Fugaku has gone mad; he's going to create a new Uchiha clan in Kirigakure.

At dawn, sunlight pierced through the clouds and shone on the Hidden Cloud Village atop the mountain.

Raikage's office.

"Fourth Boss, here's today's intelligence."

Mabuyi, the secretary and advisor, gently placed a meticulously organized stack of documents in front of Ai.

What would you like for breakfast today?

Ai's brows furrowed habitually as her gaze swept over the document cover.

"I don't have much of an appetite, so I'll have ten pounds of steamed potatoes, ten pounds of boiled lean meat, and a liter of protein powder drink."

"Yes."

Mabui nodded expressionlessly, showing no reaction to the darkly humorous amount of food consumed. This was not a joke from his own shadow; this enormous body was burning massive amounts of energy every moment, and based on his usual intake, he really didn't have much of an appetite today.

She clearly relayed the order to the kitchen via the internal radio, then stood respectfully to the side...

...

Shasha~

Shasha~

Food price fluctuations...

Coal Reserves Report...

List of medicinal herbs to be purchased…

A series of reports on people's livelihoods flashed before his eyes without him pausing. He had never paid much attention to these trivial government data.

He only cares about the results, whether the village is stable and whether there are enough supplies.

In his view, if you have the ability to feed the whole village and still make a profit, that's your skill. But if you let the villagers go hungry, then sorry, find the person in charge, kill him, and replace him with a new one. It's direct, effective, and very much in line with the Hidden Clouds.

"A mysterious organization suspected of possessing the Rinnegan, originating from Amegakure..."

Ai's fingers stopped, and a low murmur echoed in the quiet office.

His gaze was fixed on this intelligence report: the earth-shattering battle that broke out between Uchiha Fugaku and the Rinnegan user who called himself "God" at the ruins of Uzushiogakure. Their Kumogakure intelligence department had already repeatedly examined the traces at the scene, and the conclusion was that it was true.

The enormous mark, with its effect of annihilating everything like dust, undoubtedly indicated that the owner of the Rinnegan was a true "calamity" level powerhouse.

The last time a powerhouse of this caliber appeared in the ninja world was during the era of Hashirama Senju!

However, at that time, the Cloud Hidden Sect was not to be trifled with either.

With the two pseudo-Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, Kinkaku and Ginkaku, who possess the bloodline of the Six Paths Clan, plus the five Six Paths Treasures passed down from the era of the Sage of Six Paths, if they really fought, Kumogakure might not be without a fighting chance!

In his heart, he always believed that the reason why the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, was willing to actively distribute the Tailed Beasts and maintain the balance of the Tailed Beasts must have been because the Hidden Cloud Village possessed five Six Paths Treasures.

Although Hashirama Senju's Wood Release is powerful, my five treasures from Kumogakure are no less effective!

But the thought of Golden Horn and Silver Horn made Ai's mood darken again.

Since those two bastards launched their rebellion, they have not only caused huge losses to Yunyin, but also lost four of the five divine artifacts!

Now only one "amber vase" remains in the village.

Although this thing is powerful enough to seal even the Eight-Tails, its conditions for use are too harsh, making it a typical "first-time killer".

Once the intelligence is leaked, as long as the opponent remains silent, this thing is just a bulky, oversized clay pot.

Just like his father, the Third Raikage, the reason why he fought the rampaging Eight-Tails for three days and three nights was because the Eight-Tails, Gyūki, learned its lesson after being tricked by the Amber Purifying Bottle once. As long as it kept its mouth shut and didn't respond, the Purifying Bottle was useless.

In fact, during this period, most of the Cloud Village's intelligence forces, like sharks smelling blood, were frantically digging for all information about the Akatsuki organization...

His gaze continued downwards, and then a surge of anger suddenly rose within him.

"Damn it, Onoki!"

A roar like thunder exploded in the office. Fourth Generation Ai slammed his hand on the table, the heavy solid wood surface groaning under the weight.

He stood up, his burly body casting a large shadow, and a torrent of vulgar yet distinctively Cloud Village swear words poured out like a machine gun, his speech so fast it sounded like he was singing some kind of war song.

"That old bastard! That troublemaker! He practically raised the Akatsuki to be so fat!"

The intelligence report clearly states that the village of Iwagakure, led by the Third Tsuchikage Onoki, is the one that has the most frequent transactions with the Akatsuki organization and uses them to carry out various gray and black missions!

Mabuyi, standing to the side, kept her eyes downcast and remained silent.

She knew her husband's fiery temper and understood his anger.

But she knew even more clearly that this matter couldn't be entirely blamed on Onoki.

The root cause can be traced back to the Third Shinobi World War, the extremely brutal battle between Kumogakure and Iwagakure.

His own Third Raikage, in order to protect the retreat of the main force of Kumogakure, chose to cover the rear alone (Note 1, author's note), and fought against tens of thousands of Iwagakure troops for three days and three nights, eventually dying from exhaustion.

In that battle, Kumogakure lost its strongest Kage, but Iwagakure paid a heavy price as well. An entire generation of elite ninjas was almost wiped out, resulting in a talent gap. Ōnoki later had to rely heavily on external mercenaries like Akatsuki to carry out high-difficulty missions and maintain the village's operation and influence, which was, to some extent, a helpless move.

Ai cursed for two or three minutes before sitting down again, panting heavily. His chest heaved violently. He grabbed the huge water glass next to him, gulped down half a glass of water, and then continued to look through the intelligence.

Regarding the Akatsuki organization, although there is still no concrete evidence to trace, if such power could be used without any restrictions, they would have already dominated the ninja world. Why would they need to hide? They must have weaknesses or limitations. At least for now, there is no need to worry too much.

...

"Fugaku Uchiha indulged in nightly revelry, marrying Mei Terumi, Konan of the Akatsuki, and the mother of the Hozuki clan leader in succession..."

"Boring, a waste of life, a waste of time."

He wasn't envious of Fugaku Uchiha's "good fortune with women." In fact, he wasn't very interested in women. For him, marriage and having children were more about his responsibility as the Raikage and the need to carry on the family line. In his mind, having children was nothing compared to the pleasure and reality of lifting weights, training, and building up his body. He preferred the "boss is awesome" of the ninjas in the gym to the screams of women!

His gaze continued to sweep across the area, then suddenly stopped again.

"The Fifth Hokage of Konoha, Tsunade, left Konoha Village for... the capital of the Land of Fire..."

Ai raised her head.

"Can this information be confirmed?"

"Yes, Fourth Hokage. Based on repeated confirmations from our intelligence agents within the Land of Fire, we can be 100% certain that the Xuanyuan Clan was involved in a fight in the capital of the Land of Fire, which affected the Daimyo's residence. As the Hokage, it is only reasonable for him to personally handle this matter and appease the Daimyo."

She paused slightly, then asked with some confusion.

"What's wrong, Fourth Hokage? Is there anything special about this information?"

Ai didn't answer immediately. He leaned back in his chair, crossed his thick arms over his chest, and his eyes became deep, as if he were lost in memories.

"I remembered something. In the 54th year of the Hidden Cloud Village, when we were carrying out the plan to 'collect the secret techniques of the outer villages' again, we encountered the 'Xuanyuan Clan' on the border of the Land of Hot Water."

"I, along with several of my trusted subordinates, were all struck by the strange explosive force of the Xuanyuan Clan. Fortunately, we encountered Tsunade, who was traveling in the ninja world at the time, and she healed us. No, that's not quite accurate."

"To be precise, it was Tsunade's little follower named Shizune who removed and cured the worms for us. Tsunade herself said she was too lazy to do such a minor surgery."

"However, I discovered something."

"What?"

"She is afraid of blood (Note 2)."

"Huh? Really? Those are... the legendary Sannin."

Mabuyi's face showed disbelief.

"I wasn't very sure at the time."

Ai spoke slowly, her fingers tapping lightly on the armrest.

"But later, after repeatedly recalling every detail of that time, I can confirm that she was afraid of blood! At that time, in order to get her to treat my confidant, I deliberately caused trouble for her. Given her fiery temper, she should have fought me directly, but instead, she challenged me to an arm wrestling match, and as a result, she lost to me by one move."

"That's one point."

"Secondly, the surgery was performed in a semi-open space. Logically, a closed room would be safer."

"Thirdly, when her henchman cut open one of my confidants to extract the worm, the smell of blood filled the room. Tsunade's body visibly tensed for a moment. She thought she was hiding it well, but in this world, few can match my understanding of the human body and muscle reactions!"

"Furthermore, considering that she hardly ever went to the front lines from the later stages of the Second Shinobi World War to the Third Shinobi World War, it can be basically concluded that she developed hemophobia due to certain events, and it was quite severe."

"this..."

Mabuyi seemed to be deep in thought.

"During the Second Shinobi World War, her younger brother, Senju Nawaki, was brutally murdered with his internal organs ripped out, and her lover, Kato Dan, also died a gruesome death..."

"That matches up!"

Ai slowly grinned, revealing a smile that was almost ferocious and full of ambition.

"Mabui, what do you think our chances of successfully capturing Tsunade if we, the Hidden Cloud Village, launch a surprise attack on the Land of Fire's capital?"

"Huh? Fourth Hokage, what are you going to do?"

Ai stood up and strode to the huge map of the ninja world hanging on the office wall. He stretched out his thick finger and pointed heavily at the largest and most colorful area in the center of the map, the Land of Fire.

"The Land of Fire is a vast and fertile plain, the most fertile land in the ninja world, richest in resources, with favorable weather and abundant produce. So even after two Shinobi World Wars, Konoha is always the one that recovers its strength the fastest! They even have some kind of ridiculous nickname, what was it again?"

"A cradle of geniuses."

"snort!"

Ai Leng snorted, but ultimately he was convinced that he and his brother had fought to a draw against one of their shadows.

"But right now, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!"

"The once mighty 'King Kong' Hiruzen Sarutobi is now old and frail, the 'Yellow Flash' Minato Namikaze and his wife died long ago on the night of the Nine-Tails' attack, the Nine-Tails' Jinchuriki is still a child who hasn't grown up, Orochimaru has defected, Tsunade has a fear of blood, and the entire Uchiha clan has betrayed us! In this vast Konoha, the only top-tier fighter we can boast of now is Jiraiya!"

Ai's fist slowly clenched, and his knuckles cracked.

"So, Mabui, as long as we capture Tsunade! With her status as the direct granddaughter of the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, and the Fifth Hokage, there are so many things we can do!"

"To put it simply, even if it's just about money! Those two half-dead old advisors from Konoha are worth two billion ryo! A living, intact Fifth Hokage—I'd ask Konoha for a ransom of 20 billion ryo. That's not too much, is it?"

"not much..."

Mabui hesitated for a moment, then nodded. Tsunade's position was too unique; Konoha had no choice but to replace her.

"On a larger scale..."

A hint of ruthlessness flashed in Ai's eyes.

"They paid the ransom, I took the money, and then I killed Tsunade! At the same time, I immediately launched an attack on Konoha, and they will inevitably be thrown into chaos! Although she was kind to me in the past, there's nothing I can do; Konoha is too powerful, and, most importantly!"

"Konoha, situated in a land of constant warfare, is naturally fearless when it is powerful. However, once it exposes a fatal weakness, the other ninja villages—Iwagakure, Sunagakure, and Kirigakure—will pounce on it like hungry wolves smelling blood, tearing apart this huge lump of fat that is Konoha, without us even needing to coordinate beforehand!"

"But, Fourth Hokage, if we did that, our reputation as the Hidden Cloud Village for 'taking money and killing hostages, and breaking promises' would be completely ruined..."

"Heh heh, I am a barbarian."

"..."

Mabuyi sighed helplessly.

"Even if you don't care about your reputation, how do you plan to get to the capital of the Land of Fire? It's far from the border and deep in the heart of the Land of Fire. It should be one of the most heavily protected places in the entire Konoha defense system."

"That's your problem. You're the secretary and advisor, why are you asking me?"

"???"

---Divider line

Hidden Cloud Village, Staff Room.

"That's how it is, Lord Tsuchidai."

Mabuyi rubbed her slightly throbbing temples and poured out her grievances to the old man sitting opposite her.

"You're an advisor to both generations of shadow puppeteers, could you please try and persuade the Fourth Shadow Puppet?"

Tutai didn't speak, but quietly looked at the intelligence in his hand with his one eye. After a long while, he raised his head and looked at Mabuyi.

"Mabui, a few days ago, didn't our Kumogakure clash with Konoha's 'Root' near the border of the Land of Rice Fields?"

Mabuyi paused for a moment, then nodded.

"Yes, Lord Tsuchidai, that was when the Uchiha clan defected. In order to try to make contact with the defecting Uchiha clan and obtain the Sharingan or related information, the Fourth Hokage secretly dispatched [Nozomi] to lead an elite squad to the Land of Rice Fields."

"As a result, we unexpectedly encountered Konoha's 'Root' ninjas who were also active in the vicinity, and a fierce conflict broke out. We lost many skilled members, and [Xi] was also seriously injured. In the end, the mission failed... I understand!"

Mabuyi's eyes lit up.

"Are you trying to use this issue to negotiate with Konoha?"

The earthen platform slowly nodded.

"But that's only one aspect."

"What do you mean...?"

"Reputation is sometimes very important. The Fourth Hokage was just saying that. We subordinates can't really let Kumogakure become known as barbarians. So, even if we have to take action against Tsunade, we still need an excuse."

As he spoke, Tu Tai's gaze returned to the intelligence documents in his hand. His fingers moved across the paper, finally stopping at an unremarkable accompanying briefing, which contained a long-range surveillance photograph.

The photo shows a group of teenagers, both boys and girls, chatting and laughing. Among them is a girl wearing white clothes, whose eyes, in the sunlight, are like jade (Note 3).