When the news reached the Hidden Stone Village, Ōnoki was frozen in shock for a moment before he burst out laughing.
"Hahahahaha! Serves them right! Ouch... my back..."
His laughter was so wild that he threw out his back, and he collapsed onto his desk, clutching his lower back in pain. His sudden collapse startled everyone in the Tsuchikage's office.
"Orochimaru didn't let me down," Hiruzen, the Third Hokage, muttered with a satisfied smile, tucking the intelligence scroll away. He glanced in the direction of the Land of Lightning with a look of schadenfreude on his face as if to say, Looks like the Hidden Cloud Village is getting what it deserves!
Meanwhile, in the Land of Rivers...
After putting away the intelligence scroll and handing it to Chiyo, the Third Kazekage furrowed his brow and asked, "So you're saying this was the work of the Hidden Stone?"
The Hidden Stone and the Hidden Cloud had been at odds for years, with Ōnoki and the Third Raikage constantly butting heads. If it weren't for the fear of mutual destruction, the two villages would have been at war long ago.
Given that, the Third Kazekage's first instinct was that Ōnoki must have orchestrated this.
"It's very likely," Ebizō confirmed. "The Hidden Cloud has been conducting a thorough purge of spies. Even the ones we had placed there were caught."
Ebizō's heart ached. Training capable spies was difficult enough, but getting them embedded in enemy villages was an even greater challenge. Now, thanks to the Eight-Tails incident, all their spies had been flushed out.
All their careful planning and investment had gone down the drain.
Chiyo calmly placed her teacup down after a moment of thought. "Aside from the Hidden Stone, no other village would dare provoke the Hidden Cloud right now. It's highly likely that the Hidden Stone is behind this. I suggest we keep a close eye on our jinchūriki."
Watching from the sidelines was all well and good, but the Eight-Tails incident had given Chiyo a warning. If they didn't keep a close watch on their jinchuriki, the same thing could happen to them, which would spell disaster.
Though the Third Kazekage could easily suppress Shukaku, the Hidden Sand couldn't afford the destruction the One-Tail could cause. The village was far too poor. If Shukaku went on a rampage, the damage would be catastrophic, further worsening the village's already dire financial situation.
"Chiyo has a point. I'll assign more people to guard Bunpuku," the Third Kazekage agreed. With the frontlines still engaged in battle, there was no room for mishaps in the village. The thought of their home base being threatened made the Kazekage even more cautious.
Once the topic of the Eight-Tails incident was over, the Third Kazekage turned his attention to the map, his brow furrowing deeply.
The situation was growing increasingly unfavorable for the Hidden Sand. The Hidden Leaf was determined to drag out the conflict, and the Sand Village's finances and resources were nearly depleted. If things continued like this, it wouldn't be long before the village would be forced to retreat from the Land of Rivers.