Chapter 196: Embers of War

Land of Wind

In the Kazekage office, an older woman sat inside, with her looking over the reports over the current situation in the Shinobi World.

The woman was none other than Chiyo, the Puppet Mistress, with her being forced to take the Kazekage position due to them lacking a viable alternative during the years prior.

Even now, years later, she had yet to see a proper candidate to take the place, with the current prospects being the 15-year-old Pakura and Rasa, both who possessed Jonin level strength at their young age.

But, with the years that had passed, so had her strength increased due to her drive to improve after the humbling loss to Tsunade years prior.

Even now, after mastering the other arts of Suna, notably Wind Relase and the use of the Fan, to the highest degree, she still felt herself respecting the young girl who defeated her.

It was for that reason that seeing the dire straits that Konoha was in, she decided to mobilize their troops in the hopes that they could take the Land of Birds from them, a land that was subsidiary to the Land of Earth that provided them great resources.

And with them focused on Konoha, the opportunity was perfect.

However, with the possibility that they could gain benefits by entering into an alliance with Konoha, she had held off on sending her armies out. 

"Tiger. Send this message to Konoha as soon as possible. I just hope that Old Monkey knows where to place his priorities." Chiyo said as she closed her eyes, feeling that this was best move for the benefit of Suna.

'I hope this war doesn't take too long. I'd hate to be gone from Sasori that long.' Chiyo thought, with her family being one of the few things that could break her out of her negative feelings.

~

Inside the Raikage's office, Asuka stood seething with rage, with the Raikage sitting opposite of her and looking at her calmly.

"There is no possible way that the Eight Tails escaped. Their relationship was that of equals, not of a prison and prisoner. Konoha was involved in this. How are we going to respond?" Asuka asked.

Asuka had honestly been growing angry at her leader, especially with his seemingly lack of care towards her fellow Jinchuriki.

"Don't tell me that you plan to change our plans at the last minute!! With the economy suffering, our only option is war!! And I refuse to let B's death be in vain." Asuka said sternly.

However, her words merely made the calm facade of A snap, with his chakra enveloping her, making her feel as if she was in the presence of something greater than even her Tailed Beast.

"Do you think I don't care about my partner? B was just as close to me as he was you. I am just as infuriated. But marching into war without a proper plan would be throwing away all the lives that believe in me. You should not let your emotions cloud your logical thinking any further. You of all people should be aware of the dangers that we will face very soon." A stated with an eerie calm that seemed wrong with his expression showing her displeasure.

Even Asuka, for all her power, was afraid of the power that A wields, as even she didn't know how many lives she would lose in the attempt to face him, with him likely able to kill her all nine times.

The Raikage held absolute power in the Land of Lightning, that much was obvious.

"And don't mistake it. B shall not go unavenged for long." A said, his words finally losing the calm edge, instead, being filled with a seemingly endless amount of malice.

Those words were all that Asuka needed for her to show a grin reminiscent of a Chesire Cat.

She quickly left to began mobilizing the troops, with them planning to set out for the Land of Hot Water in mere hours, with the Third Raikage leading the charge.

~

On the raging seas, a large plethora of ships sailed towards the former Uzumaki Village homeland, with them knowing that an army of Konoha Shinobi would be meeting them upon their arrival.

The Third Mizukage sat with his eyes close, with his sensory prowess allowing him to detect when the enemy Shinobi would arrive.

However, on the sole moment that he opened his eyes while staring at the vast sea, one could see a Sharingan faintly in his pupil.

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[AN: So, I just heard a theory that stated that while Hashirama died due to an illness, it was because he didn't disinfected his wounds after the battles and they simply healed over them, letting the bacteria and germs enter his bloodstream. Do you think it makes sense? It kinda does to me.]