While Kirigakure was in crisis, Konoha was also not at peace.
Just as Tsunade arranged for Kakashi to be protected, that very night, a huge figure appeared outside the village, looking down upon Konoha from afar.
A figure several tens of meters long was projected like a shadow outside Konoha, immediately alarming all the ninjas of Konoha.
Who else could this guy be but Hiruko? At this moment, he not only got Orochimaru's role but also Obito's.
"I am Hiruko of Konoha. Today, I will use this power to start the Fourth Great Ninja War..."
Hiruko, who revealed his Konoha Hiruko, unilaterally declared war on Konoha and threatened to start the Fourth Great Ninja War.
Tsunade, who was walking out of the Hokage's office, happened to witness this scene, Jiraiya led a group of Anbu Ninja to jump onto the roof to stand guard.
However, Hiruko was merely a bluff; he intended to put pressure on Konoha so that they would obediently hand over Kakashi.
Tsunade, Jiraiya, and the others were not entirely unprepared for this scene, because only the one who tied the knot can untie it; to break Kakashi's puppet seal, Hiruko had to Hiruko.
Otherwise, if the time drags on, Kakashi's life may be in danger.
"You said you're planning to go find that guy?"
In the Hokage's office, Jiraiya brought Kakashi to meet Tsunade.
Upon hearing Kakashi's purpose for coming, Tsunade immediately rejected his suggestion.
"No way! That guy is a member of Akatsuki, and you were practically delivering yourself to their doorstep!"
This organization, with which they had dealt with several times, had caused them considerable trouble each time. This time, they had directly declared war, and it was unclear whether the other party was a single person or the entire Akatsuki.
Jiraiya nodded in agreement. Jiraiya speaking, Kakashi was still his grand-disciple, and Hiruko was a former friend. The last time he caused such a headache was with Orochimaru.
"It seems there's no other way now, and besides, I never said I'd go alone!"
I don't know if it was Jiraiya staying in the village that changed his mind, but in any case, there weren't so many ridiculous things happening in this life.
My first thought was to take my friends over and confront that guy.
Of course, it's best to do all this in secret; he's not a stubborn person.
The two men seemed to Hiruko had to be resolved.
"In that case, I'll go with you. I know a bit about that Hiruko!"
Before Tsunade could speak, Jiraiya had already spoken. Besides Konoha, he was the only one in Tsunade whose strength had reached the Kage Level. With him by her side, they could retreat even if there was danger.
After a moment's hesitation, Tsunade nodded.
"Alright! Then you and Kakashi go there. If things don't go well, come back and we'll discuss it further!"
Just as the group had come up with a preliminary plan, a commotion suddenly broke out at the door.
"Um?"
The brows of the people in the office furrowed involuntarily. How dare someone make such a racket in such a serious place as the office?
With their amazing hearing Jiraiya and Kakashi recognized the voices, and sure enough, a boy burst through the door the next moment.
"Kakashi-sensei!"
It was Naruto had rushed over after receiving the news, and he was now panting as he looked at the people in the office.
"Lady Tsunade, we..."
Two guard ninjas followed closely behind, feeling quite embarrassed by Naruto's sudden attack.
However, Tsunade Teuchi after they had only said a few words, waving them away.
What are you doing here?
He wasn't intimidated at all by Tsunade's questioning, especially with Kakashi and Jiraiya present—he was clearly a close associate.
Naruto came over naturally because of Kakashi's matter. After a few Talk no Jutsu, he quickly convinced the group to let Jiraiya take him along.
Besides the turmoil in Kirigakure and Konoha, Iwagakure was also in chaos.
"What did you say? You said Runtu is missing?"
A short, old man transformed into a roaring man, spitting saliva all over his face and covering it with Kitsuchi.
Runtu is the Five-Tails Jinchuriki of Iwagakure, and he is only seven or eight years old, so he has no fighting power at all.
Kitsuchi was in charge of protecting Runtu. Ninjas were secretly protecting him all day long, or rather, monitoring him.
Every Jinchuriki in every village has an unhappy childhood, Iwagakure is no exception.
Moreover, there haven't been any major wars in the Ninja World for so many years, so the protection of Jinchuriki has indeed become lax.
"When we realized something was wrong, the other party had already disappeared, and there were no signs of a struggle! It seemed like..."
Kitsuchi Tu, his face also pale, reported the details. The huge Iwagakure had actually had its Jinchuriki kidnapped right under their noses; it was a disgrace to even talk about it.
"What are you talking about? Speak your mind or shut up!"
Ōnoki is not a good-tempered person, and his temper has not changed much despite years of keeping a low profile.
"It's like some kind of Space-Time Ninjutsu! But there are very few people in the current Ninja World who know Space-Time Ninjutsu, and the last one who knew it, the Yellow Flash, has been dead for many years..."
The person protecting Runtu was just a Special Jonin who had never seen any Space-Time Ninjutsu. By the time Kitsuchi arrived, everything had returned to normal, and he couldn't detect anything unusual.
If the ninja keeping watch hadn't confirmed that he'd heard the exclamation, he would have really thought it was just a Shadow Clone in the room.
"Space-Time Ninjutsu?"
Upon hearing this, Ōnoki regained his composure. It wasn't that no one in the Ninja World knew these techniques; the Kumogakure's Heavenly Praise Technique and the Konoha's Flying Thunder God Formation were both Space-Time Ninjutsu.
But when it comes to a specific individual, even he can't think of anyone else who would do that.
This brings us to the distrust and suspicion among the major ninja villages in the Genin world. Even if each village gathers important information, it will not share it.
Otherwise, during the Nine-Tails' Attack in Konoha, the mysterious ninja who fought against Minato would definitely have been one of Ōnoki's choices.
However, this incident was a scandal for Konoha and a stain on the Third Hokage's political career, so he certainly didn't want it to become known throughout the Ninja World.
As his intelligence regained its dominance, a series of thoughts flashed through Ōnoki's mind. Suddenly, as if he had just realized something, his expression changed drastically once again.
"Oh no! What's wrong with Rōshi...!"
The one who could stand out among the many earth-type Iwagakure conditions in Iwagakure was none other than Obito!
Among the common folk, I am the king. His main principle in doing things is efficiency. He never drags his feet and always gets Obito.
At this moment, in a forest dozens of kilometers away from Iwagakure, after a moment of spatial distortion, Obito's figure quickly appeared.
"Iwagakure is nothing special. As expected, not every ninja village is so troublesome!"
"It went very smoothly indeed; this time we caught them completely off guard!"
No sooner had he finished speaking than a hoarse voice rang out from the side, and a pitcher plant emerged from the tree trunk.
As long as the intelligence is accurate, Obito's Space-Time Ninjutsu is practically impossible to detect.
A mere Jinchuriki, it was an effortless feat.
Even if Naruto were targeted by Obito at this age, the outcome would probably be the same.
"We need to hurry and take down Rōshi before they can react, otherwise that old man Ōnoki is going to be a real nuisance!"
Obito nodded after hearing this, and after confirming Rōshi's current location, the two of them disappeared again...