"Come on, Obito, pick up the pace!" Takeshi's voice was a high-pitched meow of a complaint. "With taijutsu like that, you'll be an old man before you ever improve. Faster, faster!"
Obito shot the cat a resentful look before gritting his teeth and pushing himself to charge forward again.
It was then that Chiyo spotted her brother.
"Ebizo..." she breathed, the name catching in her throat. 'You too?'
'They even got Ebizo,' she thought, a cold dread seeping into her. 'These monsters...' The capture of one of Sunagakure's Elders was a blow to the village's prestige, but to lose both was a humiliation that would echo through the nations. The Mizukage had already become a laughingstock for being captured, and rumor had it he was now shut away in his home, preparing to abdicate. Sunagakure was heading down the same path.
Minato cleared his throat gently. "Elder Chiyo, we are truly reluctant to take these measures. We only hope the Kazekage will see reason and order a retreat. Otherwise, I cannot guarantee what might happen next."
He sighed as he delivered the threat, and Chiyo felt her anger flare.
'That tone of his is the worst part,' she fumed silently. 'He delivers an ultimatum as if he's offering a kindness.'
War had no room for right or wrong, and she wasn't naive enough to condemn Konoha for its methods. If Sunagakure had possessed such overwhelming power, they would have gladly taken every Kage and jonin from the other villages as "guests."
The problem was, they didn't have that power. Sunagakure didn't possess infamous kidnapping duo.
Sunagakure was poor in resources, and in recent years, the Daimyo of the Land of Wind had been steadily cutting their funding. It was the entire reason they had been so desperate for this war. A victory would mean new territory for the nation and, more importantly, new wealth for the village.
Unfortunately, they had lost yet again.
Chiyo closed her eyes, the familiar sting of failure making it impossible to look at her unconscious brother. It was pointless anyway. She knew Ebizo was a cautious man, a strategist at heart. He must have pursued them because he heard she had been captured, letting his composure slip. For a mind like his, that was a fatal mistake.
All she could do now was hope that Rasa would keep a clear head and prevent the village from sinking any deeper. If their losses mounted, Sunagakure would truly be finished.
--**--**
But Rasa was in no state to act as she hoped.
As a Kazekage who had risen to power under difficult circumstances, he lacked the prestige of his predecessors. He had even needed the support of Chiyo and Ebizo to launch this war in the first place, desperate for an accomplishment to call his own.
This was supposed to be his chance to prove himself. Instead, he had been lured away and trapped by Orochimaru. By the time he fought his way back, he found the base camp completely leveled. When he asked what had happened, the news was grim.
Chiyo had been captured.
Ebizo had gone after her and had not returned.
'How can we possibly continue this war?' The thought had barely formed in his mind when a jonin stumbled into the tent, his uniform torn and caked with dirt.
"Kazekage-sama! It's terrible news! They've taken Ebizo-sama!"
The pursuing jonin had returned, or what was left of them. Most were so badly wounded they were immediately carried off on stretchers. This one, by comparison, was lucky.
"What?" Pakura, standing beside Rasa, felt the air leave her lungs. 'Both Elders? How is that possible?'
Rasa's face turned to stone. He sat frozen in his chair, the words failing to come. He wanted to roar, to smash something, to vent the volcanic frustration building inside him, but he knew that as Kazekage, he could not afford to show such weakness.
After a long, tense silence, he finally found his voice. "What happened? I thought you were protecting him."
"We were, sir, but the enemy charged the camp," the jonin stammered, his head bowed in shame. "We couldn't stop them. They were just too fast."
A dozen jonin, and their entire formation had been shattered by two shinobi. Ebizo had been captured and dragged away in seconds. The jonin knew there was no way to spin the story to save face. Could he say the Elders were too weak? Not in this lifetime. Could he admit that they themselves were too weak? That was even worse.
"Fast?" Rasa's voice was dangerously low. "How many were there?"
"Two, sir. When they charged, there were only two. And then later..."
"Two?!"
Rasa's fist slammed down on the command table, the wood groaning under the force. He fought the urge to splinter it with a single, furious kick. 'Two people?' he raged internally. 'They couldn't stop two people in our own camp? What kind of fools are leading my shinobi? What kind of imbecile walks right into a trap knowing the enemy's strength?' He felt a surge of contempt. 'Are these the great minds of Suna? Why is everyone under my command so useless?'
Pakura stood motionless, her expression a mask of disbelief. Two people had snatched Elder Chiyo from a camp of hundreds? If she hadn't seen with her own eyes that both Elders were gone, she would have assumed the jonin was making a sick joke.
Not long ago, the Suna leadership had been mocking the Third Mizukage for his capture. They never imagined the same tactic could be turned against them with such brutal efficiency.
"Kazekage-sama, what are your orders?" the jonin asked, trembling. The wave of killing intent from both Rasa and Pakura had been so intense he thought he was about to die.
Rasa took a deep, steadying breath, pushing his anger down. "Go and get some rest."
"Yes. Thank you, Kazekage-sama." The jonin quickly withdrew.
Rasa leaned back in his chair, forcing himself to think. Blaming his subordinates was pointless. What mattered now was the next move. He had to accept his own share of the responsibility. If he hadn't been baited and surrounded by Orochimaru, he might have been there to repel the attack. And if he had been more decisive earlier, he could have traded Tsunade for Chiyo, avoiding this disaster entirely. After today, he was certain of it, letting Tsunade go had been a grave mistake.
Pakura knelt. "I am sorry, Kazekage-sama. I was..."
"It's all right," Rasa said, waving a hand to dismiss her apology. "You were thinking of the village."
Pakura was a powerful kunoichi, one of the few true elite jonin Suna had left. He needed every asset he could muster. Rasa had no intention of surrendering. He still wanted to fight.
But as he weighed the strength of both sides, a dangerous idea began to form in his mind.
'The Jinchuriki,' he thought. 'Konoha hasn't deployed their Jinchuriki yet.'
If Suna used theirs first, they might be able to catch the enemy off guard. In the ensuing chaos, they could rescue Chiyo and Ebizo. The only problem was Konoha's sealing jutsu. The Uzumaki clan's techniques were a powerful threat to any Tailed Beast or its host. It gave him a headache just thinking about it.
After a moment, Rasa sighed and tapped his fingers on the table. "Pakura, gather the commanders. We need to discuss our next plan."
"Yes, sir." Pakura nodded and left the tent.
--**--**
While Sunagakure was still hesitating, their two Elders had already entered the Land of Fire. Once they reached this point, the Sand Shinobi completely lost the possibility of rescuing them.
While Sunagakure's leaders hesitated, their two captured Elders were already crossing into the Land of Fire. With every step, the chance of a successful rescue dwindled to nothing.
Of course, Ebizo would have preferred they didn't even try. Any rescue attempt would just end with more Suna shinobi captured or dead.
It was all for naught.
'The kidnapping duo are on another level entirely,' he thought grimly.
Along the way, Ebizo had run through dozens of plans in his mind, simulating every possible outcome. Each simulation ended the same way: failure. There was simply no way to deal with these two. Even if they had Onoki and Iwagakure on their side, the best they could hope for would be to slow Minato and the cat down. Capturing them was an impossibility.
'The Flying Thunder God is just too terrifying.'
As he sighed, Ebizo couldn't help but feel a strange sense of gratitude that Tobirama Senju had died when he did. If that man had lived another decade and invented even more jutsu, the other villages would never have stood a chance.
If someone were to ask him for a viable battle plan right now, he would have only one answer.
'The only strategic move left... is to surrender.'
Their best option was to retreat, rebuild, and wait for the political landscape to shift. Perhaps Konoha would suffer from internal conflict? It wasn't just wishful thinking. Konoha was strong, but its foundations were cracked. Powerful clans like the Uchiha were a time bomb waiting to explode.
When Konoha eventually turned on itself and its strength waned, that would be Suna's true opportunity.
He deliberately pushed aside one final, nagging thought: even if Konoha tore itself apart, he still wasn't sure how Sunagakure could ever deal with the Yellow Flash and his black cat.
===============
Dear Readers and Fans,
For those eager to dive into next chapters earlier before others, I invite you to join us on Patreon. By becoming our Patron, you not only gain access to exclusive advanced chapters but also help us continue this endeavour and expand it further.
https://www.pat reon.com/8Ashes8
(no space)
You can read upto 7 Chapters in advance.