In Konoha: Starting by Slapping White Fang

Genetsu's explanation left Minato Namikaze half-convinced and half-doubtful.

At first glance, it seemed to make sense.

But upon closer thought, it was riddled with holes.

"And then? How did he defeat you?"

Genetsu was quite interested in this matter as well.

The reason Orochimaru's ambush had been so precise was naturally because Genetsu had told him about it.

However, Genetsu had never believed from the beginning that it would work.

Yet the result had turned out to be the complete opposite.

Minato Namikaze smiled bitterly. "The gap in experience between Lord Orochimaru—no, Orochimaru—and me was simply too great."

In short,

he had suffered because of the difference in combat experience.

Orochimaru's target from the beginning had been Asuma, but he had pretended that he was going after Minato Namikaze.

That was why Minato Namikaze had told his three disciples to leave first.

Yet he had not expected Orochimaru to have already stationed subordinates along their escape route, allowing him to snatch Asuma away with ease.

After succeeding, he did not continue tangling with Minato. With a single Earth Release, he vanished without a trace.

When it came to escaping, Orochimaru believed there was no one in the ninja world he needed to fear.

"Kakashi, Obito, you two go back and rest first. I'll report this matter to Lord Hokage."

Minato Namikaze felt immense pressure.

He had lost the Hokage's son. He had no confidence he could bear responsibility for that.

"Don't worry. You'll be fine."

Genetsu patted Minato Namikaze on the shoulder.

Minato Namikaze showed a smile uglier than crying, assuming Genetsu was merely comforting him.

However, Genetsu's next words made his whole body jerk violently.

"The Third Great Ninja War is about to begin. Our Lord Hokage, who doesn't dare go to the battlefield, will still need to rely on you."

With that one sentence, Minato Namikaze and his three disciples were stunned again.

How did you know the Third Great Ninja War was coming?

Sasori of the Red Sands should be preparing to make his move too, right? Genetsu thought.

Now that the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind had formally formed an alliance, Leaf Village and Sunagakure could not go to war again in the short term.

Under such circumstances, Sasori could not seek revenge against White Fang.

It was only natural for him to redirect his hatred toward the Third Kazekage, who had advocated an alliance with Leaf Village.

The alliance between the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind was undoubtedly good news for Leaf Village.

But another piece of news soon spread—

The Hokage's second son, Sarutobi Asuma, had been captured by the rogue ninja Orochimaru.

His eldest son had been killed in the previous war, and now his second son had been taken by his rogue disciple.

Many people began sympathizing with the Hokage, who was already past fifty.

Genetsu did not know whether Hiruzen Sarutobi had held Minato Namikaze accountable.

But at the very least, he could be certain that Hiruzen would never dare treat Minato Namikaze the way he had treated White Fang in the original story.

This was the only card he had that was worth playing!

"Tell me, do you think that old man Sarutobi and that old woman Biwako can still have another child?"

That night, Genetsu suddenly felt malicious and asked Tsunade below with a grin.

"The Kazekage has gone missing?"

"Could there have been an emergency that forced him to leave temporarily? With the Kazekage's strength, nothing could have happened to him."

Land of Wind.

Sunagakure, which had only just signed an alliance agreement with Leaf Village, had already descended into chaos among its upper ranks.

Even Chiyo, who had decided to retire, was forced to return.

Although she resented the Third Kazekage for forming an alliance with Leaf Village, preventing her from avenging her son and daughter-in-law,

Sunagakure needed its strongest Kazekage to stabilize the situation.

"The Third Generation is the strongest Kazekage in history. He won't go down so easily."

As a senior figure, Chiyo spoke to calm the crowd. "But this matter cannot be allowed to reach the people below, especially other countries. We must avoid causing unnecessary panic. Understood?"

The Third Kazekage had disappeared!

At the same time, it meant that the Third Great Ninja War was about to officially erupt.

"Hatake Sakumo, Orochimaru told me everything! Your younger brother, Hatake Gengetsu, killed my big brother!"

In a certain underground base along the northern border of the Land of Fire,

Asuma saw Hatake Sakumo and Orochimaru walking over and instantly charged forward in fury, roaring at him through the bars.

This was one of Orochimaru's secret bases.

"The Hokage's son... was indeed taken by you..."

Even White Fang could not help swallowing nervously at the sight.

"Asuma-kun, I advise you to save your strength."

Orochimaru cast a sideways glance at Asuma in the cell and coldly offered that reminder before turning to Hatake Sakumo with a sinister smile.

"And then? Sakumo-san, Genetsu-kun sent you here, so you should have something to give me, shouldn't you?"

After a brief silence, Hatake Sakumo handed a small scroll to Orochimaru.

Unrolling it and swiftly scanning its contents, Orochimaru smiled.

"Teacher Sarutobi is quite furious. He even dispatched Anbu to hunt me down. So our previous agreement has indeed been voided."

Originally, Hiruzen Sarutobi's agreement with Orochimaru had been for him to fake his defection.

Although Leaf Village would declare him a rogue ninja, it would not truly send a tracking force after him.

But Orochimaru's kidnapping of Asuma had clearly enraged Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Now, Hiruzen was truly treating him as a rogue ninja and had dispatched elite Anbu squads to pursue him.

The contents of Genetsu's scroll were a warning for Orochimaru to avoid them.

"It's about time to relocate this base."

Orochimaru held the scroll over the flame of an oil lamp and burned it to ashes.

Then, illuminated by the firelight, he glanced at Hatake Sakumo with an evil look in his eyes.

"But I truly didn't expect Genetsu-kun to have you deliver the message. It seems he's planning something major~"

"...Genetsu intends to use the Ninja Wars that are about to break out to drag the Third Hokage from office and have Tsunade take the Fourth Generation's position."

Hatake Sakumo answered with a frown.

Asuma's eyes widened in shock inside the cell, unable to believe what he had heard.

"Wouldn't that be difficult?"

After completely burning the scroll, Orochimaru rubbed his chin and propped his cheek on one hand.

"You and I both know how much Teacher Sarutobi sacrificed back then to secure the Hokage's position. To make him surrender it... unless he dies."

"He said you only need to wait for news."

Hatake Sakumo replied.

"Heh. Sakumo-san, don't tell me you still can't bring yourself to act against Teacher Sarutobi? Don't tell me you still have expectations for him?"

Noticing the trace of conflict in Hatake Sakumo's eyes, Orochimaru sneered mockingly.

"I just never expected the waters of Leaf Village to run so deep..."

Hatake Sakumo's tone carried a hint of wistfulness.

Especially after Genetsu had asked him to deliver a message to Orochimaru and he had learned all this.

Hatake Sakumo felt as if his entire worldview had been shattered.

Orochimaru's smile widened.

It seemed White Fang's mind was even more astonishing than his strength.

"You won't succeed!"

Asuma in the cell began going mad again.

Orochimaru irritably raised a hand, and Asuma's expression instantly changed. He rolled across the ground in agony.

Strange black curse marks resembling tadpole script rapidly spread across his body.

News of the Third Kazekage's disappearance spread across the entire ninja world in an extremely short time.

After all, something as significant as a Kage vanishing could not possibly be concealed.

Upon hearing the news, many of the major ninja villages began to stir.

Among them was the warlike Kumogakure of the Land of Lightning, located in the far north of the ninja world.

"Send troops to the Land of Wind while we have the chance!"

The Third Raikage, known as the Strongest Raikage, slammed his fist the size of a sandbag onto his desk, nearly smashing the entire table apart.

For some reason, it seemed that every village's Third Generation liked to bear the title "strongest."

The Third Hokage was the Strongest Hokage in history.

The Third Kazekage was the Strongest Kazekage in history.

The Third Raikage was also the Strongest Raikage in history.

But the Third Raikage's title was absolutely well deserved.

The Strongest Spear matched with the Strongest Shield—he stood at the absolute peak of Kage-level.

Under his rule, Kumogakure's strength had undoubtedly reached its greatest height since the village's founding.

Aside from himself, his son A and adopted son Killer B both possessed Kage-level strength.

Killer B, in particular, had almost perfectly mastered the power of the Eight-Tails.

The only regret was that Yugito, the Two-Tails Jinchuriki, was still too young.

Although she had fused well with her Tailed Beast, it was still too early for her to go to war.