Naruto: The Wind Calamity

Onoki felt Roshi and Kitsuchi's curious gazes and shook his head. He said, "You are looking too much into these proposals. An alliance between three nations can't happen within the blink of an eye. Not unless Konoha declares war against one of the villages and gives us an opportunity to attack. However, they're too smart to take such a risk. Besides…"

The two proposals on his desk turned to dust as Onoki angrily questioned, "Who do these brats think they are? Asking Iwagakure to be the vanguard and the brunt of Konoha's counterattack while they reap the rewards. Hmph, they might even stay out of the war once we attack Konoha and just watch the two of us get weaker. I haven't gone senile to trust these snakes like that fool Rasa did!"

Roshi and Kitsuchi glanced at each other while thinking, 'As expected…'

While Kumogakure's and Sunagakure's proposals were good, there was a major flaw that even they understood. The three villages didn't trust each other. Hence, no one wanted to be the one to start the war. After all, if they attacked Konoha and the other two villages reneged on their agreement, they'd be beaten extremely badly by Konoha! It was too big of a risk.

The only one bold enough to take such a risk was Ay. Unfortunately, Hiruzen had schemed against him just before Sunagakure and Orochimaru attacked Konoha. Fujin's actions in the dark not only gave a huge blow to Kumogakure's military might but it also meant Ay would never have the political support to start a new war before raising several hundred new elite ninjas.

So, Kumogakure wasn't in a state to start a new war. Sunagakure was in an even worse position. While they had some confidence in engaging in guerilla warfare in the desert, they would need to send their forces to the plains of the Land of River to declare war on Konoha.

If they sent a small army, there was a high chance that Konoha would wipe them out even before Iwagakure and Kumogakure could join the war. However, if they sent most of their ninjas and were betrayed yet again by their new allies, Konoha could deal a massive blow to their main forces, possibly wiping out more than half, if not nearly all their ninjas. Sunagakure will simply cease to exist and be disbanded in that case. They didn't dare gamble on it.

The only one who was in a state to launch a war was Onoki. He also had a good reason considering the recent humiliation he suffered on the border with the Land of Grass. Hence, both Sunagakure and Kumogakure insisted that Iwagakure should be the one to start the war and they'll join immediately.

Unfortunately, there was no way to know whether other villages had launched a war or not instantly. While some means of communication, like the Chakra Transmission Communication Devices, existed, they couldn't be trusted. So, Onoki had no desire to go along with such a proposal.