The Rain Country's envoys who were on their way to Konoha to form an alliance… were killed?!
Yagura Karatachi was instantly shocked, but his thoughts began spinning at high speed.
Right. That's it.
The current situation of the shinobi world had already been forcibly split into two opposing camps by his actions. At a moment like this, trying to act as a fence-sitter or watching from the sidelines would be the stupidest possible choice.
Especially for the Rain Country—stuck in that godforsaken strip of land wedged between the Lands of Earth, Fire, and Wind—it was inevitable that they would have to choose a side and actively attach themselves to a major power.
Clearly, under Hanzō the Salamander, the Rain Country had chosen the Land of Fire.
But if Rain's envoys were murdered, then the biggest suspects would naturally be the Lands of Wind, Earth, and Lightning.
Anyone with eyes could see that.
So why did Sarutobi Hiruzen choose to call him back—when he was already about to leave—to talk about this?
Because it was too crude.
Crude to the point of being unbelievable.
If this really were the work of the three nations, it would amount to shoving the Rain Country straight into Konoha's arms.
Which meant there was only one possible answer left—
I did it myself.
Yagura broke out in a cold sweat and immediately shouted:
"Hokage-sama, are you suspecting me?!"
"The Land of Water doesn't even have enough time to recover—how could we possibly be plotting schemes like this?!"
What he said was true. The Land of Water really couldn't afford any more turmoil.
As he spoke, Yagura glanced at Kyusei.
What are you looking at?
Kyusei glared back without the slightest politeness.
Yagura twitched at the corner of his mouth and simply ignored him.
Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at the nearly jumping Mizukage and said in a deep voice:
"I have no intention of suspecting you, Mizukage-sama."
"My thinking is this—"
"There is an unknown force attempting to ignite a shinobi world war."
Yes. That was Hiruzen's conclusion.
Using such an unsophisticated method to assassinate Rain's envoys—whatever the goal was, it was undeniably malicious.
Hearing this, Kyusei's expression sharpened.
In the original story, the Third Shinobi World War was triggered when Sasori of the Red Sand assassinated the Third Kazekage, causing the Land of Wind to go to war with the Land of Fire.
But now, history had already deviated completely.
The original timeline had lost nearly all reference value.
Kyusei himself was the clearest example of that.
And so was Yagura Karatachi, sitting right beside him.
Yagura wasn't the Three-Tails' jinchūriki.
At this point, the Three-Tails was still somewhere in the shinobi world, waiting to revive.
The current situation felt strangely like the struggle between Chu and Han—two massive forces crashing head-on.
On the surface, nothing seemed unusual.
But beneath it all, intelligence networks and underground organizations were already in turmoil.
Yet Sasori was still obediently staying in Sunagakure, and the Third Kazekage was still in his prime.
At this point in time, there was only one person who would want to deliberately provoke a war.
Uchiha Madara.
Aside from him, Kyusei couldn't think of anyone else.
But why would Madara use such a crude method?
That was the strange part—it didn't fit Madara's style at all.
Sarutobi Hiruzen clapped his hands.
The entire conference room went dark, and the ceiling-mounted projector activated.
An image appeared on the screen behind him.
It was a first-person perspective. Judging by the clothing and surroundings, everyone visible was clearly from the Rain Village.
"This information was extracted by the Yamanaka clan from the corpse of a Rain ninja," Hiruzen said.
"Everyone, take a look and see if you notice anything suspicious."
Most of the footage was long and monotonous.
Kyusei nearly nodded off—if kaoru hadn't poked him, he probably would have fallen asleep.
Then—
Kyusei's eyes snapped open.
He stared fixedly at a figure that flashed across the screen.
Orange hair.
This is—
Heavenly Path… Super?!
No—wait.
That's Yahiko!
"What is it? Kyusei—did you notice something?" Hiruzen asked, seeing Kyusei's sudden change in expression.
"Rewind it. Go back."
Kyusei needed to confirm what he had seen.
Frame by frame, the footage reversed.
Yahiko's face froze clearly on the screen.
"According to our intelligence division, this individual is the Rain Village envoy."
"Name: Yahiko. Male. Seventeen years old. Jōnin."
"Kyusei, do you have any objections?"
Hiruzen finished explaining Yahiko's profile and looked at him.
"Uh… hehe, this guy…"
"He's… pretty handsome, huh…"
Kyusei laughed awkwardly.
Black lines instantly appeared on everyone's foreheads.
kaoru pinched the soft flesh at Kyusei's waist without mercy.
Ever since that incident, she was no longer so indulgent toward him—something that made Kyusei feel a little heartbroken.
"Get serious, you little brat!" Tsunade snapped, rolling her eyes.
Meanwhile, one person stood frozen, staring blankly at the image on the screen.
Yahiko…
Dead?
Jiraiya felt his heartbeat stutter.
Yet there was no doubt—the figure on the screen was exactly the cheerful, optimistic boy from his memories.
As the footage continued, a squad of "Konoha ninja" appeared.
Yahiko stepped forward, seemingly trying to negotiate.
But the leader of the group had no intention of talking.
The ninja blade at his waist flashed out.
In fewer than ten moves, Yahiko was killed.
The attacker's techniques were exquisite—his swordsmanship flamboyant, filled with deliberate showmanship.
Even as a jōnin, Yahiko had no room to resist at all.
Hatake Sakumo narrowed his eyes at the display.
As a master of swordsmanship, he recognized the style immediately.
Uchiha-style.
Only the Uchiha favored such refined, omnipresent techniques that constantly showcased their own skill.
Flashy. Showy.
Yet the ability to kill a jōnin within ten moves—
That was unquestionably Kage-level strength.
Given the Uchiha clan's proud and high-profile nature, they would normally want the entire world to know just how powerful they were.
The footage ended.
The lights in the conference room came back on.
"We found seventeen Rain ninja corpses at the scene," Hiruzen said.
"But Yahiko's body was missing."
"All of the ninja wearing Konoha forehead protectors were impostors."
"Even the one who appeared to be an Uchiha has no record whatsoever."
No one present believed these attackers were truly from Konoha.
Not even Yagura.
They had come to form an alliance—if Konoha were responsible, killing them outright made no sense.
At the very least, they would have been detained and brought before the Hokage.
Kyusei leaned back in his chair, no longer listening to the discussion.
Only two men filled his mind.
Uchiha Madara.
Uzumaki Nagato.
This was clearly a trap Madara had laid—
For Nagato.
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