Chapter 366: War
The war had begun.
As the wealthiest region in the shinobi world, the Land of Fire, with Konoha at its core, maintained a level of resource security difficult for foreign shinobi to infiltrate. This gave Konoha a natural advantage, as no one knew they were preparing for war. Much of this ignorance was thanks to the timid reputation the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, had cultivated over the years. The shinobi world assumed Konoha would never initiate conflict. After all, the other nations were poor, and no one believed fighting them would be worthwhile.
Yet the unthinkable happened.
In just three days, the Land of Wind was annexed by the Land of Fire. Although the Land of Wind was the largest in terms of territory, its habitable land was minimal. Konoha's forces launched a blitzkrieg, swiftly overtaking Sunagakure and the capital of the Land of Wind, seizing the entire nation in one rapid stroke.
With this move, Konoha shattered the longstanding power balance among the five great shinobi villages, sending shockwaves across every country. But the truth was that fewer than a thousand casualties were reported in the entire conflict. The Land of Wind had little capacity to resist Konoha's overwhelming power and was quickly forced to surrender.
As Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, master of the Gold Dust, had considered fighting to the end, but was betrayed from within by the rational Sand Village leadership, who staged a coup, forcing him to submit to the Hokage. Sunagakure was resigned to its fate as a relic of history.
Oddly enough, many within Sunagakure welcomed the change. Becoming part of the Land of Fire, a wealthy nation, meant their struggles might finally end no more senseless wars or deadly missions.
But soon after the war ended, both sides realized a significant problem: Shukaku, the One Tail, had vanished.
Gaara, the young jinchūriki of Shukaku, had not yet mastered his power and was often viewed as a ticking time bomb, feared even by those in his village. With Konoha's sudden offensive, Gaara had been hidden to avoid unnecessary risks. Yet now, after the battle, Gaara was missing!
Since neither side had moved against Gaara, they reached the same conclusion: an unknown force had taken advantage of the chaos to abduct him.
Despite their limited knowledge of tailed beasts, those in the Land of Wind knew well that Shukaku's power was formidable, especially in a desert environment, where his abilities rivaled any other tailed beast.
Kakashi's expression was dark and forbidding. "The nerve of them, stealing Konoha's prize. Find these thieves! If we don't, this war will be nothing but a joke, and how can we expect the world to bow to Konoha? What will our god think of his disciples?"
"Yes, sir!" The Konoha shinobi in the command tent were as enraged as Kakashi. They knew fighting the Land of Wind was already a costly endeavor, and now their hard won prize had been stolen. This insult demanded retribution.
The desert terrain might make it easier for an intruder to conceal themselves, but shinobi had developed an array of tracking methods over millennia. Konoha, of course, had the greatest advantage: the Byakugan.
Since this was a foreign conflict, Konoha had deployed only half its forces, keeping the rest home to guard against surprise attacks. Among the forces sent, every clan had dispatched their elite, including a large contingent from the Hyuga Clan. The Hyuga Clan, along with the Inuzuka and their dogs, the Aburame and their insects, and Konoha's newest allies from Sunagakure, conducted a meticulous, village wide search. Despite the casualties in the war, Konoha's terms for Sunagakure had quickly won them over.
As far as Sunagakure was concerned, they were now part of Konoha.
Though Kakashi had the power to resurrect those lost in battle, he refrained, remembering Ye Wen's teachings: people should maintain respect for death. Sacrifice was inevitable, and if one wished to overturn death, one would have to achieve godhood. "All misfortune stems from weakness," Ye Wen had said.
With the help of Sunagakure's locals, Konoha's search gained speed. Meanwhile, Sasori of the Red Sand and Orochimaru, the Akatsuki operatives who had abducted Gaara, were growing bored with the simplicity of their mission, their boredom leading to carelessness that gave Konoha's forces an opening.
A Hyuga shinobi, standing behind a sand dune a kilometer away, activated his Byakugan, veins bulging around his eyes as he observed the chakra signatures in the distance. "That chakra it's Gaara, the One Tail jinchūriki. And wait, that sinister chakra signature "
His forehead grew damp with cold sweat. Even from so far away, the presence made him shiver.
"Da da…Orochimaru." The name came out in a whisper, trembling.
"What?" his companions hissed in disbelief before they too fell silent, their eyes widening in horror. Even separated by such a distance, they felt the tension. After all, Orochimaru was a living legend, one of the three Sannin and a feared veteran of two Shinobi World Wars.
One of the shinobi swiftly scrawled a report, then summoned a messenger creature to send it to headquarters.
"Takuya, let's keep our distance and monitor them without getting too close. That one's sensory skills aren't weak, and we cannot risk exposing ourselves before reinforcements arrive."
The trio concealed themselves as best as possible, keeping watch from a safe range. What they didn't know was that Orochimaru was already aware of their presence. A smirk played across his lips as he muttered, "It seems we have a few little mice spying on us. Looks like we've been found out."
Sasori, currently wearing his grotesque puppet body, Hiruko, responded with a raspy voice, "That was part of the plan. No need to worry about it. Let's see how Konoha fares these days."
"Hehehe, just don't get yourself caught," Orochimaru sneered.
The two exchanged a knowing look and began to move quickly.
Gaara, bound and sealed within a specialized urn crafted by Orochimaru to contain jinchūriki, remained securely held as they moved.
Within an hour, powerful flames fell from above, cutting off their path.
"Of course, it had to be you, Orochimaru," Jiraiya said, his voice a deep, steady growl.
Though he despised war, Jiraiya was still a Konoha shinobi. Refusing to fight would be tantamount to desertion.
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