Genji attributed it all to Rasa's luck.
But the truth was that Rasa had indeed learned of the Kaguya Clan's rebellion before Genji did.
Kirigakure was too remote.
The front line was too far from the village.
Any news from inside Kirigakure would inevitably take time to reach the battlefield.
By the time Rasa had dealt with the Hongshan Clan, assembled the second Sunagakure army, and sent it to the front—
Genji had only just received word of the coup in Kirigakure.
Which meant that every one of Genji's earlier assumptions had collapsed into nothing.
"Damn it!"
"Of all times for the Kaguya Clan to revolt, why did it have to be now—at the most critical moment?"
"A chance that good…"
"And all I can do is watch it slip away."
"The Kaguya Clan's sins are grave indeed!"
Genji was furious and deeply unwilling.
But he still had no choice except to give the order.
"Immediately send word to Jinpachi Munashi and the others. Tell them to come back."
At that moment, Jinpachi and the others were advancing toward Sunagakure in high spirits.
Then—
Genji's order arrived.
Jinpachi's face darkened instantly.
"That old bastard—is he playing with us?"
He cursed inwardly.
Jinin Akebino, Kushimaru Kuriarare, and Raiga Kurosuki were equally furious.
This was no longer the first time.
It was the second.
Again and again.
What kind of commander acted like this?
Carrying a belly full of resentment, Jinpachi and the others returned to the main camp.
"Elder Genji," Jinpachi said coldly, dropping even the respectful '-sama,' "what is it this time?"
Genji noticed the change.
But he no longer had the energy to care.
"The village has suffered a major upheaval. The Kaguya Clan has launched a rebellion. I must return to the village immediately."
"Jinin Akebino, you're coming with me."
Then Genji looked at Jinpachi.
"Jinpachi Munashi, while I am away from the front, you will command the army."
"Remember this well—do not act rashly."
"If retreat is necessary, then retreat."
"Wait for news from the village."
The expressions of the others all changed.
"The Kaguya Clan rebelled?"
"What's the village's situation now?"
"Is Mizukage-sama alright?"
Genji noticed that several of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen were paying special attention to whether the Third Mizukage was still alive.
Their thoughts were obvious enough.
Nothing more than coveting the seat of Mizukage.
"The Mizukage is still alive," Genji said flatly. "You may rest assured."
At those words, the ambition that had just begun to surface in their eyes died down at once.
Very quickly, Genji led a force of shinobi away from the front.
Under the fierce pressure of the two Sunagakure armies, Kirigakure's forces could do nothing but retreat step by step.
In only a short span of time, they had already been pushed back more than ten kilometers.
That sent Sunagakure's shinobi into a frenzy of excitement.
"Kill!"
"Drive these Kirigakure bastards out!"
"Kill them all!"
…
Sunagakure's shinobi roared and surged forward.
When news from the front reached Sunagakure's upper echelon, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
"So Kazekage-sama's intelligence was real."
"I can't believe the Kaguya Clan really rebelled. This is wonderful."
"With the Kaguya gone, Kirigakure's strength will be greatly weakened."
"From here on, the advantage is ours."
"Drive the Kirigakure army out of the Land of Wind."
"Not just drive them out—we should counterattack."
"That's right. We must counterattack!"
One of the higher-ups looked in the direction of the Kazekage Building.
"But how did Kazekage-sama know?"
"The report from the front says Genji only left suddenly once the second Sunagakure army had already arrived."
"That means he likely received news of the Kaguya rebellion only at that point."
"Kazekage-sama learned of it even before Genji did."
"Has Kazekage-sama secretly cultivated some special intelligence network?"
"He's incredible…"
By now, not a single one of the village elders still held objections toward Rasa.
All of them were glad that Rasa had become the Fourth Kazekage.
"To have Kazekage-sama is Sunagakure's fortune."
Sunagakure was immersed in the exhilaration of having reversed the war's momentum.
Kirigakure, meanwhile, was drowning in the chaos caused by the Kaguya Clan's rebellion.
And across the shinobi world, the rebellions of the Kaguya Clan and the Hongshan Clan landed like twin bombs exploding across the land.
At once, they sparked endless discussion.
"After the Uchiha, a second rebellious ninja clan has appeared."
"The Kaguya Clan of Kirigakure!"
"But that clan is much stronger than the Uchiha."
"They even gravely wounded the Third Mizukage."
"They were defeated in the end, yes—but they still preserved a considerable number of clan members and escaped from the Land of Water."
One person could not help asking,
"Then doesn't that prove the Kaguya are stronger than the Uchiha?"
"Not necessarily. It could also be that the Third Mizukage is weaker than the Third Hokage."
People had only just begun discussing the Kaguya Clan rebellion—
When the news of Sunagakure and the Hongshan Clan suddenly came crashing into their ears as well.
"What?"
"The Hongshan Clan of Sunagakure also rebelled?"
"What is going on?"
"Why have three ninja clans rebelled one after another in a single year?"
"Uchiha. Kaguya. Hongshan…"
"Is the shinobi world about to change?"
"Are we entering an age of clan rebellions?"
"How did the Hongshan Clan's rebellion go?"
Everyone was eager to hear the result.
Especially the people of Kirigakure.
Because of the Kaguya Clan rebellion, they had been forced to recall a large number of shinobi and had fallen into a disadvantage against Sunagakure, retreating continuously.
At a time like this, they desperately wanted the Hongshan Clan to have inflicted severe damage on Sunagakure too.
But what they heard was not what they had hoped.
What they heard was that the Hongshan Clan had been almost completely annihilated.
"That night, Fourth Kazekage Rasa faced hundreds of Hongshan Clan shinobi alone."
"One man wiped out an entire clan."
The moment those words were spoken, the faces of Kirigakure's people turned ugly.
"One man wiped out a clan?"
"That Hongshan Clan is trash!"
"What a disgrace to ninja clans!"
"Is that even human?"
The people of Kirigakure cursed the Hongshan Clan furiously.
At the same time, they were shocked by Rasa's strength.
"Even if the Hongshan Clan was useless, that was still hundreds of shinobi."
"Wasn't Rasa supposed to be mediocre? Not even close to the Third Kazekage?"
"How did he do it?"
Some guessed that Rasa's record had been falsified.
But those who had seen that night's battle were not only people from Sunagakure.
There had also been spies from other ninja villages hidden within Sunagakure.
And those people reproduced the scene of that night exactly as it had happened.
The Third Mizukage, lying on a hospital bed in the medical department, heard the report from below about the night the Hongshan Clan had been wiped out—
And immediately spat out a mouthful of blood in rage.
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