Fourteen: Disappearance

Four o'clock in the morning, inside the sugar refinery.

"I just finished checking."

Seeing Nawaki closing his eyes to rest, Sakuya walked to the side and whispered to Orochimaru, "All the white sugar in the entire refinery, including the raw materials and production tools, has been completely cleared out."

"Sakuya-kun, you aren't joking, are you?"

Orochimaru's eyes widened sharply.

"What do you think?"

Sakuya shook his head.

"...This is not good news."

Hearing this, Orochimaru's brows furrowed instantly.

This sugar refinery in the Land of Fang was a vital sugar production hub for Konoha. Even if it were occupied by rogue ninja for a period of time, they should have only looted most of the wealth; the critical raw materials and the heavy, immovable production equipment should not have been taken.

"...Unless the goal of these rogue ninja was never about money from the start."

He and Orochimaru locked eyes, a jolt running through their hearts.

"At a juncture like this, sugar is a strategic resource."

Orochimaru narrowed his eyes. "The fact that these rogue ninja dared to empty the entire refinery shows that sugar was their target from the very beginning."

"This isn't something a mere group of rogue ninja would have the guts to pull off."

He paused, his tone gradually turning somber. "I fear there is a force behind them that we know nothing about, backing them up."

"And this force is not small."

Sakuya stroked his chin, lost in thought.

The Land of Fang is located in the southwest of the shinobi world. Although it is a low-lying area, it is surrounded by five nations: the Land of Fire, the Land of Pupil, the Land of Claw, the Land of River, and the Land of Rain.

It is precisely because of this that this small nation has been able to play both sides, offending no one, and even willingly acting as a vassal to the Land of Fire, supplying it with sugar production for a long time.

"To be able to coordinate such a heist without anyone noticing, emptying an entire factory..."

Sakuya's gaze darkened. "Only these five neighboring countries have the strength and the motive to do so."

"The Land of Fire would not move against its own vassal."

Orochimaru shook his head, continuing Sakuya's thought. "Of the remaining four small nations, the Land of Pupil is similar to the Land of Fang; they are major producers of wood products for our Konoha. Furthermore, their lord is a cousin to the lord of our Land of Fire, so it is absolutely impossible for them to send rogue ninja to attack the Land of Fang. As for the remaining three—"

"There is only one that has both the ambition and the capability to pull this off."

Sakuya took over the conversation, his tone resolute.

The two looked at each other, the answer self-evident.

The Land of Rain.

That nation, surviving in the cracks, which has never been peaceful in recent years.

That Demigod, Hanzo of the Salamander, may be suppressed by the major powers, but the ambition in his heart has never stopped at mere self-preservation.

"Things are getting troublesome..."

At this point, Orochimaru took a deep breath, tapped his head in frustration, and spoke with heavy gravity.

What does it mean for the Demigod to start moving on strategic resources like sugar production?

He had already been stirring restlessly at the borders; does this not mean he is already prepared to launch the Second Shinobi World War?

Facing a shinobi war that could break out at any moment, even Orochimaru, a renowned elite jonin of Konoha, felt a sense of tension.

"We must get this news back to Konoha first."

Orochimaru and Sakuya nodded at each other. He took out a scroll, wrote down the information they had summarized, then sliced his palm and slammed it onto the ground.

"Summoning Jutsu!"

As smoke and dust filled the air, a white snake the size of a palm appeared before Orochimaru.

It swallowed the scroll from Orochimaru's hand, turned, and vanished.

"The message will reach Konoha before noon tomorrow."

Orochimaru nodded at Sakuya and said, "We only need to wait here."

"Before that, while we still have time, let's take care of the rogue ninja leader."

Sakuya said, "I think we might be able to dig out more secrets from the rogue ninja leader."

[Facing a shinobi world in chaos, you both feel the future of this mission is uncertain. Although you have reclaimed the port and the sugar refinery, the primary culprit has not been executed, and with the mastermind unknown, you dare not return to the village without authorization.]

[Therefore, you and Orochimaru lie in wait inside the sugar refinery, but you wait until noon the next day without catching a glimpse of the primary culprit.]

"Strange, where are they?"

At noon the next day, standing on a tree branch in the forest outside the sugar refinery, Sakuya looked completely bewildered.

They had waited for so long, yet they hadn't seen a single soul. What happened to the rogue ninja leader returning the next day as expected?

"The intelligence seems to be incorrect."

Orochimaru appeared beside Sakuya with a soft whoosh and said to him, "It seems our presence at the sugar refinery has been leaked."

"Impossible!"

Sakuya shook his head. "Aside from that rogue ninja leader who went out, we captured every other rogue ninja here, and we kept our tracks hidden the entire way..."

"That is exactly what I cannot figure out."

Orochimaru furrowed his brows. "Who on earth could it be..."

"Wait, Orochimaru, something is wrong."

Sakuya suddenly recalled something.

"Where is Tsunade?"

Tsunade had inexplicably run off yesterday and had not returned even today.

Now that the rogue ninja leader was nowhere to be found, Sakuya had every reason to connect these two events.

Of course, he did not suspect Tsunade; after all, she was a genuine Konoha ninja and would never betray the village.

What he was worried about was...

"Sakuya-kun!"

Orochimaru looked toward the distance, his voice changing abruptly.

"Look over there!"

He pointed toward the depths of the forest to the west, where a plume of purple smoke was rising. Wherever the purple smoke drifted, countless leaves were corroded and withered beyond recognition.

"Is that... poison smoke?"

"Indeed, and judging by the scale of this smoke, it contains a massive amount of toxins. Sakuya-kun, you must be extremely careful!"

Orochimaru cautioned, "The direction of that poison smoke is drifting from Tea House City, which is closest to here."

"I have a bad feeling about this. Could Tsunade have..."

Sakuya suppressed the thoughts in his heart and looked at Orochimaru with a grave expression. "Orochimaru, how is Nawaki resting?"

"He is doing alright for now; his injuries have recovered quite a bit."

Orochimaru said, "However, he is still not in any condition to fight."

"Understood."

Sakuya nodded. "Then you take the wounded and retreat first; I will go ahead to scout."

"Take this."

Orochimaru produced a scroll. "Inside are gas masks; they can provide some degree of protection against the poison smoke."

So well-prepared?

Sakuya revealed a look of surprise.

Seeing his reaction, Orochimaru explained, "Since the Land of Rain has been causing trouble at the borders lately, the village purchased a large number of gas masks early on to deal with the Demigod's poison. However, they can only barely handle the poison of ordinary salamanders. If we truly run into the summoning beast of that Hanzo of the Salamander, we would still have no choice but to run for our lives."

"Understood."

Sakuya took the scroll and nodded. "I will be back shortly."