The Sand Village.
Golden dust swirled across the skies, cloaking everything in a haze of yellow.
At the highest peak, the Third Kazekage stood with his arms folded, rocky mountains at his back and the vast village sprawling below. Behind him, Chiyo and Ebizo kept silent.
For a long time, no one spoke. The debacle in the Land of Rivers had left Sunagakure staggering.
At last, Ebizo broke the silence."White Fang was gravely injured. Word is he's lost the ability to fight."
The Kazekage's brow furrowed. "I could have finished him then."
The regret was sharp. He knew White Fang had been at his limit. If he'd had the courage to strike before Tsunade's arrival, Hatake Shōmo would already be a corpse. Instead, fear had forced him to order a retreat.
Losing that chance gnawed at him. Taking down White Fang would have been a crippling blow to Konoha.
"There was nothing else to do at the time," Chiyo murmured, her voice low. Her family was gone, but she still had enough clarity to admit the truth: they had all been paralyzed.
The broken mountains still loomed in the distance, carved open by a single slash. Even she hadn't dared move against that kind of power.
"You can't be blamed alone, Kazekage-sama," she said softly.
Ebizo shifted the conversation. "The real question now is strategy. Do we attempt to retake the Land of Rivers' battlefield?"
The problem was dire. They'd bled heavily in that campaign. If they abandoned the Land of Rivers entirely, who knew if Konoha would press the advantage and strike again? But even if they tried to reclaim it, there was no chance of marching into Konoha itself.
The Kazekage closed his eyes, thought for a long while, then opened them again."White Fang's power came from something else—basic inner training. Do we have any solid intel on it?"
That strange mantra White Fang had murmured during his attack had left the Kazekage uneasy.
"Yes," Ebizo replied. "The technique was created by Uchiha Jinzō. It's a unique sealing system—enhances reaction speed, body strength, overall performance. Divided into three levels."
"At level one, the user loses the ability to cast ninjutsu. Konoha's Root division is rumored to have workarounds for that. Level two removes the restriction, letting the user continuously build chakra. Level three…" Ebizo shook his head. "Unknown. Supposedly classified inside Konoha's Book of Sealing."
The Kazekage's expression tightened. "Uchiha…"
That clan's name had been a thorn in the world's side since the Warring States. And now another prodigy had surfaced.
"Another Tobirama Senju, is it?" His lips curled bitterly. "Konoha truly is blessed by fate."
"The one who stopped me," Ebizo added, "was Uchiha Jinzō himself."
Both the Kazekage and Chiyo stared at him, startled. "That child?"
They remembered his face—so young, barely out of boyhood.
"Can he be captured?" the Kazekage asked.
Ebizo shook his head. "Reports from the Iwa front say White Fang personally protects him. His strength isn't negligible either. At least five jōnin would have to be deployed."
The Kazekage grimaced. Five jōnin could swing the balance of a whole front line. If White Fang were out of the picture, maybe. But now? Risking them was suicide.
"For now, we pull back from the Land of Rivers and concentrate everything on the Rain Country," he decided.
White Fang was a greater threat than Orochimaru. If Konoha insisted on deploying him, then let Iwa shoulder the pressure alongside them.
As the three elders weighed their next moves, a small voice interrupted.
"Lord Kazekage… where are my parents?"
A boy with crimson hair stepped forward. His wide eyes gleamed with grief and fire.
"…Scorpion."
Chiyo's heart clenched. She rushed to her grandson's side, sorrow twisting her features. His parents had stayed behind on the battlefield. She didn't need to say the words—he already knew.
The Kazekage looked down at the boy. The silence was answer enough.
Scorpion's gaze sharpened. "Will you avenge them?"
"Scorpion—!" Chiyo tried to hush him, panic flashing in her eyes. White Fang was untouchable. Everyone knew it.
But the boy's voice cut deeper than any blade.
The Kazekage stepped closer, crouching until he was level with the child. The deep wound carved into his neck still throbbed, a gift from White Fang's blade.
"White Fang is stronger than I am," he admitted quietly. "Even with the strength of the entire village, I don't know if we could defeat him. I can't avenge your parents. As Kazekage, I am… not enough."
"Kazekage-sama…" Ebizo's protest faltered when the Kazekage raised a hand to silence him.
This was the truth. A truth that weighed heavier than any order he'd ever given.
"I'm too weak to protect Sunagakure," he said again, eyes full of guilt. "Forgive me, Scorpion."
The boy stared at him. This man—this figure everyone revered as the strongest in the Sand—was kneeling before him, admitting failure.
The child's voice cracked. "So it's because you're too weak…?"
Chiyo's face paled. "Scorpion!"
But the Kazekage did not stop him.
Scorpion's small hands trembled as he pulled a kunai. With a sudden lunge, he pressed it against the Kazekage's forehead.
"Scorpion! Stop!" Chiyo and Ebizo both leapt forward—only to be blocked by a surge of black iron sand, walling them off.
The Kazekage remained still, unreadable, even as the blade pricked his skin.
"Just because you're weak!" Scorpion's voice broke into a scream, raw with grief."Because you're useless!""I've lost everything!"
His hand slashed. The kunai carved a line across the Kazekage's brow, blood running into his eyes.
"If you're that incompetent, then step aside!" Scorpion shouted. "Give me the title of Kazekage!"
"I'll be stronger than you!" His young voice shook with fury. "Stronger than all of you! I'll take revenge on White Fang—and on Konoha!"
The Third Kazekage stared at the boy through blood-soaked vision, crimson staining the world around him. For the first time, he wondered if the future truly belonged to his generation—or if it would be born from this boy's rage.
He did not know it yet, but history shifted in that instant.
Because Scorpion—Sasori—had just taken his first step down the path that would change everything.