Hanzo of the Salamander had fallen.
The front between the Land of Wind and the Land of Fire fell into a brief silence because of this sudden conspiracy.
Only two days later, after the Rain Ninja in the great desert region had been completely driven out by the main force led by Mekiya Ruri, and the humanoid puppet army had retaken the border stronghold of Riverside Market Fortress, did the situation finally take a new turn.
—The achievement of turning the tide and propping up a collapsing edifice sent Yuezheng's reputation in Sunagakure soaring to its peak!
After enduring the rule of two successive unreliable Kazekage, the village's jonin finally resolved, at the very moment the Council of Elders' faction was completely wiped out, to establish a new system of governance. They cast the first votes ever decided entirely by individual will for this heroic woman, no less formidable than any man!
Thus, the Fifth Kazekage—also the first woman in history to serve as a Kage—formally took office, opening a new chapter in the Land of Wind's development.
Riding this momentum, many capable individuals who had once been suppressed by the Council of Elders returned to their posts, injecting much-needed fresh blood into Sunagakure's scarce talent reserves. The stage-by-stage victories in the foreign war also restored confidence among the previously anxious members of the executive branch.
But...
No matter how they rose from the ashes, compared to their heyday three years ago—when they had pinned their hopes on forcing reforms to the domestic distribution system through foreign war—the Sand Ninja had indisputably lost the capacity to leave their borders and fight on foreign soil...
The extravagance of the Third and Fourth Kazekage had inflicted enormous losses of manpower and supplies upon Sunagakure. Even if their population advantage still allowed them