As night began to fall, Sakumo, who should have already gone home from work, remained in his office.
Under the cloak of the ceremonial robe, Sakumo was fully dressed, clearly in battle-ready posture.
He had never witnessed the power of the Nine-Tails with his own eyes, but he had seen the destructive might of the One-Tail during the war.
That was not something ordinary ninja could defeat. In the entire ninja world, aside from the legendary Sage of the Six Paths, only the God of Shinobi, Hashirama, and his rival Uchiha Madara could defeat such monsters.
If a beast like that appeared in Konohagakure—
However...
Sakumo recalled a rumor that circulated in the ninja world.
The Uchiha clan could control the Nine-Tails.
"Something's wrong, Sakumo-sama!"
An Anbu appeared before Sakumo in a hurry.
"What is it?!"
The moment he saw the Anbu, Sakumo immediately assumed something had gone wrong with the Nine-Tails.
"An intruder has breached the barrier. Base D has been overrun by the enemy. Jiraiya-sama has already gone ahead to investigate!"
"At a time like this?!"
Sakumo was shocked, but quickly regained his composure.
"How many intruders? Which Hidden Village are they from?"
"Just one! Identity unknown!"
One person?
...
At the base.
Jiraiya looked at the scattered corpses of Konoha ninja lying all over the ground with a grave expression.
"Jiraiya-sama, the enemy seems to be immortal and can transfer the damage they receive onto others!"
After losing twelve comrades, the Konoha ninja who arrived with the order finally figured out the strange enemy's abilities and relayed all the intel to Jiraiya.
"An immortal body and damage transfer... When did the ninja world become full of such troublesome foes?"
Having just fought a zombie Hanzo not long ago, Jiraiya felt that his luck had been exceptionally bad lately.
"What? Is this the best Konoha has to offer? Come on, more! Let me feel more pain!"
Seeing that the Konoha ninja didn't dare to approach, Hidan burst into mad laughter, wildly swinging his triple-bladed scythe.
"Is that so? Seems I was underestimated."
Though he hadn't figured out how Hidan transferred damage, Jiraiya still decided to test him himself.
After warning the others not to intervene, Jiraiya made the first move.
"Earth Style: Swamp of the Underworld!"
Feeling the ground beneath his feet suddenly become soft, Hidan hastily threw his scythe. It lodged into a tree trunk, and using the chain, he swung himself out of the swamp's range.
"Not done yet. Fire Style: Flame Bullet!"
Jiraiya spat a fireball directly in Hidan's path.
"Tch, all tricks!"
Letting go of the chain, Hidan landed on the ground and dashed toward where his scythe had landed.
Even after two attacks, Hidan hadn't shown any weaknesses. Jiraiya decided to take a bolder approach to probe for more intel.
...
While Konoha's attention was entirely focused on Hidan, Setsuna and his army appeared at the gates of the village.
"Who are you?!"
Two Chūnin guarding the gate barely had time to question before they were cleaved in half by sudden slashes, the gatehouse behind them also split in two.
"Hmph, go!"
With a light wave of his hand, the reanimated corpses charged through the gate.
Stepping on the bisected corpse beneath his feet, a mad grin spread across Setsuna's face under his mask.
"Konohagakure, I've returned. Keh keh keh!"
The laughter abruptly stopped as he tilted his head to dodge a shuriken from the shadows. In the same motion, he activated his dōjutsu and severed the attacker's arm.
Another Konoha corpse took the opportunity during the enemy's screams to stab a kunai deep, sending the ninja to meet the Sage of Six Paths.
"As much as I'd love to take a crack at your Hokage Rock, wrestling with dead things would sully the Uchiha name. Besides, watching you helplessly witness the village you love fall to ruin is much more satisfying."
Without looking back at the battlefield, Setsuna followed White Zetsu's lead toward Orochimaru's lab.
...
Almost simultaneously, Sakumo received the report that the village gate had been attacked.
Even the gate?! The waiting Sakumo could sit no longer. Especially after hearing that the attackers included former comrades of Konoha, he grew even more alarmed.
Throwing open the window, Sakumo leapt down and sped toward the gate.
"That flash of light... I see. Konoha is under attack."
The noise outside drew Sasori's attention. He put down his puppet parts.
Pulling open the curtain, a lightning shadow flashed by, but Sasori still recognized Sakumo.
This was a golden opportunity. Though it was unclear who was attacking Konoha, the fact that Sakumo was being pulled away worked in Sasori's favor.
"Let the enemy see your power... the strongest Kazekage in history..."
...
Sakumo quickly arrived at the heart of the chaos.
With a single slash, a Rain ninja's head flew off, but little blood poured from the wound.
"Fourth Hokage-sama!"
The rescued ninja was about to thank him, then realized the savior was their own Hokage.
"Don't lose focus. Concentrate on the enemy!"
Sakumo spoke sternly, then soon noticed disguised Konoha ninja among the enemy ranks.
"Why... Why would you betray Konoha?"
Disarming an enemy, Sakumo drove his blade through the shoulder and demanded an answer.
"Sakumo-sama, they're no longer alive! Someone unknown is controlling their corpses!" another Konoha ninja shouted while fending off the undead.
"Controlling corpses... Could this be Sunagakure's doing?!"
In Sakumo's knowledge, only Sunagakure's puppet techniques could accomplish this.
A master puppeteer could even control the living.
As if to confirm his suspicion, poisoned needles suddenly flew from the shadows.
Drawing his blade and knocking them aside, Sakumo instantly flashed to the ambusher's location.
His chakra-coated blade stabbed down hard, but failed to pierce the enemy as expected.
Sasori had blocked the strike with Hiruko's armored back, and countered by swinging his tail hard at Sakumo.
Every mechanism in Hiruko's body was laced with deadly poison. Aside from Tsunade and Chiyo, no one had ever survived it.
However, to Sakumo, Sasori's attack was painfully slow. Before the tail could strike, he used Lightning Body Flicker to return to his original spot.
Cautiously observing Hiruko, Sakumo began analyzing the enemy's capabilities.
This short figure was clearly a puppet. Its exceptional defense and unique mechanical sounds during movement were dead giveaways.
But he hadn't sensed any chakra threads typical of a puppet master. Considering its stance—
I see. So the true body is hidden within the puppet?
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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