"What the hell?!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi slammed his fist on the desk so hard the whole office shook. He shot to his feet.
"These Uchiha have got some nerve!"
"Attacking our Leaf ninja right now? Are they insane?!"
Across the room Danzo snorted.
"Told you, Hiruzen. Those Uchiha are born evil. I said we should've wiped them out years ago. None of this would be happening."
Homura Mitokado shot Danzo a look and corrected him coolly.
"Danzo… Tobirama-sensei was the one who called the Uchiha inherently evil. Not you."
Danzo: "???"
He glared at Homura, clearly pissed.
Now's the time to nitpick?
Homura didn't flinch. Ever since he found out Danzo never fully handed over Root, the two of them had been ice-cold.
Koharu Utatane sighed.
"Gotta hand it to that kid Rasa, though. He did it right."
"Wiped out the entire Beni-yama clan in a single night."
"Otherwise they'd probably be pulling the same crap as the Uchiha right now."
She paused, then added, "And I bet the Takechi clan's already moving on Kirigakure."
"Those two families would love nothing more than to watch both Konoha and the Mist burn."
Danzo turned to Hiruzen, eyes gleaming.
"Hiruzen, it's not too late. Let me lead the team. I'll hunt every last one of those damn Uchiha down and kill them myself."
Hiruzen frowned.
"Danzo, didn't you say your body's not up to it?"
Danzo waved it off.
"The injury's real, yeah. No way I'm heading to the Rock front lines. But a bunch of stray Uchiha? I can handle that just fine."
"We can't just sit here while they keep slaughtering our people."
That last line hit home.
Hiruzen didn't care about total extermination right now. They had to stop the killings first.
"Fine. It's yours."
"Don't worry, Hiruzen." Danzo flashed a cold smile, turned on his heel, and marched out of the Hokage Tower.
One order from him and a huge squad of ninja started forming up outside.
Homura watched from the window, face dark.
Danzo glanced back over his shoulder, gave Homura a thin little smirk, and kept walking.
"Lord Hokage, you have to back me up here!" Homura spun around. "Danzo's completely out of line! He won't even listen to your orders anymore! I'm supposed to be Root Commander now—those people are mine—"
Hiruzen rubbed his temples, exhausted.
"Homura, the village is in crisis. Let the small stuff go for now."
"We cannot lose this war."
"One defeat and it's over. Everything."
"Konoha cannot fall on our watch."
"At the very least, not while our generation is still alive."
He walked to the window and stared toward the Hokage Rock.
"Hashirama-sensei could calm the entire ninja world by himself."
"Tohirama-sensei led Konoha against all four other villages at once and never lost ground—until the Gold and Silver Brothers' trap took him in the Land of Lightning."
"He sacrificed himself to save the rest of us."
"During the Second Great Ninja War, I brought us victory."
"But right now… things are worse than they've ever been."
"The Rock Village is far stronger than we expected."
"And Sunagakure suddenly produced real talent—Rasa."
Hiruzen had already pieced together exactly how the Mist army collapsed.
One massive crow. One invisible chameleon.
Two summoning beasts that had completely changed the battlefield.
On top of that, both Rasa and Pakura had reached elite Kage-level strength.
"Rasa fought Minato to a standstill."
"Pakura's got Yagura on the ropes."
"And they're husband and wife—no infighting, unlike me and Danzo. Plus they're young."
"If nothing changes, Sunagakure won't be weak for the next few decades."
"Konoha's future… rests on what Orochimaru and Minato can pull off."
---
Meanwhile, in the Mist Village, the Third Mizukage had just received the frontline report.
The moment he heard that the main army had been ambushed, routed, and was now fleeing toward Konoha, his freshly recovered body took another brutal hit.
"Cough—!"
Blood sprayed from his mouth as rage and fear twisted his face.
"Sunagakure!"
Pure hatred burned in his eyes.
"I never should've given you breathing room back then! I should've crushed you in one go! You'd have had no chance to come back! That was my mistake!"
"And now you're kicking us while we're down because of our own internal problems?!"
"Pathetic cowards!"
"I'll remember this!"
"Go ahead and enjoy your little winning streak. One day Kirigakure will make you pay—with interest."
Right then, a panicked ninja burst into the room.
"Mizukage-sama! It's bad!"
"What now?!"
The Third Mizukage's brow furrowed.
"It's the Takechi clan! They're attacking the village!"
"What?!"
The Mizukage's eyes bulged.
"Those animals have the guts to come back?!"
He would never forget Takechi Kagami.
The bastard had claimed he was reporting the Takechi clan's crimes, then showed up covered head-to-toe in explosive tags and tried to blow himself up right in the Mizukage's face.
Insane.
If the Third Mizukage hadn't mastered the Hydrification Technique, he would've died right there.
Even so, the explosion still injured him badly.
That injury left him vulnerable when the rest of the Takechi clan swarmed him.
After an all-night battle, the Takechi fled the village—but the Mizukage was left crippled, and Kirigakure's position grew far weaker.
The Third Mizukage hated the Takechi clan even more than he hated Sunagakure.
Eyes bloodshot, he snarled,
"Pass my order: Kill them. Kill every last one."
"Don't let a single one escape!"
He knew exactly why the Takechi had chosen this moment. The village's defenses were stripped thin—most ninja had been pulled to the front lines.
"Why did it come to this?"
"I never slacked for a single day as Mizukage."
"If I'd followed my plan, Kirigakure would be second only to Konoha by now."
"Why…?"
"It feels like the entire world's luck is against me—and somehow always on that damn kid Rasa's side."
The Third Mizukage ground his teeth in bitter envy.
Rasa, on the other hand, would have laughed at the idea.
He didn't believe in luck.
Everything he had, he earned through his own effort.
An invisible wheel began to spin.
[Congratulations, Host. You have obtained an F-rank item: one tael of gold.]
[Congratulations, Host. You have obtained a B-rank item: Ninjutsu Scroll (Wind Style: Vacuum Great Sphere).]
[Congratulations, Host. You have obtained a B-rank item: One-Day Mind-Reading Card.]
[Congratulations, Host. You have triggered the pity system and obtained an A-rank item: Sun Disk (Blueprint).]