Inside Sunagakure's central command tent, Rasa and Ebizō both wore grim expressions.
"So it wasn't just my imagination. There really is something off about those reports."
Rasa rubbed his temples. He had noticed it the day before—several teams mentioned that the supply points they were supposed to hit had already been destroyed by other squads. But Rasa knew the truth. Each team had been given strict, separate targets. There was no way so many of them had "accidentally" helped each other.
That could only mean one thing.
There was a third force operating inside the Land of Birds—someone who wasn't Sand or Rock.
"Who do you think it is, Elder?" Rasa asked.
"Konoha or Kumogakure. None of the other villages have the strength or the motive," Ebizō replied without hesitation. "Now that we've said it out loud, there's no point hiding it."
Rasa nodded. "And what do you think their goal is?"
Ebizō looked straight at him. "They saw us getting pushed back and decided to keep Iwagakure in check. They want this war to drag on as long as possible."
Rasa wasn't slow. He immediately saw the political angle. "So they're using both sides as pawns."
Ebizō gave a small smile. "Then tell me, Lord Kazekage… how do you think this war should end?"
Rasa was quiet for a moment. He stood up and walked over to the large map of the ninja world spread across the table. Ebizō followed and stood beside him.
"No matter who wins, Sunagakure gains almost nothing," Rasa said, staring at the map. "Iwagakure is poor and full of mountains and rocks. Their living conditions aren't much better than ours. At best, we could fight over mission rights in the smaller neighboring countries."
Ebizō nodded but stayed silent, waiting.
After a long pause, Rasa's voice grew cold and hungry. He pointed to the center of the map.
"Sunagakure's real future lies here."
His finger landed on the richest, most fertile region on the continent—the Land of Fire.
---
The next morning, Sunagakure's logistics teams had already prepared breakfast. After eating their fill, the entire army assembled and marched straight toward the Iwagakure camp.
The advance was like an unstoppable wave. Any Iwagakure shinobi they encountered along the way were cut down without mercy.
The attack came so suddenly that Iwagakure didn't receive word until Sand forces were only five kilometers away. Emergency signals blared across their camp as orders flew. Iwagakure's troops were among the best organized in the Five Great Villages, but five kilometers was nothing for sprinting shinobi.
By the time Sand's vanguard appeared on the horizon, Iwagakure had barely managed to gather half their forces.
In the chaos, every available jonin rushed to form the first defensive line while the rest scrambled to assemble behind them.
On Sunagakure's side, Rasa led from the very front.
The moment he saw the Iwagakure camp and realized they weren't even fully formed up, he knew the surprise attack had already succeeded.
Gold Sand swirled around him like a living tide. It hardened beneath his feet into a platform that launched him into the sky, placing him at the very front of the army—impossible to miss.
Seeing their Kazekage charge ahead without hesitation filled every Sunagakure shinobi with explosive fighting spirit.
This was their leader. This was their example. With someone like him leading them, how could they possibly lose?
"Shinobi of Sunagakure! The Rock scum are right in front of us! The time for revenge has come! Follow me and drive every last one of them out of the Land of Wind! Kill—!"
"KILL!"
"KILL!"
"KILL!"
The roar shook the battlefield. With their Kazekage leading the charge and comrades on every side, the flames of hatred turned Sunagakure's morale into something terrifying.
As soon as they entered range, Rasa formed seals at lightning speed. He thrust both hands forward, and a massive wave of Gold Sand surged forward like a golden tsunami.
Behind him, every Sunagakure ninja unleashed Wind Style and Fire Style jutsu, turning the sky into a storm of death.
Iwagakure responded instantly.
"Earth Style: Earth Flow Rampart!"
Hundreds of Rock shinobi combined their chakra. A massive wall over a kilometer long erupted from the ground, blocking the path like an unbreakable barrier.
Rock ninjas leaped onto the wall and rained Rock Iron Cannons downward while their stronger jonin unleashed long-range Earth Style attacks.
"Naive," Rasa sneered.
He clapped his hands together.
The golden wave instantly condensed into several enormous spikes that slammed into the towering wall.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The heavy Gold Sand spikes tore through the barrier like paper, punching multiple gaping holes in a single clash.
The moment the wall broke, a storm of ninjutsu poured through the gaps, hammering the Iwagakure forces behind it.
After the initial barrage, both sides finally clashed in close combat. Sunagakure held the initiative and pressed their advantage hard, with Rasa personally leading the charge.
His Magnet Release was devastating on an open battlefield. Wherever enemy clusters formed, he sent waves of Gold Sand crashing down like golden avalanches. For a while, Rasa became a one-man army, leaving nothing but chaos and corpses in his wake.
---
Far away, on a distant hill, Taiichi stood watching the battle unfold.
He had originally been heading toward Sunagakure's supply lines when he stumbled across their massive troop assembly. Curiosity had made him follow, and now he was witnessing Sunagakure's first major counteroffensive.
Anyone who could become a Kage was no joke. Even though the Fourth Kazekage was the youngest of the Five, his strength was undeniable.
Taiichi had seen the Third Kazekage's Iron Sand before. While it had greater range, the Fourth's Gold Sand was clearly superior in raw power and explosive force.
Right now, the battlefield belonged to Rasa alone. He was suppressing Iwagakure's entire counterattack almost single-handedly.
Just as Taiichi was getting absorbed in the fight, he suddenly felt the Flying Thunder God kunai he had given Minato activate.
Minato had arrived.
Taiichi vanished in a flash and reappeared on another hill. Minato stood right beside him.
"Haha! I knew you'd show up, Taiichi," Minato said with his usual sunny smile, as if they were just meeting for lunch instead of watching a massacre.
"Looks like Sunagakure organized their counterattack faster than we expected. Iwagakure's going to take a serious hit," Taiichi said, eyes locked on the battlefield.
"Iwagakure's response was too slow. Half their forces still aren't even in position. A lot of them are probably still out on missions."
Minato analyzed the situation calmly.
"Still, the Fourth Kazekage's ability is perfect for the battlefield. Without someone strong enough to pin him down, letting him run wild is a nightmare for ordinary shinobi."
Taiichi glanced at Minato. As expected from the future Hokage—he was already thinking several steps ahead.
The two of them continued watching as the fighting spread and grew more chaotic with every passing minute.
Then something changed.
Several Iwagakure jonin finally broke through and reached Rasa. But they had badly overestimated themselves.
A few exchanges later, the jonin was slammed into the ground by a massive clump of Gold Sand. Rasa clenched his fist in the air, and the golden mass compressed violently. Blood sprayed everywhere. Another jonin died in an instant.
Right after that death, three bright red signal flares shot into the sky from the Iwagakure camp.
As if on command, the remaining Iwagakure jonin unleashed desperate wide-area jutsu, not caring about taking hits themselves. At the same time, the last of their reserve forces joined the fight—not to charge, but to bombard the Sunagakure lines with large-scale attacks, trying to create breathing room.
The sudden burst of firepower gave the pinned-down Iwagakure chunin and genin just enough space to begin a coordinated retreat under their jonin's orders.
The moment they started pulling back, Rasa reacted instantly. He flew even farther forward, cutting down the rear guard left behind to buy time.
His voice boomed across the battlefield.
"Iwagakure is defeated! Follow me and slaughter every last one of these stray dogs!"
"Slaughter them!"
"Slaughter them!"
The chant spread like wildfire. The few Sunagakure shinobi left behind to hold the line were quickly swallowed by the advancing tide.
---
In the distance, Taiichi turned to Minato with a mischievous grin.
"Minato-sensei, how many of them do you think will make it back alive?"
Minato laughed. "Who knows? But judging by how determined Sunagakure is, they'll probably keep chasing all the way to the border."
Taiichi watched the retreating Iwagakure forces for a moment, then looked back at Minato with a sly smile, rubbing his hands together.
"Sensei… don't you think we should get involved?"
Minato's eyes lit up. "Oh? You want to join the fun too?"
Taiichi nodded. "Of course. But the question is… do we beat the fallen dogs while they're down, or do we help the weak against the strong?"
Minato grinned back. "Why choose? We can do both."
The two of them high-fived, then vanished at the same time using Flying Thunder God.
They had planted several marked kunai around the battlefield before the fighting started. Now they used them to instantly return to the chaos.
The moment they reappeared, Taiichi was almost startled.
A Sunagakure ninja was chasing an Iwagakure ninja right past his position. Both men froze when they suddenly saw him appear out of nowhere.
For a split second, all three stood stunned.
Then Taiichi moved.
A flash of steel.
By the time he turned away, both the Sunagakure and Iwagakure shinobi were clutching their throats, eyes wide with shock as they collapsed.
One clean slash had severed their windpipes, arteries, and spines. Neither would be getting up again.
Taiichi expanded his chakra sensing to maximum range. At this point, he didn't care who noticed him. In fact, he almost hoped someone would come looking—it would save him the trouble of hunting.
He drifted along the edges of the battlefield like a ghost. Any straggler he found—whether wearing Sunagakure or Iwagakure colors—met the same silent end. A quick slash across the throat or a blade through the heart, and they were gone before they even knew what hit them.
The pursuit continued well into the next day. Sunagakure chased Iwagakure halfway across the Land of Birds before finally slowing down. Even they didn't want to risk running straight into Iwagakure reinforcements while exhausted.
The Sunagakure commander wisely called off the chase. Better to secure what they had gained than push too far.
With the battle over, Sunagakure immediately established a forward base inside the Land of Birds. Supplies began flowing in from the Land of Wind at full speed.
By the time Iwagakure managed to reorganize their forces and march back into the Land of Birds, Sunagakure's new defensive line was already fully constructed.
Faced with such a solid position, Iwagakure had no choice but to retreat and set up their own camp farther away.
And through it all, no one had even bothered to ask the Land of Birds' own forces what they thought.
Because in the ninja world, strength was everything. The strong decided who lived and who died.