Naruto : The Wind Calamity - Chapter 841

Despite all their experience, rank and status, Arisa and Yura lost composure for a moment. The sight was just too terrifying. Even so, they quickly gathered themselves and hid their feelings. Of course, everyone in the room had already noticed the change in their expression.

Jiraiya thought, 'Not bad. They controlled themselves in under a second.'

Arisa and Yura respectfully greeted, "Lady Tsunade, Lord Jiraiya."

At the same time, Yura analyzed, 'Our fears were true. Tsunade has returned to Konoha too. If we hadn't agreed on a peace agreement, we would have to face Fujin, Jiraiya, Tsunade and Kakashi on the battlefield.

Just Fujin alone gave us countless headaches. The council had no confidence in our famed Desert Guerrilla tactics against his army and our formations were a complete mess as a result of the confusion. If these three had also joined…'

Yura understood how disastrous a war would have been. While there were several other factors, there was no doubt in his heart that Sunagakure would have taken a brutal beating at the start of the war.

Unlike Yura, who thought of the past, Arisa focused on the present. She analyzed, 'Tsunade is sitting on the Hokage's seat. She should be the Fifth Hokage, unless this is some sort of trickery, though I can't think of a reason why Konoha would do that. More importantly, the Third Hokage isn't here!'

There was no doubt in Arisa's mind that this was a power play by Konoha. There was no need to have the Sannins and Fujin in the room otherwise. Just one of the three would suffice.

Arisa concluded, 'The reports from our spies are true. The Third Hokage has made no public appearances since the end of the war. His injuries must be severe!'

Even if he didn't go to the battlefield, Hiruzen's presence inside Konoha was good enough to assure all Konoha ninjas that their loved ones in the village would stay safe, something he proved once again when Orochimaru attacked Konoha. So, if he were severely injured or crippled, Konoha would lose more than just a rank S ninja.

Arisa glanced towards Fujin for a moment before turning her gaze back to Tsunade. She thought, 'No, it won't affect their morale much. Their situation isn't like ours. The Third Hokage's fall coincided with Fujin's sharp rise. As long as he doesn't fall like the Fourth Hokage, Konoha ninjas will revolve around him. Seeing how much power he has been given after our war, this must be Konoha's intention. Perhaps, for all common people and most ninjas, nothing will change. They'll just assume that Fujin stepped into the Third Hokage's role. Of course, that isn't entirely accurate…'

Arisa wasn't a normal ninja, she was a military strategist. She saw things differently as compared to others. For other people, Konoha's top leadership simply changed from Hiruzen, Jiraiya and Tsunade to Tsunade, Jiraiya and Fujin. It didn't affect their daily lives as Konoha maintained the same deterrence level.

However, Arisa knew that Konoha was far deadlier earlier. Just because no one knew how strong Fujin truly was didn't mean that he wasn't that strong. On the contrary, that made him a far bigger threat than even Hiruzen and the Sannins as no strategist could make appropriate plans for him. In addition, Hiruzen's strength hadn't degraded as much as others believed.

Arisa thought, 'These two factors were so big that they messed up all of Orochimaru's calculations and caused him such a heavy defeat. But, now everyone knows how strong Fujin is. And, the Third Hokage's strength will definitely degrade further, though we can't be sure how much. Even though nothing seems to have changed, Konoha lost 2 big hidden cards. They'll have a difficult time replicating such a performance again. That said…'

Arisa felt helpless. While this information was critical, it hadn't come for free. Sunagakure had paid a terrifying price, be it in manpower, economy or political power. They couldn't do anything with this information. Even selling it was pointless as the other hidden villages couldn't do anything either and hence wouldn't be willing to pay a substantial amount for the information.

Arisa thought, 'By the time we or anyone else could do anything, who knows how many new hidden cards Konoha would have developed? Even if they don't, the mere prospect of Fujin maturing over the next 5 years is terrifying!'

Even though the two Sunagakure Council Members thought and analyzed so much, it happened very quickly. Tsunade gained their attention, asking, "I believe you have brought everything as per the agreement. Am I correct?"

Yura immediately replied and handed several storage scrolls. Shikaku had a few Anbu ninjas accept them and check their belongings after leaving the room and entering safe rooms. Needless to say, they used Shadow Clones to avoid any loss of life in case Sunagakure did something as absurd as setting traps in them.

Just one scroll still remained with Yura. He placed it on the desk and said, "This scroll contains 1,000 Wind Crystals, 250 Fire Crystals and 250 Earth Crystals, the price for the information related to Lord Third Kazekage's disappearance."

Shikaku glanced at Fujin, who created a Shadow Clone, which took the scroll and disappeared from the room. A minute later, Fujin received the memories and nodded. Shikaku handed Yura a scroll. He immediately opened it and read it along with Arisa. Their eyes immediately widened in horror.

Arisa muttered in shock, "Sasori did it?"

Others in the room were keenly watching them. Other than Fujin, Shikaku, Jiraiya and Tsunade, no one knew what was in the scroll. While it would be discussed in the council later, they were curious to know. Needless to say, all of them were surprised as well. Homura thought, 'So, it was one of them after all. Yet, they blamed us and started a stupid war…'

Arisa glanced at Fujin and asked, her voice quivering, "Is everything here true? Did he have Lord Third's human puppet that can use Magnet Release?"

Fujin nodded, without entertaining her much. It was very easy for someone like her to understand the importance of this information. Fujin didn't need to emphasize it. Besides, it wasn't like Sunagakure would pay more if he provided a detailed analysis.

Arisa bitterly thought, 'What a bloody mess… There were some murmurs about getting Sasori back and appointing him the next Kazekage. Though it was highly unlikely to make him the Fifth Kazekage, the council would have been willing to pay any price to make him come back to the village…'

Arisa sighed. While Fujin's information had saved them from a huge headache, it created more headaches too. Other than Chiyo, Sasori was the only rank S ninja who grew up in Sunagakure. Until new rank S ninjas rose from the younger generations, Sunagakure wouldn't have an active rank S ninja.

Not to mention, Chiyo's reputation would fall heavily due to her grandson's actions. She'd be unable to help much in restoring their strength if everyone looked at her with suspicion. Worse, there will be distrust among the Sunagakure ranks, especially toward the puppeteers. However, it showed that Sunagakure needed to take the security of their Kage way more seriously.

Arisa said, "Thank you for the information. It is worth the price. Please don't take this as me being impolite, but this is very important for my village. Do you have any hard evidence to prove this?"

Fujin raised an eyebrow and asked, "Do you expect me to provide you with the human puppet of the Third Kazekage? Just find Sasori, and beat him up until he is forced to use this card."

Fujin shrugged. Arisa wasn't surprised by his response. Yet, she sighed and muttered, "Understandable, I apologize. Could you tell us the other 6 rank S ninjas you fought alongside Sasori?"

A smile appeared on Fujin's face as he answered, "Sure if you can afford it. Don't expect a discount this time as I don't think this information is essential for Sunagakure's survival."

Arisa felt awkward while Shikaku shook his head and thought, 'We've already squeezed them all we could. They can't pay any more. A shame, it could have been interesting to watch.'

With Fujin in no mood to do charity, Arisa and Yura could only continue with their task. They handled most of their official duties before being led back by Kakashi to wait until the Anbu were done checking all the remaining scrolls.

In the Hokage office, Tsunade muttered, "They were very cooperative. I didn't think I'd see Sunagakure be so humble."

Jiraiya chuckled, "It just shows how catastrophic their losses were."

Tsunade nodded. Sunagakure's position wasn't something anyone would envy. They were unlikely to be a threat for several years.

Koharu suddenly said, "This is the first time someone made a deal that benefits just a single person instead of the village."

Everyone's attention turned towards Fujin. Shikaku sighed internally, 'Does she need to keep poking him?'

Fujin was surprised as well. He didn't expect to be attacked without any provocation. He glanced back at Koharu and asked, "Really? I need to check our former agreements once. Besides, what do you mean by not benefiting the village? If not for me, you'd have settled for a third of what Sunagakure paid the village today."

The only reason why Sunagakure agreed to such terms was that Fujin marched on their country. Konoha had already benefited a lot due to Fujin, be it from Sunagakure's reparations or Kusagakure's mission. Everyone in the council was aware of this.

Of course, that wasn't enough to make Koharu back down. Her discussion with Danzo had alarmed her way too much. She shook her head and said, "Those two matters are different. Doing what you're now will set a dangerous precedent. It'll be problematic for the village in the future if everyone selfishly just thinks of them instead of the village."

Fujin replied, "The only thing that is dangerous is the inability of some people to focus on the larger picture and compete within our ranks while missing out on more gains for the village. If your vision is so narrow, Elder Koharu, I'd recommend you resign from your seat on the council."

Fujin's words were just as merciless as Koharu's. While Koharu targeted his nature, he targeted her competence. As someone who had been an Elder for so long, Koharu was immediately offended. She icily asked, "What do you mean?"

Fujin ignored her, turned his gaze towards Shikaku and asked, "Do we have any underground means of contacting Kumogakure and Iwagakure?"

Shikaku nodded. They had been created and maintained by Danzo, and they later fell into Shikaku's hands. Fujin said, "Good. Sell them this information. Set the price at minimum 1,000 Elemental Crystals of any element, so that they don't think it's fake."

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