"What was the reason for Aburame Torune's death in the Land of Wind? And how did it lead to the nano-insects infecting the entire country?"
In the Hokage's Office, only Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo Shimura remained. The two old comrades had been locked in a complex dance of love and hate for decades; each knew the other better than anyone.
Back then, when Danzo had recruited members from the various great clans into Root, the Third Hokage had known and tacitly approved. He, too, had wanted to weaken the clans to maintain a balance between them and the commoner ninja.
"Uchiha Nagi has appeared…" Danzo finally said after a long silence.
"What? He's still alive? Didn't Itachi say he had already killed him?" the Third Hokage exclaimed in shock.
"Yes. The Root members witnessed him being hit by Itachi's jutsu, but they never saw a body. So, it's not surprising that he's still alive," Danzo said calmly.
"So you sent a squad to eliminate him…"
"Yes. He was first spotted in the Land of Hot Water, where he fought Tsunade and escaped unscathed. He then fled to the Land of Water. After he returned, Root tracked him using the arm he had lost, finally locating him in the Land of Wind. I never expected that the entire elite squad would be…"
The Third Hokage frowned, the age spots on his face seeming to darken. He picked up his pipe and began puffing on it in frustration.
The Uchiha clan had been planning a coup, so the Third, persuaded by Danzo and the two elder advisors, had agreed to the plan to annihilate them. In the end, Itachi had done the deed himself with Root's assistance. Root had surrounded the Uchiha compound, ensuring no one escaped.
He never thought one would still get away. And not only did he escape, but he also awakened the Eye That Reflects the Heart—the Mangekyo Sharingan.
The Third Hokage was not yet aware that the Mangekyo had a more advanced form, but from the night of the Nine-Tails attack and the village's founding by Madara, he knew the terror of the Mangekyo Sharingan.
Now, a Kage-level shinobi who harbored a deep hatred for Konoha was watching them from the shadows. It was a chilling thought.
The Kage-level shinobi of the five great nations had constraints. Even if their own son was killed, no matter how deep their hatred, they had to consider the bigger picture—the good of their country and village—and endure it.
But Uchiha Nagi was a lone wolf, and a Kage-level one at that. This was a massive headache. Jonin couldn't defeat him, and they couldn't easily dispatch a Kage-level shinobi of their own—or rather, Konoha simply couldn't find one.
Looking at Konoha, the Third Hokage sighed. How glorious it had once been. The Three Sannin, plus Konoha's White Fang. Then came Minato Namikaze, and finally, Itachi and Shisui. And now?
He was the only one left. Danzo had been severely injured, half his body crippled, and no longer possessed his former strength. The two elder advisors were old, and the various hidden injuries from their younger years of fighting meant they were barely at the Jonin level.
So who could they send to eliminate Uchiha Nagi?
Hiruzen didn't know that Danzo had secretly transplanted the First Hokage's cells, long since recovering his strength. Not only had he recovered, but he had also obtained a large number of three-tomoe Sharingan, allowing him to use Izanagi repeatedly.
"Notify Jiraiya. See if he's willing to go… Never mind. If he doesn't want to, so be it…" the Third Hokage said.
"Have the Anbu and Root monitor his movements closely. If he enters the Land of Fire or approaches the border, we'll see if we have an opportunity to kill him. Also, increase the bounty on his head."
"As for the matter with Sunagakure, you are not to interfere. I will dispatch members of the Aburame clan and medical ninja to help them cure this nano-insect plague."
Hearing this, Danzo shot up as if his fur had been rubbed the wrong way, glaring fiercely. "Hiruzen! This is a perfect opportunity to weaken Sunagakure, and you want to help them instead? Have you forgotten the Konoha ninja who died in past wars?"
"Do you want Konoha to fight four nations at once when the next Great Ninja War breaks out in ten years?"
The Third Hokage took a few puffs from his pipe and sighed. "That's enough, Danzo. I've already made my decision regarding Sunagakure. You will not interfere."
"Hmph!" Danzo threw the door open, slamming it hard against the office wall. "Hiruzen, you will regret this one day."
After Danzo left, the Third Hokage sighed and muttered to himself, "Old friend, this is why you could never be Hokage…"
"If I don't send people to help Sunagakure end this plague, what will the other ninja villages think? Even if Konoha didn't do it, once Sunagakure starts spreading the story, we'll be the scapegoats regardless. Conversely, if Konoha helps Sunagakure resolve this crisis, no one can speak ill of us…"
Otherwise, what if the other ninja villages feared that Konoha would do to them what they believed was done to Sunagakure, and secretly unleash a plague in their villages? What would be the result then? A preemptive Great Ninja War, just to avoid Sunagakure's fate?
After so many years of hard-won peace, the Third Hokage had no desire to start another war.
More importantly, Konoha was currently suffering from a severe dearth of talent.
Sigh. These are the fruits of my own actions…
When it came to developing the village, the Third Hokage was a professional. In the ten years since the war ended, Konoha had prospered and flourished. When it came to shifting blame, he was also a professional. Itachi took the fall for the Uchiha massacre. Hizashi? Danzo took the fall for that. For anything shady, there was Root to take the blame.
"The map should be correct. This way should lead to the Land of Roran."
Uchiha Nagi frowned at the map. He wasn't bad with directions, but the desert was just too troublesome. There were no landmarks.
The so-called landmarks were mostly oases. Most of the time, ordinary people used oases, as well as the stars and the sun, to navigate.
"Sensei, which way is east and which is west?" little Kimimaro asked, wiping sweat from his brow and looking around in confusion.
Under the scorching sun, even a ninja with chakra could find it unbearable. It was easy to get disoriented, and the oases that served as landmarks in the desert were few and far between. Once you lost your sense of direction, it was extremely fatal.
When a person loses their sense of direction, they tend to walk in a large circle and end up back where they started. This is because there is a slight difference in the length of a person's left and right strides, perhaps only a centimeter or half a centimeter. It may seem like they are walking in a straight line, but after walking for dozens of kilometers, an observer from above would see that they were not walking straight, but in a curve. Eventually, they find themselves having walked in a circle, right back where they started. Even a fast-footed ninja was in danger if they lost their sense of direction.
"Every morning, the sun rises in the east and sets in the west," Uchiha Nagi said, silently drawing his sword and plunging it into the ground.
"And when it's noon and the sun is directly overhead, making it impossible to tell the direction, you use this."
"A sword? How do you tell the direction with a sword?" Yukihime asked, also sweating and looking puzzled.
Uchiha Nagi smiled. This was a bit of obscure knowledge from his previous life.
"The shadow. You can determine east, west, north, and south by the changing position of the shadow."