Land of Earth, Iwagakure.
The Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, had already received news that the Land of Grass had changed hands.
Upon hearing this news, he immediately dispatched envoys to the Land of Grass.
Similarly, the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, of Sunagakure in the Land of Wind, also dispatched envoys to investigate.
However, not long after the envoys from both sides entered the territory of the Land of Grass, they suddenly lost contact.
The next day, sensing that something was wrong, the Third Tsuchikage and the Fourth Kazekage dispatched teams into the Land of Grass once again.
This time, they sent formidable experts to lead the teams, but they were attacked by the Ninjas of the Land of Grass. A fierce battle ensued, and in the end, the Ninjas from the Land of Earth and the Land of Wind were forced to retreat from the Land of Grass, returning to their Villages wounded.
"How audacious! What is the Land of Grass trying to do? How dare they be so reckless?! Have they completely lost their minds?!" The Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, ranted furiously in his office.
"I heard that the Ninjas from the Land of Earth were also attacked by the Land of Grass!" reported the Ninja.
"Hmm?" Rasa frowned. "This is highly unusual! How could the Land of Grass possibly have the audacity to attack two of our Great Ninja Villages at the same time?"
"Indeed. While the opponent was able to take over the Grass Ninja Village, they cannot possibly be strong enough to confront the Five Great Ninja Villages, otherwise, they would have done more than just seize the Grass Ninja Village!" analyzed an advisor nearby. "In my opinion, the opponent must be plotting something. Let us remain still for now and observe the situation."
"Very well, continue to monitor intelligence on the Land of Grass for now and keep observing," Rasa nodded.
After all, the Land of Rain lay between the Land of Wind and the Land of Grass, so relatively speaking, the Land of Wind did not need to be overly anxious.
The Third Tsuchikage reached a similar conclusion on his end.
However, the situation was different for the Land of Earth, which shared a direct border with the Land of Grass, and across from that lay the Land of Fire.
During the Third Great Ninja War, the Land of Earth had been defeated in its clash with Konoha, and the Third Tsuchikage was naturally very unwilling to accept this.
Later, upon hearing that the Fourth Hokage, the Yellow Flash, had died during the Nine-Tailed incident and that Konoha Village had suffered heavy losses, he had been looking for an opportunity to stir up trouble.
The incident in the Land of Grass was clearly a good opportunity for the Land of Earth.
Therefore, Ōnoki ordered a large force to secretly infiltrate the Land of Grass, intending to launch a surprise attack on the Grass Ninja Village headquarters.
In his view, the Land of Grass was merely a small nation, so how strong could the Grass Ninja Village possibly be?
It was nothing more than a battlefield between the great powers.
The Land of Grass was just a stepping stone; Ōnoki's true goal was not there, but rather to use this opportunity to provoke Konoha.
Ōnoki knew very well that Konoha Village in the Land of Fire, on the other side of the Land of Grass, would absolutely not stand by and watch him take action against the Land of Grass.
Because once the Land of Grass was conquered by the Land of Earth, the borders of the Land of Fire would directly face the threat of the Land of Earth.
This was something no great power would want to see.
Therefore, in Ōnoki's view, Konoha Village would certainly dispatch troops to stop them when the time came.
As long as a conflict arose between the two sides, he, Ōnoki, would have an excuse to launch a direct military campaign against Konoha.
The movements of the great powers could not be hidden from those who were watching.
Inside Amegakure, Uchiha Obito wore a smirk as he listened to the intelligence reported by White Zetsu, murmuring, "Uchiha Sora, I want to see how you handle this trouble!"
"Madara, your plan has indeed worked. It's a pity the Land of Wind didn't join in; otherwise, the Ninja World would likely be in chaos," said White Zetsu.
"That is only a matter of time," Obito said. "However, we must begin laying out our plans earlier! Let's take this opportunity to start collecting the Tailed Beasts!"
"What? Are we starting the plan now?" White Zetsu was startled. "But we haven't gathered all our core members yet, and I haven't fully mastered the intelligence on the Tailed Beasts either!"
"There is no need for that. As long as Uchiha Sora exists, he will be an obstacle to my plans. We can only move against the Tailed Beasts while he is too distracted to interfere."
"Moreover, this is also an opportunity to force him to come out and face us!" Uchiha Obito said slowly.
"Very well, I will go notify Nagato immediately." White Zetsu nodded and left.
...
Just as Uchiha Obito was busy laying out his plans, intending to start collecting the Tailed Beasts early, Konoha had already received news that Ōnoki was preparing a sneak attack on the Grass Ninja Village.
Uchiha Sora, however, remained completely unaware of all these situations.
This was the effect of the powerful intelligence capabilities of a Great Ninja Village.
Upon learning of the Land of Earth's actions, the Third Hokage laughed heartily in the Hokage Office.
"Ōnoki, you have truly miscalculated this time!" the Third Hokage muttered to himself with a smile.
Then, he ordered, "Postpone the scheduled negotiations with the Grass Ninja Village and send someone to deliver this intelligence to Uchiha Sora!"
After a pause, the Third summoned his secretary and asked, "By the way, has Yūgao Uzuki returned?"
The secretary nodded. "She returned just two days ago. She seems to already know about the news regarding the Grass Ninja Village and is in quite low spirits."
"I see. Then let us entrust the delivery of this intelligence to her!" The Third Hokage thought for a moment and said, "Tell her that after the mission is complete, there is no need to rush back to report!"
"Yes! Hokage-sama!" The secretary acknowledged the order and left.
The next morning, Yūgao Uzuki arrived at the Grass Ninja Village in the Land of Grass.
Uchiha Sora, who was studying Ninjutsu, personally came out to receive her.
"Yūgao, why have you come?" Uchiha Sora greeted her with a smile, as if hosting an old friend, invited Yūgao Uzuki to sit, dismissed his subordinates nearby, and poured her a cup of tea.
Yūgao Uzuki looked sorrowful. Seeing the familiar smile on Uchiha Sora's face, she felt a sharp pain in her heart. She wanted to act indifferent, but when the words reached her lips, they turned into a cold, icy interrogation: "Sora! Why?!"
Uchiha Sora's hand paused slightly, then he smiled and handed the teacup to Yūgao Uzuki.
Yūgao did not take it, her beautiful eyes red-rimmed as she stared at him.
Uchiha Sora sighed slightly. "Kakashi asked this question too. My answer to him was that it was because of the oppression from the higher-ups."
"But now, I will tell you the true answer!"
"Because the stage of Konoha is too small! The current Konoha Village has long been corrupted by narrow-minded higher-ups!"
"In this corrupt Village, restrictions are everywhere! And what I hope to move toward is true freedom and power!"
"Only by leaving Konoha can I do what I want to do without any psychological burden!"
"To explore the mysteries of Chakra, to move toward true power! To become an existence that no one can bind—what could be more desirable than accomplishing these things?