Living in the World of Naruto, Marrying Tsunade

Because there had already been a successful precedent in the past, forming another coalition this time would likely face far less resistance. In front of a monster as overwhelming as Arata, creating an alliance was no longer something shameful—it was the truly rational choice.

Chiyo continued, moving into the finer details of coalition building.

"Iwagakure won't be a problem. Ōnoki is a smart man—he'll join the alliance immediately."

Everyone nodded in agreement. That old fox Ōnoki had always been cautious; even if Sunagakure didn't propose it, Iwagakure was probably already considering forming a formal alliance.

Shamon offered no objections and simply nodded in approval.

The elders likewise agreed. They all knew Ōnoki well, having dealt with him many times, and immediately understood the feasibility of this step.

Seeing Shamon's approval, Chiyo continued:

"Once Sunagakure joins, the alliance gains a solid foundation. Excluding the Land of Fire, two of the four great nations will already be involved. Unless they're fools, the other two should agree as well. The only troublesome one will be the Land of Lightning—I may have to go there personally."

Although the strength of Sunagakure and Iwagakure might not match the Land of Lightning, they were certainly on par with Kirigakure. With the Land of Earth and the Land of Wind already involved, Kirigakure would most likely follow.

Even though the Land of Water stood isolated overseas, its leadership was not foolish. The Mizukage, Hōzuki Gengetsu, would surely understand the principle of mutual survival.

If they failed to stop the Land of Fire early, then once Arata absorbed several nations and the Land of Fire became truly invincible, Kirigakure would stand alone and powerless. At that point, forming an alliance would be meaningless.

And judging by Gengetsu's consistently calm and calculating nature, he would likely choose to join without hesitation.

The real difficulty lay with the strongest of the four nations—the Land of Lightning.

Its Third Raikage was the most powerful among the Kage, but also notoriously hot-tempered. A man like that was extremely hard to negotiate with. If the envoy was chosen poorly, they might even die in the Land of Lightning.

After all, the Third Raikage's explosive personality made almost anything possible.

But that was in the past.

Now everyone knew he had already suffered twice at Arata's hands.

Back when Arata faced the Land of Lightning's coalition alone, he had fought the Third Raikage in a brutal taijutsu clash—a battle that established Arata's reputation. The Raikage had been beaten into unconsciousness.

Then came the battle in the Land of Whirlpools, where the Raikage was once again knocked down in a single exchange.

By now, the Third Raikage's former arrogance had likely been tempered.

Though still at peak Kage level, he had tasted defeat twice. If Arata had been more ruthless, even three lives wouldn't have saved him.

In truth, the Land of Lightning had suffered the most among the Five Great Nations. They had rarely joined wars, yet as soon as they entered the Second Shinobi War, they ran straight into a monster like Arata.

They even lost a capable Eight-Tails jinchūriki. Though they later recaptured the Eight-Tails, raising a new host would take at least ten to twenty years before the jinchūriki could rejoin battle.

Fortunately, their overall military strength hadn't been devastated.

Because if Arata had truly gone all out—using the technique that could sink vast portions of land as he did in the Land of Whirlpools—the Land of Lightning's entire army might have been annihilated.

Under such circumstances, Chiyo already had a plan.

She knew the Third Raikage's secretary was an extremely intelligent woman. If the stakes were explained clearly, that woman could help facilitate the alliance.

Even so, Chiyo wasn't entirely confident. The secretary might be clever, but controlling the Raikage's temper was another matter altogether.

Still, she believed she had a chance.

If even Kirigakure joined, then three of the four great nations would already be part of the alliance. If the Land of Lightning still refused, the other three could simply push it forward as bait—letting it clash with the Land of Fire first while they conserved their own strength.

In fact, if Lightning refused to join, they could delay their own deployment—letting Lightning absorb losses while they waited for a more favorable opportunity.

With both pressure and persuasion, Chiyo believed she could eventually force even the stubborn Third Raikage into joining this encirclement of Konoha.

Shamon understood her intention immediately. He knew the Third Raikage well—reckless, but easy to steer with the right words.

Seeing no objections, Chiyo paused briefly and continued:

"Having only the four great nations isn't enough. Our target is Arata Itsuki—a peak super-Kage. We must recruit every small and medium nation we can. Especially the Land of Craftsmen. This conflict will be long-term, and without them we'll fall behind in ninja tools."

The importance of weapons in a prolonged war could not be ignored.

After all, chakra was limited. In the end, most killing was still done with kunai, shuriken, and blades.

For elite shinobi especially, the quality of their weapons could determine victory or defeat.

As the major producer of ninja tools, the Land of Craftsmen was the first ally they needed to secure.

According to earlier intelligence, although the Land of Craftsmen had lost in the Land of Whirlpools battle, their casualties were minimal—meaning their likelihood of joining the alliance was actually quite high.