Konoha Year 53, September.
Habara and his team had been on the mission to find Tsunade for a year. During that time, they couldn't exactly say they'd accomplished nothing, but they certainly hadn't fully succeeded either.
Initially, they'd been able to pick up Tsunade's trail relatively easily. In the more prosperous cities across the nations, a quick visit to the most high-profile casino was almost guaranteed to yield whispers of the "legendary sucker." The problem was, a trail was just a trail. The three of them had never actually met Tsunade face-to-face. A few times, Habara even felt like they'd just missed her, passing the legendary gambler like ships in the night.
At first, the mission seemed straightforward, and Habara thought they'd locate Tsunade quickly. But things didn't unfold as expected. Quite the opposite, in fact—Tsunade became increasingly difficult to track.
The reason was simple enough: people adapt. While Habara's team was putting serious effort into finding her, Tsunade was putting even more effort into using every trick she knew to hide.
Tsunade must have quickly realized someone was tracking her, and likely deduced that her pursuers were from Konoha. Under those circumstances, of course she wouldn't want to be found… even a child could guess why Konoha shinobi would be looking for her.
Leaving Konoha didn't mean Tsunade completely cut herself off from news of the village. Though she claimed to be tired of it, even hated it, she somehow always managed to stay remarkably well-informed about Konoha's affairs.
Ultimately, success in search and investigation relies on manpower and resources. Trying to find one person across the continent with just three people was like finding a needle in a haystack; minimal results were to be expected. And no, this definitely wasn't because Habara was slacking off. He, perhaps more than anyone, understood Tsunade's significance to Konoha.
Of course, they hadn't spent the entire year outside the village walls. They were on an external mission, not exiled. They returned to Konoha periodically for rest, to report mission progress to the Hokage, or to handle internal organizational matters.
There were even times they returned to Konoha to undertake other missions. Finding Tsunade was important, but not urgent. In fact, looking back, they had probably spent nearly half the year within Konoha, so they weren't completely disconnected from village life.
During this period, Habara's own plans had advanced rapidly. To summarize briefly: the number of shinobi influenced, to varying degrees, by his "Three Great Systems" had surpassed two thousand. Among these, approximately six hundred had received the Curse Mark of Man, and the strength of about one hundred shinobi had been elevated to Special Jonin level or higher.
The impact of such low-risk, high-reward technology was staggering. If development continued at this pace, Konoha's overall combat capability could potentially double or even triple. If the next Great Ninja War were again fought between the Five Great Shinobi Villages, Konoha's victory seemed almost predetermined.
Although the outcome of war shouldn't be judged so simply – historically, the balance between chaos and order in the shinobi world was often decided by the inclinations of overwhelmingly powerful individuals like the Sage of Six Paths or the First Hokage – the current era lacked such figures.
Habara's original intention was to give shinobi from non-clan backgrounds the same potential for growth as those from ninja clans. Step by step, he was realizing that vision.
Everything seemed to be flourishing. But reality rarely follows the most optimistic path. Anything or anyone overly optimistic is bound to face harsh setbacks, and Habara's endeavors were no exception. Though his projects seemed to be burgeoning, they were actually treading an increasingly perilous path, nearing the edge of a cliff… even if Habara himself hadn't yet seen it.
A wildfire spreading across the plains – not something everyone wants to see.
Land of Iron, outside a certain city. A campfire, several tents – signs that someone had spent the night here.
Only when daylight fully broke did Habara unzip his tent. As he emerged, yawning and rubbing his eyes, Kakashi was already sitting by the dwindling campfire, heating up their breakfast.
"Habara, is it really okay to be this relaxed? This is the only clue about Lady Tsunade we've found in two weeks," Kakashi immediately remarked. It was rather odd hearing Kakashi, of all people, chide someone else for being lax.
"Senpai, haven't you noticed yet?" Habara replied. "The harder we push, the faster she runs. We need to approach slowly, without creating any tension… Failing to find Lady Tsunade just means the time isn't right. You can't force fate. But fate will eventually align. Don't be impatient."
He added, "Besides, you call this lax? If Tenzo had his way, we wouldn't even be in tents. He wanted to build a villa here… She's already sharp and perceptive enough; do we really need to risk scaring her off completely?"
"I'm just worried something might happen back in the village while we're out on missions, and we won't get the news in time… We're far beyond Daigo's communication range here," Kakashi said. Strangely, he'd felt uneasy lately, a persistent feeling that something was about to happen.
They weren't within the Land of Fire, hence no "network signal" from Daigo.
Just then, Tenzo emerged from his tent and joined them. "Still, we don't need to use tents. Building a simple wooden cabin wouldn't make much noise."
"What could possibly happen in the village? The Third Hokage is there holding down the fort," Habara retorted to Kakashi, ignoring Tenzo.
Famous last words.
As Kakashi turned to hand the heated food to Habara, he looked over—Habara was gone.
It felt like the echo of Habara's voice hadn't even faded, yet the man himself had vanished.
"What… What happened? Where's Habara?"
Tenzo had seen Habara disappear abruptly. One moment he was there, the next—poof—gone.
Kakashi thought for a moment, then said, "It must have been the Reverse Summoning Technique. Barring any complications, Habara should be in the 'Secret Realm' right now."
Because they were far outside Daigo's communication range, the village must have resorted to the unconventional Reverse Summoning method to contact Habara urgently.
Tenzo immediately understood. "Trouble in the village."
Kakashi nodded but held up a hand, stopping Tenzo from making any sudden moves to return. "Wait."
There was no point acting rashly with incomplete information. They were far from Konoha; whatever the emergency, a few more minutes wouldn't change much.
Kakashi ducked into Habara's tent and rummaged around until he found a small vial – a vaccine sample. He breathed a sigh of relief.
"What are you doing?" Tenzo asked, confused.
"Do you know what's in this? Habara's blood," Kakashi said, pointing to the transparent vial.
He crushed the vial and used the liquid inside to form hand seals… for the Summoning Technique. Instantly, a massive feline creature appeared before them.
"Whew, it actually worked."
"Is... Is that?"
"Yeah. Habara's summon."
Kakashi had summoned one of Habara's personal beasts – one of the 'Scales, Rock, Stripes' trio. As expected, the large cat carried a small, concise letter outlining the situation in Konoha. In critical moments, Habara and Kakashi still had a certain unspoken understanding.
Reading the contents of the letter, Kakashi's expression shifted dramatically. Of course, due to his mask, Tenzo couldn't see exactly how it changed.
"Tenzo, stay here and continue the search for Lady Tsunade. If she's not in this town, then return to Konoha. The mission is yours. I need to get back to the village immediately."
Before Tenzo could react, Kakashi was already dozens of meters away, sprinting southeast at top speed. Once he crossed the border back into the Land of Fire, there was a Flying Thunder God Formation network point not far off.
Habara had been reverse-summoned to the summons' location – the Secret Realm where Daigo's main body resided – and would then teleport back to Konoha. If Kakashi moved quickly, he wouldn't arrive much later than Habara.
Only Tenzo was left standing there, utterly bewildered. He couldn't help but look up at the sky and sigh…
Cryptic much? Couldn't you guys at least tell me what happened in Konoha? Or at the very least, leave Habara's letter behind!
A thought then occurred to Tenzo: if there was an emergency in Konoha, why was he being left behind to continue searching for Tsunade? Not to brag, but a shinobi of his caliber was a significant asset to the village.
It was the kind of question you didn't want to dwell on too much.
Rewind seven or eight hours.
Konoha's ANBU headquarters was once again in turmoil. That ninja of unknown origin had infiltrated again.
It was the third time in the past year. In the previous two incidents, the intruder had bypassed ANBU's tight security as if it were non-existent, stealing large amounts of intelligence. This spoke volumes about their strength. However, they had never harmed any ANBU members during those incursions, strongly suggesting they might be someone from within the village.
But this third time was clearly different. Within minutes, an entire four-man squad lay dead in pools of blood. The intruder struck with vicious ruthlessness, chilling the spines of those who witnessed the aftermath… There was no chance those four ANBU had survived.
Konoha couldn't possibly remain unprepared after repeated breaches like this. If the barrier seals couldn't stop the intruder, then the headquarters itself needed to be heavily manned. The ANBU Commander was currently present, personally overseeing the operation, ready to capture this infiltrator who had repeatedly shamed the ANBU.
The density of ANBU patrols was high, so the enemy was detected the moment they entered the headquarters. Predictably, they wouldn't be stealing any more intel this time.
Indeed, upon infiltrating and assessing the situation inside, the intruder immediately chose to withdraw and escape.
Coming and going as they pleased? Not this time.
The ANBU Commander personally led his direct subordinate squad in the pursuit. His squad was the most elite within ANBU. No matter how the enemy twisted and turned through Konoha, shaking off other ANBU teams, the Commander's squad clung tightly to their tail.
Until they finally cornered the intruder in a dead-end alley.
"Intruder, you have nowhere left to run."
Seeing the enemy stop, the Commander signaled his shinobi to surround them.
"Nowhere to run? No, I've arrived at the designated location."
Only then did the four ANBU get a clear look at the opponent's face… or rather, mask. It was a swirling orange mask with a single eyehole.
"You…"
Before the ANBU Commander could finish, his two subordinates suddenly drew their blades after their eyes met the gaze through the hole in the enemy's mask. Before the Commander could react, they instantly plunged their weapons into each other's chests.
Such powerful genjutsu!
The enemy's strength far exceeded imagination. The Commander had no time to mourn his fallen subordinates.
"Hyosube, Kageonna…"
The intruder precisely called out the ANBU code names of the two remaining shinobi, one male, one female.
"Thank you for your cooperation. And… welcome to…"
The dark clouds obscuring the moonlight drifted away with the night wind. On the wall the two ANBU faced, a somewhat faded clan crest became visible.
"...the Uchiha Compound."