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The war had begun—
Fire Country, the most prosperous region in the ninja world and the foundation of Konoha, enjoyed a natural advantage. The flow of large quantities of supplies was difficult for foreign ninjas to intercept, making it nearly impossible for anyone to detect that Konoha was preparing for war.
Additionally, thanks to the long-standing ineptitude of the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, the entire ninja world had come to believe that Konoha would never be the aggressor in starting a war. After all, other countries were so impoverished—what benefit could there be in fighting them?
And yet, this absurd scenario unfolded.
In just three days, Wind Country was annexed by Fire Country.
Though Wind Country boasted the largest landmass in the ninja world, only a small fraction of it was habitable. Konoha employed blitzkrieg tactics to swiftly capture Sunagakure and the capital of Wind Country, smoothly taking control of the entire nation.
With this, the balance of power among the Five Great Shinobi Villages was shattered, leaving both smaller and larger nations trembling in fear.
However, the number of casualties in this war did not exceed a thousand.
Faced with Konoha's overwhelming strength, Wind Country simply couldn't mount any meaningful resistance before surrendering.
Rasa, the Fourth Kazekage and master of Gold Release, had considered putting up a fight to the bitter end. But he was betrayed by his own Sand Village elders, who acted out of rational self-interest.
In the end, the Fourth Kazekage was forced to submit humiliatingly to the Hokage, and Sunagakure itself became a relic of history.
For the people of Suna, however, this outcome was cause for celebration. Being annexed by the wealthy Fire Country meant their days of hardship were over—they no longer had to fight meaningless battles or die on bizarre missions.
But after the war, both sides discovered a problem:
The One-Tail was missing.
At this time, Gaara, the jinchūriki of the One-Tail, lacked the strength and skill to control his tailed beast. On a normal day, he was treated like a ticking time bomb by the villagers, feared and ostracized.
When Konoha launched its sudden attack, Gaara had been hidden away from the start to avoid becoming a liability.
Only now, after the war's conclusion, did both sides realize that such an important jinchūriki had vanished!
Yet neither side had laid a hand on Gaara, which could only mean one thing:
An unknown force had taken advantage of the chaos to intervene.
While ignorant commoners often judged the strength of tailed beasts by the number of tails, in Wind Country's unique terrain, the One-Tail's power was no less formidable than most other tailed beasts.
Kakashi's expression darkened with barely contained fury.
"How dare they steal what belongs to Konoha!
Find them! If we don't uncover this thief, our war will become a laughingstock. How can we expect the ninja world to bow to Konoha? What will our god think of his followers!"
"Yes!"
The gathered Konoha ninjas in the command tent were equally enraged.
Invading Wind Country had already been a costly endeavor, and now the greatest prize had been stolen by an unknown force—a blatant slap in the face.
Find them! They must be found!!!
They must be killed to quell public outrage!!!
Although Wind Country's desert terrain made it easy to cover tracks, the ninja profession had evolved over a millennium. While individual strength had its limits, reconnaissance techniques had grown increasingly sophisticated.
Especially with Konoha's possession of the strongest reconnaissance bloodline limit—the Byakugan.
Since this was an external war, Konoha had only mobilized half of its forces, keeping the other half at home to guard against potential invasions.
Among the deployed half, the elite members of every major clan were present, especially the Hyūga Clan, who had sent nearly all available personnel.
Led by the Hyūga, supported by the Inuzuka's keen-nosed dogs and the Aburame's insects, Konoha began a meticulous, sweeping search. Even the newly annexed Sand shinobi volunteered to assist.
Though many lives had been lost in the war, Konoha proved surprisingly generous. Compared to the losses suffered during previous ninja wars, the favorable terms offered by Konoha quickly won over the former Sand shinobi.
What Sand shinobi? There was no Sand anymore. We are Konoha shinobi now.
Though Kakashi had the ability to resurrect those who had died in the war, he chose not to. Ye Wen's teachings had emphasized that humans should hold a sense of reverence for death. Some sacrifices were inevitable. If one truly wished to revive the dead without restraint, they should strive to become gods. Only then could they achieve their desires.
All misfortune stemmed from the weakness of those involved.
With the help of local informants, Konoha's investigation accelerated.
Meanwhile, Sasori of the Red Sand and Orochimaru, finding the mission far too easy, grew bored and let their guard down slightly, inadvertently exposing their location.
A Hyūga ninja stationed behind a sand dune a kilometer away clenched his fists as veins bulged on his forehead, whispering in a low voice, "This chakra… it's definitely Gaara, the One-Tail jinchūriki.
Wait, that sinister chakra and figure—it's him!"
Cold sweat poured down the Hyūga's face. Even from a kilometer away, he could feel the bone-chilling aura emanating from that figure.
"O… Oro… Orochimaru." It took the Hyūga several moments to steady his tongue and utter the name.
"What?!
You've got to be kidding!"
The two companions beside him gasped in shock but quickly silenced themselves. Even from this distance, they felt no sense of security. After all, this was one of the legendary Sannin who had earned renown in both Shinobi World Wars—Orochimaru.
Time was of the essence. One of the ninjas quickly scribbled down the intelligence on paper and used a summoning technique to relay it to headquarters.
"Takuto, let's maintain maximum distance while surveilling them. Don't get too close—their sensory abilities aren't weak either. We absolutely cannot expose ourselves before reinforcements arrive."
The three carefully concealed their presence, monitoring Orochimaru and Sasori from a safe distance.
What they didn't know was that Orochimaru was smirking knowingly at that very moment.
"There are three little mice watching us. It seems we've been exposed."
Sasori, currently in his grotesque Hiruko puppet form, responded in a muffled tone, "Isn't this part of the plan? What's there to say? Let me see how strong Konoha has become."
"Hehehe, I hope you don't end up capsizing."
The two exchanged a knowing glance and began moving rapidly.
At this moment, Gaara was tightly bound and sealed inside a jar—a specialized containment tool Orochimaru used for sealing jinchūriki.
Just an hour later, a powerful fire technique descended from the sky, blocking Orochimaru and Sasori's path.
"So it's you, Orochimaru," Jiraiya said grimly.
Though Jiraiya disliked war, he was still a Konoha ninja. To avoid becoming a missing-nin, he had no choice but to participate in this conflict.
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