Chapter 489: 489.Both Bogged Down in Their Own Quagmires

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Ōnoki, and you call yourself Tsuchikage?!

Even Kumogakure can’t bring itself to do such insane things. You have abandoned all pretense of shame!

The more A thought about it, the angrier he became. Damn bounty stations – they single-handedly allowed Iwagakure to recover some breathing room.

As for external opposition?

Who cares?

When everything was over, they could just slowly repay whatever was needed.

He believed that those involved wouldn’t refuse such a proposal. So-called "united opposition" wouldn’t hold.

With sufficient benefits, one could make some abandon their opposition to Iwagakure, then pick them off one by one.

A was furious, but he couldn’t blame Konoha.

After all, Konoha’s actions were also aimed at targeting Iwagakure, trying to ruin their reputation completely.

Who could have expected Ōnoki to fight fire with fire?

Since my Iwagakure’s reputation is already ruined, why bother with it? Just roll up your sleeves and swing the sword.

Damn it, damn it, damn it!!!

"....."

I can’t watch this anymore. What do I do?

Mabui wanted to cover her face and hide. The sight of the Raikage hopping mad and cursing was truly unsightly.

If it were some old geezer or a cursing fishwife, that would be one thing. But the Raikage was a muscular tough guy.

A cursing muscular tough guy – that image was definitely an eyesore.

It wasn’t that Mabui couldn’t handle it. That sight... not many could.

After cursing for a while, his emotions gradually stabilizing, A sat back in his chair and turned to look at Mabui, who stood like a wooden post.

"Mabui, any news from Konoha lately?" 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

"Yes."

Mabui immediately took out a scroll and handed it to A.

"This is a scroll specially sent from Konoha. Uchiha Kazuki told us he planned to destroy Iwagakure’s camp again, fulfilling his duty as an ally. Unfortunately, Iwagakure was prepared. Ōnoki came personally to hold down the border camp, so that plan fell through. Besides this, Konoha’s Uchiha Fugaku and Hyūga Hiashi are holding down the border camp, while Orochimaru, one of the Sannin, is leading the war against Iwagakure. The fighting has been going on for some time."

"Good."

Hearing this, A’s expression improved considerably.

Although Kumogakure had been caught in a bad position this time, Konoha hadn’t intended it. Who could have predicted Ōnoki would abandon all shame?

As an ally, Konoha had been constantly draining Iwagakure’s energy, tying down some of their forces, even forcing Ōnoki to personally rush to the border camp. That was already fulfilling their duty as allies.

At least in this regard, Konoha wasn’t being evasive with Kumogakure.

If Konoha had taken benefits while constantly playing games, Kumogakure couldn’t have done anything about it.

Fortunately, that hadn’t happened.

Even if Konoha hadn’t tied down many of Iwagakure’s forces, at least they had diverted Iwagakure’s attention, making it difficult for them to manage both ends. That was already quite good.

At least A was satisfied with Konoha’s attitude.

It’s not that you, Konoha, take benefits that I mind. It’s if you take benefits while ignoring your duties as an ally.

"Write a letter of thanks to Konoha in my name."

Since Konoha had made their move, he couldn’t pretend not to notice.

At least, the superficial gestures had to be made.

Konoha might not need this letter of thanks.

But the point was, whether they needed it was Konoha’s affair. Whether you had the intent was your problem.

"Understood, Raikage-sama." Mabui indicated she would handle it.

"Damn Ōnoki."

A couldn’t help cursing again. Mabui sighed.

Now that Iwagakure had money, they certainly wouldn’t just sit idle.

Ōnoki used relationships he’d built over the years to buy much-needed supplies at high prices, buying Iwagakure some more time.

Konoha hadn’t yet received Kumogakure’s letter of thanks.

As an ally, Konoha had merely done what they were supposed to. Yet the Raikage planned to send a thank-you letter. A, the roughneck, was anything but rough – in fact, he was quite tactful.

A thank-you letter didn’t require him to write it personally. Sending one wouldn’t cost Kumogakure anything, and it would improve relations. Why not?

Kumogakure’s Raikage couldn’t be happy. Neither could Sunagakure’s Kazekage, one of the main combatants.

Because the snowfall after the New Year had been heavier than expected.

This had both advantages and disadvantages for Sunagakure.

The advantage was that if Sunagakure was struggling, Kirigakure must be having an even harder time.

The disadvantage was that the heavy snow also brought considerable trouble to Sunagakure.

In the Kazekage’s office, Rasa frowned. "So, the oasis restoration needs to be postponed?"

"Yes."

Chiyo was also helpless. According to the original plan, Sunagakure was to gradually begin restoring the oases damaged by Kirigakure.

But before they could even start, a heavy snow, unprecedented for years, fell. The whole world was white. In this kind of weather, restoration was impossible.

Not just the oases – the entire Land of Wind, except for the most arid regions, was covered in snow.

A delay in oasis restoration meant Sunagakure’s grain production would also be affected.

The consequence of reduced grain production was a poor harvest.

Adding insult to injury.

Rasa stood up and walked to the window, looking out at the snow-white village. The worry on his face never faded.

"Furthermore, the severe weather has accelerated our supply consumption."

Although Rasa’s mood was already terrible, and he didn’t want to hear any more bad news, some things, no matter how unpleasant, Chiyo had to say.

"So, we need to find a way to buy even more supplies?"

His mood worsened, but Rasa didn’t blame Chiyo. He didn’t like hearing bad news.

As Kazekage, he had to face it. He couldn’t run away.

"Yes. But we have no money left... even for bartering ores..."

With the war ongoing, who had time to mine?

Even if Rasa could mine, how much could he extract in such a short time? Wartime consumption of supplies was astronomical.

No money, no ores – trying to buy supplies was like dreaming.

Chiyo fell silent. Rasa fell silent too.

After a long while, Chiyo spoke again.

"The Intelligence Division has gathered some information. Due to the village’s heavy losses, many within Kirigakure have begun to express dissatisfaction with Yagura. I think this war won’t drag on much longer – provided the village can hold out until then."

"I’ll find a way."

This intelligence was favorable to Sunagakure. Sunagakure’s consumption was high, but Kirigakure’s would be even more terrifying.

After all, everything they needed had to be transported over vast distances.