Naruto: The Wind Calamity
Chapter 892: What did I do?

"I don't understand. Why did we send a formal complaint to Konoha instead of retaliating? We should make them feel even greater pain than what they inflicted on us!" Onoki's granddaughter asked him in confusion. She couldn't make any sense of the decision made by Iwagakure's council.

Onoki replied, "That would have been the correct course of action, had our enemy been weak or in a difficult position. Besides…"

Kurotsuchi interrupted him, "I know Konoha is strong, but is the difference so high that we can't retaliate against such an outrageous move? Also, isn't Konoha right in the middle of four Great Villages? Even if they're stronger, they can't focus their entire strength on us, can they?"

Kurotsuchi's words displayed some frustration at Onoki's inaction, but her tone also held some curiosity. As someone who aspired for the post of the Fourth Tsuchikage, she wanted to understand what a leader's thought process was. Onoki realized it, which was the reason he didn't lose his temper.

He explained, "It's good to have confidence in our strength, but if you underestimate our enemies, the only one who'll be hurt is us. Just like what happened when we faced the Fourth Hokage in the last war.

Even with me and Roshi, a direct confrontation with Konoha is a lost cause. The only way to confront them is by attacking them on multiple sides and forcing them to divide their forces. Unfortunately, the circumstances aren't in our favor.

It's true Konoha is surrounded on all sides, but the other Great Villages aren't doing as well as us. Kirigakure's civil war just ended. Their forces are too exhausted for another war. Sunagakure is busy rebuilding. They can't make a move for at least 4 more years. Kumogakure is also rebuilding their forces. Whatever excess energy they have is being devoted to hunting Akuro. They can't open a new front against Konoha either. So, we'll be all on our own in a direct confrontation against Konoha."

Kurotsuchi frowned before muttering, "Why are the other villages so useless?"

Onoki chuckled, "Their leadership is too impatient and impulsive. Both Kumo and Suna fell into traps set up by Konoha and suffered heavily."

Kurotsuchi asked, "Even if that's the case, why aren't we retaliating from the shadows? Konoha will never take credit for this attack on our village. Why can't we do something similar? They hit us in the dark, we should do the same to them!"

Onoki answered, "There are two reasons for why that isn't a good idea. Remember, as a leader, you should never act without considering all possibilities. If you act impulsively, you will fall in a trap and face heavy losses."

Kurotsuchi listened attentively as Onoki explained, "The critical factor here is that we aren't 100% sure who attacked us. The young man, who fought Roshi and wreaked havoc in our village, talked and acted like Konoha's Suzuki Fujin. However, his skills were completely different from Fujin's. It is possible someone merely wanted to divert the blame on him.

Similarly, even though the follow up events reminded us of Danzo, we aren't entirely sure it was him. I'm not the only one who knows how Danzo operates. Nearly every higher up knows about it. There is a chance it was someone else replicating his actions to pit Iwa and Konoha against each other.

If that is the case, we'll fall into the trap set by this third party. Perhaps it is one of the other three villages and they want us and Konoha to take some losses to even the playing field. Or perhaps it is an organization like Akatsuki, who may be looking to make a move on Roshi."

Onoki's thorough analysis surprised Kurotsuchi. She hadn't considered most of what he said. Onoki continued, "Even if I assume it is Konoha, there are a few issues. We haven't provoked Konoha and yet they took action against us. This means they're prepared for any possible retaliation we make.

We have only just re-established our intelligence network in the Land of Fire and neighboring countries and still haven't installed a single spy inside Konoha. So, we'll be at a disadvantage in terms of information. Our intelligence network will also become vulnerable. Knowing how Danzo operates, there will be several traps awaiting us no matter how we retaliate.

Since we are at such a disadvantage, why should we bother retaliating? Is there any meaning to retaliating if it hurts us more? That is why we reached this decision. Konoha's response will allow us to better understand the truth behind the attack. And, we can wait and retaliate when we're ready and Konoha is vulnerable. There is no need to be hasty. Sometimes, you have to wait for years before you find the right opportunity. Just make sure to take full advantage of the opportunity when it presents itself."

Kurotsuchi thought for a long while before muttering, "I understand… But, this doesn't feel good."

Onoki sighed, "It doesn't. Unfortunately, that's what a leader must do."

——

While Onoki was educating his granddaughter, Danzo returned to his headquarters with a dark face. His subordinates became slightly worried on seeing his face.

Torune asked, "Danzo-sama, what's the matter?"

Danzo ignored his question, and instead asked, "Why is our intelligence network so slow? Have we received no message from Iwagakure yet?"

Danzo was annoyed. After being in-charge for so many decades, he never assumed he'd be scolded by Hiruzen's student. The fact that he hadn't been involved in the Iwagakure incident was a different matter altogether. Even if he had done what Iwagakure had accused him of doing, he wouldn't have liked to see Tsunade talking to him like she did.

Unfortunately, his situation was quite different as compared to the original story. Due to Fujin's interference, Danzo had been removed from the council, most of his Root subordinates were taken away and Hiruzen kept an eye on him for a long time.

Fu answered, "Forgive me, Danzo-sama, but our network is still incomplete. Even though the surveillance has decreased, we are still watched and our resources are limited. More importantly, we can't receive messages directly due to the Anbu squads who still keep an eye on us. It slows the process down considerably. Also, we received a message from our spy in Iwagakure just after you left. The events are quite shocking."

Danzo frowned. He was aware of the issues, but he could have had a lot more room to discuss if he knew what happened beforehand. Danzo accepted the scroll from Fu and read the report.

After a few minutes, he muttered, "Tsunade was speaking the truth. Onoki didn't lie to her…"

Fu asked, "If I may, Danzo-sama… Did Lady Fifth think you were behind this incident?"

Torune added, "I wouldn't be surprised if she did. Other than the open confrontation, it is eerily similar to how we operate."

Danzo replied, "That is the case. Onoki accused Fujin and me for the incident. Hmph, he's still showing restraint after something so huge happened."

Fu asked, "Should we do something, Danzo-sama?"

Danzo shook his head, "No, there's little doubt Fujin was behind this incident. If I assume he was the one behind the incident in the Land of Wind, then his actions make sense. Regardless, considering how Tsunade behaved, she should be unaware of his plans. I doubt she'll be pleased being kept in the dark of such incidents."

Danzo finally smelled an opportunity. He thought, 'This is an opportunity to drive a wedge between them. This boy… His record may be clean but there's something horribly off about him. I may get a chance to understand him more deeply.'

While Danzo calculated how to take advantage of the situation, Torune recalled his confrontation with Fujin, 'No wonder he spun our short confrontation such that Danzo-sama had to lose his seat on the council. His scheming mindset is as threatening as his strength.'

Fu thought, 'It's a shame someone like him isn't in the Root. He'd fit right in. Danzo-sama missed out by not recruiting him when he was young…'

——

Twelve hours after he received the message and not too long after Sun rose, Fujin appeared outside Konoha's walls, his eyes keenly observing the seal formation imprinted on it as he thought, 'Not bad, they removed the previous flaws already and even implemented some of the changes I recommended. Now then, where's the next weak spot?'

Fujin observed for a while before finding one. Moments later, he entered the village without triggering any alarms.

Tsunade had just begun doing paperwork when she suddenly heard, "What's the emergency? Did we finally find the snake?"

A tick mark appeared on Tsunade's forehead as soon as she heard his voice. She asked, "You have the gall to ask that after what you did?"

Shizune turned her head to see Fujin leaning against the wall. He raised an eyebrow in confusion and asked, "Me? What did I do?"

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