victim, this time to A's thunderous roar. Standing to the side, Mabui had long since grown utterly numb to such outbursts. With perfect composure, she signaled to the Anbu operatives that there was no need to enter – the Raikage was in the grip of fury, and anyone who walked in right now would be asking nothing but misfortune.
The very thing they had dreaded most had come to pass. The personnel dispatched to Turtle Island had returned to report that the island had already been located by the enemy. Every single ninja stationed there had been killed, and even the giant creatures inhabiting the island had suffered countless casualties. When this news reached him, A nearly choked on his own breath from sheer rage. He had believed there was still time – only to discover that the enemy had moved even faster. Now, Turtle Island had been discovered, the Sharingan hidden upon it was gone, and Dodai's fate was almost certainly grim.
Dodai was a meritorious elder of the village, a founding pillar who possessed intimate knowledge of the vast majority of the village's most classified secrets. To prevent catastrophe should he ever fall into enemy hands, multiple layers of seals had been placed within his brain, specifically designed to thwart any attempt to extract information from his mind. Yet the Akatsuki had not only located Turtle Island but had done so with blinding speed. This could only mean that Dodai, the village's venerable elder, had essentially met his end. As one piece of terrible news after another came crashing down upon him, A's barely restrained explosive temper finally erupted.
Fortunately, to mitigate the Raikage's destructive tendencies and minimize property damage, the Raikage's office was furnished with stark simplicity. When A wanted to smash things, the first victim was invariably the desk, followed closely by the office chair. If both the desk and chair had already been obliterated, only some fitness equipment remained. These training implements, however, were A's treasured possessions, and thus they typically suffered far less frequently. But this time, even his beloved equipment was not spared. Consumed by towering fury, A physically crushed his training gear, twisting and molding the metal into solid iron balls with his bare hands. This month's repair budget for the Raikage's office would undoubtedly exceed its limits once again.
Mabui calmly observed as A vented his volcanic rage, showing absolutely no inclination to intervene or soothe him. A Raikage in the grip of fury could not be reasoned with unless one possessed the power to physically subdue him; otherwise, any attempt at intervention would merely add fuel to the fire.
Only after A had laid waste to everything in the office that could be destroyed or defiled did he finally begin to cool down. He sat down heavily atop the now-spherical lump that had once been his training equipment, breathing in ragged, heavy gasps. In a gruff, gravelly voice, he addressed Mabui: "Immediately dispatch messengers to the Leaf Village. Transmit a complete copy of all the intelligence we've gathered to them. Additionally, send a formal letter of inquiry to the Mist Village. Notify the Sand Village and the Stone Village as well, following standard procedure."
Despite the ongoing state of war, A felt that intelligence concerning the Akatsuki was something every one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages had the right to know. Even though the Cloud Village and the Stone Village were currently locked in heated combat, A would still choose to share this intelligence with the Stone Village. The war was one matter; intelligence on the Akatsuki was an entirely separate affair.
"Understood, Lord Raikage. I will handle it immediately," Mabui replied, her stiletto heels clicking rapidly as she departed.
"DAMN IT ALL!!!" Alone in the office now, A could no longer contain himself and let out a furious bellow. If Obito and Kisame had appeared before him at that very moment, A swore he would have torn them limb from limb.
Multiple intelligence reports were dispatched from the Cloud Village at maximum speed. At different times, they arrived at the Leaf Village, the Sand Village, the Mist Village, and the Stone Village. Within the Stone Village, the higher-ups found the situation too sensitive to handle themselves and were forced to forward the intelligence to the border camp, leaving it for Onoki to manage. The Stone Village needed to reroute the delivery; the Sand Village was simply too remote; and the sea routes to the Mist Village were treacherous and negotiating with the Mist ninja was always a headache. Consequently, the intelligence took relatively longer to reach these villages. In contrast, the Leaf Village received its copy first and almost immediately.
Having resolved the crisis with the Hyuga Clan, Kazuki felt a great burden lift from his shoulders, leaving him considerably more at ease. Though many of the Hyuga elders now loathed him to their very cores, Kazuki couldn't have cared less. 'Hate me all you want,' he thought. I thoroughly enjoy watching you gnash your teeth in fury yet remain utterly powerless to do anything about it. Not only could you do nothing, but whenever you cross my path, you're still obliged to bow respectfully and offer a proper greeting. Tell me – doesn't that just infuriate you beyond belief?
To put it bluntly, Kazuki never regarded the Hyuga elders as worthy of his consideration. A bunch of insignificant small fry – they could only puff out their chests within the confines of their own clan. Once they stepped outside the Hyuga compound, they were less than nothing.
"Lord Advisor, here are the latest battlefield reports and intelligence summaries sent from the front lines."
"Oh?" Kazuki set aside the documents he was working on and, with evident interest, unrolled the scroll, examining its contents with curiosity. The scroll recorded various pieces of intelligence gathered by the shinobi operating on the front lines, along with situational reports. A significant portion of the content concerned the Third Hokage.
"It seems Lord Third still has plenty of fight left in him," Kazuki remarked with a chuckle, reading through the scroll. Onoki must be hopping mad right about now. To be fair, the Third Hokage was a man of considerable flaws, but his strength and capability were undeniable. Case in point: upon arriving at the front lines, he had led a force of shinobi in driving back the Stone Village troops, forcing them into continuous retreat. With both him and Orochimaru active on the battlefield, the Stone Village truly was suffering catastrophe after catastrophe. The Third Hokage's actions had Onoki grinding his teeth in fury, half-tempted to amass a full army and launch an encirclement operation specifically to eliminate the old man.
Unfortunately for Onoki, the Third Hokage had been vigilantly guarding against exactly that kind of ploy. He knew perfectly well how the Third Raikage had met his end. Though he was advanced in years, the Third Hokage had absolutely no intention of making a martyr of himself. Fight, provoke, harass – all of that was fine. But he absolutely refused to fall into Onoki's trap. You want to encircle and kill me? Not a chance. You, Onoki, dragged the Sarutobi Clan's name through the mud, so don't expect to know a moment's peace. I'll keep you company and play this slow game with you!
Onoki was required to serve as the anchoring pillar of his forces and could not casually charge onto the battlefield. The Third Hokage, on the other hand, operated differently – he went directly to the battlefield to stir up chaos and vex Onoki to no end. That was his entire strategy: toying with them. The village and the camp required no attention from him. Free of all other burdens and pressure, light of heart and mind, the Third Hokage was, to put it simply, brimming with motivation and energy.
Chuckling to himself, Kazuki rolled up the scroll and handed it to Izumi. "Izumi, record this intelligence properly and file it away." With the front lines stable and the village likewise secure, Kazuki could sit peacefully in the Hokage's office without needing to fret over all sorts of messy, troublesome affairs. The only truly annoying thing was the sheer volume of administrative work – it was absurd. Tasks had piled up monstrously before, and now that he was back, he had to process everything bit by bit. Even though Shikaku could handle much of the burden as his proxy, there were many matters he dared not touch casually. Those had to be set aside and left for Kazuki to handle personally upon his return – or, alternatively, they could wait for Tsunade to come back. After all, Shikaku was merely the Jonin Commander, not the Hokage, nor the Hokage's Advisor. Overstepping his bounds could easily invite unnecessary trouble, and the Nara Clan was famously averse to trouble. Shikaku was no exception.