For Konoha, the matter of the vacant Fifth Hokage seat outweighed everything else. Until a successor was chosen, nothing else could truly move forward.
For the Sand, their priority was clear as well: find the missing Fourth Kazekage.
With many of their shinobi still detained in Konoha, the rest of Sunagakure mobilized in full force. Just as they had once scoured the world for the vanished Third Kazekage, they now searched tirelessly for Rasa—or at least his corpse.
In a twisted sense, they almost owed Orochimaru thanks.
The plan had been simple: Rasa would lead Suna in alliance with Orochimaru's Sound to strike Konoha. Yet, for reasons no one could fathom, Orochimaru chose first to eliminate his ally.
If it had been to slip into Rasa's identity and strike Hiruzen Sarutobi from within, that would make some sense. But during the Chūnin Exams, Orochimaru made no such attempt at a swift assassination. So why kill Rasa at all? More allies should have been an advantage.
And yet… it was that very betrayal that spared Suna from catastrophe. Without Rasa's death, Konoha would never have turned a blind eye to Suna's aggression. Instead of treating them as duped accomplices, Konoha would have retaliated with full force. A true war between Leaf and Sand would have ignited—one that would have drawn the other great villages in as well, plunging the world into a Fourth Shinobi War.
Strange though it sounded, Orochimaru's treachery had given Suna room to breathe.
Meanwhile, the other three great villages—still intact—reacted quickly once word of Konoha's turmoil reached them. First came smirks, small bursts of schadenfreude. Secretly, they praised Orochimaru for his audacity, silently cheering for him to continue causing chaos.
But when reports followed that Yui Xuanyue had broken free from Edo Tensei and departed Konoha under his own will, their amusement froze into alarm.
None of them knew the technique as well as the Hokage, but all remembered how Senju Tobirama had used Edo Tensei in the Warring States to torment enemies. Even without full mastery of the details, the implications were clear.
Xuanyue might not have truly been revived, but his soul had returned to the world, no longer bound by death. And that reality was enough to shake them.
Iwagakure.
Ōnoki, the Third Tsuchikage, received the news while in the hospital, his old back once again giving him trouble. He was grumbling, "pain, pain, pain!" when the words reached him. His face hardened instantly, his eyes turning grave.
"Yui Xuanyue…"
If anyone living still understood that name, it was him. He had seen Xuanyue with his own eyes—long before the Valley of the Gods battle that ended his legend.
Back then, before the Five Great Villages even existed, Ōnoki had already reached adulthood. At fifteen or sixteen, he had been sent on missions that put him face-to-face with the radiant clan head of the Yui. Time and again, he had witnessed Xuanyue's brilliance overwhelm all opposition.
He hadn't needed his teacher, the Second Tsuchikage, to warn him of the man's terror. He had known it himself, deep in his bones.
And now, decades later, he sat as the Third Tsuchikage while Xuanyue—once untouchable—was supposed to have been reduced to dust long ago. The irony wasn't lost on him.
With a weary sigh, he donned his ceremonial robes. His son, Kurotsuchi's father, handed him the report.
"Father, what are your orders?"
Ōnoki's response was firm. "Have the Iwa forces along the Fire Country border make some noise. Test Konoha's defenses—take advantage if there's weakness, and if not, at least drain their focus. As for Xuanyue…"
He hesitated, then shook his head. "Send a team to investigate. If they find nothing, so be it."
The glory of the past was already gone. Even if Xuanyue had reappeared, it could only be a fleeting flare before fading again.
A part of him longed to see that figure from his youth once more. But as Tsuchikage, he couldn't squander his village's strength on nostalgia.
Still… his lips curled faintly. Others, he knew, wouldn't be able to stay so calm.
Kirigakure.
A thunderous crack echoed through the Mizukage's office as Mei Terumī slammed her desk.
"Send out every Hunter-nin squad. Find Xuanyue and bring him to the Mist, alive!"
For Kirigakure, the Valley of the Gods had left scars no other village could understand. The First Mizukage had fallen there, and the newly unified Mist had fractured without its pillar. Even the Second Mizukage, Gengetsu Hōzuki, could never command the same respect—and when he fell in the First Great Ninja War, the Mist plunged into chaos, birthing the infamous "Bloody Mist" era.
To Mei, all of it—their decline, their suffering—could be traced back to Yui Xuanyue.
Her blood boiled at the thought. That man, whose name had been spat like venom by the elders since her youth, was alive again? She didn't care how or in what form. She would have him dragged before her and answer for every wound carved into her village.
Fortunately, Ao stepped forward, voice calm.
"Mizukage-sama, Xuanyue is most likely still in Fire Country. If we move so aggressively, Konoha will see it as provocation. The situation is too unstable to risk another conflict."
He added more softly, "Besides… the man is already dead. What purpose is there in chasing a corpse? You cannot kill the dead twice."
Mei's jaw tightened, but after a long silence, she relented. Instead of unleashing the entire village, she authorized only a covert team to track him.
Kumogakure.
The Cloud, at least, kept things simple.
The First Raikage had lost only an arm in the Valley of the Gods, not his life. But for A, the current Fourth Raikage, that was insult enough.
The moment he received the report, he was already curling his fingers around a massive dumbbell, veins bulging as he barked his order:
"Mobilize at full force. Find Xuanyue—and avenge the First Raikage's arm!"
"Yes, Raikage-sama!"
No one argued. No one even hesitated.
When the Cloud moved, it was as relentless as a storm.
And now, that storm was on the hunt.
(To be continued…)