Land of Hot Water.
This was a nation where the country and the village were one, unlike the Five Great Nations, similar to the former Land of Whirlpools and Uzushiogakure.
Because of its rich natural and sightseeing resources, coupled with the fact that the people from top to bottom deeply cherished and upheld pacifism, it was one of the rare neutral nations in the ninja world.
During both the Second and Third Shinobi World Wars, it had been fortunate enough to avoid the conflicts altogether.
With the wars gone, the military strength of Hot Water's village diminished, earning it the title "the village that forgot war."
It was precisely because of this complacent and peace-obsessed culture that Hidan grew restless and disgusted, eventually slaughtering the people around him, becoming a rogue ninja, and joining the so-called "Jashin religion."
Of course, now the Land of Hot Water was still peaceful—
That is, until this peace was broken at its borders.
First came a short earthquake.
Then, violent explosions.
Finally, the shockwaves of battle, which could be heard dozens of kilometers away.
No one dared approach. Instead, they hurried to inform the shinobi of Hot Water.
But those shinobi had already been warned by Kumogakure not to approach that area, so they had no choice but to report the incident to the Land of Lightning.
Ssshh, rustle—
In the dead of night, a four-man squad moved swiftly through the forest, the cold wind slicing past their ears. The rustling of leaves masked the sound of their footsteps.
At the lead was a tall, well-endowed kunoichi with short, shoulder-length pale blond hair and fair skin.
Samui, one of Killer B's kenjutsu disciples, promoted to jōnin by the Fourth Raikage due to her calm personality and natural leadership ability.
Yet at this moment, Samui's expression was heavy, unlike her usual cold, emotionless demeanor.
After receiving the report, the Fourth Raikage had immediately dispatched her squad to investigate the situation at the Hot Water border.
In truth, the Raikage had received reports earlier from border sentries, stating that they had detected unusual activity in the southwest and had gone to investigate.
At the time, the Raikage hadn't paid much attention.
He only sent a communication summon to confirm the situation with the border guards—but no reply ever came.
It wasn't until the report from the Hot Water shinobi arrived that the Raikage realized something was wrong.
That was when he sent Samui's team.
"Big sis, up ahead should be the designated rendezvous point with the Leaf, right?"
The man behind her—his shoulder tattooed with the character for "Heat"—frowned.
"Bet it's those damn Konoha bastards up to something again. If it really is them…"
"Atsui. Calm down." Samui called her brother's name, interrupting flatly. "Even if this really was Konoha's doing, there's no need for us to act rashly. Our only task is to bring the intel safely back to Kumogakure. Lord Raikage will be the one to decide what comes next."
This sibling pair's personalities were just like their names: one "cold," one "hot."
The elder sister, a jōnin, was rational and detached, while the younger brother, a chūnin, was optimistic and impulsive.
Ssshh, rustle—
The squad of four finally broke through the dense forest.
At the very front, Samui suddenly stopped. The three behind her instinctively halted as well.
"Big sis, why'd you stop all of a sudden?" Atsui asked.
"We've arrived." Samui's voice carried an inexplicable heaviness.
Atsui blinked and looked ahead.
All he saw was a flat stretch of land. He instinctively turned to search around.
"Don't bother." Samui exhaled lightly, raising a hand to point. "Over there. That's our intel outpost—the designated exchange site with Konoha."
The three others followed her gaze, only to see a vast, deep shadow sunken into the earth.
Their eyes swept over the surroundings, and an impossible thought struck them all at once, making their eyes widen in disbelief.
"This… this is supposed to be the harbor?"
In their memory, this joint harbor, built through cooperation between the Land of Hot Water and the Land of Lightning, was a place of picturesque scenery:
Fishing boats dotting the river waters.
Trees dyeing the waves a lush green.
The sky, vast and azure, mirrored upon the surface.
But now—
Nothing but silence. Nothing but barren flatland.
Just an empty, desolate wasteland.
While the three stood dumbfounded, Samui crouched, brushing her fingers across the ground.
She felt the obvious spiral-like scraping marks, and a chill ran up her spine.
So it was true.
The harbor hadn't "disappeared" overnight.
Everything on the surface of this land had been ripped away, as though the pencil drawings on paper had been wiped clean by an eraser—leaving only a bleak, empty blankness.
Crunch.
Atsui, stepping forward without thinking, accidentally trod on something brittle.
Looking down, he saw a fragment of metal half-buried in the soil.
Picking it up and wiping the dirt away, he finally saw the faintly scratched markings on its surface—along with the blurred insignia of Kumogakure.
"This… this is a shinobi forehead protector?" Atsui said, aghast.
Realization dawning, Samui slowly rose, her eyes turning toward the raised ground in the distance, cloaked in shadow.
The others instinctively followed, drawing kunai into their hands, their steps becoming cautious.
As they neared the rise, a foul stench became noticeable—one they all recognized too well.
Squelch.
Samui's boot landed in a pool of blood, not yet dry. The dark red liquid splashed, staining her trousers.
Looking down at the rotting flesh and shattered bones… at the strands of purple hair matted in blood… Samui fell silent.
"Purple hair…" Atsui's throat bobbed as he forced out dryly, "Don't tell me… this is Senior Toroi?"
The words fell into silence.
Only the stench remained—so thick it seemed one could taste it on the tongue.
Only the whisper of cold wind brushing their ears broke the stillness.
Moonlight fell upon them, neither warm nor bright, and the wind blowing from the distance made them shiver.
The chill seemed to seep from the moonlight into their very hearts.
The aura of coldness and death permeated the air. With every breath, they realized—death wasn't just a concept.
It had a smell, a taste, something real and tangible.
They all understood: if this blood belonged to only one person, then he must have been drained alive.
Such a death… even for hardened shinobi, the thought alone filled them with fear and outrage.
The mighty Toroi, wielder of Magnet Release, a renowned veteran of the ninja world—
To die in such a grotesque, horrifying way?
"Who did this? Konoha?"
Samui's thoughts wavered uneasily. She turned her gaze toward the deep crater in the distance.
Her instincts told her—
Something was still there.
---
Meanwhile, at Konoha Hospital.
The moon hung high in the night sky outside, its light reflecting coldly off the polished floors of the corridor.
The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, wearing his Fire Kage robes, stopped in front of a ward.
Through the observation window, his eyes flickered as he looked inside.
Drip… drip…
Inside the white hospital room, fluid dripped rhythmically through an IV tube. The monitor beeped softly, its lines pulsing with life.
On the bed, Todo Akimichi slowly opened his eyes. His first sensation was the numbness in his legs. Raising his head, he saw a messy head of long black hair resting there.
"…Phew."
At the foot of the bed, seated in a chair, Hyūga Kumokawa had fallen asleep, his head resting on Doto's legs, faint snores slipping from his lips.
"This brat…" Todo smiled wryly, yet at the same time felt a touch of warmth in his heart.
Glancing at the wall clock, he realized it had been a full day since he had forced himself back to Konoha before collapsing.
If he guessed right, this brat had been sitting here by his side the entire time.
"Cough, cough!"
His scorched throat itched, and Todo couldn't hold back a cough.
Kumokawa stirred at once, jerking awake. He sat up straight and looked at Todo.
"Senior Todo!"
Seeing him still coughing, Kumokawa quickly handed him medicine. "Your body right now—"
Click.
The ward door opened. Kumokawa instinctively turned.
Under the moonlight, the face of Hiruzen Sarutobi appeared.
For a moment, Kumokawa froze in just the right measure of surprise before blurting out:
"Lord Third?"