Fear had taken root in the village next to the camp.
Every household had their doors and windows tightly shut, lights extinguished, as if darkness alone could shield them from the slaughter.
Yet behind a dozen shuttered windows, countless eyes stared at the distant flames and blood.
Just half an hour ago, they were still delivering hot meals, grateful for the Konoha shinobi stationed there.
Who would have thought the Kumo prisoners would suddenly rebel?
If not for the three Konoha Chūnin who had risked their lives to escort them back, they'd likely be dead by now.
They couldn't see what was happening in the camp, only hear the roars and screams, and the sound of Ninjutsu tearing through the night.
Their hearts were filled with anxiety for the Konoha shinobi locked in battle.
And with deep hatred toward the prisoners.
Now, the battle at the camp was reaching its end, the sounds of combat fading significantly.
"I surrender! I surrender!" A young Kumogakure shinobi, whose Chakra had already been sealed, broke down as he watched his comrades fall one by one.
He threw away the stone in his hand, knelt on the ground, and raised both hands in surrender.
What greeted him, however, was a cold kunai.
Pfft!
A Konoha shinobi, his eyes bloodshot from the killing, stabbed him in the head with a single strike, his face twisted with rage.
"Surrender now? Too late!"
Once the killing began, it was hard to stop.
More and more Kumogakure shinobi began giving up, trying to kneel and beg for mercy.
But the Konoha shinobi no longer listened.
Except for those who had deliberately incited the Kumo uprising, the rest were all filled with fury.
Hiruzen stood in silence, watching it all unfold, and did not intervene.
He needed this massacre.
Because this was the order of the Daimyo.
The killing continued.
Cries and pleas for mercy gradually faded.
The thick stench of blood permeated the night air.
At last, when the final Kumo shinobi was pinned to the ground with several kunai, the entire camp fell silent.
Three thousand prisoners. Not a single one survived.
Hiruzen stood amidst the mountain of corpses and sea of blood, gasping for breath.
It wasn't due to fatigue.
It was an internal struggle.
He slowly removed his mask, his aged face filled with grief and resolve.
"Clean this place up..." His voice was heavy with exhaustion as he instructed an Anbu, "Report to the Daimyo. All Kumogakure prisoners rebelled, and we have completely annihilated them."
"Understood." The Anbu nodded and disappeared into the night with a few quick leaps.
Hiruzen looked up, his gaze toward the direction of the Land of Hot Water.
This is my answer.
Are you satisfied?
…
Land of Hot Water.
A small town famed for its hot springs and tourism, now shrouded in tension.
There were few pedestrians on the streets.
The usually lively hot spring inns were all closed.
Throughout the town, shinobi from Iwa, Suna, and Kiri were patrolling with high alert.
An oppressive atmosphere blanketed the entire area.
The Daimyo of the Five Great Nations were scheduled to hold a summit here.
A top-tier inn had been fully cleared out to serve as the venue for the meeting.
Outside, security was tight.
Guards stationed every three steps. Sentries posted every five.
"Did you hear? The Daimyo of the Land of Earth and the Land of Wind have already arrived!"
"Not just them, the Daimyo of the Land of Water is here too!"
"Amaterasu above, something big must be happening!"
The townspeople peeked from behind closed windows, whispering anxiously.
In a lavish reception hall inside the inn.
The short-statured Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, hovered mid-air with his arms crossed, expression solemn.
Next to him, the Daimyo of the Land of Earth sipped tea with a calm demeanor.
"The Daimyo of the Land of Fire is acting quite arrogant," the Daimyo of the Land of Water couldn't help but complain. "He called for this meeting, yet makes us all wait for him."
The Daimyo of the Land of Earth calmly set his teacup down. "He's the victor now. He has the right to be arrogant."
"Hmph!" The Daimyo of the Land of Water snorted, falling silent.
Ōnoki quietly observed the conversation, a calculating light flickering in his aged eyes.
Kumogakure's infiltration tactics and the strength of the Land of Fire's Daimyo weighed heavily on his mind.
Meanwhile.
The Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, sat upright, his expression unreadable.
Beside him, the Daimyo of the Land of Wind fanned himself lazily, his eyes wandering, lost in thought.
Rasa felt conflicted.
On one hand, Kumo's crushing defeat represented a huge threat.
Especially the news that the Eight-Tails had been captured, leaving him restless.
On the other hand, Kumo's weakening might not be a bad thing for Sunagakure.
Just then.
A Suna shinobi rushed in and whispered something into Rasa's ear.
Rasa's expression turned grim. He waved the shinobi away, then leaned toward the Daimyo of the Land of Wind and said, "Daimyo-sama, intelligence from the Land of Fire."
Ōnoki's ears perked up the moment the shinobi entered.
"Speak," the Daimyo of the Land of Wind commanded.
"Yes!"
"Three days ago, Konoha's former Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, personally escorted three thousand Kumo prisoners, heading toward the Land of Hot Water."
"The Third Hokage personally escorted them?" Ōnoki frowned and asked.
"Yes! But that's not the key point." Rasa's expression was serious. "The key is, they didn't take the shortest route."
"Instead, they took a long detour through several prosperous towns in the Land of Fire."
"All the Kumo prisoners were paraded through the streets in chains!"
What?
This intelligence was nothing short of shocking!
The entire reception room fell silent.
Ōnoki's floating body trembled, nearly losing balance.
Even the usually calm Daimyo of the three nations were stunned.
Paraded through the streets?
Three thousand elite Kumo shinobi, shackled like livestock, displayed for civilians to mock and curse?
This… this was trampling the dignity of the Land of Lightning, of Kumogakure, into the dirt!
"He's gone mad!" Ōnoki swallowed hard.
"Yes, what a ruthless move…" Rasa murmured, feeling a chill, "For that kind, gentle old man, the Third Hokage, to personally lead them… it must have been the idea of the Daimyo of the Land of Fire."
That Daimyo… not just terrifying in strength, but his methods were cruel and domineering!
In all three past wars, nothing like this had ever happened.
Unlike the shocked Kage, the Daimyo all showed little reaction.
The Daimyo of the Land of Wind even chuckled softly, "This new Daimyo of the Land of Fire is quite interesting."
"Indeed," the Daimyo of the Land of Water echoed, dropping his earlier impatience. "Quite interesting."
The Daimyo of the Land of Earth chuckled but said nothing.
Though the words were light, they immediately silenced both Ōnoki and Rasa.
At that moment, a disturbance broke out outside the village.
They're here.
(To be continued.)