Konoha, Uchiha clan district.
The light of dusk filtered through the paper windows into the tea room, turning the tatami mats a warm shade of orange.
Chiya sat at the low table, his slender fingers lightly tracing the rim of his teacup. His thoughts had drifted.
A week had passed since Mikoto awakened the Mangekyō.
During that time, Chiya had noticed keenly that Mikoto's personality had shifted somewhat since awakening the Mangekyō Sharingan.
She seemed more clingy than before, and her desire for his attention had grown quite a bit.
Especially whenever Kushina was around.
Chiya had been hoping to take his relationship with Kushina a step further during this period, but every time things reached a critical moment, Mikoto would step out.
That gentle face wearing a complex, heartbreaking expression made Chiya, every time he thought of it, want nothing more than to hold her close.
Since then, Mikoto seemed to have taken on some particular new qualities.
Fortunately, after a week of indulgence, things had settled back down somewhat.
He was not sure if it was his own imagination, but the Mikoto after awakening the Mangekyō seemed to want more from him.
"Chiya-nii, the Hyuga Clan Head is here."
Hearing Mikoto's voice, Chiya gave a nod.
He stood and walked out.
Looking at Hyuga Sakusei standing across from him with a composed and steady bearing, Chiya personally welcomed him into the sitting room.
"Clan Head Chiya, I imagine you have already heard about the situation at the border."
Hyuga Sakusei's voice was low and steady. His fingers tapped lightly on the tabletop.
"Sunagakure's provocations have been growing more frequent. The patrol teams our Hyuga Clan deployed have already been attacked three times."
Chiya lifted his teacup. The drifting steam blurred his features.
He took a light sip. The fragrance of the tea spread across his tongue.
"I doubt Clan Head Hyuga came in person simply to report the border situation."
Hyuga Sakusei was silent for a moment. His pale eyes narrowed slightly.
"I imagine you have also noticed the Third's recent movements."
His voice dropped lower.
"The losses our clan ninjas have suffered at the border are far worse than what has been officially reported."
The teacup met the table with a clear, crisp sound.
Chiya raised his eyes. His black pupils were bottomless.
"So Clan Head Hyuga has come to seek cooperation?"
"The Uchiha and the Hyuga have always been the pillars of Konoha."
Hyuga Sakusei said in a low voice.
"With the shinobi world in such turbulence now, if our two clans join forces, we will certainly be able to in Konoha..."
"Clan Head Hyuga."
Chiya cut him off suddenly. The corner of his mouth curved into a faint smile.
'To think this Hyuga Clan Head is still thinking about internal maneuvering at a time like this.'
"You and I both know the Third's methods."
Silence fell over the room.
Hyuga Sakusei's expression turned grave.
The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, was known as the Professor of Ninjutsu.
What Hyuga feared even more was the Third's political skill in playing all factions against each other.
The only exception was the Uchiha Clan, which stood apart from all of it.
"But the current situation in the shinobi world no longer allows for us to consume ourselves with internal conflict."
"The provocations at the border are only the beginning."
Chiya stood and walked to the window.
The setting sun stretched his shadow out long.
"Kirigakure, Kumogakure, Iwagakure... they are all waiting for the right moment."
Hyuga Sakusei followed his gaze. The outline of Konoha appeared and faded in the gathering dusk outside the window.
"What you mean is..."
"A war that will engulf the entire shinobi world is coming."
Chiya's voice was quiet, but it landed in Hyuga Sakusei's mind like a heavy blow.
...
At the same time, Sunagakure.
The underground meeting room of the Kazekage Building.
The heavy stone door slammed shut behind Pakura, cutting off the scorching desert air outside.
Dim candlelight flickered against the stone walls, casting light over twelve faces wearing very different expressions.
At the far end of the long table, Chiyo's bony fingers were turning over a gold-sealed letter, an ultimatum from the Kumogakure envoy.
"Everyone's hesitation must end here."
Chiyo suddenly slapped the letter down on the table, sending a cloud of dust into the air.
"If we do not declare war on Konoha within three days, a joint army from Kumogakure, Iwagakure, and Kirigakure will march on our borders!"
The candle flames lurched violently. Pakura saw the corner of Suna's mouth twitch.
He had been tracing out a strategic map on the tabletop with golden sand. Hearing these words, he suddenly closed his fist.
"Elder Chiyo is being too pessimistic."
Pakura untied the clasp of her cloak and stepped forward. Her face was full of resolve.
"When has Sunagakure ever had to wag its tail at people like them?"
Ten gazes stabbed toward her like kunai.
An elder gave a cold laugh and shoved a stack of scrolls across the table.
Where the scrolls unrolled, the catastrophic budget deficit gaped open like a wound.
"Easy for Jonin Pakura to say. Then you tell us. Do we fill that financial hole with our soldiers' blood?"
Pakura's fingernails scraped against the stone table with a grating screech.
"The truth behind the Third Kazekage's disappearance has not been established. Declaring war right now is playing exactly into the hands of whoever is pulling the strings behind the scenes!"
A snicker came from the shadows.
An elder from the Puppet Corps slowly raised his head. The joints of his puppet mechanism clicked softly.
"The truth? Konoha's people have been appearing frequently at the border recently. Is that not clear enough?"
Hearing this, Pakura shot to her feet and slammed her palm on the table.
"Were we not the ones who provoked them first?"
The atmosphere tightened in an instant.
"Silence!"
Chiyo stepped in.
"Sunagakure now faces threats from within and without. If we want to snatch something from the fire and win ourselves a chance at survival, we may have to redirect all of Sunagakure's internal tensions outward."
"Does that mean Lady Chiyo intends to redirect our tensions toward Konoha?"
Suna cut into the conversation, his expression thoughtful.
"Only then can Sunagakure and the Land of Wind resolve the present crisis and buy ourselves room to breathe."
Pakura found her breathing growing heavy.
She looked around the room. Their faces all seemed to carry a tinge of blood, clearly hungering for war.
"You are all blinded by hatred!"
"Declaring war now is the same as suicide! Why is Kumogakure in such a rush to push us into this? Because they need cannon fodder to wear down Konoha!"
Dead silence smothered the meeting room.
Chiyo's fingers shifted slightly. Puppet threads suddenly coiled around Pakura's wrists.
"Child, do you know why this old woman has lived this long?"
"Because when the time came to lower my head, I never forced my way through."
Pakura felt a sharp pain.
Not in her wrist. In her back.
Without her noticing when, the few Jonin who had supported her had all looked away.
One advisor had even produced a scroll bearing a declaration of war, looking at Pakura with a contemptuous expression.
"Pakura, you are a hero of Sunagakure!"
"Not a guard dog for Konoha!"
Pakura's chest heaved.
She pointed at the person who had just spoken, her whole body trembling.
'Does attacking Konoha not just intensify the internal conflicts of our own village?'
'Why do we not seek cooperation instead?'
'The other shadow villages do not trust Sunagakure at all. They only trust themselves, each looking out for nothing but their own village's internal interests.'
'Even if Konoha were taken down, the Land of Wind would be next.'
'And Konoha is not a village just anyone can defeat!'
'This alliance is a losing battle from the start. Why must Sunagakure be the one to charge to the front and start the war?'
She knew she could not change the minds of these elders. She let out a sigh.
"The blood of Suna has never done anything but benefit the true enemy!"
As the words fell, she slammed the door open and walked out.
She left the meeting room and stepped outside.
The scorching desert air hit her full in the face.
"Ah..."
Pakura quietly let out a long sigh.
The dusk of Sunagakure always came suddenly.
One moment the sun was blazing overhead. In the next, darkness had fallen on all sides.
Pakura's shadow stretched out long, like a solitary kunai leaning alone in the sand, on the brink of going up in flames.
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