"Hurry! Inform the Kazekage immediately! An unknown enemy has infiltrated the village and taken the Tailed Beast!"
Chiyo felt a chill run down her spine.
Before leaving for the Five Kage Summit in the Hidden Cloud Village, Rasa had entrusted the village to her.
And now, just a few days later, disaster had struck. Who knew whether Rasa had even arrived at the summit yet? Meanwhile, the home front had already gone up in flames.
Thankfully, the village itself hadn't suffered significant losses—only the Tailed Beast had been taken.
If Black Zetsu had wreaked havoc in the Sand Village as well, it would have been a devastating blow for the already impoverished village.
Unfortunately, the distance was too great. Even using the fastest messenger hawks, delivering the news to Rasa would take time.
By the time Rasa received word, Black Zetsu would have long disappeared.
Leaving the Sand Village, Black Zetsu moved on to his next target—the Hidden Waterfall Village.
He had struck the Sand Village first and then immediately made his way to the Hidden Waterfall Village, wasting no time in capturing the Seven-Tails.
Unlike the Akatsuki in the original timeline, he had no need to slowly gather the Tailed Beasts one by one or follow a specific sealing order.
When you had the power to seal anything at will, the so-called order of sealing was nothing more than a joke.
To someone like Uchiha Madara, the Tailed Beasts were nothing more than oversized creatures with large amounts of chakra—capturing them was no different from rounding up a pack of wild animals.
If Madara wanted them, he'd take them all at once, not one by one.
If it had been Nagato instead, the thought alone would be unimaginable.
Even draining Nagato of all his strength wouldn't be enough—after all, the Rinnegan he used wasn't his own, and wielding its power came with a price.
The Hidden Waterfall Village fared even worse than the Sand Village.
At least Black Zetsu hadn't caused major destruction in the Sand Village.
But the Hidden Waterfall Village…
It didn't even have enough high-ranking shinobi to count on one hand.
Against Black Zetsu's arrival, they had no ability to resist whatsoever.
Not only was their Tailed Beast stolen, but the village itself was left in ruins.
Had Black Zetsu been in the mood to cause more trouble, the Hidden Waterfall Village might have been completely erased from existence.
Meanwhile, in the Hidden Cloud Village's Raikage Office, Rasa was preparing to send a message back to his village, instructing them to gather their elite forces and send reinforcements to the Cloud Village.
But before he could send his message, he received one instead.
"Damn it!!!"
Opening the intelligence scroll, Rasa's expression darkened instantly. His rage boiled over as veins bulged on his forehead.
What had happened to provoke such a reaction from him?
Onoki and the Third Raikage exchanged uneasy glances.
A chill ran down their spines—could it be that Uchiha Madara had attacked the Sand Village?
"Kazekage, what exactly happened?"
The mere possibility left Onoki and the Third Raikage restless.
Senju Hashirama also turned his attention to Rasa.
"The Sand Village was attacked by an unknown enemy. They infiltrated the village, directly assaulted the underground prison holding the Jinchūriki, captured the Tailed Beast in the shortest possible time, and then left without a trace."
Rasa's face was so dark it looked like it could drip ink.
"What?!"
Onoki was stunned.
The Third Raikage's eyes widened in shock.
"Is Uchiha Madara declaring war on the Five Great Shinobi Villages?"
Senju Hashirama's expression grew solemn.
"It seems that the intelligence provided by Takuya and Orochimaru was accurate. Madara is planning to capture all the Tailed Beasts to complete his Infinite Tsukuyomi plan."
"The other villages' Tailed Beasts and Jinchūriki are likely in danger as well. Thankfully, Tobirama suggested relocating them all—without powerful guardians, they would be picked off one by one."
Hashirama let out a heavy sigh.
"By the way, was the Sand Village heavily damaged?"
Rasa exhaled sharply and shook his head.
"The village itself wasn't attacked—the enemy simply took the Tailed Beast and left.
According to eyewitnesses, a giant figure appeared in the village. Soon after, the Tailed Beast's voice vanished. The giant resembled the Gedo Statue described in intelligence reports."
"What the hell is Madara planning?!"
Hashirama was both anxious and furious.
Unfortunately, all he could do was wait, hoping that Takuya and Tobirama would successfully bring the Tailed Beasts and Jinchūriki to the Cloud Village.
Takuya's operation was progressing smoothly.
With Yagura, the Fourth Mizukage, personally overseeing the process, no one dared to question his authority. The Six-Tails, which had already been sealed, was successfully transported onto the warship.
Fortunately, they were traveling by sea—otherwise, transporting the unsealed Tailed Beast would have been an enormous challenge.
A Tailed Beast's body was as massive as a mountain. Moving such a colossal entity was no easy feat.
With the Six-Tails secured, Yagura also issued an order for the village to assemble an elite force and send them to the Cloud Village.
The alliance of the Five Great Shinobi Villages was now inevitable.
Unlike in the original timeline, Senju Tobirama did not want the Five Great Shinobi Villages to commit their entire military forces.
There was no need for that.
Sending an elite force would suffice.
Even if they mobilized their entire armies, it wouldn't make much difference.
Against someone of Uchiha Madara's caliber, sheer numbers meant nothing.
The original timeline had already demonstrated this.
With just two meteorites, Madara had wiped out countless shinobi—even with Onoki and Gaara going all out to stop them.
Unless the enemy had an army of White Zetsu, a large-scale coalition wouldn't be much use against Madara.
Sending too many troops would only result in mass casualties.
Rasa was in a foul mood, but at least the Sand Village hadn't suffered major losses aside from the Tailed Beast.
Suppressing his anger, he sent orders back to the village, instructing Chiyo to gather the Sand Village's elite forces and dispatch them to the Cloud Village.
The alliance of the Five Great Shinobi Villages was now a foregone conclusion.
Rasa had no intention of opposing it—nor did he have the courage to.
If he resisted, the Sand Village would be the first to fall, even before the war against Uchiha Madara began.
Even if Hashirama did nothing, the other four villages could still easily bring the Sand Village to its knees.
Refusing to join the alliance would only make them look suspicious.
Were they planning to side with Uchiha Madara instead?
Neutrality?
Impossible.
They had only two choices—join the alliance or be treated as an enemy. There was no third option.
"I suggest we send someone to the Hidden Waterfall Village. If possible, we should bring their Jinchūriki here," the Third Raikage proposed.
The attack on the Sand Village was a clear warning.
The enemy had begun their operation.
They needed to act fast.
The Seven-Tails was still in the Hidden Waterfall Village, and no one had thought to retrieve it yet.
If the enemy targeted the Hidden Waterfall Village next, it would spell trouble.
Every Tailed Beast Madara captured increased the likelihood of his plan succeeding.
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(P)(S): If you're interested, you can read the rest of the Chapter at Patreon com/ Emik01.
DO NOT FORGET POWER STONE AND CHATTING