Only when the noise gradually died down did he speak.
"Konoha killed the Sandaime; blood for blood."
Nobunaga knew this wasn't true.
Rasa also knew this wasn't true.
The Sandaime wasn't killed by Konoha.
Who killed him, no one knows to this day.
But a declaration of war requires a reason.
This reason is enough.
The crowd quieted down again.
Someone started shouting: "Blood for blood!"
Then a second person, then a third.
The sound grew louder and louder, washing over the entire plaza like a tidal wave.
Nobunaga looked at those people. Angry, fearful, bewildered—they needed someone to tell them whom to hate.
Rasa gave them an answer.
Nobunaga withdrew his gaze and let it rest on Rasa once again.
The man stood there, receiving those shouts. But his eyes were not looking at the crowd.
He was looking in the direction of the border.
After the ceremony, Nobunaga was summoned to the Kazekage's office.
Rasa was sitting behind his desk with a map spread out before him. Seeing Nobunaga enter, he looked up.
"The appointment for the Anbu Captain has been finalized," he said.
Nobunaga nodded.
"Sit."
Nobunaga sat down.
Rasa pushed a scroll toward him.
"The latest intelligence. The Hidden Mist has made a move."
Nobunaga took it and unrolled it.
The Fourth Mizukage has declared war on Konoha.
He put down the scroll and didn't speak.
"What do you think?" Rasa asked.
Nobunaga was silent for a moment: "The Hidden Mist has been closed off for three years. Now that they've opened their doors, the first thing they do is declare war on Konoha."
"What does that imply?"
Nobunaga said: "It means they have been waiting, waiting for an opportunity. Our previous deduction was correct; this war is still winnable."
Rasa nodded and asked: "What about Kumogakure and Iwagakure?"
Nobunaga said: "They are still watching, but it won't be long."
Rasa stood up and walked to the window: "Do you think they will move?"
Nobunaga looked at him: "They will. Although they were battered, Konoha is now besieged on all sides. Why wouldn't they take a bite?"
Rasa didn't speak.
For a long time.
"Do you know what our chances of winning this battle are?" he asked.
"I don't know," Nobunaga said.
Rasa turned around and looked at him.
"I don't know either, but we have no way out now."
He walked back to the desk and sat down.
"There is something I need you to do."
Nobunaga looked at him.
"Chiyo and Ebizo, take Sasori to the Kumogakure front line," Rasa said.
Nobunaga was stunned for a moment.
"Them?"
Rasa explained: "Kumogakure and Iwagakure are going to move, but they need a push. Chiyo has old acquaintances there, Ebizo is skilled at negotiations, and Sasori..."
He paused. "Sasori needs a battlefield."
Nobunaga didn't speak.
He knew what Rasa meant.
Sasori was too strong, strong enough to be unsettling. Leaving him in the Village was not as good as sending him to the battlefield; killing enemies was better than killing his own people.
"Will he go?" Nobunaga asked.
Rasa said: "You go and tell him; he listens to you."
Nobunaga was silent for a while.
Then he stood up. "I'll go."
That night, Nobunaga went to Chiyo's house.
The door was open. He walked in and saw Chiyo sitting in the courtyard, looking at the moon in the sky.
"You're here," she said.
Nobunaga sat down beside her.
"Rasa sent me."
Chiyo nodded. "I know."
She turned her head and looked at Nobunaga.
"That child, have you seen him?"
Nobunaga knew who she was talking about.
"I have."
Chiyo was silent for a moment.
"How is he?"
Nobunaga thought for a moment.
"Very strong. An average Jonin is no match for him, but he hasn't fully grown yet."
Chiyo was silent for a moment and then said: "He was only four when his parents died. I raised him, taught him how to make puppets, and watched him become what he is today, day by day."
She lowered her head and looked at her hands. Those hands had made many puppets, and at this moment, they were trembling slightly under the moonlight.
"I don't know when he started to change. Using living people to make puppets, collecting corpses, killing..."
She didn't finish.
Nobunaga didn't speak.
"You went to see him that night?" Chiyo asked.
Nobunaga nodded.
Chiyo looked at him. "What did you say?"
Nobunaga didn't answer.
Chiyo waited for a while, then didn't ask again.
"Whatever you said, thank you."
Nobunaga looked at her.
Chiyo sighed: "He is my grandson; I don't want to see him go down the wrong path. But he has too much hatred in his heart, and I'm afraid that he will have nothing left but hatred."
Nobunaga was silent for a while.
"Then let him see other things," he said.
Chiyo looked up. "What?"
Nobunaga explained: "There are dead people on the battlefield, but there are also living ones. There are people who should be killed, and there are people who should be protected."
Chiyo looked at him. For a long time.
"Are you saying this for him, or for me?"
Nobunaga didn't answer.
Chiyo stood up. "I will go and talk to him."
Nobunaga also stood up.
Chiyo left.
Nobunaga stood there, watching her back disappear into the night.
Three days later.
Chiyo, Ebizo, and Sasori left the Hidden Sand Village, heading for the Kumogakure front line.
Nobunaga stood at the Village gate, watching them walk away.
Chiyo walked in the front, her pace neither fast nor slow. Ebizo followed beside her, hunched over like an ordinary old man.
Sasori walked at the very back, carrying that puppet he was used to using.
When they had walked a distance away, Sasori suddenly stopped.
He looked back.
His gaze met Nobunaga's.
It was brief.
Then he turned around and continued walking forward.
Nobunaga stood there, watching that small shadow grow further and further away, finally disappearing into the wind and sand.
One month later.
Kumogakure and Iwagakure once again declared war on Konoha.
When the news arrived, Nobunaga was looking at a map in the Anbu office.
The door was pushed open, and an Anbu member rushed in, holding a piece of intelligence in his hand.
"Captain! Kumogakure and Iwagakure have made their move!"
Nobunaga took it and unrolled it.
He looked at it for a long time.
The true Third Ninja World War had begun.
Konoha was fighting against four.
Kumogakure, Iwagakure, Hidden Mist, and Sunagakure were attacking from four directions simultaneously.
This was the result he wanted.
If this still isn't enough to win... then there's nothing more to be done.
[The war quickly entered a stalemate. Konoha was fighting against four, their forces spread thin, and their supply lines were strained.]
[On the Eastern Front, the Hidden Mist, with the Fourth Mizukage leading the campaign and the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist deployed, engaged Konoha. Both sides were locked in a tug-of-war in the waters from the Land of Tea to the Land of Bears. Naval warfare was not Konoha's strength, so they could only barely hold their ground.]
[On the Western Front, Sunagakure, a standoff at Kikyo Pass. The Fourth Kazekage Rasa led the main force to battle Konoha. Sunagakure used the terrain to maneuver; Konoha's supply lines were cut three times. Although they hadn't lost their position, their forces were firmly bogged down and unable to break free.]
[On the Northern Front, Kumogakure, the A-B brothers were both deployed. Because of their previous crushing defeat, Kumogakure had the smallest force this time, and their battle line teetered on the brink of collapse several times.]
[On the Northeastern Front, Iwagakure, the Tsuchikage Ōnoki was calculating and cunning. Their pace of attack was steady, neither fast nor slow, to preserve their strength. Konoha only left a small number of scout units to monitor, their strength merely nominal; it was only because Iwagakure themselves didn't want to fight that they had held on until now.]
[Four battle lines, all in a stalemate. Any deviation on any one of them could very likely determine the final outcome of this war.]