Under the overt and covert maneuvers of the major hidden villages, the Ninja World settled into an unusual state of peace.
But anyone with a little insight understood that the calmer things were, the closer the storm was. The thick clouds were growing heavy with moisture, and when the rain finally came, it would be as terrifying as a hole punched through the sky.
To stir up trouble, Souya had deliberately targeted many ninjas from Konoha, Iwagakure, and even Kumogakure. Under Sasori's control, they kept provoking bloody clashes along the borders.
During this period of "peace," Kirigakure had a major incident of its own.
A masked man with a single Three-Tomoe Sharingan had secretly infiltrated Kirigakure and attempted to control the Fourth Mizukage.
But the Fourth Mizukage, who had become a Perfect Jinchuriki, didn't crumble at the masked man's Sharingan Genjutsu. Instead, the two were able to dispel each other's techniques.
Just as the masked man tried to weaken Yagura's power, intending to control him by force once he had grown weak and passed out, the noise of their fight quickly drew Kisame, Ao, and other Kirigakure higher-ups to the scene.
Seeing that his operation had been exposed, the masked man reluctantly vanished from Kirigakure.
For a time, the incident sparked many calls within Kirigakure to sever ties with Konoha.
But after Elder Kuchiki's purge and under Yagura's powerful leadership, Kirigakure had become a united front. Those voices soon died away.
When Minato Namikaze heard the news, he went straight to Kirigakure alongside the Uchiha Clan Head.
Besides affirming Konoha's innocence and once again emphasizing the importance of the alliance between the two villages, they also identified the Akatsuki Organization of Amegakure as the culprit.
The attack on Kirigakure served as the fuse, and at last, the powder keg that