Upon receiving the letter from Shindai, Third Kazekage immediately dispatched a ninja to summon Ebizō and Chiyo for consultation.
When Ebizō and Chiyo arrived at the Kazekage Building, Chiyo asked, "Third, you summoned us in such a rush. Is there something urgent?"
Third Kazekage handed them the letter from Shindai.
After reading the contents of the letter, both Chiyo and Ebizō became very serious.
Ebizō questioned, "Was this letter sent back by the spy you dispatched to Konoha, Third?"
Third Kazekage nodded. "Correct. What do you two advisors think about this letter?"
Chiyo carefully asked, "Is it possible that this intelligence is false? For instance, maybe your spy heard misinformation. After all, it's unlikely that Iwagakure and Konoha would cooperate."
The Third Kazekage took out another letter and handed it to Chiyo and Ebizō. "This one arrived two days ago—it is from Onoki. He wants to use the seizure of the Magnet Release kekkei genkai bearer by Konoha as a pretext to launch an attack against them.
Onoki hopes we—Sunagakure—will join him. When he attacks Konoha, we must respond promptly, launching a joint assault. To show sincerity, Onoki will provide us with a batch of military supplies.
However, I don't trust that sly old fox, Onoki. I intended to wait until his military supplies arrived in Sunagakure before telling you two about this."
Ebizō picked up the two letters and carefully examined them.
With a serious tone, Ebizō analyzed, "Based solely on these two letters, it's hard to determine which is genuine. However, comparatively, I find the information from our spy more credible.
Firstly, relations between Iwagakure and Kumogakure are poor. Although Onoki covets Konoha's resources, if Hiruzen Sarutobi indeed approached him first and promised benefits, cooperation between them is certainly possible.
If they do collaborate, we—Sunagakure, situated behind them—would become their greatest threat. They'd worry that while they send forces to attack Kumogakure, we might strike their rear.
Therefore, it's highly plausible that they'd try to lure us out and strike a decisive blow to eliminate us from the war altogether."
The Third Kazekage angrily slammed his hand on the table.
That cunning Onoki truly lacked honor—he actually planned to deceive Sunagakure and launch a surprise attack!
Though Sunagakure had previously withheld the Magnet Release kekkei genkai bearer from Iwagakure, since it wasn't discovered, it didn't really count as deceit!
Before the Third Kazekage could speak, Ebizō cut in.
Ebizō continued, "Third Kazekage, I understand you're in a hurry, but let's hold on a moment. This is only a guess for now. After all, it's possible our mole received incorrect intelligence. Maybe Onoki genuinely wants to cooperate with us to attack Konoha."
This sudden shift from Ebizō left the Third Kazekage unsure whether to be angry at Onoki or not.
When it came to combat, the Third Kazekage was undoubtedly an expert.
But when it came to strategy, ten of him couldn't match Ebizō.
Knowing full well his own limits when it came to strategy, the Third Kazekage humbly asked, "Then according to Consultant Ebizō's opinion, what should our Sunagakure do?"
Ebizō fell silent in thought. Chiyo casually sipped her tea. She knew she didn't need to concern herself with such matters—leaving these things to her brother to figure out was perfectly fine since they weren't really her forte anyway.
After a while, Ebizō spoke, "Right now, war hasn't officially begun—we cannot afford to make any mistakes. Therefore, whether Onoki's cooperation proposal is genuine or not, we must not cooperate with him.
"If Onoki wants to send supplies, we accept them all. Let him talk all he wants. After all, he won't dare send ninja squads into the Land of Wind to attack us. That loss will just have to be swallowed by Onoki himself.
"However, we shouldn't let Konoha off the hook so easily either. If our mole's report turns out to be incorrect and Onoki truly does want to cooperate with us, then Konoha would have effectively passed through a crisis unscathed.
"So Third, right now you should draft a letter to Konoha stating that Iwagakure had sought to cooperate with Sunagakure, but we don't wish to break our Alliance Contract with Konoha, and therefore have rejected a batch of promised military supplies from Iwagakure. Then, emphasize the matter regarding Shindai."
The Third immediately understood Ebizō's intentions: "Consultant Ebizō, you mean that we should also extort a batch of military supplies from Konoha, right?"
Ebizō nodded, "Exactly. Because if we were to side with Iwagakure, it would mean catastrophe for Konoha. Thus, Konoha will definitely hand over those supplies willingly. Giving them away to neutralize a potential threat would be a worthwhile deal for Konoha.
"And if Konoha plans to ally with Iwagakure, as long as we don't fall for it, there'll be nothing they can do against us. This issue will simply fizzle out. Moreover, to prevent Konoha from taking action against us once they learn about this, they'll have to give us a portion of military supplies just to keep us quiet.
"Besides, it's a fact that Konoha stole the Magnet Release Kekkei Genkai which we had originally promised to Iwagakure. They already stand on shaky ground morally.
"Therefore, no matter how events play out, Konoha will have no choice but to hand over those supplies."
At this point, Chiyo, who had been silent for a long time, finally spoke, "No matter what Iwagakure's or Konoha's true intentions are, we benefit regardless—and Sunagakure—the Village Hidden in the Sand—remains in a completely safe position. It's a brilliant strategy indeed. Since the war hasn't started yet, if we make a mistake now, we'll lose competitiveness once war actually erupts."
"Third Kazekage," the elder said, "I believe Ebizō's proposal is quite good. You should give it some serious thought."
The Third Kazekage sat in silence, his fingers tapping against the table in deep thought.
Ebizō's suggestion truly was excellent—no matter what schemes Iwagakure or Konoha had planned, Suna would remain unharmed while receiving supplies from both sides, free of charge.
Moreover, the Third Kazekage fully trusted Shindai's intelligence reports.
After all, Shindai had recently reported that he had fully gained Minato Namikaze's trust, and Jiraiya—one of the Sannin—hadn't questioned his identity either. He was now working on gaining Jiraiya's trust as well. The undercover operation was proceeding extremely smoothly.
Therefore, whatever intelligence Shindai had gathered was most likely genuine.
Cunning old fox, Onoki!
Trying to provoke Konoha under the guise of Shindai?
Didn't even bother checking whether Shindai belonged to them—they just spewed nonsense shamelessly!
Immediately, the Third Kazekage drafted a letter and dispatched five Sand ninja to personally deliver it.
Once everything was settled, he let out a deep breath of relief.
Thank goodness Shindai's report arrived just in time. Otherwise, if Iwagakure's military supplies had already been delivered, he might have truly partnered with Onoki and launched a joint attack on Konoha.
If Iwagakure and Konoha had actually cooperated, it would have been far harder to lure them out—and dealing a devastating blow would have turned into a real crisis.
Now more than ever, the Third Kazekage felt that sending Shindai to infiltrate Konoha had been a brilliant move.
All that remained now was to wait for the military supplies from Iwagakure and Konoha to arrive.
There's nothing like getting something for free—it just feels too good to pass up!
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