Uchiha Hachidai's plan was simple.
The Taketori clan was turning Kimimaro into a weapon through pure brutality. Sooner or later the boy would hate them for it. When the chance came, he'd run.
Taketori Dan saw things the other way around.
Uchiha Hachidai was spoiling Itachi rotten. Putting every single hope on one kid's shoulders was a disaster waiting to happen. Itachi would crack under the pressure—or worse, turn on the Uchiha entirely.
Night fell.
Uchiha Hachidai stepped inside his house and a shadow exploded toward him.
Boom!
The impact sent him flying across the room.
"Who the hell—?!"
The attacker didn't answer. He just kept coming, relentless.
From a safe distance, Jiraiya watched the iron-wall toad clash with Uchiha Hachidai. He signaled the toad behind him to push his wheelchair closer to the fight.
"Ninja Art: Needle Hell!"
His hair whipped out like a storm of senbon.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Needles screamed through the air. Jiraiya studied the man getting hammered and felt nothing but disappointment.
"Too weak."
"I've pushed him to the edge. He's one wrong move from dying, and he still hasn't shown anything else. That means this is all he's got."
"Someone like this could control the Nine-Tails? Impossible."
The loud fight had drawn the rest of the Uchiha. They were already rushing over. Jiraiya cursed under his breath and ordered the toads to pull him out fast. The iron-wall toad stayed behind to cover their retreat.
Once they were clear, he released the summoning.
Poof!
The giant toad vanished in a cloud of smoke.
"Lord Hachidai! Are you alright?!"
"Who attacked you?!"
"The nerve—coming onto our turf like that!"
Uchiha Hachidai's face was dark.
"It was a toad from Mount Myoboku. If I'm right… that was Jiraiya."
The mood turned ice-cold.
"Jiraiya?"
"What the hell is Konoha trying to pull?"
"Did they forget the deal they signed with the Land of Water?"
"We should report this immediately."
Uchiha Hachidai raised a hand.
"We have no proof. How do you report it? I've been telling you for weeks—this peace is fake. Stop relaxing and train harder. Now you see why."
"If Jiraiya had run into any of you instead of me, do you really think you'd still be breathing?"
One fight had been enough. Jiraiya crossed Uchiha Hachidai off the list.
He turned his wheelchair west, eyes narrowing toward the Land of Fire.
"Not Hachidai… then it's time to test Fugaku."
"But with my body like this, I can't do it myself."
He pulled out a small scroll and wrote a quick message.
"Only one person left who can handle it."
The letter reached Orochimaru the next day.
Orochimaru stared at the toad messenger with clear irritation.
Lately his lab had been crawling with suspicious eyes. Hiruzen's paranoia had turned the entire area into a surveillance zone. Experiments were getting harder by the day—all because he'd visited Jiraiya once.
Still, he took the scroll and read it.
"Test Fugaku's strength? Jiraiya thinks Fugaku was the one who controlled the Nine-Tails?"
He frowned.
"Walk up and fight him? That's not exactly subtle."
Orochimaru folded the letter.
"I'll wait for the right moment."
He wasn't about to jump just because Jiraiya snapped his fingers.
When Jiraiya got the reply, a flicker of disappointment crossed his face, but he didn't push. He knew his disappearance had already caused Orochimaru enough headaches.
"Fine. We wait. No rush."
...
Kumogakure.
The Fourth Raikage read the latest report, eyes gleaming with satisfaction.
"So the odds that Konoha actually sold Jiraiya out are now eight or nine out of ten. Didn't think they'd actually go that far. The Leaf really does have too many talented people and nowhere to put them."
He smirked.
"They're not worried about lacking talent. They're worried about someone stealing their precious power."
"Pure selfishness. That's why we got the Byakugan so easily. Two pairs, even—one more than Mist managed."
He leaned back, chuckling.
"As for the Hyuga… those poor bastards really are pathetic. The Leaf treats them like dough—knead them however they want. First they send Hizashi to die, then they make Sōchō kill himself for the eyes. And the Hyuga still don't do a damn thing."
"Uchiha would've walked out years ago. Weak people really do bring their own misery."
Iwagakure.
Inside the Tsuchikage's tower, Ōnoki was reading Hiruzen's personal letter when his eyebrows shot up.
"An alliance against Sunagakure? Probe the Sun Disks… steal the Devil Fruits…"
He set the letter down, expression thoughtful.
Before, Iwagakure hadn't cared much about Sunagakure. A poor desert village wasn't worth the effort. But now? Devil Fruits changed everything. And those Sun Disks—whatever they were—had sucked up massive resources. That alone made them dangerous.
The more Sun Disks Rasa built, the more Ōnoki worried.
"Accepting the alliance isn't a bad idea," he muttered. "The longer we wait, the stronger Sunagakure gets."
He tapped the desk.
"Rasa's been provoking Konoha nonstop. At first I thought he wanted war. Now I'm not so sure. This might be his way of tricking both Hiruzen and me into thinking he's eager for a fight."
"But if Sunagakure really wanted war, they wouldn't need all these rumors and provocations. They'd just march straight at the Leaf. No need for games."
Ōnoki's eyes narrowed.
"I'll accept Hiruzen's offer… but Konoha has to carry more of the burden. They're the ones who need this alliance more than we do."