Rasa studied the two reports as he calculated, '24 different blood samples. The group had 25 different people. Meaning that except one, everyone got injured. But who stayed uninjured?'
After calculating more, Rasa concluded, 'It isn't someone from my Anbu. Since they didn't contact me again, it is safe that all 12 of them were killed. This implies that the mercenaries had someone very strong hidden in their ranks who could eliminate all 12 Anbu without allowing anyone to escape.'
His eyes fell on the second report as he analyzed further, 'That person could very well be this Hiroshi fellow. Either he was with the mercenaries and lured the Anbu into a trap. Or the more fearsome scenario, that guy killed all Anbu and Mercenaries by himself. But, how strong would he need to be to kill 24 ninjas who were at least at the Chunin level by himself?'
Rasa shook his head and corrected his line of thinking, 'No, he could have caught them off guard by using his disguise. However, even in that case, this person needs to be at the Elite Jounin level.
The 11 traders who came along with him were nowhere to be found. Though Baki hasn't completed his search yet, it should be a hopeless search. Because, if this Hiroshi is at the Elite Jounin level, then the remaining traders could have been his clones… No, his Shadow Clones! Probably the assassins were his clones as well. The person who attacked Sabakuetsu should be him as well.'
Rasa's expression became very ugly as he muttered, "Konoha sent an Elite Jounin to create a mess in my country so brazenly! They want to increase our dependence on them so that we are forced to stay in an alliance with them."
Just like Fujin, Rasa could see the impact of destroying just one of the two Provision Depots in the West. The scenario was just too favorable to Konoha. Unfortunately, he had no proof to give to the Daimyo or the public. However, despite the absence of any proof, he was certain that Konoha was behind it.
Within a day, he sent messages to every Noble in the West who supported him. In addition, he dispatched another 200 ninjas to the Western parts of the country. Fujin had no idea that he would soon be hunted all across the vast deserts!
However, the reinforcements were very far away. Travelling across the desert needed 3 days. During this time, Fujin had eliminated another Noble who supported Rasa completely.
Rasa's mood worsened even further after receiving the news. In a rage, he shouted, "Does Konoha want to go to war?"
He looked at his assistant and commanded, "Call every Council member in the village for an emergency meeting."
The assistant nodded and got to work. Within half an hour, most of the council members arrived. Rasa informed them about the situation and his calculations. Every council member agreed with his calculations.
Rasa stated, "Konoha seems to be hell-bent on making life difficult for us. We have to retaliate."
However, his words caused a wave of silence to spread through the room. After half a minute of silence, one council member commented, "We have no way to retaliate. Since the Uchiha Massacre, Konoha has increased their defenses multiple times. The number of their ninjas moving in the Land of Fire has increased multiple times.
We will have to send either Elite Jounin or a squad of Jounins to be able to achieve something significant. And once they succeed, Konoha will hunt them until they are killed. In addition, they have the Yamanaka clan. Not only will our ninjas be killed, but their memories will also be read. And if Konoha uses that information to convince the Wind Daimyo, then our budget will be restricted even further."
The other council members agreed with him. Rasa also frowned. He had a very low number of Elite Jounins. He didn't want to send them to their deaths. In addition, their deaths would hurt Suna in multiple ways.
Silence spread through the room. The only eligible name they could think of who wasn't already exceeding 50 years in age was Baki. But Baki was helpless in dealing with the situation in the Wind Capital. If he messed up after entering the Land of Fire, they would lose one of their strongest fighters. None of them wanted to risk this.
Finally, one of the Council members suggested, "In my opinion, we should focus on killing the Elite Jounin that has infiltrated our country. If we kill him, Konoha will feel heartache at losing him. After all, the value of an Elite Jounin exceeds more than a hundred Chunins. Especially considering that he is a very good user of Wind Jutsus. No country needs Wind affinity ninjas more than Konoha."
Everyone immediately agreed with him. The meeting ended without deciding on any good plan to hurt Konoha. Rasa sighed in disappointment as he too couldn't think of any good method to retaliate. He just hatefully looked in the West.
Around the same time, Konoha received intel about the recent happenings in the Land of Wind. Hiruzen read the reports with a weird expression and called Shikaku. Shikaku received the scroll from Hiruzen. His expression also became weird.
Hiruzen chuckled and said, "You messed up. You should have defined the mission parameters properly."
Shikaku sighed and muttered, "10 Nobles, 12 family members of Nobles, 4 ninjas and one Food Storage Depot… Does he intend to start a war?"
He let out another sigh and said softly, "What a drag. I told him that it is the Promotion Mission for Anbu Captain. Why is he acting like he wants to become the Anbu Commander?"
Hiruzen let out another chuckle. Shikaku looked at him and said, "This isn't a laughing matter. He has acted so many times that Suna will definitely suspect us. Even if he didn't leave any evidence, they will still want to retaliate."
Hiruzen nodded and said, "Fortify our defenses. Set up traps for any enemy squads who would want to create a mess in our country. In addition, prepare yourself for more such news. After all, he has just reached the Western side of the Land of Wind."
Hiruzen wasn't worried about Suna's retaliation. Instead, he wanted to use the opportunity to kill their elite troops. As long as Suna's strength was kept in check, they wouldn't try to break the alliance openly.
Shikaku sighed and said, "We also need to know what deal Rasa and Wind Daimyo reached. This wasn't what we wanted. If they resolve their differences, then all our efforts would be pointless. Als…"
He suddenly stopped speaking and looked at Hiruzen and asked, "Why do I have to do it?"
Hiruzen had asked him to do a very tedious task in such a smooth manner that he didn't even consider refusing it. However, he had no will to spend a lot of time working on it.
Hiruzen replied, "Because you were the one who messed up."
Shikaku retorted, "You were in the room as well."
Hiruzen nodded and said, "But you were the one to pass the orders."
Both entered into a staring contest. After a minute, Shikaku sighed and got to work. As soon as the door closed, Hiruzen chuckled once again. He looked at the reports once again and thought, 'I should have expected this. But it's alright. Suna was becoming too arrogant. If they aren't reined in, they will soon become more chaotic and break off the alliance. Once that happens, the Fourth Great Ninja War will just be a matter of time.'
Hiruzen got up and looked out of his window at the Stone faces. He let out a sigh as he thought, 'Finally, our strength has recovered. Once I officially promote the current crop of Ninjas to Jounin rank, our numbers will have reached sufficient levels officially. However, we still need a few years of peace for this generation of ninjas to fully mature. Then we can afford to enter another war.'
As he looked at the Stone faces, tiredness could be seen on his face. However, suddenly he squinted his eyes and chakra gathered in them. He noticed someone sneakily moving on the Hokage monuments. But, soon he let out a long sigh and muttered, 'I am getting too old for this shit. I should have dumped this kid on his perverted Godfather.'
The entire village suddenly noticed that the Hokage Monuments were painted and made to look hilarious. Soon, Iruka noticed it as well and began chasing after Naruto.
While Konoha was peaceful and joyous, the situation in the Western territories of the Land of Wind was heating up!
148 Sunagakure ninjas arrived in the city of Sabakuetsu. Manabu, Yura and two more ninjas met up with Hitoshi who told them every detail regarding their short clash with Fujin.
Manabu analyzed and said, "Kazekage-sama's analysis seems to be on point. This is most likely the same guy."
Odaka added, "An Elite Jounin from Konoha. We have to catch him and give him the most painful death imaginable. But…"
He scratched his chin and asked, "How do we find him in these vast deserts?"
Yura looked at Odaka and replied, "He seems to be targeting the Nobles that favor our village. We just have to study his movements and discover his next target. Then we can set up an ambush for him."
Odaka looked at Yura carefully. Odaka was one of the few Elite Jounins in Suna and a Council Member as well. He was quite senior as well. Along with Manabu, he was one of the two leaders of the Suna ninjas that arrived in Sabakuetsu. He said, "Good good. You are good, Yura. It's good to see promising ninjas in the next generation."
The last member of their group was an Anbu Captain who was assigned as the leader of the 20 Anbu ninjas. He was wearing an Eagle mask. He said, "Let's lay down a map and analyze his movements. We also need to analyze his abilities. Then we can set a trap."
The group nodded and entered Hitoshi's office.
