In the Village Hidden in the Sand.
The Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, was half-lying and half-sitting on the ground, drinking with the upper echelons of Sunagakure.
For the people of Sunagakure, nothing was more treasured than fine sake.
Perhaps that was why Konoha had been able to quietly plant its spies here for thirty long years.
Wine — that was the weakness of the Sand.
Tonight was a grand occasion for Sunagakure. From this day onward, the village would finally stand united under one will.
Rasa had pacified the turmoil that had erupted after the Third Kazekage's mysterious disappearance.
Tonight was indeed worth celebrating.
"Congratulations, Kazekage-sama!"
A chorus of cheers followed.
"Congratulations, Kazekage-sama!"
Rasa smiled.
"I told you not to congratulate me. This was everyone's effort."
Then his tone grew more serious.
"How is Konoha faring? I heard their new Fourth Hokage is quite young?"
"Yes, Kazekage-sama," a senior jōnin replied.
"But Konoha has been unusually quiet lately. After the assault led by Uchiha Madara, their strength was severely diminished."
Rasa nodded. "All the better. We move out tomorrow."
He paused, then asked, "When will Pakura arrive?"
"Tomorrow morning, Kazekage-sama."
"Good." Rasa's eyes gleamed.
"Once she's here, we strike immediately and catch Konoha off guard. I've heard this new Hokage, Ryoma, is strong — but we'll have reinforcements. The Third Raikage himself will be joining the attack, since his son is still held hostage in Konoha. This time, Sunagakure will make the Land of Fire bow once again… and we shall claim their fertile land for ourselves."
"Kazekage-sama is wise!"
"Lord Kazekage is invincible!"
Everyone raised their cups in unison.
Meanwhile, a thousand Konoha shinobi were already on the move.
This was an order from the retired Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.
No matter how he looked at it, Hiruzen couldn't trust that only three young ninja — Ryoma, Minato Namikaze, and Hatake Sakumo — had gone to infiltrate Sunagakure. It felt reckless, even insulting to the enemy.
Ambition was good, but arrogance led to graves.
In Hiruzen's mind, it was time for an experienced veteran to take command.
If things went south, this thousand-man force would ensure that Konoha's Hokage returned alive.
After all, if the Hokage of Konoha died in another village, how would the village hold its head high?
But what Hiruzen didn't expect — was that it wasn't only Sunagakure with its eyes on Konoha.
Both Iwagakure and Kumogakure had begun to move as well.
The Third Raikage himself had crossed the border, planning a surprise assault on the Leaf.
And at this very moment… Hiruzen had already dispatched a thousand of Konoha's elite troops elsewhere.
On the outskirts of Sunagakure, the night guards began to feel uneasy.
Something wasn't right.
There seemed to be fewer people around.
The village held over ten thousand shinobi, always ready for battle.
Over five hundred were stationed at the perimeter, meant to alert the main force if anything seemed off.
Yet, one by one, the outer sentries began to vanish.
"What's going on?" one guard asked.
"Where did everyone go?"
"Maybe they were reassigned?" another guessed.
"Impossible. We'd have received the order. Wait… could it be—"
Before the sentence finished, roots and vines erupted from beneath the sand, wrapping around the team and dragging them silently underground.
Ryoma looked down at the desert beneath his feet.
Even here, his Wood Release worked perfectly.
"So Wood Release can manifest even through sand," he mused.
"As expected of the First Hokage's power."
Just like Hashirama Senju could summon water where none existed, Ryoma's Wood Release transcended terrain.
With that, Ryoma, Hatake Sakumo, and Minato Namikaze infiltrated Sunagakure itself.
Both Sakumo and Minato were speechless.
"Is that… even possible?" Minato whispered.
He glanced at Ryoma's back and felt a pang of realization.
This is the difference between us.
Ryoma dared to think what others wouldn't.
He dared to do what others couldn't.
That was what made him Hokage.
Without realizing it, Minato's own thoughts had begun to drift closer to Ryoma's way of thinking.
Along the way, they passed countless Sand shinobi — all drinking and celebrating, completely oblivious to the intruders among them.
"Are they… serious?" Sakumo muttered.
"They're drunk out of their minds."
Even Ryoma was a little surprised.
By his estimate, there were over ten thousand shinobi within the village, yet none of them were alert. The entire force was lost in celebration.
Ryoma closed his eyes briefly, feeling the flow of chakra around him — and immediately located the Kazekage's presence.
It was in the large earthen hall at the village's center, radiating the densest chakra of all.
He could also sense the One-Tail's Jinchūriki there — the host of the beast known as Shukaku.
Gaara hadn't been born yet, which meant this was still the monk who carried the beast.
"It seems Sunagakure's gotten a little too confident," Ryoma murmured.
Then, suddenly—
"Hey! You three! Who are you?"
Sakumo and Minato froze.
Ryoma didn't even hesitate. "Kill them."
Before the man could shout again, he was already dead.
"Enemy attack!"
"Enemy attack!"
"Enemy attack!!"
The cry tore through the village, echoing like thunder.
In an instant, Sunagakure descended into chaos.
A surge of violent chakra swept through the desert.
BOOM!
The entire village trembled.
"Wood Release: Tree World!"
With Sunagakure as the center, the desert floor erupted.
Roots and vines burst from the sand, sprawling outward in every direction.
The barren desert was transformed into a dense forest in an instant.
But the chakra cost was immense — Ryoma could feel his energy being drained rapidly as the trees devoured the dunes.
The desert had become a jungle.
And the era of blood had begun.
The Thousand-Man formation was a famed tool among shinobi—powerful, feared—but even if Ryoma's chakra cost doubled from such a massive jutsu, it meant nothing. Between the Thousand-Man formation and his own seals, Ryoma already held the advantage.
Sand houses turned over like toy boxes.
Those shinobi who had been drinking never had time to react; roots and vines wrapped them up and dragged them down before they could draw a blade.
A handful of elite chūnin who leapt to the skies were cut down by Konoha's White Fang and the Yellow Flash—blood spraying the sand.
Even Sakumo's pride did not permit hesitation. When the fight truly began, he showed no mercy; that was the way of a shinobi.
"Flying Thunder God Technique!" Minato's voice cracked through the air.
"Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique!" came Sakumo's shout.
"Konoha assassination method—strike them down!" Ryoma barked.
Blood spattered across the revelry.
Within moments those chūnin who tried to flee were hunted down one after another by Hatake Sakumo and Minato, falling where they ran.
The lower-ranked shinobi, bound and terrified, could not comprehend where the three attackers had come from.
"Who—who are you devils?!" someone screamed. "Kazekage—save us!"
A roar answered.
Rasa and his retinue finally appeared.
Standing beside the Kazekage were Chiyo, Jūzō Biwa, and the veteran Kushimaru Kuriarare; even Guy's presence lent a fierce weight. Rasa's eyes burned with fury—elite warriors were dying before him.
A shadow beside Rasa stammered, "Kazekage-sama… he—he is Ryoma, the Fourth Hokage—"
"The Fourth Hokage? Ryoma?!" Rasa snapped.
"How dare you, Fourth Hokage," Rasa shouted, voice cracking with rage. "You slaughter my people in Sunagakure!"
Ryoma looked at the Fourth Kazekage without flinching. "I am Ryoma, Fourth Hokage. I came to force Sunagakure's submission to Konoha."
He released a measured breath and lowered the captured lower- and mid-ranked shinobi he had bound—he had already done enough damage for one night.
"You'll bring Konoha to war?" Rasa spat, incredulous. "Are you not afraid of overextending your lines and leaving Konoha weak?"
Hatake Sakumo and Minato steadied themselves at Ryoma's sides.
Ryoma's voice was calm. "Surrender, or die. Choose."
Rasa's jaw tightened. He had only just risen to the Kazekage; he could not afford to sound like a coward before his village. Pride forced the answer from him.
"Everyone—up! Take him down!"
Ryoma's smile was cold. "So be it. Then die."
"Wood Release: Tree World—Wood Dragon Art!"
Rasa's face contorted as he countered, shredding the sand into a towering earth wall in an attempt to stop Ryoma's lumbering construct.
"Tsuchi no Jutsu: Earth Flow Wall!" he shouted, throwing his full might into the defense.
The wall rose like a cliff—but it was paper before the Wood Dragon. The wooden beast smashed through and clamped onto the Kazekage.
The speed of the attack stunned everyone. Rasa had not expected to be cut down before he could finish a single move.
A howl escaped him as the Wood Dragon bit and twisted. Rasa was strangled in roots and vines, chakra draining visibly from his body. He hung suspended, weakened and useless.
Only then did the true scope of Ryoma's terror become clear.
"Unforgivable!!"
"Kazekage!!"
Shouts of fury and disbelief rose across Sunagakure. To see the Fourth Kazekage so bound and helpless—suspended like a puppet—drove the remaining ninjas to panic.
A dozen elite shinobi leapt to Rasa's aid, but they were cut down one by one by Sakumo and Minato, who moved with ruthless efficiency.
"The Fourth Kazekage is captured and can no longer fight," Ryoma announced, his voice carrying across the night.
"Do you still choose to send him to death?"
At that proclamation, hopelessness spread like wildfire through the ranks of Sunagakure.
Even the bravest felt the chill: that was Rasa—their Kazekage—taken.
Sunagakure reeled. With the Fourth Kazekage Rasa captured, morale collapsed and the village slipped into chaos.
"Ryoma—if you take this revenge and leave us no recompense, I will not die quietly!" Rasa spat through gritted teeth. Blood flecked his lips and he went limp.
Chiyo and the others watched the fallen Kazekage with grief and burning anger. Rasa—one of Sunagakure's strongest—had been felled in seconds by Ryoma. Nobody could believe it.
Chiyo inhaled sharply.
"Prepare the sealing formation!" she ordered.
A retainer hesitated.
"Chiyo-sama, but Kazekage-sama—"
Chiyo's voice cut through him.
"Kazekage or no, if the village must be saved, do it. No delay."
"We of Sunagakure will never bow to Konoha!" another cried.
Jūzō Biwa beside her said, "There is only one tool left that can stop him. Only the Tailed Beast can answer this."
"But unleashing the Tailed Beast…" someone whispered.
"If it runs wild, the village itself may be destroyed."
"No more debate," Chiyo snapped.
"Priority is to stop him. Call the beast."
Reluctant and trembling, the retainer gave in.
"Then… summon it. Release Shukaku."
Ryoma barely blinked. He had already sensed the beast's chakra within the Kazekage's vicinity.
"Shukaku… the One-Tail?" he murmured.
A tense standoff followed. A messenger shouted, "Fourth Hokage—leave Sunagakure now, or I will end you even at the cost of my life!"
The monk at the center of the formation—a figure of strange bearing—suddenly swelled and transformed, his form ballooning until it became a huge tapirlike creature, a beast of legend: Baku.
The village patriarchs scrambled. Sealing formations were prepared; hands traced seals in the air; the entire square hummed with the pressure of impending release. Chiyo and Jūzō barked commands; Homura Mitokado and Masao Utatane moved to bolster the ritual.
Ryoma's expression never changed. He watched the ritual unfold with cold, surgical interest.
If the beast was brought forth and went berserk, the collateral damage would be catastrophic. Yet the villagers had chosen their gamble: their Kazekage, their pride, everything was on the line.
"Do it," Chiyo ordered. "If this is the only way to stop him—release the beast."
Ritual chants rose. The seals flared. Sand and chakra coalesced around the monk's form as the Baku's true power was drawn out.
Ryoma inhaled slowly, ready for whatever would answer the call.
...
TN:
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