Land of Rivers – Leaf Forward Camp
Iwagakure moved like lightning. They pulled together a thousand-man force in a single day, proof that the entire village had been primed for war the whole time.
Even without the Kazekage drama, they would have struck soon anyway. The only question was who they would have hit first.
The Iwagakure army set out on day one, reached their forward base in the Land of Birds on day two, linked up with the troops already stationed there, and on day three smashed straight across the border into the Land of Wind with two thousand shinobi.
The surprise attack caught Sunagakure flat-footed, but the Sand didn't collapse the way Iwagakure expected.
Using the natural defenses of the desert terrain, they dug in and held the line through sheer grit.
The outcome stunned the Iwagakure commanders on the front and left Ōnoki scratching his head back home.
In truth, Sunagakure was nowhere near as chaotic as the other villages assumed. Yes, there had been turmoil at first, but Chiyo's return and the swift selection of an acting Kazekage quickly stabilized the village.
None of that showed up in Iwagakure's intelligence reports.
Iwagakure's unannounced invasion poured gasoline on the fire. Sunagakure already suspected Rock might have had a hand in the Kazekage's disappearance. Now they had proof—or at least all the proof they needed.
The village was already boiling with rage over the Kazekage. Iwagakure's sneak attack made them the perfect target. Even if Rock hadn't done it alone, they had clearly worked with Sasori, the missing-nin who used human puppets.
Sunagakure wasted no time. They issued a scathing formal declaration of war against Iwagakure, packed with every insult in the book (and then some). At the exact same time, they sent a polite request for aid to Konoha—along with a fresh copy of the mutual defense pact they had just signed.
Chiyo's exact words were simple: "We signed the damn pact anyway. Sending a letter costs nothing. Who knows? Maybe Leaf will actually send troops."
The sudden outbreak of open war between the Land of Wind and the Land of Earth instantly became the center of attention across the entire ninja world. Only days after news of the Kazekage's disappearance, Iwagakure had launched a full invasion.
Unfortunately for them, the sneak attack failed to break through. Now they looked like the villains who had tried to assassinate a foreign leader without even declaring war first.
For a brief moment, Ōnoki became the biggest punchline in the ninja world.
Land of Lightning – Raikage's Office
Booming laughter shook the room as the Third Raikage slapped his thigh.
"Hahaha! That short, scheming midget Ōnoki finally stepped on his own dick! All that plotting and he still screwed himself!"
He wiped a tear from his eye, still chuckling. "Karui, you think we can squeeze something good out of this mess?"
Karui's face twitched. The Raikage was already cooking up another reckless idea, and as usual, the rest of them would have to clean up the mess.
"Luckily it was Ōnoki who moved first. I was actually thinking about sending a team into the Land of Wind to stir things up—maybe grab some resources even if we couldn't take land."
"Well then, we should thank the Tsuchikage!"
Karui was secretly relieved. The Raikage had wanted to raid the Land of Wind earlier, but they had talked him out of it because the timing wasn't right. If Iwagakure hadn't jumped the gun, the Raikage definitely would have sent elite squads to loot Sunagakure. Against a fully alert Sand village, there was no guarantee those teams would have made it home.
So yeah, the Third Tsuchikage had done Cloud a huge favor by taking the heat.
"Since we're skipping Sand, how about Rock? I've been wanting to kick their teeth in for years. They're busy fighting Sand right now—we could hit them from behind."
The Raikage's eyes lit up with another brilliant plan, only to see Karui's face go completely dark.
"Lord Raikage, Sand and Rock only just started fighting. Right now Rock still holds the advantage, and they haven't lowered their guard against us at all. If you want to attack Iwagakure, we should wait until both sides are exhausted and bleeding each other dry."
The Third Raikage's shoulders slumped. He had realized the same thing the moment the words left his mouth, and Karui's calm analysis just confirmed it.
"Fine. We'll sit tight for now. But double the intelligence teams. I want reports on every village. This ninja world is about to get a whole lot louder."
While Sand and Rock tore into each other and Cloud played the spectator, Konoha suddenly found itself facing a very uncomfortable problem.
Konoha – Hokage's Office
Sarutobi Hiruzen, Shimura Danzo, Utatane Koharu, and Mitokado Homura gathered once again around the table. A single letter of request for aid lay in the center. No one spoke for a long time.
The mutual defense pact they had signed to stabilize the south had become a noose around Konoha's neck.
"Speak your minds," Hiruzen finally said, puffing on his pipe. His voice carried a clear edge of irritation—whether at himself or at Sunagakure, even he wasn't sure.
Danzo stayed relaxed. He hadn't been the one who pushed for the pact, so he was in no hurry to talk. He wanted to see how Koharu and Homura would try to wiggle out of this one.
The two advisors exchanged a quick glance, both looking equally helpless. They felt the same frustration. No one could have predicted things would spiral this fast.
The Third Kazekage had died out of nowhere, leaving them completely unprepared. The treaty meant to buy them breathing room had instead dragged them straight into the war.
Send troops and fight? It went against Konoha's entire strategy. Refuse to help? Their reputation would be ruined.
Unlike the other villages that treated alliances like toilet paper—use when convenient, tear when not—Konoha took its honor seriously. They had never broken a pact first. That spotless record was exactly why so many clients trusted them with important missions.
"Could we… send a symbolic force?" Homura suggested weakly. "Just enough to say we honored the pact. After all, we just fought Sand ourselves, and we still have to defend every border. No one could blame us for not having spare troops."
Even as he said it, he could hear how lame it sounded. Hiruzen and Danzo's flat stares made his voice trail off.
Hiruzen shook his head, disappointed, then turned to Danzo, hoping for something useful.
Feeling all eyes on him, Danzo allowed himself a small, satisfied smile. Back when they had all ignored his warnings and rushed to sign the pact, he had kept quiet. Now they needed his brain to fix their mess.
Of course he couldn't say that out loud.
Danzo pretended to think deeply for a moment, letting the tension build, before he finally spoke.
"We send troops toward the Land of Grass. We were already planning to reinforce that border against Iwagakure anyway. This way we kill two birds with one stone.
We simply tell Sunagakure that, per our agreement, we have urgently pulled troops from elsewhere and deployed them to the Grass border to pin down Rock forces."
Hiruzen's eyes brightened. It was the perfect solution—honored the pact on paper without actually committing to Sand's war.
"But will Sunagakure believe us?" Koharu asked the obvious question.
Danzo snorted. "Believe us? Why would we care if they believe us? It's just a polite excuse. At most, we make sure our movements near Rock look convincing. Besides, even if we really wanted to send troops, would Sunagakure even let our forces march through their territory?"
Everyone looked at each other. He had a point. They had just fought a major battle against Sand. A lot of Sand shinobi had died. If Leaf troops suddenly marched through Wind Country now, there was no guarantee they would ever march back out.
And so, a thousand-man force was quietly assembled in the village under the official pretext of "restraining Rock forces in the Land of Grass." They set out for the Grass border camp.
At the same time, a polite official reply was sent back to Sunagakure by messenger hawk: As agreed in our pact, Konoha has urgently dispatched one thousand shinobi to the Land of Grass border to pin down Iwagakure forces. We wish Sunagakure victory against the invaders.
While Sand and Rock fought tooth and nail, back at the Leaf camp in the Land of Rivers, Taiichi finally received the village's reward for his actions.
Main Command Tent
The moment the order arrived, Taiichi followed the messenger straight there. Inside he found only Jiraiya and Shikaku.
The two were chatting and laughing like they had all the time in the world. Taiichi relaxed and slowed his steps.
"Jiraiya-sensei, you had someone call me without saying why. I thought it was an emergency and rushed over like an idiot!"
"You little brat," Jiraiya laughed. "There's no fighting right now, so if I call for you it's obviously good news."
"Good news!" Taiichi's eyes lit up. "Wait—does this mean the village reward finally came through?"
"Hahaha!" Jiraiya slapped his thigh and turned to Shikaku. "See? I told you the kid's sharp. Just give him a hint and he figures it out immediately."
Shikaku smiled and nodded. "It is indeed the village reward. Your discovery and recovery of the Kazekage's body has been officially counted as an S-rank mission. In addition, you are granted the right to choose any one technique from the Sealed Book as your prize."
Even Shikaku sounded a little envious. An S-rank record was impressive enough, but getting to pick from the Sealed Book was a rare honor that usually required both massive merit and the right connections.
The three clans of the Ino-Shika-Cho had racked up plenty of achievements over the years, yet even they had only pulled a handful of techniques from the book.
"Ahaha, it's finally here? I've been dying to see what I'd get!" Taiichi rubbed his hands together, practically bouncing on his toes.
"Look at you," Jiraiya teased. "Don't get too excited yet. You still have to tell us what technique you want. If I don't know it, you'll have to go back to the village to learn it."
Both Jiraiya and Shikaku watched him, curious what he would pick. Jiraiya wasn't worried about Taiichi not knowing the Sealed Book—Tsunade's collection had ended up in his hands, so he would have read the descriptions.
Taiichi had already made up his mind long ago. In peacetime he would have chosen the Soul Transformation Technique to study souls and Yin Release. But this was wartime. Flying Thunder God was far more practical and immediate. Besides, with his strength and connections, earning another chance to pick from the Sealed Book later was basically guaranteed.
"I already know what I want," he said confidently. "Flying Thunder God Technique."
"Flying Thunder God?" Jiraiya and Shikaku both looked surprised.
"Taiichi, are you sure you don't want something else?" Jiraiya asked carefully. "Minato may make it look easy, but that technique has only ever been mastered by the Second Hokage and Minato himself. Everyone else who tried couldn't even grasp the basics."
Jiraiya was trying to talk him out of it—not because he doubted Taiichi's talent, but because space-time ninjutsu was extremely rare. Konoha had hundreds of shinobi, yet only two had ever succeeded. He didn't want Taiichi wasting precious time on something that might be impossible for him.
"It's fine, Jiraiya-sensei. Even if I can't learn it, it'll still expand my knowledge base."
"Ugh, you kids are all the same—stubborn as hell," Jiraiya sighed, thinking of his old friend Orochimaru and his obsessive pursuit of ninjutsu.
"Fine. I'll have Minato teach you. But if you don't have the talent for it, you stop immediately and come back here to pick something else."
"That works?" Taiichi asked, surprised. "Won't you get in trouble for letting me choose twice?"
"Idiot brat, if neither of us says anything, who's going to know?" Jiraiya waved it off like it was nothing. He glanced at Shikaku. "Right, Shikaku?"
"Hm? What are you two talking about? I didn't hear a thing," Shikaku replied with a perfectly straight face.
Taiichi grinned. He had just learned that even the strictest rules could be bent when the right people were involved. These two really were cut from the same cloth.
"Alright, kid, don't get greedy after getting a good deal. Take this order and go." Jiraiya scribbled a quick note and handed it over.
"Thank you, Jiraiya-sensei. Thank you, Lord Shikaku." Taiichi accepted the paper with a deep bow of genuine gratitude. When someone bent the rules to help you, the least you could do was show proper respect.
He left the main command tent practically skipping. He wanted to find Minato immediately and start learning Flying Thunder God.
Half an hour later, after wandering the camp like an excited kid, a calmer Taiichi slapped his own forehead.
Idiot. You have sensory ninjutsu. Why the hell did you waste all that time walking around?
He activated his sensing technique and locked onto Minato's familiar chakra signature in an instant.