The Third Kazekage was going to die.
Along with his plan to invade Konoha, he was about to die in some desolate corner of the Land of Wind.
After nearly two years of planning and gaining the promise of support from Kumogakure, he never imagined that the one to strike him down would be the young man he trusted most.
"Sasori... why..."
Coughing up black blood, the Third Kazekage stared at Sasori in disbelief.
"Why..."
Facing the question, Sasori found it almost funny. He lowered his head, trying not to laugh out loud.
"Because you, the so-called strongest Kazekage, got my parents killed. They died in your reckless plans. But to you, they were probably just pawns on your board."
Hearing this, the Third Kazekage coughed up another mouthful of blood.
"Your parents died honorably for the village! You—"
He truly wanted to crack open this boy's skull and see what the hell was going on inside.
Your parents were killed by Konoha shinobi! What does that have to do with me?!
But the Third Kazekage would never get that chance.
With confusion and grief twisting in his heart, he hacked up a large pool of blood. Mixed in it were fragments of organs, completely necrotized from the poison. Unable to hold on any longer, his body collapsed, and his eyes shut for the last time.
"Impressive. To last so long against this poison."
Staring at the lifeless body of the Third Kazekage, Sasori's face remained expressionless. There was no satisfaction from revenge, no thrill from killing such a prominent figure. Only greed—greed for the man's body.
"Don't worry. I'll turn you into my most perfect work of art."
...
The Third Kazekage's disappearance caused unrest among Sunagakure's leadership.
A Kage had vanished mysteriously within his own country—an almost unthinkable scenario.
With no word from their Kazekage, the Sunagakure higher-ups mobilized the village's shinobi to search the entire country for traces of him.
Even at this stage, they hadn't considered that something fatal might have occurred.
After all, this was the strongest Kazekage—how could he possibly die silently within his own borders?
Their unrestrained search quickly alarmed the rest of the shinobi world. Any village with decent intelligence operations soon heard the news.
"The Third Kazekage has gone missing?"
In Kumogakure, the Third Raikage slammed his hand down in shock, shattering the desk in front of him. He looked at Dodai with an incredulous expression.
"Yes, Raikage-sama."
Ignoring the shattered remains of the desk, Dodai nodded in confirmation.
As a few Kumogakure shinobi carried in a new desk, the Third Raikage's angry voice echoed again:
"Damn it! Why now of all times?!"
With another palm strike, the newly brought desk followed its predecessor in being destroyed before it even saw any use.
Kumogakure had completed its mobilization, received backing from the Daimyō, and was preparing to declare war on Konoha—only for this?
Now you tell me our ally has suddenly gone poof?
Is there a more unreliable ally in the world?!
Wait a second... Ally?
Hmm... If Sunagakure is in trouble, how could I—an ally—just sit by and do nothing?
We've already issued the mobilization orders. We can't exactly walk them back now.
After careful consideration, the Third Raikage decided to extend a helping hand to the now leaderless Sunagakure.
Of course, the "Kage" he intended to send... would naturally be himself.
...
"Hiruzen! Now that Sunagakure is leaderless, this is the perfect time to wipe them out completely!"
Upon hearing the news of the Third Kazekage's disappearance, Danzō wasted no time. He immediately barged into Hiruzen's office—where the Hokage happened to be inspecting the bathhouse through his crystal ball.
Hurriedly putting the ball away, Hiruzen cleared his throat and shot Danzō a look for not knocking. Slowly, he took out his smoking pipe.
Blowing a puff of smoke, Hiruzen gave Danzō a serious look.
"And what reason would we give for attacking Sunagakure?"
"Just say shinobi have gone missing along the border. And those nameless infiltrators—some of them must be from Sunagakure—"
Before Danzō could finish, Hiruzen cut him off.
"Do you have proof, Danzō? Up to now, we've had no solid evidence that Sunagakure is behind any of the incursions. Besides, what if the Kazekage's disappearance is bait—an attempt to lure us into launching a first strike?"
"Even if it's bait, with Konoha's current strength, we can swallow it whole and leave them no room to fight back!"
Danzō still refused to give up.
"That's enough, Danzō. You're too aggressive. Besides, decisions about war should be made together with the other advisors—like Homura and Koharu!"
Looking at Danzō's stubborn face, Hiruzen felt a headache coming on. Why was this man still so impulsive, even after having a son? Always ready to kill at the slightest provocation.
In contrast, Takeshi was far more level-headed.
Takeshi, who was currently out shopping with Obito and Kakashi, suddenly sneezed.
"You're too soft, Hiruzen!"
Danzō nearly slammed the desk in front of him like the Raikage.
"Enough, Danzō. I am the Hokage!"
Hiruzen pulled out his trump card.
"You—you'll regret this!"
Hearing those words made Danzō break down once again. His face turned sour as he stormed out of the room.
Bang!
He slammed the office door behind him and stormed out of the Hokage Building, intent on discussing Wind Release techniques with Asuma.
...
Despite all of Hiruzen's efforts to avoid war, the envy that the other Hidden Villages felt toward Konoha was undeniable.
After the Third Raikage's "Aid Sunagakure" unit was defeated by a mysterious man of great value from the Sand, an indignant Kumogakure declared war on both Iwagakure and Konoha.
Upon hearing of Kumogakure's audacity, Kirigakure—silent for years—refused to be left behind. Just when everyone thought they might be dead and gone, they suddenly joined the war against Konoha.
Thus, the Third Great Ninja War began.
With the war erupting, certain teams were reshuffled.
Team 11, whose members had all been promoted to Chūnin, was disbanded. Obito Uchiha, Kakashi Hatake, Rin Nohara, and Minato were regrouped into Team 7—an unexpected twist of fate.
Takeshi exchanged glances with Asuma and shrugged helplessly.
"Obito's been reassigned. What about you?"
Asuma rolled his eyes.
"I haven't received orders yet, but I heard that Tatsuma has already been recalled to Root. I bet we'll both get shoved into some team soon, to act under a Jōnin's command."
"Who knows..."
Takeshi's expression darkened as he looked in the direction Obito had left.
Let's just hope he doesn't get noticed by Madara. If he does, everything I've worked for will be wasted.
...
The higher-ups didn't leave Takeshi in suspense for long.
That very evening, after dinner, Danzō set down his bowl and flatly issued his order:
"You. To the Kumogakure frontlines."
----------------
Pls Drop some Power Stones
+100 chapters and support me on Patreon(.)com/Jixo