*Raikage Tower*

"Excellent, excellent! This is truly fantastic news!"

The Raikage's advisor roared with laughter, his gradually withering muscles seemingly rejuvenated.

He looked at the emissary from Yuugakure with a warm smile and waved his hand, signaling his subordinates to hand over a stack of reward money and some low-level ninjutsu scrolls.

The Yuugakure emissary expressed his gratitude profusely, repeatedly bowing. His eyes, however, darted nervously towards the Raikage, who seemed to be accumulating anger.

Fearing the Raikage's disapproval, he quickly clutched the hefty stack of reward money and scrolls, disappearing from the sight of the Kumogakure higher-ups.

The moment the outsider left, the Raikage, A, slammed his fist on the table, his voice filled with irritation. "Elder Advisor! What was that all about?!"

Not long ago…

The Yuugakure emissary had arrived at the Raikage Tower and, in front of the Kumogakure leadership, tearfully recounted the numerous atrocities committed by Konoha ninja in Yuugakure.

Accusations such as "establishing temporary bases without payment," "occupying Yuugakure's main roads," "intimidating Yuugakure emissaries and stealing the neutrality fee paid by Kumogakure," and "stealing Iwagakure's Super Lightweight Rock Technique and flying away" were among the complaints.

Even worse, they claimed Konoha had occupied Yuugakure's ninja hospital and demanded that Yuugakure ninja cry more quietly.

According to the Yuugakure emissary's account, Konoha ninja would kick even passing ninken for no reason.

As for how much of the accusations were true and how much was fabricated… A couldn't say for sure. Even his muscle-filled brain sensed something amiss.

Furthermore, the Yuugakure emissary had showered Kumogakure with flattery, emphasizing the notion of "too far from Kumogakure, too close to Konoha," wasting a whole hour of A's muscle-training time.

After all this pointless bureaucratic nonsense, Yuugakure finally revealed its true intentions.

Proposals such as "abandoning neutrality and joining the Great Kumogakure Co-Prosperity Sphere," "fully boycotting Konoha, all glory to Kumogakure," and "jointly establishing a first island chain blockade with Kumogakure to restrict Konoha's development" were presented.

While the emotional appeal resonated with the Raikage's advisory council, given A's straightforward nature, no matter how he looked at the tiny speck that was the Land of Hot Water on the map…

It just didn't seem to fit with notions of "grand alliance," "glory," or "island chain."

During the conversation, A had repeatedly flexed his biceps and lifted his chakra dumbbells, hinting at the Elder Advisor.

He was hinting for the Elder Advisor to quickly dismiss this insignificant Yuugakure representative.

However, the Raikage's chief advisor, the Elder Advisor, seemed oblivious to A's dumbbell show, cheerfully rewarding Yuugakure with one hundred million ryō for village development and numerous low-level ninjutsu scrolls, promising further aid exceeding one billion ryō.

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A's eyes widened in disbelief, almost blurting out, "This old fool is not worth conspiring with."

Fortunately, years of experience allowed him to restrain himself.

Now, it was time for a post-meeting reckoning-

"Elder Advisor! I don't understand!" A pointed towards the departing Yuugakure emissary. "Why did we give money to those Yuugakure ninja? A whole hundred million ryō?!"

"Even Samui, who infiltrated Konoha alone, only received ten million ryō in support. Weren't you always complaining about Kumogakure's tight finances?"

Mabui, who had been silently observing, nodded in agreement upon hearing her close friend's name.

The old-fashioned advisor's actions were simply incomprehensible to them, the younger generation of ninja.

"A, you are still too young!"

"All you do is yell at us elders without thinking, while we, the advisors who tirelessly dedicate ourselves to Kumogakure, have to consider a multitude of factors."

"Your way of thinking is too binary right now. I won't argue with you, but I hope you'll calm down and listen to me."

The Elder Advisor slowly raised a finger, his eyes gleaming with wisdom.

"Remember the ninja headband reform plan I strongly urged you to implement?"

"So what?"

"That was undoubtedly intel from Samui. Konoha ninja will surely implement the new headbands before us."

"But they, who hold the advantage, displayed such a lack of discipline in their recent special operation against Kirigakure. They are no match for our Kumogakure ninja."

"Combined with Samui's report that 'Gojo Kaigetsu is indeed the trash ninja as rumored'… A, what have you learned from this?!"

A's face darkened.

The Elder Advisor's words struck him like a lightning bolt. Although his muscular strength was impeccable, when it came to matters requiring intellect, his muscles were practically useless.

"Sigh, utterly foolish!" The Elder Advisor tapped the table in disappointment. "This indicates that the will of Konoha's leadership cannot reach the lower ranks!"

"Furthermore, it shows that Konoha's current Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, and his advisor, Gojo Kaigetsu, have completely lost the support of the lower-ranking ninjas, the hearts of the people."

"A village with internal discord is undoubtedly on the path to decline."

"The Kage's authority doesn't reach the village, the political structure is unstable, Konoha is on the verge of collapse!"

"Samui's intelligence work has been exceptional. She has perfectly defined Konoha under the rule of Gojo Kaigetsu and the Fourth Hokage."

The Elder Advisor expressed his high praise for Samui's intelligence gathering.

"…Is that so?" A said hesitantly. He vaguely remembered that when the new headbands were first introduced, the reaction of Kumogakure's ninja was so strong it almost seemed like a rebellion, especially among the southern ninjas.

Even in recent days, some Kumogakure ninja were vehemently resisting the new headbands, chanting about "the right to freedom of speech."

Of course, these dissenting voices were ultimately suppressed by A's absolute muscular dominance.

Wasn't that also a sign of internal discord?

However, seeing the confident look on the Elder Advisor's face, A couldn't bring himself to voice his doubts.

Leave the physical to him, and leave the thinking to the village.

A chose to trust, and trust again.

But he still felt somewhat disgruntled, crossing his arms. "Fine, even if that's the case, why waste so many resources aiding Yuugakure?"

"Even Konoha isn't giving them money. Wouldn't it be enough for us to be just slightly better than Konoha?"

"We didn't withhold payment, we didn't occupy their roads, and we didn't intimidate their emissaries with our muscles."

"The money they lost was given by us. They can't even defeat Konoha on their own, and now they're asking us to pay them a land usage fee? What kind of logic is that?"

"In my opinion, there's no need to befriend such a weak village! No matter how much they resist, they can't cause any significant trouble for us."

"The money spent on aiding Yuugakure could have been used to purchase muscle supplements for our own ninja."