Unlike Suna and Kiri, Iwa and Kumo didn''t have any spies in Konoha. As such, they received messages about the attack a few hours after them. As soon as Onoki looked through the scroll, he broke out into a huge laughter.

    Kurotsuchi glanced at her father and looked into his eyes, as if questioning, ''Did Gramps finally go senile?''

    Onoki''s laughter abruptly ended and he screamed in pain, "Ouch! My back! I strained it again!"

    Kitsuchi sighed and helped Onoki out while Kurotsuchi asked, "What is in the scroll, Gramps?"

    Onoki replied, "It''s quite amusing. Take a look."

    Kitsuchi and Kurotsuchi read the scroll and their eyes widened in shock. Kitsuchi muttered, "So, Suna finally betrayed Konoha."

    Kurotsuchi added, "Not just that! They were attacked by the Third Hokage''s student too! Konoha is weird."

    Onoki said, "Now it makes sense. Konoha should have known about Suna''s betrayal and expected the attack. That is why, they hit Kumo preemptively so that Kumo wouldn''t be able to take advantage of their weakness. As expected of Hiruzen and Danzo."

    Kitsuchi nodded and asked, "Should we be taking advantage of the Third Hokage''s state?"

    Onoki snorted, "Take advantage? Did you read the same report as me? They defeated Suna and Oto with minimal casualties. Even though Hiruzen is injured, they still have Jiraiya and Suzuki Fujin. Not to mention, there is no mention of Danzo and Tsunade in these reports. Konoha is still very strong."

    Kurotsuchi asked impatiently, "So, why were you laughing?"

    Onoki explained, "Don''t you see? In a short span, every hidden village has taken heavy casualties. Kiri is continuously taking losses due to their civil war and their condition is worse than what it was at the end of the Third Great Ninja War. Kumogakure lost nearly a thousand elite ninjas and their dignity a few weeks ago.

    And now, Suna not only lost hundreds of elites but also their leader and the only remaining rank S ninja from their younger generation. Even though Konoha''s losses are low, they should still exceed a hundred. More importantly, Hiruzen is an unknown state. If he dies, then that''ll be splendid news, hahaha!"

    Onoki calmed down and continued, "What decides the village that has the upper hand in a Great War is the preparation they do in between the Great Wars. Our progress was derailed quite a bit. The first major blow to us was the nearly 50 Jounins who died under your command, Kitsuchi."

    The memories of that dreadful mission resurfaced as Kitsuchi felt a bit depressed. Onoki continued, "Later, we lost Han along with the Five Tails. I''m still not sure how he went missing and who made a move against him. One of our most promising youngsters went rogue and we lost a huge chunk of our spies and intelligence network.

    As such, our preparation lagged behind quite a bit. Though we were still doing better than Kiri and Suna, we were far behind Konoha and Kumo. However, Kumo''s recent losses far exceed our own. As for Suna, they have been set behind by almost a decade. Their condition might be worse than even Kiri''s.

    And now, Konoha has taken some losses too. Hiruzen being dead or handicapped is a far bigger blow than us losing Han. We finally can rest easy and concentrate on preparing our forces for the war."

    The father-daughter duo were surprised by Onoki''s thinking. Unlike others, Onoki didn''t even entertain any thoughts of taking advantage of Konoha''s momentary vulnerability. On the contrary, he was well aware that the vulnerability was just a facade. Whoever tried to take advantage of it would be burned badly! Instead, he focused on the preparations for the next Great Ninja War!

    Samui''s question forced everyone to think deeply. After all, why would Konoha kill over a hundred allied ninjas? C''s eyes widened as he said, "Maybe they were a sacrifice!"

    Everyone looked at C as he explained, "If so many Oto ninjas hadn''t died, everyone would have suspected Orochimaru and Konoha to be working together. No, it would be extremely clear. However, by killing so many Oto ninjas, others wouldn''t suspect them as much. I guess Konoha wasn''t satisfied with just trapping Suna. They want to trap someone else..."

    C''s eyes were on Ay as he spoke the last sentence. Everyone immediately realized that Konoha may have wanted to use Ay''s recklessness to lure Kumo into a trap as well.

    Ay''s expression became dark as he said, "Of course, they want to inflict even more damage on us. They might even attack Suna to provide us with a fake opening to lure us. Doesn''t matter. We won''t target Konoha. Instead, focus on Orochimaru. That snake dared to desecrate my predecessors! We have the perfect excuse to go after him. Let me see what Konoha does once I kill him!"

    Ay looked at C and asked, "How is the investigation in the Land of Rice going?"

    C replied, "We found a few hidden bases and have calculated several more locations. However, it is very difficult to say which is the base where Orochimaru is hiding. If we attack, it could alert him and he may either escape or lay a trap for us."

    Ay replied, "Of course. Killing him won''t be easy. And, I can''t move around easily due to Akuro. Continue monitoring the situation. We will have to kill him in one attempt."

    C nodded. Unlike Iwa, Kumo didn''t cremate their dead. Suna did the same but in a different way. Instead of cremating their dead, they started laying all sorts of traps within their graveyard to catch Orochimaru if he showed up again. It would soon become a forbidden area for others in Suna and the third-most well-defended location among the elemental countries!

    On the other hand, Kiri had no confidence in defending their dead from Orochimaru in the middle of a war. Both factions made the same decision as Onoki.

    The minor villages were quite shocked by the developments as well. They immediately became worried about the possibility of the start of the next Great Ninja War. Meanwhile, the silhouettes of several terrifying ninjas appeared in a cave!

    ————

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