The Third Kazekage-sama had died in battle?
After hearing the report from the few ninja who had managed to escape alive, Ebizō—who had been left at the border to oversee command and dispatch—slumped weakly in his seat.
As he stared at the strategic map spread out before him, even someone as naturally optimistic as Ebizō felt despair creeping into his heart.
The Third Kazekage had fallen in battle. His older sister Chiyo's fate was still unknown. And of the more than two thousand elite shinobi Sunagakure had painstakingly built up over the past twenty years, nearly all of them had been buried in the Land of Rain.
At this point, Sunagakure had truly suffered a devastating blow.
Other than their Jinchūriki, the village no longer had a single shinobi who could stand at the Kage level.
If Konoha chose this moment to invade the Land of Wind, Sunagakure would have no real means of resisting them beyond a few thousand ordinary shinobi and their Jinchūriki.
As Sunagakure's chief strategist, Ebizō understood better than anyone that the village had reached a moment that would decide whether it lived or died.
For the sake of the village—and for the trust his sister had placed in him—Ebizō forcefully suppressed the panic rising within him and made himself calm down.
Placing both hands on the armrests, Ebizō slowly rose to his feet.
He lowered his eyes to the map again, his mind racing as he considered what to do next.
After a long silence, Ebizō finally made his decision.
His eyes hardened, and he stepped out of the tent.
Outside, the shinobi of Sunagakure were gathered there, waiting anxiously.
The moment they saw Ebizō emerge, their restless gazes locked onto him as though he were the last pillar left standing.
"Lord Ebizō, what do we do now?" one of the Suna shinobi who had escaped the battlefield asked. His body was wrapped in bandages, and his voice carried both anxiety and desperate hope.
Feeling the weight of everyone's eyes on him, Ebizō answered with a grim expression.
"Send a team back to the village at once to report everything. Gather every shinobi still in the village, and prepare to bring Shukaku to the front lines as reinforcement."
The first order left everyone stunned.
Many of the shinobi present looked at him in shock.
Lord Ebizō was about to stake everything Sunagakure had left on this.
But Ebizō did not pause.
"Hiroichi. Daisuke. You're coming with me into the Land of Rain. We're delivering a letter of surrender to Konoha."
The moment the word surrender left his mouth, the crowd exploded.
"Ebizō, you coward! You want us to surrender to the people who killed Kazekage-sama?!"
"We can't surrender, Ebizō-sama!"
"Sandshi, don't speak to Ebizō-sama like that!"
Voices immediately rose from every direction, and the scene descended into chaos.
A few of the more emotional shinobi even rushed forward as if they wanted to act against him.
Ebizō showed no mercy.
He suddenly stepped forward and struck one of the out-of-control shinobi down in a single blow, then swept his gaze across the crowd and roared—
"Enough!"
The thunder in his voice forced the area into silence.
"The Kazekage-sama's life or death is unknown. Elder Chiyo's life or death is unknown. Out of 2,300 elite shinobi, almost all have been wiped out! If we don't surrender now, what exactly do you think we have left to stop Konoha's counterattack with?!"
His words hit like a hammer.
For a moment, not a single Suna shinobi could answer him.
Then Jōnin Sashi stepped forward, eyes bloodshot with grief and rage.
"Then we fight to the death! Even if we die, we'll tear a piece of flesh off Konoha before we go!"
Smack!
Ebizō raised his hand and slapped him hard across the face.
"Idiot!" Ebizō snapped, fury and pain surging through his voice. "What matters most right now is protecting the village and protecting the Land of Wind! As long as we survive, there's still hope of taking back what we've lost!"
Sashi froze.
He stared blankly at Ebizō, finally seeing the pain buried beneath the man's anger.
There was grief in his eyes. Bitterness. Helplessness.
And there were tears too—faint, restrained, unwilling to fall.
"I…"
His lips trembled, but no words came out.
By then, Sashi had understood.
Understood Ebizō's intentions. Understood his burden. Understood the pain he was forcing himself to swallow.
Ashamed, he lowered his head.
"This is an order from me as the highest commander on this battlefield," Ebizō said coldly. "If anyone dares question it again, I'll treat them as a traitor."
He knew very well that in a moment like this—when panic and chaos were only a step away from tearing everything apart—hesitation would kill them faster than any enemy ever could.
Once those words were spoken, none of the shinobi present dared object again.
Some looked at Ebizō unwillingly. Others lowered their heads in silence.
"Now disperse," Ebizō ordered. "Carry out your duties."
"…Yes, sir."
At the entrance to Amegakure, Kizaru and Tsunade walked side by side as they left the village.
That afternoon, after discussing things with her husband Ise, Fūsō had come to find Kizaru again. She invited him to her home at seven that evening and wanted to ask in more detail about what arrangements would be made if their family moved to Konoha.
Kizaru had naturally agreed.
He had also mentioned that he would be bringing along a kunoichi from the Senju clan—someone closely connected to the Uzumaki clan—as a guest.
By that point, Fūsō had already made up her mind to move to Konoha, so of course she agreed as well.
And so, Kizaru ended up leaving Amegakure together with Tsunade.
This unexpected meeting with young Nagato outside the village had opened up a completely new way of thinking for Kizaru.
Kizaru had never liked trouble, and he had even less interest in becoming Hokage.
Whenever people around him started talking about it, he had originally planned to just brush it off in his usual slippery way and avoid the whole mess entirely.
But meeting Nagato at noon had unexpectedly given him an idea.
A very convenient one, at that.
If becoming Hokage means I can't laze around, that'd be troublesome, wouldn't it~? Kizaru thought lazily.
But if I have enough capable people working under me… then being Hokage should actually be pretty easy, no~?
As long as the right people were gathered, trained properly, and placed where they belonged, the position itself didn't seem all that troublesome after all.
Just think about it.
If he really did become Hokage one day, Konoha would have the Sannin in their prime, Hatake Sakumo, Sarutobi Shinnosuke, Might Duy, Dan, and others of that generation.
Then there was the younger generation—Namikaze Minato, Uzumaki Kushina, Yakushi Nonō, Ino-Shika-Chō, Nagato, Yahiko, Konan, the Hyūga brothers, Uchiha Fugaku, and more.
And if you looked even further ahead, there'd still be Hatake Kakashi, Uchiha Shisui, Uchiha Itachi, Might Guy, Kabuto, and all sorts of talented monsters waiting to grow up.
With that kind of lineup, Konoha could probably start a war by itself and still come out on top.
And that didn't even include Kizaru himself… or the four old men sitting above everything like decorative pendants.
Really, if he were ever forced into the Hokage seat, all he'd need to do was sit back, keep an eye on those old fellows, and let everyone else handle the rest.
Wouldn't that be comfortable~?
That was exactly why Kizaru had suddenly become so invested in bringing Nagato back to Konoha.
And not just Nagato.
Kizaru had already decided that once the Sunagakure matter was dealt with, he would put more effort into finding Yahiko and Konan too and bring them back to the village for training.
The more talent he gathered now, the more leisurely his life could be later.
With that beautiful future in mind, Kizaru's mood noticeably improved.
Not long after, he and Tsunade arrived at the open space in front of Nagato's home.
"So this is the place?" Tsunade asked, her eyes resting on the house ahead of them.
After learning from Kizaru that the people they would be meeting tonight were members of the Uzumaki clan, she had been feeling a quiet sense of anticipation ever since.
Her grandfather, her second grandfather, and even her parents had all passed away early.
The one who had truly taken care of her as she grew up was her grandmother, Uzumaki Mito.
And Mito had come from the Uzumaki clan.
Because of that, Tsunade naturally felt a deep sense of closeness toward any surviving members of the clan.
"Looks like this is the place, yes~" Kizaru said, hands still tucked into his pockets as he looked at the simple two-story wooden house in front of them.
Then he ambled forward and knocked on the door.
"Let's see if they're home, shall we~?"
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