While Chiyo held Ebizō back, an old Sunagakure ninja in plain clothes stepped forward.
He fixed Uchiha Yoru with a cautious gaze and carefully asked, "Who are you? And why did you kill ninjas from my Sunagakure?"
Uchiha Yoru stopped laughing.
"You may call me… the Natural Sage."
"As for why I killed them…"
"They came to my home to kill me, so naturally, this sage killed them instead."
"Honestly. A perfectly good home, completely destroyed. Now I have to find a new one."
Everyone froze.
That reason for killing was absurdly justified.
But Umino Keisuke had been a jōnin puppeteer, not some brainless idiot who charged around recklessly. How could he possibly have barged into a monster's home for no reason?
Ebizō snarled, "You killed my son. I will kill you!"
"Kehehehehe… interesting. You want to kill this sage? Then come."
"Those puppets of yours look quite nice. Much better than your son's toys."
"Maybe they'll give me a good time."
[Crap, crap, am I overacting? Ebizō's puppets look seriously terrifying.]
[Hm?]
The words that came out of Yoru's mouth were full of a kind of madness and distortion that made people uncomfortable. Even his voice changed, shifting from hoarse and magnetic to something sharp and stuttering, like a giant centipede crawling across the back of a person's skull, its legs clicking and scraping as it moved.
Every Sunagakure ninja listening frowned.
Ebizō's face twisted even more savagely from the provocation.
And yet at that very moment, Uchiha Yoru was delighted—so delighted he nearly let his real voice slip out.
Miwa Masayo's reverse summons had finally arrived.
Finally.
[Thank goodness. If I vanish right now, this whole performance will end without a single flaw.]
[You idiots of Sunagakure—and the spies from the other villages too—go on, investigate the existence of the Natural Sage. Kehehehehe…]
Uchiha Yoru suddenly turned his head, as if listening intently to something.
A moment later, he said in a deeply regretful tone, "Honestly… for it to happen at a time like this…"
"What a pity. This sage has matters to attend to today."
"I cannot continue playing with you."
The reverse summons began.
Yoru did his utmost to control the leakage of chakra, while his eyes—brimming with perverse killing intent—locked onto Ebizō.
"So your name is Ebizō, is it?"
"You said you would kill me, yes?"
"Good. Very good."
"I'll remember you."
His body gradually turned transparent.
"This time there isn't enough time."
"Next time."
"Next time, I will definitely…"
"…kill you."
The Sunagakure ninjas all realized that something had changed again.
The masked monster was about to escape.
Monzaemon was the first to react.
Without any obvious movement from his body, ten differently shaped puppets sprang from his wide robe and sleeves. Before they even landed, hidden launch ports opened and fired an uncountable number of senbon, instantly blanketing Uchiha Yoru in shadow.
Countless blue-tinted needles passed straight through his body without hitting anything solid.
His figure had already completely vanished.
Only his voice still echoed in the air.
"I'll prepare an even more splendid funeral for you."
"No need to thank me…"
"Keheh…"
Seeing that even Monzaemon's attack had failed, the Sunagakure ninjas stopped trying to strike.
Instead, they gathered together and began discussing what they had just seen.
"Was that a space-time ninjutsu?"
"It should be, but there was no chakra fluctuation. The real problem is, what kind of power was he using?"
"If there was no chakra fluctuation, then it wasn't ninjutsu, and it shouldn't be a sealing technique either. Could it really have been natural energy? Lord Monzaemon, did you record it?"
"Mm."
Monzaemon took out a stack of specially made talisman paper.
Red runes on the surface twisted slowly, their color deepening little by little. Once the runes had fully turned blood-red and completely stabilized, he handed one sheet to each of the elders present, then gave one each to Pakura and Rasa.
"Use these sealing talismans to investigate information on this Natural Sage."
"First confirm whether what he used was actually natural energy."
"Yes." x2
Monzaemon then looked at the others and explained, "I'm keeping the rest for my own research. It's rare to obtain a possible sample of natural energy. I need to think carefully about how to make use of it in puppets."
No one objected.
Once the others showed their agreement, Monzaemon put away his puppets and left on his own, completely unconcerned with what came next.
As he walked, he coughed continuously.
Clearly, his physical condition was not very good.
After the strongest puppeteer—detached from power and without any real authority—had gone far enough away, the rest gathered together again and began discussing what should happen next.
The old man in plain clothes stroked his chin and asked, "The issue now is this: what do we do about the war we were about to launch?"
Chiyo lowered her head and said nothing.
Ebizō ground his teeth in hatred.
Clearly, the brother and sister had no desire to offer any opinion.
Another old man, this one with a thick beard and dressed in a white desert robe, chuckled.
"Uemura Yoshitoki, put away that nobleman's rhetoric of yours. It's already been twenty years. You still trying to drag Chiyo and Ebizō out to prop you up?"
Uemura Yoshitoki said disdainfully, "Kawariki, you're talking nonsense again. I'm not standing on the side of the nobles. First and foremost, I'm a ninja. Second, I'm a puppeteer. Only last am I a noble."
The bearded Kawariki let out a hoarse laugh.
"Did everyone hear that? 'The side of the nobles.' Those careless little slips are exactly what reveal a man's true stance."
Uemura Yoshitoki instantly choked on his anger.
"You…!"
A fierce argument broke out at once.
In the end, it was an elderly ninja wearing standard shinobi gear who silenced them all.
His name was Ujiie Shōgo.
A ninja of noble birth, but famous for enduring hardship and fighting bravely, he was respected equally by commoners and nobles alike.
Even during the era of the Third Kazekage, this man—tempered by sun and sand—had been one of the key figures holding the two sides together.
Ujiie Shōgo had a weathered face with almost no expression. Stroking his short black beard, he said, "I'll summarize everyone's opinions. Anyone who agrees doesn't need to say anything. Anyone who disagrees, interrupt me."
Seeing no objections, he continued.
"The war must be postponed. One month."
"Contact Konoha and see whether they have any relevant intelligence. That won't affect our war preparations. In any case, all ninjas are under movement restrictions right now, so even if there are spies, they won't be able to send information out."
"In fact, this incident can serve as cover for our preparations."
"Investigate everything about this Natural Sage."
"Investigate Umino Keisuke's movements. Find where he died, and find the 'home' that man mentioned."
"Also investigate Konoha's Jiraiya. If I remember correctly, he always calls himself the Toad Sage. Use him and the Three Great Holy Lands as a lead to help us investigate."
"If we can find this man, then we'll know for certain that he's targeting us. At that point, we'll mobilize the entire village and kill him."
"If after one month we still can't find him, then it means the conflict with us really was only accidental."
"And in that case, we proceed with the original plan and launch the attack on Konoha."
The other four elders all nodded at the same time.
This was not each person's ideal plan.
But it was a plan every one of them could accept.
Then, not without regret, they glanced at Ujiie Shōgo.
If only this man had been capable of suppressing the puppeteers, he would truly have been the most suitable Fourth Kazekage. He could have bought Rasa much more time to mature.
But puppeteers were far too proud.
The kind of Kazekage they could accept had to be either a puppeteer stronger than themselves—
Or a ninja capable of suppressing puppeteers.
And the unfortunate truth was that the puppeteers really did have the right to be arrogant.
Among the elite of Sunagakure's shinobi, only one out of every ten ninjas was a puppeteer.
But their ranks were concentrated among chūnin and jōnin.
Among jōnin in particular, puppeteers accounted for fully a third of the total—all masters capable of controlling three or more puppets.
Any jōnin-level puppeteer could essentially be treated as an entire jōnin squad on his own.
And among the six elders above them, three were puppeteers.
Their combat power held an absolute advantage.
It had to be said that ever since the Second Kazekage had established the puppeteer system, puppeteers had become Sunagakure's single greatest power bloc.
So much so that when choosing a Kazekage candidate, the very first thing to consider was whether that person could keep the puppeteers in check.
That was precisely why people like Pakura and Rasa had become candidates for the Fourth Kazekage in the first place.
Both of them possessed kekkei genkai capable of restraining puppets.
Originally, Chiyo's son had been the far more suitable Fourth Kazekage candidate.
His father was a legitimate noble from the Wind Capital. He himself had been the strongest of the third generation of puppeteers, and enjoyed recognition from all three major groups: commoners, nobles, and puppeteers alike.
Unfortunately, that brilliant puppeteer had been killed by Konoha's White Fang.
And so the struggle over the Fourth Kazekage began.
…
On an uninhabited island somewhere in the South Sea, Miwa Masayo was still covered head to toe in sand, looking as bedraggled as ever.
She stuck out her tongue and asked Uchiha Yoru, "Well? I didn't let you down, did I, meow?"
"Of course not. Of course you didn't."
Yoru carefully picked up the filthy tabby cat with obvious heartache and said softly, "Miwa Masayo has never let me down."
He carried her to the shore and washed all the sand from her body, then brought her back to the tent for a final rinse with warm fresh water.
After that, he used fire-aspect natural energy to dry them both.
Only then did he finally understand what accident had happened to Miwa Masayo.
She'd gotten motion sick from teleportation.
Before this, when she used Flame Jump, the distance had always only been a few dozen kilometers.
Even that jump from the barrier lake to Cat Castle—a few hundred kilometers—had already made her slightly dizzy.
But because the symptoms had been mild, just a bit of nausea and lightheadedness that could be smoothed over instantly with a little senjutsu chakra, Miwa Masayo had ignored it completely.
This time, however, the distance from Sunagakure to the South Sea had increased all at once to three thousand kilometers.
The teleport sickness had multiplied by ten, crossing the limit of what she could endure.
The instant she arrived in the South Sea, she had fainted right in front of the Everlasting Lamp, making her completely unable to respond to Uchiha Yoru's summons.
Then, the moment Miwa Masayo slowly regained consciousness, the very first thing she did was use reverse summoning.
That successfully preserved the imposing aura of Uchiha Yoru's disguised persona, saving him from Ebizō's attack and preventing him from being exposed on the spot.
After enjoying grilled sea crab, pan-fried squid, coconut sea cucumber hand-grab rice, and several refreshing coconuts' worth of juice, Miwa Masayo devoured three more dried fish before finally recovering her spirits.
With great interest, she asked Yoru to recount everything in detail—every step he had taken while handling Sunagakure's attempt to encircle and kill him.
The more she heard, the more impressed she became by his reaction on the fly.
At the end, the tabby cat sighed and said, "Looking at it this way, the Natural Sage identity you improvised on the spot should count as a success, meow."
Tilting her head, she asked, "But what's this identity even for, meow?"
Creating a twisted, insane persona on the spur of the moment had been a sudden whim on Uchiha Yoru's part.
He had never seriously thought about what use it might actually have.
Scratching his head, he thought of one point.
"It can draw Danzō's attention toward the Land of Wind and the Land of Rivers. That alone makes it worthwhile."
"As for what use it might have in the future, I haven't thought that far ahead yet. At the time, it was just a flash of inspiration. I didn't even give it a proper name."
"So what do we do next, meow?"
"We act like none of this ever happened. Finish the fishing mission here in the South Sea…"
"Then go back to Konoha."
Uchiha Yoru's tone turned meaningful.
"Go back to the Uchiha Clan…"
"And secretly stir things up."
"For taking control of the Uchiha Clan three years from now."
"For throwing away the clan head position twelve years from now."
"And for the great freedom I want—the freedom to walk the ninja world as I please."
"Great freedom… that sounds wonderful. We'll work hard together, meow!"
"It's daylight. Time to head out to sea."
"Meow!"
Ten minutes later—
"So Miwa Masayo doesn't just get teleport-sick. She gets seasick too."
"Bleeegh—!! Don't bother me, meow… my head hurts… I feel sick… bleeegh—!"
"How are the waves on the sea this big, meow…" she said weakly.
"Rika-chan, it's 9:32 in the morning right now. The tide is at its calmest, the wind is only a breeze, and these are the smallest ripples possible."
"…The smallest, meow?"
"Absolutely."
"…I want to die, meow…"
…
After making all the necessary arrangements, dispatching search teams, and sending a messenger to Konoha, the five elders returned to the Kazekage's office in Sunagakure and shut the door behind them.
There, they began discussing the most important issue of all:
Who would become the Fourth Kazekage?
"This incident was bad for Sunagakure, but if you look at it from another angle, it was also an excellent test."
"I think the candidate for the Fourth Kazekage can now be decided."
"You mean Pakura was too reckless?"
"That's right. She did no investigation, made no attempt to probe the enemy, and simply used herself as the method of testing him by rushing in to fight."
"That is the strength of a combat squad leader."
"It is not a quality a Kazekage should possess."
"I'll ask one last time. Do we really need a Kazekage who plans carefully before acting?"
"Without question. What lies ahead is an age of war, not peace. We won't be sitting safely in the village. We'll be going to the front lines and bearing command responsibility."
"Think about it. When you're at the front, and behind you stands a Kazekage who might recklessly charge in front of you at any moment…"
"Could you really feel at ease?"
"..."
"Let's vote. This time, we settle it."
In the end, Rasa received five votes.
It passed unanimously.
Though Sunagakure's elders were old, not one of them had yet reached fifty. None of them wanted to hide away inside the village.
So Rasa—more patient than Pakura, calmer, steadier—won their favor.
…
Three days later.
Hokage's Office, Konoha.
Shimura Danzō hurried in and informed the upper ranks of an important piece of intelligence.
Mitokado Homura asked in a heavier tone, "You're saying this Natural Sage who attacked Sunagakure is the same mysterious person who attacked the Root operatives?"
Danzō nodded.
"I had Orochimaru examine the sealing talisman sent by Sunagakure's messenger. He confirmed that what was sealed inside was natural energy, and that it was extremely similar to the natural energy samples we collected before."
"The same vile method of turning slain ninja corpses into fireworks above a ninja village."
"The same bizarre state of having no chakra fluctuations at all."
"It is impossible for there to be two different people in the ninja world who share all three of those characteristics."
"So it can only be him."
Sarutobi Hiruzen had been somewhat exhausted lately.
The atmosphere of impending war in the ninja world was growing thicker and thicker. Only by working through the night did he feel any peace of mind.
But on hearing this intelligence and Danzō's judgment, his spirit visibly lifted.
Then he asked, "This mysterious person attacked us and Sunagakure not long apart from each other. What do you all think he is trying to do?"
There was no easy answer.
The intelligence on this suddenly emerged mysterious figure was pitifully scarce. Without even grasping the cause of the attacks, how could they judge his purpose?
Danzō said bluntly, "That question cannot be answered right now. I need to go to Sunagakure personally, retrieve the most detailed intelligence possible, and only then can I make an effective judgment."
Hiruzen paused.
He understood what Danzō meant.
But he did not want Danzō leaving.
"Something like gathering intelligence shouldn't require you to go personally. Any jōnin could make the trip."
Danzō shook his head.
"Sunagakure's messenger said that this mysterious man killed Umino Keisuke and easily suppressed Pakura, Rasa, and over a hundred Sunagakure ninjas."
"If he truly is targeting both us and Sunagakure, then a normal jōnin cannot guarantee the safety of the intelligence."
"Besides, if we send only a jōnin, those old bastards in Sunagakure will definitely make things difficult and delay everything."
"I'll only be at ease if I go myself."
After discussing it for a while, the four of them ultimately agreed to Shimura Danzō's proposal.
But as the primary head of Konoha's intelligence work, Danzō constantly had countless tasks and streams of information converging around him. He had to arrange everything properly.
There was no way he could simply stand up and leave immediately.
What the masses did not know—but transmigrators did—was that the cold one-eyed man's actual work ability was fairly mediocre.
He very quickly became buried in frantic last-minute arrangements, so overwhelmed that he couldn't extricate himself.
And because there was not enough time, Shimura Danzō could not properly discuss matters with his advisors before making a number of arrangements that seemed fine at present—
But would prove fatal in the future.
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