The morning sun cast long shadows over the ruins of Konoha. Standing by the shattered window of the Hokage's office, Hiruzen watched the reconstruction efforts below.
Nawaki Senju stood at the center of the devastation, using his Wood Release for the village's recovery. It was a miraculous sight, but it did little to ease the heavy burden sitting on Hiruzen's chest.
A sharp knock broke the silence.
"Enter," Hiruzen commanded.
An ANBU operative stepped into the office, dropping to one knee. "Lord Hokage. The detailed reports from the borders have arrived."
Hiruzen turned away from the window. The preliminary intel had come in the middle of the night via the slug network. Nawaki, having also signed the slug summoning contract, had relayed the status of the outer fronts. Now, the full picture was clear.
"Read it," Hiruzen said, lighting his pipe with a trembling hand.
"Starting with the Suna Front in the Land of Rivers," the ANBU read from the scroll. "In the middle of the night, the Third Kazekage, the elite puppeteer duo—Chiyo's son and daughter-in-law—and the One-Tails Jinchuriki appeared in the absolute center of the Konoha camp via a pillar of light."
The ANBU swallowed hard. "They arrived severely injured from the transport, but they utilized Ren Uchiha's Type-2 Healing Tags to recover instantly. At the same time, the Suna army attacked the camp from the outside; we were being hit from both inside and out. Our forces suffered serious fatalities among the Genin and Chunin ranks. However, Commander Tsunade successfully killed the puppeteer duo and the One-Tails. Following that, Sakumo Hatake assassinated the Third Kazekage. The Suna forces have routed. The war on that front is effectively over."
Hiruzen exhaled a thick cloud of smoke, his expression unreadable. Internally, he was reeling. He knew Tsunade was strong, but to obliterate elite puppeteers and a Tailed Beast simultaneously? Has she already mastered the Nine-Tails' chakra? he wondered. It was a terrifying, yet comforting thought.
"And the Iwa border in the Land of Grass?" Hiruzen prompted.
"The situation is far more severe, Lord Hokage," the ANBU continued, his voice tight. "The Iwa forces launched a massive night raid led by Onoki and the Five-Tails Jinchuriki. Lord Jiraiya confronted the Tsuchikage directly. During the clash, Jiraiya dealt a fatal wound to Onoki, nearly killing him."
The ANBU paused. "But Iwa reinforcements intervened. Onoki used Ren's Healing Tags to reverse his fatal injuries. In the ensuing counterattack, Lord Jiraiya lost his left arm."
Hiruzen gripped his pipe so hard the wood splintered.
"Our forces sustained seventy percent casualties," the ANBU finished. "Kushina Uzumaki summoned Katsuyu to treat the survivors, but her primary focus was restraining the Five-Tails. The good news is that the Five-Tails Jinchuriki, Han, has been successfully captured. Seeing their vanguard neutralized, Onoki ordered a full retreat to their rear lines."
Hiruzen slumped into his chair. He rubbed his temples, a headache pounding behind his eyes.
Pillars of light... Instant, coordinated transport. It's the same as how the two Tailed Beasts and the Raikage appeared in the village, Hiruzen thought, his mind connecting the dots. There is a very high chance Ren Uchiha is behind this spatial ninjutsu.
"We need to interrogate the captured invaders immediately," Hiruzen ordered, his eyes hardening. "I want the full picture of how this alliance was formed, and exactly how involved Ren Uchiha is."
Suddenly, there was another knock on the door. It was Minato; Hiruzen had sent him to inspect the front line of the Water front.
Minato entered the room and said, "Lord Third, the Mist front was also under attack last night."
Hiruzen took a sharp breath and asked about the situation.
"The attack was led by Yagura, followed by the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist and the Hidden Mist army," Minato reported grimly. "We lost a Byakugan from the Main Family of the Hyuga clan in the attack. Orochimaru-sama killed four of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, and Fugaku Uchiha confronted Yagura and their army alongside the Uchiha and Hyuga clans. Though they suffered heavy fatalities, our border is secure."
Hiruzen too a deep breath and said, "Minato you go and retrieve Jiraiya and Five Tail Jinchuriki From Iwa front and you will be deployed there in place of Jiraiya."
The Land of Rice Fields
Far away from the political machinations of the Great Nations, a massive, sprawling encampment was taking shape in the fertile plains of the Land of Rice Fields.
It wasn't a military base. It was a refugee camp.
The sheer volume of people packed into the makeshift settlement was staggering. The sight was painful to witness. Thousands of civilians and defectors were crowded together, their bodies bearing the horrific scars of a war they had no part in starting. There were people missing limbs, children with festering bacterial infections from untreated shrapnel, and adults suffering from severe explosive burns and deep lacerations caused by ninja wire.
Almost every injury in the camp was the direct result of ninja combat or collateral damage from hidden traps.
Moving tirelessly through the sea of misery were Ren and Kaori Uchiha, alongside several of their Shadow Clones, walked among the cots. Their hands radiated the emerald light of medical ninjutsu, stabilizing the dying and curing the infected.
Ren knelt beside a young boy, applying a burst of Yang chakra to heal a severe burn on his leg. As he worked, his mind drifted back to the reality check they had received upon arriving in this country.
Five Days Ago
When the Uchiha family first crossed the border into the Land of Rice Fields, they had expected a quiet, untouched haven. A paradise free from the bloodshed of the Five Great Nations.
What they found was a nightmare far worse than the active warzones.
They had been walking down a muddy road when a group of children emerged from the brush, blocking their path. None of them wore ninja headbands. They wore rags.
The kids pulled out weapons—rusty kunai, chipped swords, and splintered spears. The blades were worn and heavily damaged, scavenged from dead shinobi. Looking at Ren, Satoshi, and Kaori's clean, high-quality clothing and lack of headbands, the children had mistaken them for wealthy civilians traveling without a ninja escort.
"Give us all your money and your food!" the oldest boy, barely thirteen, had yelled, his hands shaking violently as he pointed a rusty sword at Satoshi. "If you don't, you're dead!"
Ren had looked at them. Their cheeks were sunken, their eyes hollow. They looked like they hadn't eaten a real meal in weeks.
Ren glanced at his mother. "Mom. Do we have anything to eat?"
Kaori looked at the trembling children for a second. She glanced at Satoshi, who simply gave a soft nod.
Kaori's shadow stretched outward across the dirt. From the inky darkness, a large burlap sack materialized and dropped to the ground. It was filled to the brim with fresh bread.
The moment the kids saw the spatial jutsu, the blood drained from their faces. The realization hit them like a physical blow.
They were shinobi.
Panic erupted. A smaller girl at the back of the group dropped her chipped kunai and tried to run into the woods.
Before she could even complete her turn, Ren was there, appearing right beside her, and gently placed a hand on her shoulder.
The little girl collapsed to her knees, bursting into hysterical tears. "Please! I didn't know you were ninjas! Please don't kill us!"
Ren crouched down to her eye level, offering a warm, genuine smile. "I'm not going to kill you," he said softly. "I just want to give you some bread."
He walked over to the sack, pulled out a fresh loaf, and broke it into pieces. He handed it out to the terrified children. Fear kept them frozen for a moment, but starvation won. They snatched the bread from his hands and began devouring it, tears streaming down their dirt-streaked faces.
As they ate, Ren sat with them and asked about their parents and themselves. The stories poured out, painting a grim picture of the world the Great Villages ignored.
They weren't from the same place. They had formed a makeshift gang just to survive. Some were orphans from the Land of Hot Water, their parents killed as collateral damage when Konoha and Kumo clashed. Some were from the Land of Frost.
A few even admitted they came from bandit camps. Their parents had been driven to banditry because the massive influx of refugees had caused extreme hyperinflation; a loaf of bread cost a fortune. Starvation forced them to steal. In response, the Daimyo had commissioned native ninja clans to exterminate the bandit camps. These kids had only escaped the slaughter by sheer luck.
Ren noticed some of the children were injured. A soft green glow appeared on his hands, and he began treating them.
Suddenly, a boy roughly ten years old knelt in front of Ren. "Ninja-sama, please treat my mother too!" he cried, tears spilling down his cheeks. "I'll do anything!"
Ren gently lifted the kid and asked where his mother was. Seeing Ren's kindness, the boy eagerly led the way.
It was a small, makeshift refugee camp. It wasn't very big, but quite a lot of them were injured. Seeing Ren and his family in good attire, and the bread in the kids' hands, many adults turned their eyes toward them. Their intentions were not good.
Satoshi saw this. He reached into the Shadow Realm and pulled out three Konoha ninja headbands and a kunai. He scratched a deep, horizontal line through the Leaf logo on each headband, creating the symbol of a Missing-Nin.
He handed one to Kaori and one to Ren. "I really don't wish to wear this headband," Satoshi muttered, tying it on, "but in this situation, it is the best choice."
After seeing the scratched headbands—the universal sign of dangerous rogue ninja—the hostile adults immediately vacated the way.
Soon, they reached the boy's mother. Ren treated her, and seeing the other injured people, he began treating them as well. Soon, a crowd gathered. There were many injured people, their eyes hopeful but terrified to ask for treatment from ninjas.
Ren made a decision. He and Kaori began treating everyone they could.
News spread like wildfire: a doctor was treating injuries for free. Desperate people began to gather, swarming the location from nearby places.
And that was how a small, desperate gathering of people exploded into a massive refugee camp in five days.