Among Ōnoki's usual means of communication were Ninja Hawks, or simply sending messengers.
The gadgets from the Hidden Cloud Village, however, still felt unfamiliar in his hands. It wasn't that he couldn't understand them—short-range wireless communication equipment was nothing new to Shinobi—but he wasn't used to relying on such tools.
After fiddling with the device for a while, Ōnoki finally sent a communication request to Sunagakure.
The connection took a long time to go through. Ōnoki was certain that old hag Chiyo was deliberately putting on airs.
Each village had personnel assigned specifically to monitor these machines. Kumogakure had distributed them precisely so contact could be made at a moment's notice.
"What is it? Contacting me privately… our relationship isn't close enough for idle chatter." Chiyo's face at last appeared on the screen after several minutes.
Ōnoki didn't bother with pleasantries. "Where is your Jinchūriki?"
On the other side, Chiyo's brows didn't even move. She simply reached to the side and pressed something.
The call cut off instantly. The screen went dark, leaving only the indicator light blinking.
The communications officer instinctively turned to look at the Tsuchikage.
The corner of Ōnoki's mouth twitched.
"Request contact again."
The communications officer hastily got to work, sending out another request signal.
This time, the wait dragged on even longer. It went on so long that Ōnoki almost thought Chiyo truly planned to ignore him before the screen finally lit up again.
Static flickered across it, then stabilized. Chiyo's face reappeared, wearing the same expression as before.
The current Fifth Kazekage said, "I wouldn't dream of asking where Iwagakure's Jinchūriki is.
Of course, you might not even fully know that yourself."
The sarcasm in her voice was blatant.
A vein pulsed on Ōnoki's forehead. He forced down the anger rising in his chest.
"That brat hasn't gone to see you for quite a while now, has he?" He changed the subject. "Last time, he made a special trip to Iwagakure, but he didn't go to Sunagakure."
The corner of Chiyo's mouth hooked upward, open mockery glinting in her eyes.
"At your age," she said slowly, "you still care about who plays with whom like some child, Ōnoki?"
Her gaze swept over the little old man on the other side.
"Though your height really doesn't even measure up to a child's."
A straight personal attack, and it hit exactly where it hurt.
Ōnoki felt his blood pressure spike.
He lowered his voice. "Do you think I'm still trying to exploit Sunagakure this time?"
Chiyo looked genuinely taken aback. "Is that not the case?"
"Hmph. Then why do you think Iwagakure yielded the Land of Stone front?"
"Because you were throwing a tantrum," Chiyo replied without missing a beat.
"I am talking business with you, you old hag!" Onoki finally exploded, slamming his palm down on the table—only for his waist to give out with a sharp crack.
"Ugh—"
Ōnoki forced down the groan that almost slipped from his lips, his lined face scrunching tight with pain. One hand clutched his lower back, the other braced hard against the table as a sheen of cold sweat broke out across his forehead.
The Communications Officer kept his gaze lowered and quietly retreated two steps, doing his best to vanish from the Tsuchikage's line of sight.
On the screen, Chiyo clearly heard the sharp crack and muffled groan. She clicked her tongue twice, shaking her head. "The old geezer's body is failing. If we weren't so far apart, I'd be happy to use my Chakra Threads to help you with a realignment."
"Of course, whether that would make it worse is hard to say."
Ōnoki bared his teeth against the pain, forcing his expression to remain steady.
"I yielded the Land of Stone to test Konoha's reactions and leanings! Having Fūga call the meeting in advance was to figure out exactly how far Kumogakure and Kirigakure have secretly connected."
Chiyo's tone stayed lukewarm. "Oh? Then you really are calculating far ahead."
Ōnoki's face twitched as he suppressed the urge to cut the connection right there.
"In any case!" He raised his voice, forcing his body's protests down. "That kid told me a lot in Iwagakure."
"I believe he's serious, and he intends to follow through on this path."
"It's precisely because of that that I tacitly allowed your Sunagakure teams to enter the Land of Stone front for joint defense."
"Listen well, old hag. If this joint system can truly be maintained, that little bit of land Sunagakure currently occupies will be meaningless."
"The rules are no longer operating in the old way."
Ōnoki's voice turned suddenly cold and hard.
"If this union ultimately fails and falls apart, Iwagakure will be able to take back what is its own."
"I will take back everything that belongs to Iwagakure."
After these words, Chiyo on the other side of the screen finally let her mocking attitude drop completely.
She didn't argue or sneer again; she simply waited for Ōnoki's next words.
"The Land of Fire, Land of Lightning, and Land of Water have convenient transportation and abundant resources, far exceeding the combined total of the Land of Earth and Land of Wind."
"This means that even putting aside the current Tailed Beast crisis, even if some other major threat appears in the future…"
"Resources, support, and even the order of priority in decision-making will favor Kumogakure and Kirigakure."
"Even if we only consider support speed and efficiency, mutual assistance between the Fire, Lightning, and Water nations will be much faster than moving forces across deserts and high mountains."
He fixed his gaze on Chiyo.
"If Sunagakure is satisfied with its current gains and completely abandons its neighbor who's also standing on the edge…"
"Then when a real storm comes—one strong enough to shake the very foundations of the ninja world—who do you think will reach out a hand to you?"
"Do you really expect an ally who's juggling multiple choices and under pressure themselves to always pick the most costly, most irrational option every single time?"
"Chiyo."
—
Afternoon, the third day after the main agenda of the Joint Conference had concluded.
Tsunade had just finished signing off on the budget for expanding the Joint Affairs Bureau. Setting her pen down, she glanced toward the sofa.
Roshi was slumped there with his eyes closed, looking for all the world like he'd fallen asleep.
"You fake sleeping pretty convincingly."
Roshi didn't open his eyes.
"Where's your Wood Clone now? Off fishing again?"
Roshi finally opened his eyes. "Soaking in a hot spring."
"Even without getting in the water myself, I can still feel the comfort of being wrapped in warmth. It makes it very easy to fall asleep."
At that moment, an ANBU's voice sounded from outside the door. "Hokage-sama, Roshi-sama. Jonin Fūga from the Bureau and Jonin Baki from Sunagakure have both requested an audience. They say they have important matters to report in person."
Tsunade and Roshi exchanged a look.
"This setup feels a bit familiar," Tsunade remarked.
"It does," Roshi agreed.
Tsunade approved the request, and the two of them waited.
Fūga and Baki entered one after the other.
"Hokage-sama, Roshi-san. By order of the Tsuchikage, I am here to deliver Iwagakure's formal decision."
"After internal discussions, Iwagakure acknowledges that under the current circumstances—and from the standpoint of joint defense—it is appropriate for our village's Five-Tails Jinchuriki, Han, to serve as commander of the proposed Rapid Reaction Force."
"At the same time, Iwagakure agrees to designate the Land of Forests as its permanent base and operational hub."
Roshi nodded at this, his gaze shifting to Baki.
Under that look, Baki couldn't help feeling uneasy.
"Roshi-san, Hokage-sama," Baki began, his voice a shade lower than usual, "Iwagakure has expressed its willingness to provide necessary technical support and personnel assistance for the engineering projects in the Land of Wind and the Land of Rain."
"After evaluation, Sunagakure believes this will help the progress of the construction and further solidify the cooperative relationship among the three nations."
"Regarding this matter," Baki added, bowing slightly, "I came specifically to report to you and Hokage-sama."
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