A frown formed on Raikage's face as he analyzed, 'Such losses would increase opposition to starting a new war. If those oppositions delay us, then we will lose this window of opportunity. The best way to regain the morale is to make Hiruzen hand over those 2 ninjas. It'll show how weak Konoha is to everyone! I managed to make him cower the last time. I'll do it once again!'

Mabui did her job efficiently. She handed the leader of negotiators a letter from Raikage.

Within an hour, a group of negotiators left Kumogakure along with an escort group. They would first stop at the chakra metal mine where the conflict happened to confirm the report they sent back and then send the Raikage's letter to Konoha to set up a meeting and place their demands.

It was nighttime when the negotiators left Kumogakure. Their group had a few civilians, so the group moved much slower as compared to a ninja squad.

Meanwhile, Raikage began preparing his army in Kumogakure so that they could move at a moment's notice.

Fujin was unaware that his fears had partially come true. He travelled the entire night and reached Konoha at 7 in the morning. As soon as he entered Konoha, Fujin maintained a sad expression on his face. He immediately went to the Hokage's building and went to Hiruzen's office.

He knocked on the door. Hiruzen heard and said, "Come in."

Fujin entered. He saw a lot of papers and files on Hiruzen's table. Takao was present as well and was arranging them. In addition, 4 Anbu ninjas were hiding in the room.

Hiruzen was surprised to see Fujin so soon. He had talked with Renjiro the day before and was surprised to learn that all the seals on Fujin's house were inscribed by Fujin himself. While he was happy to know how talented Fujin was, he couldn't help but think about what he had told Fujin when Fujin had asked for the Flying Thunder God jutsu.

He thought, 'Tamotsu's message said that the mission might take weeks. Why is he here so soon? Did the mission go wrong? Or did he want to send a secret message?'

He asked, "Did something happen Fujin? Close the door and tell me."

Fujin closed the door and began reporting. He began speaking slowly in a sad voice and watery eyes, "Grandpa, we were ambushed during our mission. Inuzuka Tadashi and his ninja dog Kenta were killed. Aburame Katsumi and Hatake Ryota are missing. Squad leader Sarutobi Tamotsu was injured and lost his left leg."

Hiruzen and Takao immediately became very serious, though for different reasons. Takao had been on edge due to the Uchiha Massacre. Meanwhile, Hiruzen knew about the real nature of the mission. Hiruzen calmly said, "Fujin, stay calm and tell me everything properly. Don't miss a single detail."

Fujin took a deep breath and said, "Our mission was to the Land of Hot Water. It was issued by Matsushita Yusuke, a noble from that country. He said that he had discovered a mine in his territory and suspected that it was a Chakra Metal Mine."

Takao and the Anbu in the room were shocked to hear that. A chakra metal mine could very well cause a war!

Fujin continued, "We moved quickly towards the area that Yusuke had marked. However, when we reached very close to it, we were ambushed by more than 50 Kumogakure ninjas.

They first encircled us with 20 ninjas. Another 30 ninjas stayed a bit away to form a 2nd ring of encirclement. A few more ninjas were hiding their chakras. I am not sure how many, but there were at least 3. All were at Chunin or Jounin ranks."

Everyone was surprised on hearing it. They couldn't help but wonder how Fujin made it out alive. Fujin continued, "When we tried to escape the 1st encirclement, they killed Tadashi and Kenta. However, they got too aggressive and were hit by Tamotsu and my Fire-Wind combination jutsu. 8 of them died while the other 12 were injured.

We tried to escape once again but were intercepted once again and forced to split up. I am not sure what happened with Ryota and Katsumi after that. I was attacked by Darui."

The group's eyes widened once again hearing Darui's name! Hiruzen thought, 'That's the kid A and his father trained personally. Though he isn't as reputed as Kakashi, he is the leader of their young generation.'

Fujin continued, "A few more Kumo ninjas attacked me along with him, but I managed to kill one, fatally injure another and keep the rest at bay and entered a deadlock against Darui. I tried defeating him, but he was very strong. He dodged all attacks and didn't give me any opportunity to escape.

After a few minutes, Tamotsu entered our battlefield and collapsed unconscious. Darui stopped fighting while I checked on Tamotsu. However, I was surrounded by 18 ninjas. They lowered their guard since I was probably the only one left. So I used a few hundred explosive tags to buy some time and escaped while carrying Tamotsu with me. I am not sure if the explosions caused any casualties, but I didn't sense anyone chasing after me.

Right now, Tamotsu is being treated in a Patrol Camp. He asked me to rush to the village to pass all the information to you."

Hiruzen and others were shocked by what Fujin had done during this mission. Hiruzen analyzed, 'Surviving a fight against Darui at his age without any visible injuries is very impressive. Not to mention being able to escape after being surrounded by 18 ninjas.'

The others too had similar thoughts.

Fujin saw the expressions of Hiruzen and Takao and was satisfied with their expressions. He had intentionally told how 'impressive' he had been and how much 'potential' he had. This way Hiruzen would be very reluctant to sacrifice him.

Hiruzen asked Fujin more questions. Fujin answered them all. He took every opportunity to mention his achievements without exaggerating them or coming on as a showoff. He also intentionally called Hiruzen 'grandpa' to evoke whatever emotions Hiruzen had.

After getting all the data, Hiruzen said, "It's unfortunate what happened to your squad. But you have done a good job. Saving one teammate and coming back alive in such a hopeless situation is very good. For now, go back and get some rest. And don't take any new missions. I might call you back after some time."

Fujin nodded and said, "Alright Grandpa. I'll take my leave."

He left the office. He left towards his home while thinking, 'I did all I could think of. I hope that the worst-case scenario doesn't occur.'

After Fujin left, Hiruzen began staring at the map in front of him. Takao said, "Lord Hokage"

However, Hiruzen said, "Keep the files and paperwork related to the Uchiha clan away for now."

Takao thought, 'That's not what I wanted to talk about'

However, he realized that Hiruzen didn't want to be disturbed. So he moved all the paperwork and files away from his desk.

Hiruzen observed the map while analyzing the situation. He analyzed, 'On the surface, it looks like Kumogakure found this mine and wanted to mine it secretly. Fujin and his team were just unlucky to have taken this mission.

But, knowing Kumogakure's actions after Minato's death, I doubt it is so simple. Be it the Hyuga incident or their prisoners showing up as bandits, both were completely unprovoked aggression towards Konoha. So is A scheming once again?'

He kept analyzing, 'Why did Kumogakure send over 50 ninjas for a simple ambush? Just Darui's squad could have easily defeated them. Even assuming that they set a perimeter around the mine, Tamotsu's group should have been better at sensing. They wouldn't be ambushed if it was unanticipated...'

Suddenly, an idea entered Hiruzen's. He analyzed it to see how viable it was. After calculating, he let out a long sigh, 'I see. That's why Darui was present. They aren't there to guard the mine. But, he is leading the Vanguard army! There should be a lot more ninjas assembled at the mine. I guess they didn't anticipate Fujin to be able to bring back the news.

No, he said that no one chased him. So though they didn't anticipate such a fightback from him, they wanted him to deliver the news back to me. They want to see my reaction.'

Hiruzen began putting the pieces together, 'If their plan was to test my response, they would first need to cause Konoha losses. Yusuke should be working with them. I doubt the entire Land of Hot Water will be involved as they have suffered a lot due to Kumogakure. So it is probably just him. Either Kumogakure threatened him or he has ambitions of his own.

After Tamotsu's squad died, Yusuke would have sent us more mission requests and baited more ninjas to their death. Kumo would then threaten me and see my response. Now their plans will be disrupted. If I am right, A will now send a negotiator to Konoha asking me to compensate them for the loss and perhaps ask for Tamotsu and Fujin as well.'

Hiruzen's face kept getting more and more ugly as he unravelled Kumogakure's plan. He snorted, 'A, the Hyuga incident worked in your favor because I never anticipated such a disgusting act. Do you think that such a scheme will work against Konoha again?'

Hiruzen said, "All of you, summon 7 Anbu squads along with another 3 Anbu squads made of former Root ninjas and return here quickly. Takao, bring Kakashi here."

The four Anbu ninjas hiding in his office flickered and got to work. Takao nodded and left the office as well.

Hiruzen grabbed a scroll and began writing in it. After writing the message, he closed the scroll and sealed it. He weaved hand signs and slammed his hand on the desk. A monkey appeared in front of him.

Hiruzen handed him the scroll and said, "Deliver this scroll as soon as you can. Preferably do it today."

The monkey took the scroll and checked it. He said in a childish voice, "Got it."

He disappeared in smoke along with the scroll.

Soon, 13 Anbu ninjas showed up in Hiruzen's office. One of them hid back in the room. Hiruzen passed a scroll to them and said, "In the Land of Hot Water, there is a noble called Matsushita Yusuke. His details are in the scroll. Kill him and everyone with him. Burn every document in his mansion and don't leave any evidence behind. Preferably use Lightning jutsus to destroy some property before escaping."

One of the Anbu ninjas accepted the scroll. Hiruzen passed them more instructions. They took their leave.

Soon, another group of Anbu arrived. This time, there were 31 ninjas. 12 of them were formerly in Root. Hiruzen assigned another mission to them. After understanding the assignment, they left the office as well.

Finally, Kakashi and Takao arrived at the office. Kakashi was just dismissed from the Anbu by Hiruzen a few days ago. Hiruzen looked at Kakashi and said seriously, "Kakashi, I'll provide you with 200 ninjas. I want you to lead them towards the border with the Land of Hot Water. You have two objectives. First, keep the existence of your force a secret. No one should be aware of your movements. Second, do a few drills to make the force prepared for war."

Kakashi was surprised by the order. He asked, "Lord Hokage, did an incident occur?"

Hiruzen nodded. He briefed Kakashi on what Fujin had reported.

Kakashi understood the situation and sighed, "They want to make a move because the Uchiha clan no longer exists, right?"

Hiruzen nodded and said, "It's unlikely that a war will happen, but I want us to be prepared just in case."

Kakashi asked, "Can I take Guy along with me?"

Hiruzen nodded, "Sure."

Kakashi said, "Alright. I'll contact him. We will be ready to leave immediately."

Hiruzen replied, "Good. I'll arrange for the ninjas to join up with you."

Kakashi left to meet up with Guy while Hiruzen got busy arranging 200 ninjas to go along with Kakashi. Fortunately, he already had everyone on high alert due to the Uchiha massacre. He was able to get it done very quickly.