Chiba's confrontation with Hidan and Kakuzu looked ready to ignite at any second - chakra pressing down on the street like a storm cloud about to burst, killing intent sharp enough to make the air feel brittle.
And then Tsunade dropped from the Hokage building in a single clean motion, landing between them with the weight of authority and the poise of a veteran who had bled through too many wars to flinch now. The ground gave a faint crack beneath her heels, dust lifting and settling around her calves as she straightened.
Her eyes hardened. "Who are you?"
She didn't bother softening the words. Her presence alone was a warning - an unspoken promise that if they wanted Chiba, they'd have to step over her first.
"If you think you can lay a hand on our Mizukage," Tsunade continued, voice edged with contempt, "then you're not even qualified to stand here."
Kakuzu's gaze slid over her, measuring without emotion. "So you're Konoha's new Godaime Hokage."
His mouth tugged into something like a sneer. "What, you're Hokage now… and you still call him 'Mizukage-sama'?"
His eyes narrowed slightly, landing like cold nails. "Granddaughter of the God of Shinobi… and it looks like you didn't inherit his will at all."
Tsunade's lips curled into a mirthless smile. "You?" she said, letting the insult breathe. "You're talking to me about 'will'?"
Kakuzu's voice dropped, rough and steady. "At least I decide for myself. I'm not a dog obeying someone else's orders."
Chiba, standing just behind her, let out a quiet laugh - not loud, not mocking, but calm enough to irritate. "Is that so?"
He tilted his head as if the whole situation amused him. "How's your boss doing? Pain, right?"
Kakuzu's expression flickered - just for a heartbeat - but it was enough. A crack in stone. A slip in the mask.
"You… how would you - "
Chiba's smile deepened, almost gentle. "So much for 'deciding for yourself.' In the end, you're still carrying out Pain's orders."
His tone stayed light, but every word landed with precision. "If you weren't afraid of him - if you weren't weaker - you wouldn't be content serving under him in the first place. And as for coming to Konoha to kill me… this isn't some grand crusade. It's a paid job. How noble can it really be?"
Kakuzu's eyes cooled. "At least I can choose whether I take it or not."
At that moment, a third presence stepped forward - smooth, unsettling, like a snake sliding across warm stone.
"Can you really?" the newcomer asked quietly. "Kakuzu."
Kakuzu turned sharply, brows knitting the instant he recognized the voice. "Orochimaru?!"
His lip curled. "Hmph. You traitorous bastard… did you betray Konoha again and crawl under this man's banner?"
Orochimaru chuckled, low and amused. "Coming from a missing-nin like you, that's a little rich."
The street's balance shifted instantly. What had been two against one had become two against three - Chiba, Tsunade, and Orochimaru standing together like an unspoken wall. Kakuzu's confidence didn't disappear, but it tightened, compressed into something more careful, more calculating. Even he wouldn't pretend that facing Tsunade and Orochimaru - let alone Chiba himself - was a clean fight.
And Hidan, for all his madness, seemed to sense it too. His grin didn't fade, but his eyes narrowed, irritation crawling over his expression like an itch.
A thin bead of sweat slid down Kakuzu's temple. It wasn't fear - not in the simple sense - but the cold recognition of a bad hand dealt in a game where losing meant death.
Chiba watched him the way a man watches a trapped animal pace. "You two moving openly means Akatsuki is finally climbing out of the dark."
He let the implication hang before pressing the blade deeper. "So Pain's ready to start hunting the bijuuss and jinchūriki for real?"
Kakuzu's jaw tightened. Another bead of sweat followed the first.
"You… how do you even - "
Chiba's smile turned almost playful. "Because I know everything," he said smoothly. "Haven't you heard the reputation?"
Kakuzu gave a short, humorless laugh. "That kind of bluff might scare idiots. Don't bother using it on me."
Chiba's eyes didn't change. "Is that right?"
Kakuzu's gaze sharpened as he fired back, voice deliberately flat. "If you really know everything, then answer me this. We just killed a Konoha shinobi worth thirty-five million ryō. What was his name?"
Something subtle shifted in Chiba's expression - not surprise, but recognition, as if a familiar puzzle piece had finally clicked into place.
Thirty-five million ryō.
That number had a weight to it in the shinobi world, infamous in its own way. And in Chiba's mind, the name surfaced immediately - clean, unavoidable.
Asuma Sarutobi…
So it had still happened. Even in a world already twisted far off its original course, fate had found a way to drag certain tragedies back into existence.
Chiba's thoughts moved fast, like ripples spreading across deep water. This wasn't just information - it was leverage, a spark that could be turned into a wildfire in the right hands. A new idea formed, sharp and immediate, settling into place with the calm certainty of a plan already half-finished.
"Sarutobi Asuma," Chiba answered without hesitation.
The reaction hit like an explosion.
Kakuzu and Hidan stiffened - because the answer was correct.
Tsunade and Orochimaru's expressions changed for a different reason entirely - shock cutting across their faces at the same time, the name striking with the brutality of a death notice delivered in person.
Asuma… dead.
Killed by Akatsuki.
Kakuzu stared at Chiba, the chill in his eyes deepening into something closer to disbelief. "You… who the hell are you?"
Chiba's smile didn't waver. "I told you," he said quietly. "I know everything."
Then his tone shifted - still calm, but colder beneath the warmth, like steel hidden under silk. "And I also know how this ends today."
He met Kakuzu's gaze and spoke as if stating something obvious. "You already understand it too, don't you? With just the two of you, you can't win here. Not against me - especially not with two of the Legendary Sannin at my side."
Kakuzu's mouth tightened. He made a sound of irritation, but he couldn't refute it.
Chiba continued, almost casually. "But I'm not going to kill you."
Kakuzu's brows snapped together. "What?"
Chiba's smile returned, easy and unhurried. "Leave," he said. "Both of you."
For a moment, silence swallowed the street.
Tsunade's eyes widened. Orochimaru's expression turned faintly curious, like a scientist watching an experiment take an unexpected turn. Even Hidan hesitated, his grin faltering into a confused scowl.
Tsunade frowned sharply. "Mizukage-sama… you're just letting them go?!"
Chiba didn't look back. "It's fine," he said, voice steady. "I have my reasons."
Kakuzu's gaze hardened. "Why would you do that?"
Chiba's eyes curved slightly. "I have my own purpose," he replied. "But for you two, being alive is already a gift, isn't it?"
His voice lowered, the warmth thinning into something dangerous. "Don't fool yourselves into thinking Jiongu ("Earth Grudge Fear") or Hidan's immortality makes you truly unkillable. If I wanted you dead, you'd already be corpses on this street."
That was the moment the shock fully landed.
Kakuzu's heart sank - not from fear of death, but from the implication behind the words. Chiba didn't just recognize them. He understood them. He spoke as if he'd peeled back the secrets they guarded at their core and found nothing hidden.
Even Hidan felt it. His brow furrowed, unease creeping into the manic brightness of his eyes.
"Oi, Kakuzu," Hidan snapped, voice suddenly sharper than usual. "What the hell is this guy? How does he know everything?!"
Kakuzu's irritation flashed. "How would I know?"
He forced himself to breathe, to regain control, and then he gave Chiba a cold look - half resentment, half reluctant acknowledgment. "So the Mizukage of Kirigakure really lives up to the rumors."
His voice stayed hard, but there was caution now. "Fine. Today, I'll take the loss. If you won't kill us, we'll leave. But if we meet again… I won't hold back."
Chiba's reply was effortless. "Do whatever you want."
The words weren't arrogant. They were worse - indifferent, like the outcome of any rematch was already decided and no longer worth arguing about.
The instant Chiba finished speaking, Kakuzu and Hidan withdrew, vanishing from Konoha's streets with the speed of men who understood exactly how close they'd come to dying.
Tsunade and Orochimaru stepped forward, watching their backs disappear into the distance, the tension slowly bleeding out of the air.
Tsunade's voice was low, still unwilling to accept it. "Mizukage-sama… we really let them walk?"
Chiba's gaze stayed forward. "Akatsuki needs to be eradicated," he said. "But timing matters."
His tone turned cooler, more strategic. "Right now, our greatest threat isn't Akatsuki. It's Hiruzen Sarutobi and his three-nation alliance."
He let that settle before finishing the thought. "Letting those two leave creates a problem Hiruzen can't ignore. It's a leash around his movements - something that forces caution, hesitation, division."
Chiba had already mapped the lines of the coming storm. He spoke with the confidence of someone whose plans didn't depend on luck.
Tsunade and Orochimaru exchanged a glance. They both understood one thing clearly: Chiba's strategy had never failed before. Whatever he was building now, it was deliberate.
Chiba turned to Tsunade. "Contact Kirigakure headquarters. Tell them to be on high alert for Akatsuki - especially around our two jinchūriki."
His instructions came fast, precise. "Have Kisame Hoshigaki's Anbu keep watch over one, and Mei Terumi's forces protect the other."
"Yes, Mizukage-sama," Tsunade answered, the title coming naturally despite the irony of it.
Then Chiba looked to Orochimaru. "Spread word across the shinobi world: Sarutobi Asuma, Hiruzen's son, was killed by Akatsuki."
He didn't pause. "And add this - Akatsuki has begun moving. Their target is the bijuuss and jinchūriki of every village."
Orochimaru's eyes gleamed faintly. "Understood."
Tsunade's eyes widened as the shape of it clicked into place. "You're using Akatsuki… to slow Hiruzen and that so-called alliance?"
Chiba nodded. "That's part of it," he said. "But it's also a sincere warning."
His voice softened slightly, not with kindness, but with certainty. "If they refuse to listen, then the bijuuss and jinchūriki really will be in danger. Akatsuki doesn't move without preparation. If they've started, they're ready."
He looked toward the horizon, as if he could already see the next battlefield. "The only question is where they'll strike first."
He let the final line fall like a declaration carved into stone.
"This war won't be just nations clashing."
"It's the beginning of Akatsuki's declaration of war against the entire shinobi world."
Not long after, Tsunade relayed Chiba's orders back to Kirigakure. The village responded immediately.
The Sanbi' jinchūriki, Miru, was placed under tight protection under Mei Terumi's command, watched with the kind of care reserved for the village's most fragile - and most dangerous - treasures. The Rokubi' jinchūriki, Utakata, was secured under heavy guard within Kisame's Anbu base, where layers of oversight ensured that even a shadow moving wrong would be noticed.
In Chiba's judgment, Akatsuki wouldn't strike Kirigakure first. Not now. Kirigakure had become one of the strongest forces among the Five Great Nations, and attacking it head-on at the start would be reckless - even for Akatsuki.
Whether by the logic of strategy or the patterns of the past, they would begin where the world was weaker and slower to respond - smaller villages, isolated targets, jinchūriki who could be taken cleanly, quietly, before anyone even realized a hunt had begun.
In the past, Akatsuki's order had followed that logic: the Rokubi, the Shichibi, the Shukaku, the Sanbi… targets chosen not for glory, but for efficiency.
Utakata, the Rokubi' host, had once been a rogue - alone, unprotected by any major power, his capture unlikely to trigger immediate upheaval. Fū, the Shichibi' jinchūriki from Takigakure, existed outside the Five Great Nations entirely, which meant fewer eyes, fewer alarms. Gaara, the Shukaku' host, belonged to Sunagakure - historically the weakest of the great villages - vulnerable enough that even a single Akatsuki member could storm its gates and leave with its Kazekage in chains.
As for the Sanbi, once Yagura had died, Isobu had returned to a wild state, making it easy prey when hunted at the right moment. Only after that did they move for the hardest prizes: Killer B of Kumogakure, and Naruto Uzumaki of Konoha.
It was the most rational sequence.
But this world wasn't the same.
Utakata hadn't defected. The Sanbi had a new host - and worse, a perfect jinchūriki. More importantly, both the Sanbi and Rokubi were within Kirigakure, now one of the most formidable powers in the shinobi world.
Akatsuki would not begin there.
Based on Chiba's assessment, the most vulnerable targets were these:
Gaara, the Shukaku' jinchūriki.
If Sunagakure committed to Hiruzen and Kumogakure's alliance and marched on Konoha, their rear would be exposed. Akatsuki would seize that opening and go for Gaara.
Rōshi, the Son Goku' jinchūriki.
Rōshi was no weakling, and Iwagakure was still a major power, but the real issue was political - Rōshi was estranged from Ōnoki. He had left the village, wandering as a traveling monk. That meant his capture might not trigger immediate retaliation, and the ambush could be executed without attracting the attention of a great nation.
Fū, the Shichibi' jinchūriki.
Takigakure lay outside the Five Great Nations. Its strength and influence were limited, its alarms easier to silence, its response slower.
Chiba didn't want Akatsuki to succeed.
But even if he sent warnings, it might already be too late - and there was no guarantee anyone would listen.
Especially Sunagakure.
Even if Chiba tried to help, would Rasa - who hated him to the bone - take a single word seriously?
Chiba exhaled softly and shook his head.
For now… it could only be handled step by step.
Soon, Orochimaru's information spread across the shinobi world, and the reaction was immediate.
Akatsuki's terror was known to all. For years, they had remained hidden underground, operating in the dark, appearing suppressed - but in truth, that silence meant accumulation. Strength, resources, preparation. A blade being sharpened where no one could see.
If they had decided to move now, then the shinobi world was about to drown in blood and fire.
And at that very moment, Hiruzen Sarutobi - already marching with Sunagakure's forces toward the Land of Fire - received the news that Asuma had been killed.
The last thread snapped.
Hiruzen had once had two sons. His eldest and daughter-in-law had been Anbu elites, commanding the Anbu directly under the Hokage - his most reliable arms in the darkness. They had died on missions. Then only one bloodline remained. Asuma, who clashed with him, who disagreed with him… but who was still his last flesh and blood.
And now, at his lowest point, he heard that Asuma too had been taken.
For a moment, Hiruzen nearly collapsed. Only with Rasa and Nara Shikaku's support did he remain upright - but the man looked as if he'd aged a decade in a single day, like a candle left trembling in the wind.
"Akatsuki…" he rasped.
"They dared lay hands on my son…!"
His voice rose into a roar, raw with hatred and grief, but it broke into a harsh cough midway, his body rebelling against the fury his heart demanded.
"This hatred… I will repay! I will never forgive them!"
And yet, even as that hatred burned, Hiruzen did not abandon his campaign.
Because one obsession still held him upright.
Reclaim Konoha.
Reclaim the Hokage seat.
That was the single nail pinning him to life.
That was Hiruzen Sarutobi.
But another piece of information struck Rasa harder than he wanted to admit.
Akatsuki's true target was the bijuuss and jinchūriki - something Chiba had warned the Kage about years ago at the Five Kage Summit. Now, with Akatsuki acting openly, Sunagakure's, Shukaku, and its jinchūriki, Gaara… could easily be first.
Sunagakure was weaker than the other great villages. Gaara was considered a failed host, unable to draw out a jinchūriki's true potential. And in this alliance march, Rasa had not brought Gaara along - he had left him behind in Sunagakure.
Which meant the village was emptier than it had any right to be.
For a moment, Rasa wanted to turn around immediately.
Not because he cared about Gaara - he didn't. His feelings toward the boy were tangled with resentment and disgust.
But Shukaku?
Shukaku was a strategic weapon passed down through generations, a treasure that existed in Sunagakure even before Hashirama Senju captured and distributed the bijuuss.
That could not be lost.
Not under any circumstances.
But Hiruzen's voice cut in, cold and suspicious. "This intelligence is likely Chiba's doing," he said. "A ploy to stop our counterattack on Konoha."
He glanced at Rasa. "Kazekage, don't lose the greater goal over a smaller worry."
"And as for Sunagakure - yes, the rear may be thinner, but you left plenty of shinobi behind. Sunagakure is still one of the Five Great Nations. If Akatsuki acts, they'll likely begin with easier prey: Rōshi, the Son Goku' jinchūriki who left Iwagakure… or Fū, the Shichibi' jinchūriki of Takigakure."
Rasa's expression tightened, but slowly he nodded. Hiruzen's reasoning wasn't baseless.
Hiruzen's gaze sharpened. "Right now, what matters is reclaiming Konoha. Reclaiming the Hokage seat - and helping Sunagakure wash away its humiliation."
Rasa's fists clenched. Then he nodded once more, anger burning behind his eyes.
"You're right, Hokage-sama."
"This time… Chiba will pay in blood."
That day, Kumogakure's army pushed through the Land of Frost and the Land of Hot Water, surging south from the north like a tide of steel.
Hiruzen and Sunagakure's forces moved through the Land of Rivers, striking from the west.
The three-nation alliance's counterattack on Konoha -
finally erupted in full.
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