When Haseo first heard about the ninja village in the Land of Rice Fields, his immediate thought was Otogakure (the Sound Village), but that wasn't the case at present.
Otogakure was a newly established or inherited village created later by Orochimaru after he left Konoha. He gathered together a bunch of random ninja and secretly controlled everything within the village, using it to conduct various humane or inhumane scientific experiments, as well as gather intelligence from across the Ninjutsu World.
That place was essentially one of Orochimaru's bases hidden in plain sight—nobody else knew about it yet.
All of that was something that would happen "in the future"—though whether that future would even come to pass was uncertain. At the current moment, there was a small ninja village in the Land of Rice Fields known as Tajikune Village ("Tajikune" being the village name), and the Third Hokage meant to say that this village had recently been annihilated.
While Haseo pondered these matters, the Third Hokage silently confirmed once again in his heart that Haseo was indeed a jinx. The timing of the Tajikune incident coincided with Haseo's mission to return the Two-Tails—these two events followed one right after the other.
You could almost say Haseo just passed through the Land of Rice Fields—and then the entire village fell apart behind him.
"So the question is," Haseo said, immediately catching on to which village had been destroyed, "this happened a month ago? Why did the village only receive news about it now?"
Haseo was questioning Konoha's intelligence-gathering abilities—it seemed rather important, yet Konoha found out so late. In theory, the Third Hokage should be embarrassed about such a delay.
However, the Hokage didn't seem embarrassed at all.
"Konoha's intelligence network is quite strong, but it can't possibly monitor every corner of the Ninjutsu World. Our resources definitely have priorities. After the war ended, smaller border countries like the Land of Rice Fields naturally dropped off our priority list… If it were Kumo that had been destroyed, we'd have learned the entire story within three days," the Third Hokage explained.
Haseo shot him a look and thought, You're overestimating things—there's no way Kumo could've gotten blown up.
Still, the Hokage's explanation made sense. At present, among the Five Great Ninja Villages in the Ninjutsu World, power was mutually balanced. There no longer existed those previous situations where one side could dominate absolutely over another. Therefore, most of Konoha's intelligence resources were devoted to watching their four main rivals, with the remainder handling internal affairs. Only when they still had extra capacity left would they turn attention toward villages like Amegakure.
As for Tajikune's situation, although Konoha's response was indeed somewhat delayed, it was frustrating, but also kind of understandable under the circumstances.
"Putting that aside," Haseo continued, "the more important questions are why someone would randomly destroy Tajikune, and who exactly did it?"
Compared to how Tajikune had been destroyed, Haseo was far more concerned about why it had been destroyed—and who had done it.
"You must understand, Haseno, that ever since the Ninjutsu World emerged from its chaotic era and established the one-nation-one-village system, the number of ninja sects and villages has continued to decline. This is an inevitable trend...
Resources in this world are limited. The strong inevitably overpower or absorb the weak. During the early stages of the Great Ninja Wars, it was common for small ninja villages to be wiped out. I simply never expected such events to suddenly occur again in what appeared to be a time trending toward peace."
Leaving aside other factors, ninja villages inevitably compete for missions. If someone gains an extra mission, someone else inevitably loses out.
Competition leads to annihilation because the world is no longer what it once was. The major ninja villages hold overwhelming superiority over smaller ones.
However... Listening to the Third Hokage's words, it seemed Konoha had also carried out similar operations during the First Great Ninja War.
While marching against large ninja villages, eliminating several minor nations and their ninja villages along the way—this wasn't something the Second Hokage would hesitate to do.
To a Hokage, any action beneficial to Konoha becomes a matter worth considering how best to execute.
"In that case, as long as there's sufficient power, anyone could potentially commit such acts. From my understanding, Tajikune Village was practically insignificant and weak."
"That does seem possible. Given proximity, Kumo, Iwagakure, and even Sunagakure—along with Amegakure and Takigakure, which are weaker than the major villages but still far stronger than Tajikune—are all viable suspects... Didn't you encounter Hanzo of Amegakure during your previous mission?"
As for Amegakure, there's no need to elaborate—they've fallen into extreme poverty, so it wouldn't be surprising if they destroyed Tajikune simply for robbery. As for Takigakure, although they appear well-behaved on the surface and have truly become a "hidden" village nowadays, we shouldn't forget they once possessed the *Two-Tails*, the only Tailed Beast not controlled by the five great nations. Even back then, they attempted to assassinate the First Hokage.
Perhaps Takigakure became so obedient precisely because they were frightened by the First Hokage.
On the whole, though, Haseno still believed large ninja villages were more likely responsible. Given the current global conditions, minor villages already struggle to survive. Being sandwiched between major powers, they barely have time to look out for each other, let alone engage in internal conflict.
"Hanzo... He seemed to come solely for the Two-Tails' ransom funds at that time. I didn't sense any other intentions from him.
Once this incident spreads throughout the ninja world, all the small villages will feel threatened again."
Haseno said thoughtfully.
"Although it might already be somewhat late now, and we don't know how many traces remain at the site or whether survivors exist, in any case, I plan to dispatch a special investigation team to the Land of Rice Fields to collect as much battlefield intelligence as possible and ideally identify those responsible.
Haseno, since you're relatively familiar with that route, this task will be entrusted to you."
The Third Hokage wanted to assign this investigation task to Haseo, since the latter indeed had some familiarity with that area. However, Haseo decisively shook his head, declining the request.
"Hokage-sama, please forgive me for not accepting this mission," Haseo said. "Investigating crime scenes like this should be left to more professional intelligence personnel. More importantly, I believe we should pay more attention to how the situation will develop next…I'm preparing to lead a team to the Land of Whirlpools."
The Third Hokage paused briefly before speaking again. "Are you worried that the attacks against small ninja villages will escalate?"
Haseo nodded. It wasn't just concern—he was extremely worried. After all, in his original memory, the Uzumaki clan's village in the Land of Whirlpools was destroyed within these past few years.
"No matter what," Haseo continued, "the Uzumaki relocation needs to be accelerated."
Because the Uzumaki had already transferred a considerable amount of their strength to Konoha, they had significantly less power—and much weaker risk-resistance capabilities—in the Land of Whirlpools than before.
Due to the influence of current events, and for safety reasons, it was indeed necessary for the Uzumaki to speed up their relocation.
The Third Hokage understood Haseo's perspective. "I see…"
At this moment, a startled exclamation echoed from the training ground. It seemed that during their conversation, the Jonin exam had reached a decisive outcome.
The Third Hokage turned and glanced toward the dark passage at the edge of the training ground before continuing to speak to Haseo. "Once things wrap up here, go ahead and act according to your own plans. I'll arrange for someone else suitable for the Land of Rice Fields."
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