— — — — — — —
To the Raikage, even if Onoki and the Iwa-nin had been caught in a deadly predicament by Konoha, it still didn't make sense for them to make such an extreme choice.
The established system of one nation, one ninja village had now been completely shattered.
This was an outright surrender of the entire village!
With this, Iwagakure would cease to exist.
More importantly, this set a very dangerous model.
"It's probably due to the ripple effects caused by Uchiha Madara's recent escape from Konoha," Mabui analyzed.
Raikage frowned. "That's likely part of it, but I feel like there's another key factor we haven't considered."
"The real question is—how should we respond to Konoha?"
"Judging from the current situation, Konoha seems determined to unify the entire ninja world!"
"Otherwise, why else would they spend years strategically manipulating the economy, trying to seize control over the financial backbone of the Ninja world?"
"And now, with Iwagakure willingly merging into Konoha, their ambition and intent couldn't be more obvious!"
"What should Kumogakure do next?"
This dilemma was troubling him greatly.
From everything they had gathered, Konoha's strength had already far surpassed what any of them could compete with.
If they were to go to war with Konoha now, there was absolutely no chance of victory.
"I believe our only option is to secretly contact Sunagakure and Kirigakure. We need to join forces to counter Konoha and find a way to defeat them," Mabui suggested.
The alternative was to surrender to Konoha just like Iwagakure had.
But she knew very well—the Raikage would never make such a choice.
Kumogakure had always been aggressive, constantly seeking to expand its power across the ninja world.
There was no way they would allow themselves to be swallowed instead.
"Hmm! Looks like that's our best course of action," the Raikage nodded in agreement. "Additionally, we need to reach out to the Daimyos of the major nations."
"I refuse to believe they would willingly sit back and let Konoha unify the entire ninja world."
"Even if Iwagakure has surrendered, there's no way the Earth Daimyo or even the Fire Daimyo would be happy about this."
Because this meant Konoha's power was spiraling out of control.
Eventually, it would threaten the Daimyos' own authority.
Mabui's eyes lit up slightly. "As expected of the Raikage-sama. Your foresight is truly impeccable."
"I'll arrange for our envoys to be dispatched immediately."
"Good. Do it," Raikage confirmed with a nod.
— — —
Meanwhile, elsewhere, Kaito had no idea about the Raikage's moves—or perhaps even if he did, he wouldn't care.
Because in his eyes, whatever the Raikage did was ultimately useless.
Against absolute power, all these political maneuvers were meaningless.
With the influence of the people Kaito had stationed, and with Onoki's cooperation, Iwagakure was being rapidly restructured and integrated into Konoha.
The Earth Daimyo, of course, had already heard the news.
But unlike what the Raikage and others expected, the Earth Daimyo was not opposed to it—in fact, he strongly supported it.
This wasn't just because Kaito and his allies had spent years quietly binding the major Daimyos with economic benefits.
It was also due to the irresistible allure of the Life Extension Pills and other medical advancements.
For the Daimyos, exchanging political power for a longer and healthier life was a fair trade.
Of course, there was also a degree of coercion involved.
The reality was simple—Kaito was overwhelmingly dominant.
No matter how much they resisted, there was no hope of victory.
On the contrary, if they couldn't win, then joining Konoha was the smarter choice.
After all, if it meant gaining something better, why not?
As long as they could live longer and enjoy life, nothing else mattered.
And as for the power their descendants might lose in the future? Such concerns aren't even on the minds of the current daimyo.
In fact, the high-ranking nobles of various nations had already been won over by Konoha using the same methods.
Kaito had worked tirelessly over the years to ensure that the unification of the ninja world would be as smooth and peaceful as possible.
So when the Raikage's envoy finally met with the Earth Daimyo to warn him about Konoha's ambitions to absorb Iwagakure and unify the ninja world, the Daimyo remained completely calm.
He wasn't angry in the slightest. Instead, he simply smiled and said, "I know all about that. So? What else do you want to tell me?"
"Uh…"
Darui was momentarily stunned. He looked confused and asked, "Daimyo-sama, aren't you angry?"
"Iwagakure has always been the Land of Earth's main defense against Konoha and other villages. Without Iwagakure, we'd be completely defenseless!"
"It's obvious that Konoha will continue swallowing other nations next."
"When that happens, you'll lose all your authority in the Land of Earth. Does that not concern you?"
He couldn't understand the Daimyo's attitude at all.
There was no way the Earth Daimyo didn't realize these consequences.
An idiot wouldn't have been able to hold onto his position for so long.
So why was he acting so oblivious?
"Heh."
The Earth Daimyo waved his fan and chuckled mockingly. "I already told you—I know all of this, but I don't care. In fact, I want Iwagakure and the Land of Earth to merge into Konoha and the Land of Fire."
"If you came here just to say all this, then you can leave now."
Was it that he didn't want to resist?
No, he couldn't resist.
More than that, he couldn't ignore the temptation Konoha had placed in front of him.
He was old. Realistically speaking, he only had a few years left to live.
But Konoha's Life Extension Pills and medical treatments gave him new hope—hope he wasn't willing to pass up.
Yes, he would lose most of his political power as Daimyo.
But Konoha had promised him something better—he would get to keep all of his personal wealth, aside from the land itself.
Even better, Konoha had guaranteed him a suitable position in their new system of governance, along with a hereditary noble title for his family.
For him, that was more than enough.
"Why? What exactly did Konoha offer you to make you agree to this?"
Darui asked, his face filled with shock and despair.
This answer was completely unexpected.
The implications behind it were massive—so massive that it was enough to make Kumogakure despair.
The Daimyo shook his head and said, "That's something I can't tell you. But if you really want to know, just ask Konoha directly. I'm sure they won't mind telling you."
"Or better yet, go ask your own Daimyo in the Land of Lightning."
"I imagine you didn't just send people to me—you must've also sent envoys to the other Daimyos, right?"
"Too bad! It's useless. The other Daimyos have already been bought by Konoha as well!"
"If the Hokage weren't trying to unify the ninja world with minimal bloodshed, Konoha would have already taken over everything by now."
"So go back! Take this message to your Raikage—making the right decision sooner rather than later is the key to survival."
"The choice you think was foolish—the Tsuchikage's surrender—was actually the smartest decision of all."
"Hahaha!"
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