The crushing defeat at Kikyō Mountain still loomed over Sunagakure like the heaviest Sandstorm. The humiliation of defeat had yet to fade, and the astronomical reparations and humiliating treaty clauses had already become a sword hanging above the entire Village, pressing on every villager's nerves day and night.
To raise the first instalment of the indemnity and keep the Village running, the Fourth Kazekage Rasa had nearly exhausted his heart and soul. The treasury was long empty, mission quotas had been slashed, and ordinary income could not cover the cost. Left with no choice, he returned to his old trade, venturing deeper and more frequently into the endless desert, relying on his Magnet Release: Gold Dust technique to extract precious gold from the sea of sand.
He left at dawn and returned at dusk, sometimes not for days, his figure growing ever more haggard and solitary. For the leader of a Village to be reduced to personally working as a miner to keep his Village alive—the sorrow and helplessness of it were beyond words. The Village's defensive and patrol strength suffered greatly; many border posts and coastal watch-points became mere shells, starved of manpower and funds.
Yet misfortunes never come singly. Sunagakure's unprecedented weakness did not escape the notice of other predators.
Far away in the Land of Water, the Third Mizukage, having thoroughly studied the intelligence on the Kikyō Mountain campaign, revealed a pair of eyes gleaming with greed and icy calculation from within the shadows. Sunagakure's main force had been obliterated; the Kazekage was busy panning for gold; the Village was hollow and its morale low—this was a gift from heaven! If they struck now, they could seize huge resources and greatly raise Kirigakure's prestige in the Ninja World!
Greed ultimately overrode reason. The Third Mizukage issued the raid order almost without hesitation!
This time, Kirigakure advanced in two columns, by land and by water, straight into the Land of Wind!
The land column, led by Jonin Ao—the one with the Byakugan—would infiltrate secretly from the Land of Hot Springs into the Land of Rivers (now controlled by Konoha) and, exploiting the long border between the Land of Rivers and the Land of Wind, find a weak spot, break through rapidly, and aim straight for Sunagakure!
The sea column, under the newly replenished Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist (though devastated by Might Duy, Kirigakure had quickly selected new members to re-complete the seven blades), would board warships, circle the ocean, and launch a direct amphibious assault on the least-defended southern coast of the Land of Wind!
At this moment, Sunagakure—fresh from its crushing defeat—was panic-stricken, financially ruined, and focused entirely on internal stability and indemnity collection; its external defenses had fallen to an all-time low. Border patrols were drastically reduced and demoralized; the coastal early-warning system, for lack of maintenance, was riddled with holes.
Ao's land force, relying on the Byakugan's powerful reconnaissance, easily avoided the handful of Suna patrols and, like ghosts, crossed the border, penetrated deep into the Land of Wind, and raced toward Sunagakure.
The sea force led by the Seven Swordsmen was even more brazen. Meeting virtually no resistance, their warships beached smoothly. Seven Ninja of varied stature, wielding legendary blades and exuding a bloody, ominous aura, led fierce Kirigakure elites onto the Land of Wind's soil, then advanced rapidly north along the coast, burning, killing, and looting as if entering an uninhabited land!
The two Kirigakure prongs were like a pair of poisoned daggers stabbing from different directions into the heart of Sunagakure—already bled half-dry!
By the time scattered, delayed alarms finally reached the Village, Kirigakure's vanguard had breached every fragile outer line and was within striking distance of Sunagakure itself!
"Report! Urgent military intelligence! Large numbers of Kirigakure Ninja detected simultaneously in the southeast and south! Ao and the Seven Ninja Swordsmen are leading them! They've broken through the border and are racing toward the Village!"
This sudden calamity struck Sunagakure like another hammer blow, pitching the already grievously wounded Village into even greater panic and chaos.
Kazekage Rasa was still deep in the desert and had not returned; most senior commanders were either wounded or busy handling post-war affairs, leaving only a limited number of low-morale Ninja to hold the fort.
A monumental crisis had descended! Sunagakure now faced a life-and-death trial even more dire than the Battle of Kikyō Mountain!