July 21st, Konoha year 43, 9 AM.
Sarutobi Asuma and his two companions entered the Land of Rain, where it was currently raining incessantly.
However, none of them wore raincoats this time, only putting on masks to conceal their identities.
After entering the Land of Rain, the trio began searching for traces left by ninjas.
Soon, they tracked their quarry to a seemingly desolate village.
"There are very clear chakra fluctuations. Ninjas have been fighting here!"
Yūhi Kurenai stated.
However, the distance was still a bit too great for her Sensory Ninjutsu to pinpoint precisely.
Sarutobi Asuma immediately blew out, sending a gust of wind towards the village ahead.
He soon received feedback.
"Eight people!"
"And three of the chakras are somewhat familiar."
Sarutobi Asuma said.
"Familiar chakras?"
"Could it be other Konoha squads?"
Yūhi Kurenai inquired.
"No."
Sarutobi Asuma shook his head. "It's the ninja organization we encountered on our last mission, the ones who tried to stop our fight."
Yūhi Kurenai and Shizune paused for a moment before recalling.
That was their second mission into the Land of Rain.
"Let's go take a look!"
Sarutobi Asuma made the decision.
The three immediately moved forward quickly in the rain, entering the village and witnessing two groups of people engaged in a fierce battle.
Yahiko, Nagato, Konan, and four individuals from the other side.
From the previous sensing, the other side should have been five people, but one had already fallen.
Moreover, there was more than one person down on this battlefield.
"It seems we're lucky; they're Sand Ninja!"
Sarutobi Asuma smiled, then gave an order: "Kurenai, Shizune, provide support. Let's finish this quickly, capture one Sand Ninja, and then retreat. Don't get entangled with the ninja organizations of the Land of Rain."
"Understood!"
Yūhi Kurenai and Shizune nodded in unison.
The next moment, led by Sarutobi Asuma, the three suddenly burst out from behind the Sand Ninja.
*BOOM!*
Sarutobi Asuma unleashed a Wind Style: Great Breakthrough, a storm sweeping forward, kicking up mud as if it were a tidal wave.
"Retreat quickly!"
Nagato and Yahiko shouted almost simultaneously. The latter dodged, taking Konan with him as they retreated.
The Sand Ninja reacted a beat too late. By the time they turned around, the storm was upon them. The four quickly joined forces, using Wind Style to counter.
Two storms collided less than a meter away from the four Sand Ninja, then exploded.
Two of the Sand Ninja, unable to react in time, were directly blown away by the blast wave.
The other two Sand Ninja, possessing superior skill, managed to evade the blast wave.
However, as soon as they landed, two identical Sarutobi Asumas appeared before them, wielding their blades in unison.
"So fast!"
The two Sand Ninja were shocked and quickly swung their kunai to block.
But the next moment, their kunai were sliced in half by Sarutobi Asuma's Chakra Blade.
One of them was cut in half, kunai and all, while the other had an arm severed. Sarutobi Asuma then sheathed his blade and knocked the ninja unconscious with a single punch.
On the other side, Yūhi Kurenai and Shizune worked together, one using Genjutsu to control, the other a poison needle, followed by a chakra scalpel, easily finishing off the injured two Sand Ninja.
"Withdraw!"
Carrying the knocked-out Sand Ninja, Sarutobi Asuma gave the order.
In an instant, the three vanished, leaving behind only three corpses.
Nagato wanted to pursue, but Yahiko quickly stopped him, saying, "Those two people earlier, their chakra felt familiar. They're from Konoha!"
"Are they after the Third Kazekage?"
Nagato reacted.
Yahiko frowned and nodded, "I'm afraid so."
"The Third Kazekage is missing, and war is coming!"
Just then, Konan heard the sound of children crying and said quickly, "Let's save the children first!"
Yahiko and Nagato quickly nodded.
The three immediately rescued the children they had hidden earlier.
Unfortunately, only these few children remained from the entire village.
"Damn it!"
Yahiko was furious.
Nagato said, "We should drive them out of the Land of Rain!"
Yahiko took a deep breath to calm down. Looking at the falling rain, he said, "We must stop this war. We absolutely cannot let them fight in the Land of Rain and make this country cry!" Nagato remained silent.
He knew that Yahiko's idea would fall through.
With their strength, they couldn't stop the outbreak of war.
However, he still nodded along with Konan, supporting Yahiko unconditionally.
Meanwhile.
Sarutobi Asuma and his two companions found a cave to interrogate the captured Sand Ninja.
The results came quickly: the Third Kazekage was indeed missing.
The Sand Ninja were currently searching everywhere for him.
Unfortunately, this captured Sand Ninja was only a Chunin and did not know specific information about the Third Kazekage's disappearance.
For example, how did he disappear?
Was he killed?
Who was the suspect?
Or if the higher-ups were using this as an excuse to start a war.
He knew none of this.
However, Sarutobi Asuma wasn't disappointed.
The information they wanted to obtain wasn't something just any Sand Ninja could know.
Moreover, at this point, the Sand Ninja probably didn't even know who had killed the Third Kazekage.
"Sasori is only about 15 years old now. I wonder how he killed the Third Kazekage? Did he use poison in a sneak attack?"
"Most likely. He definitely didn't cause a big commotion, otherwise the Sand Ninja wouldn't be clueless."
"I just don't know if Sasori has already turned the Third Kazekage into a puppet."
Sarutobi Asuma thought to himself.
He wondered if he should release the news that the Third Kazekage was killed by Sasori.
"Whether others believe this news is one thing, but the Third Great Ninja War definitely cannot be stopped."
"The Third Kazekage is dead. The newly appointed Fourth Kazekage lacks prestige and cannot control the internal affairs, so they can only resort to war."
"And the key question is, what benefit would releasing this news bring to me, or to Konoha?"
At this moment, Yūhi Kurenai asked, "Asuma, what are you thinking about?"
Sarutobi Asuma snapped back to attention. He thought for a moment and then asked, "What do you guys think? If the Third Kazekage has been killed, who would have done it?"
Yūhi Kurenai pondered, "Under the current circumstances, the possibility of the Third Kazekage being killed is extremely high."
"And as the Kazekage, he shouldn't have left the village easily."
"If he was killed silently within Sunagakure, or kidnapped, the perpetrator should first be someone very familiar with Sunagakure and possess immense strength."
Shizune listened and said, "The Third Kazekage was known as the strongest Kazekage. Few in the entire ninja world were stronger than him."
"Someone familiar with Sunagakure would most likely be one of their own, or a rogue ninja, to be able to infiltrate silently."
"And to subdue the Third Kazekage, one doesn't necessarily need to be stronger than him; poison could be used."
Sarutobi Asuma summarized after listening, "Thus, if the Third Kazekage was killed, the most likely culprit would be a Sand Ninja, and not necessarily a rogue ninja, but someone who had already decided to betray Sunagakure."
"Moreover, if such a person exists, their identity would not be simple; they would be someone who could lower the Third Kazekage's guard."
Yūhi Kurenai and Shizune nodded in unison, both agreeing that this deduction was very reasonable.
"Then what should we do now?"
Yūhi Kurenai then asked.
Sarutobi Asuma didn't answer. Instead, he asked, "Do you know anything about the geniuses who have appeared in Sunagakure in recent years?"
"A Sand Ninja prodigy?"
Yūhi Kurenai and Shizune immediately started recalling, and soon thought of someone.
"Sasori!"
"It's said his parents were excellent puppeteers who died by Sakumo's blade. He later became an excellent puppeteer as well, though his fame seems to have faded in the last couple of years."
Sarutobi Asuma listened and immediately said, "Kurenai, ask him if Sasori is still in Sunagakure!"
Yūhi Kurenai nodded.
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