The Third Raikage immediately and secretly informed all the villages that this was Konoha's scheme, meant to divide them and defeat them one by one, and that they must not fall for it.
His analysis was well-reasoned, and the other Kage inwardly agreed with him.
[But so what? We're not the ones who'll suffer first anyway. This is the perfect chance to use Konoha's move against you as an opportunity to test Konoha's attitude, so we can prepare in advance.]
Such a response nearly drove him insane.
Still, clever as he was, he didn't think Konoha would start a war at this time. After all, it had been only half a year since the Second Great Ninja War ended. While Konoha's losses were far less than Suna's, they still needed time to recover.
Moreover, with Tsunade becoming Hokage, Konoha's development was booming. At this moment, starting an external war would be foolish.
After all, Konoha didn't need to imitate Suna's pillaging just to keep the village running.
So he decided to take a risk, using this opportunity to probe Konoha's bottom line and find out what they really intended to do.
---
Three days later, inside the Hokage's office.
"Minato, take Fugaku and Hizashi with you to Kumo. Ask them why they've completely ignored our inquiries."
"If necessary, give them a serious show of force, but don't actually cause an incident."
"Right now, the major hidden villages are eager for us to start a war. It's not impossible that someone is secretly stirring up trouble."
"I understand," Minato said with a scratch of his head and a grin. "Don't you trust me?"
"Leave immediately. On the way, keep a close eye on those two. Don't let them slack off in their training."
"Got it!" Minato vanished from the spot, going off to find his two companions.
Fugaku, like Hizashi, had already been taken in as a student by Shin.
In fact, their master-student relationship had long been established, over the past half year, he had guided them often. So officially accepting them as students was not too abrupt.
"Aren't you going with them?" Tsunade asked worriedly.
"Haha, stop fussing. With Minato's current strength, even the Third Raikage and his son together couldn't do anything to him. Let him run wild, he knows his limits."
"But you, have you decided what kind of compensation you want yet?"
Tsunade shook her head, looking troubled. "I really can't think of anything. Why don't you give it some thought too?"
Right now, Konoha truly lacked nothing.
What other villages were short of, Konoha had in abundance. What other villages had, Konoha had something better.
And in order to keep the arms race going, what Shin and Orochimaru had revealed was only a very small part of their research results.
So he genuinely had no interest in anything the other ninja villages possessed.
But since they wanted Kumo to pay some price, they still had to make some kind of demand.
"Leave the rest to your judgment, I only want one person," Shin said casually. "In fact, this whole fuss I stirred up was for her."
"Her?" Tsunade's expression instantly soured, though she still pretended not to care. "Who is worth you thinking about her so much?"
"What are you thinking?" Shin flicked Tsunade on the forehead irritably.
"You actually hit me for another woman," Tsunade said, clutching her forehead with watery eyes.
Seeing Tsunade's antics, Shin chuckled. "You're the Hokage, can you mind your image a little?"
"I don't care. You must tell me clearly," Tsunade said, grabbing his arm and shaking it insistently, acting spoiled.
Feeling the soft pressure on his arm, Shin could only surrender. He explained, "I want a female scientist named Saraka."
"I've been looking for her in Kumo for the past half year, but it's as if she vanished into thin air. I suspect the Third Raikage recruited her in advance and took her to some unknown location for a secret research project."
"And I'm very interested in that project. If we could get our hands on it, it would push Konoha's strength up several more levels."
"What kind of research?" Tsunade asked, now curious herself.
"It's just hearsay right now, I can't be completely sure. I'll tell you once everything is settled."
"...Fine."
Seeing that Tsunade stopped pressing, Shin sat to the side and began thinking.
Not only did he enjoy doing research himself, but he also liked gathering all sorts of research talent.
In the past half year, he had recruited, or forcibly recruited, over fifteen scientific experts, all of whom were now working under Orochimaru on various projects.
Two months ago, when Shin heard that there was a "madwoman scientist" somewhere in the Land of Lightning, he disguised himself and went to find her. He didn't find the woman, but he did see many chakra-powered machines.
After some inquiries, Shin learned that the inventor was named Saraka, but she had suddenly disappeared months earlier.
Originally, he was ready to drop the matter, after all, if she was missing, what could he do?
But when he heard that Saraka often boasted she had designed an incredibly powerful weapon, one shot capable of destroying an entire country, he immediately thought of one thing:
The Chakra Cannon.
That was the massive weapon the Fourth Raikage would one day use to destroy the moon.
It was ultimately completed only after the Fourth Great Ninja War, when it had little practical use. But if such a weapon had been invented ten years earlier, Kumo might have unified the shinobi world.
The thought made Shin itch with greed, so he set his sights on Kumo, determined to find a way to get Saraka.
---
After traveling at full speed, Minato and his two companions finally arrived outside Kumo.
They claimed to be visiting, but anyone could see they were here to demand answers.
The Third Raikage, naturally, was furious.
Although Minato's fame had already spread far across the shinobi world, the Third Raikage didn't think he had the qualifications to question him.
If Konoha looked down on them, fine, but at least send that guy Shin; that would be giving them some face.
But now, sending a "brat" like Minato? That was naked insult.
And so, Minato and the others stood outside Kumo for two full hours.
During that time, Minato asked the guards several times, and each time the answer was the same: someone had already gone inside to report.
Minato naturally understood what the Third Raikage was doing.
He let them play their little game, because the more excessive they were, the more justified his anger would seem when he finally exploded.
So he wasn't in a hurry. He pulled Fugaku and Hizashi to a clear spot in front of the gate and the three of them leisurely started chatting away.
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Completed at Chapter 278!
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