At the appointed time for daily communication—
On the Mist battlefield, a Root shinobi summoned their liaison via a summoning technique, then handed the contents over to Shimura Danzō.
...
The moment he saw the corpse and read Root's analysis, Danzō's heart sank.
"Not good!"
"Alpha, Beta."
Two black-clad Root operatives knelt behind him.
"Dan Katō is still alive. If he hasn't defected, then he must still be on the Mist battlefield. Use your techniques—find him."
Alpha and Beta were both members of the Aburame clan, masters of insect-based techniques. One controlled nano-scale venomous insects, the other commanded traditional kikaichū. Both were top-tier in reconnaissance and detection.
"Yes."
They vanished instantly.
No… Dan just arrived at the battlefield. For things to be arranged like this, someone must have discovered something. Something must have gone wrong.
I can't delay any longer. Strike first!
"Gamma, Delta—spread the news throughout the army," Danzō ordered coldly.
"During my tenure as commander, the former commander grew resentful after losing authority and secretly defected to the Hidden Mist."
"While I was injured, he regained command and sold our intelligence to the Mist—leading to our defeats and to Dan Katō's death today!"
Danzō rose and headed toward the command tent.
"Left, Right—you're coming with me. We're going to apprehend the traitor."
---
Inside the command tent, the current commander was still deliberating his next move.
Dan Katō's reported death had already dealt a heavy blow to morale.
Just as he hesitated—
The tent curtain was suddenly pulled open.
No notice. No permission.
He looked up—and froze when he saw that face.
Cold sweat poured down his back.
"Danzō…-sama!"
Danzō stepped in with two subordinates. An invisible pressure filled the entire tent.
"The situation on the battlefield hasn't been ideal lately. I came to ask about it."
His single eye gleamed with killing intent.
"…Why are you afraid?"
A terrible thought flashed through the commander's mind.
Could it be—?!
He subtly signaled behind his back—Do not reveal yourself, Kurenai.
But in the next instant—
Two blades pierced through his body from both sides.
"Why…?" Blood spilled from his lips as he forced out the words.
"Why… betray… Konoha…?"
"Just as I thought."
The blades were withdrawn. Danzō's expression remained utterly indifferent.
"You've already figured it out."
"Betrayal? I haven't betrayed anything," Danzō said calmly.
"You were only guilty of poor command. But now… you know too much."
The commander stared at him in disbelief.
"How can someone like you—"
Annoyed by that gaze, Danzō ended his life without hesitation.
"You are a necessary sacrifice."
He turned to his men.
"Inform the entire army: the traitor has confessed. From this point on, I resume command."
Looking at the blood pooling on the ground, Danzō felt irritation rise.
A perfectly good plan… exposed.
"Clean this place. I'll return shortly."
...
After everyone left—
A transparent figure silently slipped out of the tent.
As a member of the Anbu shadow guard, his identity was absolutely confidential.
This time… he had failed his duty.
---
"Danzō-sama, we've located Dan Katō…"
A Root operative knelt behind him.
"So quickly?"
"He's hiding beneath his original tent. We haven't alerted him."
"Move."
"We must ensure success—no mistakes."
"Yes."
The operative vanished in a puff of smoke.
"According to the reports, he's been alone in his tent, planning strategies. Anyone he's interacted with recently… eliminate them as well."
Danzō recalled the intelligence he had received earlier.
"Hanzo of the Salamander has turned against us? What happened?"
"Konoha provoking both the Suna and the Ame…?"
Unfortunately, he lacked manpower on the battlefield. Otherwise, he would have investigated personally.
"With Hanzo no longer helping, dealing with the Mist's elites will become troublesome…"
"And Uzumaki Mito…"
Lost in thought, Danzō continued forward.
---
Meanwhile – Sunagakure.
By the time Kan arrived at Sunagakure, he learned that Hanzo had already been there days earlier.
Ebizō and the others received the Rain shinobi warmly and sent them back with generous compensation.
Not long after, Sunagakure redeployed its army into the Land of Fire.
Their justification:
[Konoha had violated the agreement and provoked conflict between the Suna and the Ame.]
---
Land of Fire – Konoha.
Hearing this statement, Hiruzen Sarutobi could only sigh helplessly.
Now, among his students, only Orochimaru remained.
If anything happened again…
…the Hokage lineage itself would be at risk.
Amegakure's unusual silence gave Hiruzen an opening to counter-accuse Sunagakure of breaking the alliance.
At this critical moment, another legacy of the Second Hokage came into play—
The Ninja Academy System.
Konoha entered full wartime mobilization.
Anyone capable of performing the Three Basic Techniques (Transformation, Clone, Substitution) was granted temporary genin status.
The Academy opened its doors to all:
From five-year-olds to fifty-year-olds
After three months of basic training:
Shurikenjutsu
Kunai usage
Basic chakra control
They were sent straight to the battlefield.
Konoha had become a war machine—producing shinobi in waves and sending them to the frontlines.
—
With Sunagakure's renewed invasion, the situation escalated beyond simple disputes.
Regardless of who was at fault, the priority was clear:
Stop the Suna.
Even the major clans could not ignore this.
A large Konoha force was mobilized.
With no other options left—
Sakumo Hatake was once again sent to the battlefield.
And with that...
At the border, Konoha and Sunagakure began testing each other through repeated skirmishes.
---
Meanwhile... At Hanzo's side of things.
"You want the bodies of the Third Kazekage and Chiyo?"
Hanzo looked at the Suna envoy before him.
"Why? Give me a reason."
The envoy replied respectfully:
"Though Kazekage-sama and Elder Chiyo have fallen, they are still heroes of Sunagakure. As heroes, they deserve to return to their homeland."
He presented two scrolls.
"This is our sincerity."
One contained an S-rank Wind Release technique.
The other was a puppet master training manual, including puppet construction methods.
Hanzo assessed them.
Not bad… but not exceptional either.
Still—
The Third Kazekage's corpse was no longer useful to him. He had already extracted what he needed.
Trading it for resources wasn't a bad deal.
Hanzo nodded.
"Fine. I still have the Third Kazekage's body."
"As for Chiyo—she converted herself into a human puppet. I only retained her core."
The Suna envoy bowed deeply.
"Thank you very much."
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