Homura, Koharu, Hiromasa and Tsume had strange expressions as they thought about what Inoichi said. Sunagakure never learned what happened with their Third Kazekage. Even though they understood that the Fourth Kazekage was killed by Orochimaru, they didn''t know how that happened either. They just knew the final result.

    On the other hand, Fujin discovered clues about the Third Kazekage''s death while Konoha knew exactly what happened to Rasa thanks to the memories of the Sound Four. They knew how, when and where Rasa had been killed. This was why, there was never a doubt in the hearts of any council members when Sunagakure ninjas claimed that they were fooled by Orochimaru.

    It was unfortunate that they couldn''t use this in the negotiations. Even though they read the memories of some of the Sound Four ninjas, they couldn''t provide any concrete evidence of Sunagakure''s involvement since no one else had a technique to read memories. Sunagakure could simply accuse Konoha of lying and it would be their words against each other.

    So, it wouldn''t give Konoha any substantial upper hand in the negotiations. More importantly, claiming this information would force Konoha to take harsh measures. Otherwise, they would look weak and their decision to make peace would come under question. Hence, this information was never used during the talks.

    Regardless, Inoichi and the rest found this quite amusing. Tsume chuckled and said, "Maybe it would have been a good idea to go with Fujin''s proposal. With their sheer incompetence and tendency to backstab, we can''t count on them."

    Inoichi sighed, "If only they weren''t so difficult to invade..."

    ——

    In Tanzaku town, Naruto and Tsunade had a rematch, as in the original story. Needless to say, the result was no different from their first match. However, there were several changes as compared to the original story.

    Due to Kabuto''s death at the hands of Fujin, Naruto didn''t have a chance to battle him and master the Rasengan in the process. And, since Tsunade had long recovered from her phobia, Naruto didn''t get an opportunity to show how strong his resolve was. As such, the impression he left on her was far from what he did in the original story.

    That said, it wasn''t as if he had no impact on Tsunade. His dream and words made her remember Dan and Nawaki. In addition, she saw how hard he trained to win his bet. As such, he still made a good impression on her. Knowing that her necklace would help him suppress the Nine Tails, she gave it to him despite winning the bet. However, she took his ''Gama-chan'', which held all the money he won in gambling while travelling with Jiraiya.

    They were about to call it a night when Jiraiya received a scroll from one of his toads. His eyes immediately widened, something that didn''t miss the eyes of others. Tsunade asked, "What happened?"

    Jiraiya replied in a grim tone, "Suzuki Fujin is marching his army towards the Land of Wind. We may soon be at war with Sunagakure. The army should have already reached the border of the Land of Wind by now..."

    Even though Shikaku had no way to contact Jiraiya, Jiraiya had his own information network, which was independent of Konoha''s network. However, it couldn''t keep up with the instantaneous nature of the Chakra Transmission Communication devices. In addition, Fujin''s army had moved swiftly and stealthily. As such, Jiraiya received the message when the Konoha army was already withdrawing. Unfortunately, he didn''t know that.

    Tsunade sighed, "A war, once again..."

    Naruto asked in shock, "What does this mean? Why is big brother Fujin attacking Sunagakure? Wasn''t our war over?"

    Jiraiya replied, "I can''t say for sure. When I left, the council was against starting a new war. Perhaps the peace talks collapsed. Or, this could just be a bluff to force Sunagakure to accept our demands. Or something critical may have happened. Irrespective, we need to head to the village immediately to understand what is happening?"

    With neither Jiraiya nor Naruto speaking anything bad about Fujin, Tsunade rushed towards Konoha while being completely in the dark about what she would have to deal with in the future.

    ——

    As Fujin, his army, Jiraiya''s group, the council members and the negotiation team started returning to the village, news began spreading throughout the ninja world. Konoha actively informed their allied village about the new alliance between the two villages. All the minor villages around the Land of Fire breathed a sigh of relief since the next Great Ninja War had been avoided for the time being.

    Even though Kumogakure and Iwagakure had no spies left in the Fire Capital or the surrounding villages, they had several in Sunagakure. Pretty soon, reports arrived on Onoki and Ay''s desks.

    Onoki frowned and cursed, "Those cowards! I knew they were using our talks as leverage to renew their alliance with Konoha."

    Similarly, Ay cursed, "I knew those sand crawlers couldn''t be trusted! The minute we attacked Konoha, they would have turned around and betrayed us!"

    Mabui asked, "What now, Raikage-sama?"

    Ay replied, "I don''t trust that old geezer. Even if I did, attacking Konoha right now is too risky. By forming this alliance instead of taking revenge, Konoha has shown that they aren''t ready for the next Great War yet. We will use this time to rebuild our forces and overcome our recent losses."

    Mabui nodded in agreement. Ay suddenly frowned and said, "Also, assemble the best medical team in the village right now. I will be ripping this skin off my body!"

    ————————————

    A/N : If you can, then please support me on P@treon.

    Link - www.pat /DevilHex

    (No space)

    Alternatively you can support me on UPI (google pay) - patilsarvesh8@oksbi

    Can read up to 50 chapters ahead on P@treon.

    Thank You Caleb, Idrees, HeatingGold, Igor and Nixon for supporting me on P@treon.