"Between countries, there is only interest. Our fragile alliance with Iwagakure is probably coming to an end soon. The Third Kazekage has also agreed to a ceasefire with Konoha because, just a few days ago, Ebizo sent a message saying that a Kirigakure secret reconnaissance unit was discovered on the western border."
Chiyo sat upright in her seat, speaking to the Jonin.
What is Kirigakure reconnoitering for? Of course, to scout out places that are relatively wealthy and worth raiding.
After all, the two countries are separated by a vast ocean. Kirigakure would be crazy to think about occupying the Land of Wind's territory.
The western coastline of the Land of Wind has a Mediterranean-like climate, making it a rare habitable area. Although its area only accounts for a portion of the Land of Wind's vast territory, it is one of the most important and wealthiest regions.
"In this case, it is indeed necessary to conduct joint naval exercises with Konoha. Under external pressure, both sides need to end their conflict as soon as possible to deter the Land of Lightning and the Land of Water."
Shimizu pondered silently.
In the past, it was because Konoha was too strong, and Hanzo, this fierce man, put enormous pressure on Sunagakure and Iwagakure. Only by joining forces could they have a chance of winning.
But now, Sunagakure and Konoha, these two military powers, want to cease fighting in the Land of Rain, and Hanzo, as the most important force in the Land of Rain, also wants to cease fighting. Even if Iwagakure doesn't want to stop, they have to.
With Iwagakure's main force still fighting Kirigakure, it would be difficult to defeat Hanzo with just the Five-Tails Jinchuriki and the remaining forces, let alone the other two countries.
Moreover, Sunagakure and Iwagakure have both gained advantages and plundered a lot of wealth and resources from the Land of Rain. If Iwagakure's higher-ups can assess the situation and seize the opportunity, they will naturally know when to stop.
However, Konoha is indeed very anxious. It seems that after some probing, they decisively gave up some benefits that could be given up, only seeking to hold the bottom line. Therefore, Chiyo completed the negotiations with Konoha in just four or five days.
Thus, both sides began to withdraw their troops.
Shimizu was in the first batch of withdrawing troops, but he wasn't returning directly to Sunagakure.
Chiyo assigned Shimizu and others a seemingly easy task and sent Maki a notification of his promotion to Special Jonin before their departure.
After Shimizu and Yekura, Maki finally mastered the Wind Release nature transformation and accumulated enough combat merits to successfully join the ranks of Special Jonin.
However, Yekura has also mastered the Wind Release nature transformation and is starting to seek the combat achievements and merits required for promotion to Jonin, and even investigating materials to prepare for the fusion of the Bloodline Limit in the future.
Currently, besides the One-Tail Jinchuriki, Sunagakure only has two relatively stable ways to produce Kage-level powerhouses: one is the White Secret Technique in puppetry, and the other is the Magnet Release born from the combination of Wind Release and Earth Release.
Yekura is neither a puppeteer nor does she have Earth Release chakra, but she does have the talent to become a Kage-level powerhouse, so she must plan ahead.
If she fuses the Scorch Release in the future and cultivates new Scorch Release ninjas like the Third Kazekage, Sunagakure will have a third path to produce Kage-level powerhouses.
As for Shimizu, with Chiyo's backing, the pressure to be promoted to Jonin isn't too great. He also has the puppetry knowledge inherited from the Monzaemon era that can steadily promote him to Kage-level, making him the one with the clearest future among the three.
Getting back to the main topic, the task Chiyo assigned to them was to lead a team to Roran, representing Sunagakure to discuss the future development direction of Roran with the Queen of Roran.
This is just the superficial statement.
Roran is located at the border of the Land of Wind and the Land of Rivers. It is a large oasis located in the Gobi Desert. Previously, Konoha's sphere of influence expanded to the Land of Rivers. Small countries like Roran are located at the junction of two super ninja powers. In order to protect themselves, they can only be fence-sitters.
Even because Konoha's strength is stronger, they will be more biased towards Konoha and more frequently issue mission requests to Konoha.
But now that Konoha has given up its interests in the Land of Rivers, and the Land of Rivers has become Sunagakure's sphere of influence, Roran is now in a very awkward position.
Shimizu and the others are going to settle accounts with Roran.
If the Queen of Roran is sensible, as long as she is willing to pay a certain price and cooperate well with Sunagakure in the future, it will be easier for both sides.
Subsequently, garrison ninjas from Sunagakure will be stationed in Roran to provide "protection" for Roran, and officials from the Daimyo will come to negotiate with the Queen of Roran and the ministers of Roran.
No error, one first, one issue, one inside, one content, one in, one to see!
If they are not sensible, then Shimizu and the others will have to eliminate all the Queen of Roran's forces in Roran, making the queen unable to do anything and becoming a puppet.
After that, people will be installed to become the new Roran ministers, and then negotiations will be conducted.
The result is the same. The only difference is whether Shimizu and the others have to put in more effort. There is definitely no possibility of failure in this mission.
In general, Shimizu and the others' task is to clear the obstacles for Sunagakure to smoothly take over Roran in the future and turn it into its own sphere of influence.
Because it is a mission involving countries, this mission was rated as S-level, which is equivalent to Chiyo preparing a relatively easy opportunity for Shimizu to earn an S-level mission completion.
This time, Kazekami Chiru is still the leader. This is the rule. The leader ninja of an S-level mission must be at least a Jonin.
Leaving the Land of Rain, the four-person team marched all the way, taking five days to reach Roran at a leisurely pace.
"This is Roran? It looks like there is a lot of construction going on here."
On the streets of Roran, Yekura looked at a large building under construction in the distance and asked curiously.
"The current Queen of Roran should not be a mediocre person."
Kazekami Chiru said, looking at the surrounding scenery.
"Ten years ago, I came here to perform a mission. At that time, Roran was just a small town developed around an oasis, but now it seems to have gradually evolved into a large town. To be able to develop it to this scale at the junction of two major forces, her abilities in both internal affairs management and diplomacy should not be lacking."
