"BASTARD—!!"
A furious roar shattered the silence of the Raikage's office. The Fourth Raikage, A, the towering giant in a white coat and conical hat—slammed his fist down.
BOOM!!
The thick, solid wood desk instantly disintegrated under the terrifying force. Wood splinters flew, and documents scattered like snowflakes. His fist was still crackling with residual lightning chakra, the arcing electricity showing its owner's uncontrollable rage.
Wiped out... even an elite Jonin like Zsurui...
A's chest heaved violently, the veins on his temples bulging. But he quickly took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.
Now was not the time for venting. As the Raikage, he had to prioritize dealing with the aftermath.
He slowly withdrew his fist. "Have the families of the fallen been tallied?"
His secretary, Mabui, long accustomed to the Raikage's temper, calmly flipped open a file. "All have been tallied. Aside from the decoys, the compensation for the twenty-seven fallen Cloud ninja from the envoy has been calculated and is ready for distribution at any time."
A nodded, his gaze dark as he looked out the window.
Twenty-seven elite... I will make them pay for this.
He suddenly remembered something and turned. "How is Rachi-I's condition?"
The only Cloud ninja who had returned alive, and the sole witness to the entire event. Mabui's expression shifted slightly, her gaze complex.
"Chunin Rachi-I has already gone to the ninja archives to apply for the cancellation of his ninja registration number."
"According to the medical team's psychological evaluation... the overwhelming power displayed by the 'masked man' mentioned in the report seems to have caused him severe psychological trauma. I'm afraid... he will no longer be able to carry out ninja missions."
"Also, the messenger bird sent to Konoha has departed and is expected to reach the Land of Fire border within two days."
Mabui's finger gently traced the timeline on the document. "Lord B and Lady Yugito have been informed—while Lord Raikage is away in the Land of Fire, if the village is attacked, the defense will be handled jointly by the two Tailed Beast Jinchuriki."
"The specific arrangement is: Lady Yugito will command the Cloud ninja, while Lord B will be stationed at the Unraikyō, ready to repel any powerful enemies with a Tailed Beast Bomb."
A's lightning chakra uncontrollably arced across his body with a faint crackle.
"Mhm, very good!"
"Since that cowardly masked man dared to provoke the Hidden Cloud, and even specifically called me out—"
"Then I will personally go to the Land of Fire and drag that bastard out of his rat hole!!"
Before he finished speaking, A had already turned decisively, waving a large hand— "We leave now! Let's go! C! Darui!"
Inside the office, two elite ninja who had been on standby immediately responded. The sensor ninja, C, stood at attention and replied respectfully.
"Yes, sir!"
The other, the Storm Style user Darui, scratched his messy white hair and drawled lazily.
"Alright~"
"Keep up!"
A didn't even wait for their response, dashing towards the window in a single step— CRASH!!
The glass shattered instantly under the Raikage's brute force. Countless glittering fragments flashed in the sun, and A's figure had already transformed into a streak of lightning, leaping from the Raikage's office.
C followed without hesitation, his figure vanishing from the broken window in a flash.
Darui slowly walked to the window, looked at the dust cloud rising below, and sighed. "Ah... another long trip, what a pain... Oh well, I'll just take the main door."
Inside the office, Mabui looked at the mess, sighed, and pressed her forehead. "Sigh... here we go again."
She skillfully opened her notebook and added a new entry under "Raikage's Office Damage Log": Damage today: Solid wood desk, tempered explosion-proof window. Clearly, she was long accustomed to such sudden events.
Land of Fire, Konoha Village.
After the departure of the Cloud envoy, Konoha's surface returned to its usual peace.
Although the villagers were indignant about the Cloud's despicable actions, since the leadership had already compromised, ordinary people could only swallow their dissatisfaction and continue with their daily lives. After all, complaining changed nothing.
The only noticeable change was the atmosphere in the Hyuga clan.
Inside the main family compound, the clan head Hiashi Hyuga's already stern face was even gloomier than before. And in the branch family's courtyard, the four-year-old Neji Hyuga was crying his eyes out.
"Father... where's Father...?"
Little Neji's swollen eyes were filled with confusion and fear. No one had told him the truth, but a child's intuition made him vaguely sense that the figure who had been by his side since his earliest memories would never return.
No one had expected that two days later, the peace would be shattered once again.
"Did you hear?! The Cloud convoy was attacked!"
"That Hyuga ninja was abducted!"
The news spread like wildfire, instantly igniting all of Konoha.
According to the rumors, the Cloud envoy had been attacked by a mysterious ninja on their way back to the Land of Lightning.
A black-robed man in a fox mask. Single-handedly annihilated the Cloud's elite forces. Abducted the Hyuga clan member who had "murdered the envoy" on the spot.
What was even more shocking was that the culprit had openly declared before leaving:
"The power of the Byakugan, I'll be taking it."
"If you want it back, have the Raikage come find me in the Land of Fire."
At first, most Konoha ninja couldn't help but cheer when they heard the news. Their long-suppressed frustration had finally found an outlet.
However, this brief sense of satisfaction was quickly extinguished by new information.
The Hidden Cloud Village publicly questioned the event. The masked man was a Konoha ninja. Konoha had compromised on the surface but secretly abducted the man to protect the culprit.
If Konoha didn't hand over both the culprit and the masked man, the Hidden Cloud would declare war.
The Konoha ninja were instantly in an uproar.
"Are you kidding me?! They were the ones who kidnapped the Hyuga clan member first!"
"And now they're blaming us? Does the Hidden Cloud have any shame?!"
A wave of anger swept through the village, but beneath the clamor, a deeper sense of unease began to spread. It was the fear of war.
-------
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