Chapter 234: The Old Fox Waits
"Kenji."
After a moment of charged silence, Uchiha Akira's voice rang out again, calm and final.
"See them out."
"Yes, Hokage-sama!" Uchiha Kenji acknowledged respectfully, his Sharingan still active. He turned and gestured—not politely, but with cold command—to Maki, who was still slumped on the ground in shock.
"Please."
"Special Envoy Maki," Kenji said, his voice devoid of warmth. "Please."
"Hokage-sama has made his decision very clear. Our Konoha army will continue to advance. Unconditionally."
Kenji leaned down slightly, his red eyes boring into Maki's. "Life... or death. Surrender... or annihilation. The time left for your Kazekage... is running out. Choose wisely."
Maki's body trembled violently. His mind was still reeling.
He had originally thought this would be a difficult negotiation. A tense political game. A battle of wits, threats, and counter-threats.
But he never, ever dreamed that the other party would completely disregard convention, disregard diplomacy itself!
Uchiha Akira, this excessively young, terrifyingly powerful Godaime Hokage... he hadn't just ignored their pleas. He had simply, and utterly, overturned the table!
He didn't even bother with the most basic political pretense! No demands, no negotiations, just... unconditional surrender or destruction.
Maki stumbled out of the command post, physically pushed by Kenji, his head spinning. The harsh desert sun blinded him momentarily.
A single, desperate thought arose in Maki's heart, cold and heavy as lead.
It's over...
Kazekage-sama's plan... Lord Rasa's gamble... it failed from the very start...
Delaying time? Buying time for alliances? Impossible!
He doesn't care about alliances! He doesn't fear them!
"Lord Maki! We must go! Now!" His subordinate's urgent, panicked call snapped Maki out of his daze.
The five Suna Jōnin dared not linger for another second. They didn't even bother to conserve chakra.
Using every ounce of their strength, pooling their remaining reserves, they frantically rushed out into the vast, unforgiving desert.
They fled desperately towards Sunagakure (Village Hidden in the Sand).
They had to deliver this desperate news—this ultimatum, which could plunge the entire Sunagakure into eternal damnation—back to the Kazekage as quickly as humanly possible!
About an hour after Maki and the others vanished into the shimmering heat haze...
"ALL TROOPS! ASSEMBLE!"
Uchiha Akira's voice, amplified by chakra, echoed over the entire Wood Release fortress, shaking the very air.
BOOM!
The two thousand elite Konoha shinobi, having just finished a brief but crucial rest within the miraculous wooden structures, assembled on the open ground in front of the fortress.
Their speed was astonishing. Squads formed, ranks aligned, all in perfect, silent order, led by their respective captains.
Less than a minute.
Everyone stood tall, chests out, their eyes burning with a fervent, almost religious devotion. Their gaze was fixed on their sole belief, their Godaime Hokage, Uchiha Akira.
"Hokage-sama."
Nara Shikaku walked up to Akira, standing beside him on the fortress wall, overlooking the assembled army. A hint of strategic solemnity was on his face.
"Won't our direct, rapid advance be... too aggressive? Too exposed?"
"An army's full advance is different from a small squad's forced march," Shikaku reasoned, his voice low. "The logistical supply lines will be stretched very long across this terrain. By my calculations, it will take at least two full days of hard marching to reach Sunagakure's immediate vicinity."
He looked at Akira. "Although Sunagakure has declined, it is still one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages. They have defenses. They have numbers. A cornered beast will still fight desperately. Rushing headlong into their prepared defenses... it will inevitably cause us significant casualties."
"And..." Shikaku paused, his greatest worry surfacing. "I'm still worried about the other two Villages."
His voice dropped even lower. "Iwagakure and Kumogakure. They will never sit by and watch us annex the Land of Wind unopposed. Once they confirm our main force is committed deep in enemy territory... they will interfere from behind..."
Akira merely smiled faintly upon hearing Shikaku's concerns. He turned to face his strategist.
"Shikaku. Your concerns are valid. Logical. Cautious."
"But," Akira stated calmly, "your way of looking at this problem is still too conservative. You are thinking in terms of the old rules of war."
Akira turned back around, his gaze sweeping over the dense, disciplined army of shinobi below.
"Although the current objective of this expedition is Sunagakure..."
"But essentially," his voice resonated with power, "this entire operation is a deterrence! It is a message!"
"Ōnoki of Iwagakure. A of Kumogakure. And those other rats hiding in the dark... Danzō... perhaps even Akatsuki..."
Akira's smile widened, becoming cold and dangerous. "Give them a chance!"
"Let them come!"
"I want them to know. I want them to see how ridiculous, how powerless, all their schemes, all their alliances, all their posturing... are in the face of absolute, overwhelming power!"
He raised his hand.
"DEPART!"
"TARGET: SUNAGAKURE!"
"YES, HOKAGE-SAMA!"
The roaring shouts, like a mountain collapsing and a sea churning, erupted from two thousand throats! The sound stirred up the dust, echoing across the silent desert!
The two-thousand-strong Konoha army, guided by an experienced Hyūga Jōnin scout unit, began to advance. Majestically. Unstoppably. Towards the heart of the Land of Wind, in the direction of Sunagakure!
After several hours of relentless, disciplined marching across the scorching sands, dusk began to fall. The desert sky turned a bruised purple.
Akira raised his hand, halting the army.
He stepped forward and once again clasped his hands.
Mokuton! (Wood Release!)
Rumble!
Solid Wood Release houses, barracks, and watchtowers rose seamlessly from the ground, forming another instant, temporary camp. It provided a perfect, wind-proof resting environment for all the shinobi.
In the center of the camp, dozens of Konoha's Water Release specialists jointly performed a jutsu under Tsunade's direction.
"Suiton: Suijinheki!" (Water Release: Water Formation Wall!)
No, they weren't creating a wall. They manipulated the form. Clear water converged from the moisture in the air and deep underground, forming a giant, stable sphere of pure, potable water.
Sweet spring water, conjured in the heart of the desert, solved everyone's immediate drinking problem.
Watching the army systematically set up camp, post sentries, and begin their rest cycle, Akira returned to his mobile command post—a larger wooden structure created just for him, Tsunade, and Shikaku.
Akira looked at the map, then at Shikaku. "Two days is still too long."
Shikaku was stunned. "Hokage-sama? But the marching speed..."
Akira ignored him and turned to Kenji, who was standing guard beside him.
"Kenji." He produced one of his unique, three-pronged fūinjutsu kunai. "Take this."
Kenji respectfully accepted the golden-runed kunai.
"When the main army approaches within fifty kilometers of Sunagakure," Akira instructed, "use it to summon me. Immediately."
"Yes, Hokage-sama!" Kenji carefully, reverently, put away the kunai as if it were the most precious treasure in the world.
Akira nodded, then looked at Tsunade, who had just entered the command post.
"Tsunade. We will wait here. Let the army advance at a sustainable pace. We will join them for the final assault."
Meanwhile, far to the north.
Iwagakure (Village Hidden in the Stones).
Tsuchikage's office.
The Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, the Ryōtenbin (Ōnoki of Both Scales), floated in mid-air, his small, ancient frame defying gravity. He held a piece of intelligence that had just arrived via the highest-level encrypted channel.
His wrinkled face was a mask of disbelief and calculation.
"Konoha... declared war on Sunagakure?"
"And within a few hours... they eliminated all thirty-seven outposts Suna had deployed on the border?"
"This Uchiha brat... Uchiha Akira... is he insane? Or is he truly that powerful?"
In the office below him, Ōnoki's son, Kitsuchi (a massive, powerful Jōnin), and his granddaughter, Kurotsuchi (a sharp-tongued, confident kunoichi), also looked horrified by the news.
Kitsuchi grumbled, his deep voice shaking the room, "The Shinobi World has been at relative peace for so many years! And Konoha... Konoha actually dares to openly provoke a full-scale war!"
However, a glint of fierce, opportunistic excitement flickered in Kurotsuchi's beautiful big eyes.
"Grandpa! This is our chance! While Konoha is busy with Suna..."
"Shut up!" Ōnoki snarled, interrupting his granddaughter's naive, impulsive fantasy.
"Kurotsuchi! You think war is too simple! You think Konoha is weak?"
"Since that Uchiha Akira dares to launch a war so brazenly, so openly... it means he has no fear. He is not afraid of us and Kumogakure intervening. He expects it. He wants it."
Kurotsuchi pouted defiantly. "Then what do we do, old man? Just sit here and watch Konoha annex Sunagakure and become the sole dominant power? They'll come for us next!"
"Of course not," a cunning, ancient smile played on Ōnoki's lips. He was called the Ryōtenbin for a reason. He always weighed his options.
"That Fourth Raikage from Kumogakure... A is a simple-minded hothead. All muscle, no subtlety. He must be impatient by now. Preparing to gather his army, foaming at the mouth, ready to fight Konoha to the death over this perceived insult."
Ōnoki slowly floated to the window, looking out over his hidden stone village.
"Let him go."
"Let Kumogakure clash with Konoha's eastern defenses."
"We, Iwagakure... we don't need to do anything. Not yet."
"We just need to... wait."
His smile widened, becoming predatory. "Wait until they are both heavily wounded. Exhausted. Bleeding."
"Then... we will clean up the mess."
A sharp, calculating glint flashed in Ōnoki's old eyes.
"Deliver my order!" he commanded, his voice suddenly filled with the authority of the Tsuchikage.
"The entire Village is to enter Level One combat readiness! Strengthen all border patrols! Closely monitor all movements in the Land of Fire and the Land of Lightning!"
"However! Without my direct order, no one—no one—is allowed to step half a pace out of the Land of Earth!"
He turned to his son. "Kitsuchi! Go and gather all of Iwagakure's elite forces for me! Assemble them near the border. Keep them hidden. Keep them ready."
Ōnoki chuckled, a dry, rattling sound. "The true fruits of war... they are always reserved for the most patient."
"We will be the fisherman who laughs last!"
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