No plan can keep pace with change.

“Request Tsunade to treat the Fourth Raikage?”

Neither Killer Bee nor the entire upper echelon of the Hidden Cloud Village entertained such an idea.

Two great ninja villages were at war. One of the Legendary Sannin of Konoha, Orochimaru, had wounded the enemy, yet another Sannin was supposed to go and treat him?

Just thinking about it revealed how absurd and unbelievable such a notion was. How wise would one have to be to believe such a thing could actually happen?

This was nothing more than Orochimaru’s fabricated excuse, a flimsy pretext to justify his departure from the village. Even Jiraiya had been convinced only because the supposed consequences of Tsunade’s “hemophobia” were exaggerated, stirring needless worry and anxiety.

Moreover, the Fourth Raikage’s injury was not a fatal or incurable condition. It was merely a kidney wound that required time to heal, hardly justifying the risk of involving Tsunade in his treatment and potentially complicating matters.

Compared to healing the Fourth Raikage’s wound, the Hidden Cloud Village had far more urgent matters to address—namely, the looming threat of war from the Hidden Stone Village.

From the outset, the Hidden Cloud Village had anticipated that the Raikage’s injury could not be kept secret.

This was because Konoha had no reason to conceal the truth.

Even though Konoha had suffered great losses during the Nine-Tails’ rampage and had little appetite for offense, it would welcome seeing other villages tear into the Hidden Cloud.

Therefore, exaggerating the severity of the Fourth Raikage’s injury and reinforcing the border defenses toward the Land of Lightning to counter the Hidden Stone Village’s pressure was standard procedure.

If left unchecked, the Hidden Cloud Village would be caught in a pincer movement between Konoha and the Hidden Stone Village. In the worst case, the Land of Lightning itself could become the battleground, turning the tables on the original plan to have Konoha face assaults from all the ninja villages.

Such an outcome would be a costly blunder.

The Hidden Cloud Village accepted the situation but refused to accept such a future.

The Fourth Raikage’s recovery would take considerable time, ruining their ruse of feigned strength and endurance. The brothers convened and decided: if war was inevitable, then so be it.

They would strike swiftly, just as Konoha had done before—baiting the Hidden Stone Village into attacking and then concentrating their forces to deal a crushing blow.

Killer Bee convinced the Eight-Tails to part with a tentacle and, under the pretense of requesting medical aid from Tsunade in Konoha, made a show of their presence before other villages.

“If my suspicions are correct, you Hidden Cloud have abandoned the defense along the border with the Land of Fire.”

Orochimaru licked his lips, a mocking smile playing across his face. “Quite bold. You must have judged those old fools to be hesitant and cautious, unwilling to launch a full-scale offensive.”

Despite his words, Orochimaru had to admit that the Hidden Cloud’s strategy held a strong chance of success. Even knowing the Land of Lightning’s defenses were lax, neither Konohamaru nor Mizuto Monen would necessarily dare launch a decisive strike.

People grow more conservative with age, clinging to their small patches of land, caring little for profit or loss as long as they don’t suffer setbacks.

Sitting on the sidelines and watching the Hidden Cloud deal a harsh blow to the Hidden Stone Village perfectly suited the tastes of those two old men.

The same applied to the elders.

The once mighty shinobi had aged, which was why they had abdicated in favor of electing the Fourth Hokage.

Though the Fourth Raikage of the Hidden Cloud looked older and was only seven or eight years younger than them, he was truly from the generation of Minato and his peers, still brimming with spirit and youthful vigor… or so it seemed.

“Tsk tsk…” Orochimaru cast a sidelong glance at Killer Bee. “The strategy is indeed clever, but your execution leaves much to be desired—too many oversights.”

Caught off guard by the exposure of the village’s setup, Killer Bee’s heart skipped a beat. Hearing such ridicule, even his own stoic demeanor cracked into a faint wry smile.

Plans seldom survive contact with reality.

He had intended to confront Tsunade in the Land of Sound, reveal his position, then retreat, but never expected that as soon as he left the Land of Lightning, the Hidden Stone Village would learn of it and immediately double the bounty on Tsunade in the black market.

The speed at which bounty hunters moved—and that they were chasing Tsunade all the way to the Land of Iron, on par with Orochimaru’s prowess—was beyond his wildest expectations.

Moreover, upon hastily arriving in the Land of Iron, he unexpectedly learned from two S-rank rogue ninjas that Tsunade suffered from hemophobia.

Watching the Konoha princess on the verge of being slain by bounty hunters, Killer Bee was deeply conflicted about whether to intervene.

Undeniably, Tsunade’s death would be a monumental event in the ninja world, no less significant than the death of the Fourth Hokage.

Konoha would undoubtedly launch a furious retaliation.

But the question was: Whom would they target?

The two S-rank rogue ninjas who struck? The shadowy mastermind behind the bounty? Or the root cause—Hidden Cloud Village?

In a flash, Killer Bee acted decisively without lingering over the dilemma.

The Hidden Cloud’s offensive gambit relied on the aged Hokage advisors’ hesitation and Konoha’s lack of appetite for external aggression.

But if Tsunade, one of the Legendary Sannin, died, the entire premise would collapse.

Killer Bee dared not risk that.

Surely, the Hidden Stone Village’s Tsuchikage, Onoki, would not risk it either.

If he learned of Tsunade’s hemophobia and how close the two S-rank rogues came to succeeding, his blood pressure would spike, and he’d be plagued by regrets.

If it meant finally sending that old man off, all these days of toil would not be in vain.

Killer Bee thought maliciously, intending to keep an eye out for Onoki’s funeral and whether some burly black-skinned men might need help carrying the coffin—a role he could gladly volunteer for as a friend.

Of course, even if he saved Tsunade, he would not let her return to Konoha but instead bring her to the Land of Lightning.

Maybe not to treat the Fourth Raikage, but as a hostage and bargaining chip to deter Konoha from seizing the opportunity to attack the Land of Lightning.

This was Killer Bee’s adaptive supplement to the village’s strategy.

After all, relying entirely on Konoha’s conservative leadership was too much of a gamble.

But now that events had come to this, there was no use dwelling on what could have been.

Killer Bee stared at Orochimaru, his face somber.

Apart from grand, overt strategies of power, any other plans, no matter how clever, turn to empty words and useless scraps once exposed.

Especially when the man who deduced the Hidden Cloud’s scheme was none other than Orochimaru himself, unlike the two Hokage advisors.

For the moment, the only option was to return quickly to the village, inform the higher-ups of this plan’s failure, openly reveal the long-concealed troop buildup meant to ambush the Hidden Stone Village, and then redirect some forces back to defend the borders with the Land of Fire.

Though this would leave the village in a precarious position, it was still better than being stabbed in the back by Orochimaru.

“Wait a moment.”

Judging by Killer Bee’s movements to dispel his shadow clone, Orochimaru suddenly spoke, halting his action.

“Judging by your frustrated expression, it seems you’re about to abandon the plan to strike the Hidden Stone Village. How about stopping to have a little chat with me first?”