Night had already fallen over the Land of Rain.
Tomorrow, the Third Kazekage was set to meet Hanzō of the Salamander in person.
Originally, this was supposed to be a simple diplomatic visit—just a discussion with the Ame's leader about how to deal with Iwagakure and Konoha. Hardly anything worth worrying about.
But that changed entirely when a shocking report arrived from the Iwa front that afternoon.
According to intelligence, two days ago Hanzō had gone alone—accompanied only by a single attendant—to negotiate with Iwagakure's forces. The talks failed. A battle broke out between him and Ōnoki, the Third Tsuchikage.
The result: Ōnoki was slain by Hanzō right inside Iwagakure's main encampment.
The Iwa forces suffered catastrophic losses, and yet Hanzō and his attendant escaped completely unharmed.
The report described Hanzō unleashing a single technique so devastating that it annihilated Ōnoki and leveled the surrounding battlefield. The shockwave tore through Iwagakure's entire camp, leaving a crater of carnage so horrifying that many young shinobi who witnessed it broke down mentally afterward.
For the Third Kazekage, who had always prided himself on his composure, this was enough to unsettle him deeply.
He knew he couldn't defeat Ōnoki in direct combat.
Particle Style was a power that disintegrated anything it touched. Even with his magnetic Iron Sand, he couldn't close the distance before being erased.
However, in the air—where he specialized—he could at least fight on even ground. Both he and Ōnoki could fly; neither had a decisive advantage.
But Hanzō couldn't fly.
And yet, in the middle of the Iwa Army's own camp, surrounded on all sides by enemy shinobi, he had somehow slain Ōnoki.
The Kazekage didn't know that Ōnoki, in an effort to protect his subordinates, had sealed them outside the battlefield with Mud Walls—isolating himself and Hanzō in single combat. That noble act had backfired fatally.
Up until now, the Great Nations had regarded Hanzō as a shinobi of "Kage-level strength"—formidable, but not exceptional. After this, that assessment no longer held.
Especially that mysterious, area-destroying jutsu… If Hanzō unleashed such power inside Sunagakure, it would spell absolute disaster.
And he—without realizing this—had already sent a message saying he would personally visit Amegakure tomorrow for a meeting.
The thought now made him break into a cold sweat.
Back when he still underestimated Hanzō, he had thought: Even if something goes wrong, I can retreat safely.
Now? That was a delusion.
If Hanzō wanted him dead, even making it back alive would be a miracle.
Worse yet, with Iwagakure now in chaos after losing its Tsuchikage, the Iwagakure had no strength left to invade anyone.
If Hanzō decided to align with Konoha, then the Kazekage's upcoming trip would be nothing short of walking into a trap.
Just as he was trying to steady his nerves, a messenger burst in with another blow to his composure.
"Lord Kazekage! Elder Chiyo has returned. Her unit was ambushed—she's outside right now!"
"What?!"
The Kazekage's heart sank.
First this Hanzō situation, and now an ambush on Chiyo? On the eve of our Ame negotiations?
"Send her in, now!"
Moments later, a dusty and battle-worn Chiyo entered the tent.
"What happened, Chiyo?! Where did things go wrong?" the Kazekage demanded.
Her voice was cold and steady.
"We have a spy among the Suna's upper ranks. A Konoha infiltrator."
The Kazekage froze. "What did you say?"
"Our strike force was ambushed in the Land of Rivers by an elite assassination squad from Konoha," Chiyo continued grimly.
"Many of them were master swordsmen—specifically trained to counter puppet users. Someone leaked our movements ahead of time. We lost nearly half our force."
"Half?!"
The Kazekage's chest tightened.
For the Land of Wind—where over seventy percent of the land was barren desert and resources were scarce—every elite shinobi was invaluable. Their entire military doctrine depended on quality over quantity.
Chiyo's strike force represented a full third of Sunagakure's top operatives.
To lose half of them in a single mission was catastrophic.
But he quickly regained his focus.
"Impossible. Every high-ranking officer was personally vetted by me. Absolute loyalty. There can't be a traitor."
"Then how do you explain the ambush?" Chiyo snapped.
"Their lineup perfectly countered our puppet divisions. If I hadn't used forbidden techniques, none of us would've survived.
My entire arsenal of specialty puppets was destroyed in the explosion—I'm down to standard models. On this front, my fighting strength is barely Jōnin-level."
The Kazekage fell silent, then frowned.
"No… if there really was a spy, Konoha would have known it was you leading the squad. They would've sent someone of equal power to eliminate you—someone capable of killing an S-rank puppeteer."
"Taking you out would cripple our command structure completely. After that, I'd be the only top-tier combatant left—and forced to stay in the village for defense. They wouldn't miss that chance."
"But the ambush didn't include such a foe. That means they didn't know you were in command."
Chiyo's eyes widened slightly. "…Then why strike us there at all?"
"Because they were doing the same thing we planned," the Kazekage said darkly.
"You mean…?"
"Exactly. A decapitation operation."
"While our armies were still marching and setting up weak defenses, they tried to eliminate our command before the war even began."
"The team you encountered—assassins skilled in stealth, counter-puppetry, and close-quarters combat—was the perfect unit for that mission."
"But they stumbled on your squad first. You were a surprise. That's why their ambush failed."
Chiyo thought deeply, then nodded slowly.
"That does make sense. But this loss… we'll make Konoha pay for it."
"We'll remember it," the Kazekage said gravely. "If it had been anyone else leading that squad, we'd both be corpses by now."
Chiyo suddenly stiffened. "Wait—then you're their real target! You're the commander here, and not exactly gifted in sensory techniques."
"If the Moonlight Clan's Transparent Release users move under the cover of night, you'd never see them coming!"
"I know. We'll conduct another round of loyalty checks, just in case," the Kazekage said. "But since their assassination failed, we'll need to prepare for a direct assault soon. Konoha won't give us time to recover—they'll attack within the next two days."
He massaged his temple in exhaustion.
"Disaster after disaster. I've barely taken the Kazekage's seat, and the whole world's already falling apart."
He sighed.
"Looks like I'll have to tread carefully in tomorrow's meeting with Hanzō. If Ame and Konoha ally, we'll have to withdraw entirely. The front would shift right into Wind Country's borders."
Chiyo grimaced. The thought of their homeland being ravaged by war was almost unbearable.
"You've been out on missions, so you may not have heard the latest," the Kazekage added.
He retrieved a scroll and handed it to her.
"Read this."
Chiyo unrolled the parchment. As her eyes moved down the page, her expression darkened in disbelief.
"Ōnoki… dead?!"
The Third Tsuchikage—someone even she was wary of—had been killed outright?
In her understanding, Hanzō's strength came mainly from his poison techniques and close-range combat.
She had always dismissed him as "the Vent-Tube Man," believing that as long as one neutralized his poison, he wasn't much of a threat.
But this new report shattered that image completely.
The audacity, the scale of his jutsu, the devastation—it all painted a different picture.
"So Hanzō must have been hiding his full power all along… just waiting for the right moment to shock the Great Nations.
Iwagakure merely happened to be the unlucky example."
She exhaled. "Still, with the Iwa in chaos, that's one less threat to worry about. The only major force near us now is the Land of Fire."
"If we join forces with Hanzō, not even the Third Hokage could stop us. We could push straight into the Land of Fire, force a treaty on Konoha, then turn around and strike the Iwa while they're weak. We'd regain everything—and more."
The Kazekage nodded.
"Then we'll have to make sure tomorrow's talks go well. Give the Amegakure some concessions if we must."
"The war will start any moment now, and our troops are still regrouping. If we lose in the Land of Rain, everything collapses—our plans, our territory, everything."
Chiyo's tone grew colder.
"Don't worry. As long as we win here, the rest will be easy.
Once we're done with Konoha and Iwa, we'll turn on Amegakure itself.
That village only stands because of Hanzō. If you and I pin him down, our elite troops can wipe out the entire Ame force in hours.
Even if he survives, Amegakure will be gone."
The Kazekage smiled faintly.
"Then tomorrow, let's be generous with the Ame. Whatever we give, we'll just take back later."
"No one robs Sunagakure and gets away with it."
Chiyo chuckled darkly.
"That Hanzō actually believes personal strength can reshape a nation. Naïve. If that were true, Hashirama Senju would've unified the entire shinobi world long ago!"
Her laughter echoed through the tent.
---
Far away, in the Pure Land, a certain God of Shinobi sneezed loudly.
"Who's talking about me now? Hah, maybe it's that brat Sarutobi! Guess I really did raise him well! Hahaha!"
Meanwhile, deep in a dark cave, an old man stirred.
"Hmph… getting old, but not that old.
So the world's at war again, huh?
Hashirama… you were too soft. You could've wiped out the other nations, yet you tried to save them with 'love.'
I'll prove I was right."
His voice echoed like a whisper of thunder.
---
Back at the Suna encampment, the messenger who had earlier delivered the report stood quietly outside the Kazekage's tent.
Another shinobi—identical in appearance—stood beside him, eyes blank, body stiff.
A faint chakra pulse rippled through the air… unnoticed by anyone inside.
Moments later, as the Kazekage and Chiyo concluded their talk, the disguised figure slipped away silently.
The other guard blinked awake, rubbing his eyes.
"Huh? Did I doze off again? Must be all that marching… I need some rest."
In the distance, the impostor removed her transformation, revealing long pale-yellow hair glinting under the moonlight.
Her identity remained unknown—yet the secret she carried would soon tip the balance of the coming war.