"Lord Kawaii, one of the vanguard units we sent out has been out of contact for three days."
Inside a large camp in the northeastern region of the Land of Fire, within an enormous command tent, a Kumogakure intelligence officer was reporting the recent anomaly to Kawaii, commander of Kumogakure's forces in this campaign.
"A unit of over twenty men has been missing for three days. Why was this only reported today?"
At the head of the hall sat a tall, dark-skinned Kumogakure ninja.
Not only was he unusually tall, but his limbs were exceptionally long as well, making him look like an enlarged gibbon.
He was Kawaii, the highest-ranking commander among the Kumogakure ninja forces invading the Land of Fire.
"Lord Kawaii... we thought they had been delayed by some urgent matter. But we never expected that, even now on the fourth day, we still wouldn't be able to contact them."
The intelligence officer reported truthfully.
The commander named Kawaii said nothing further. Instead, he rose and walked to the sand table in the center of the hall, examining the area assigned to the missing unit.
After a long while, he turned back and ordered, "Send another unit to search today. Have my younger brother lead it."
"Yes, Lord Kawaii." Having received his orders, the intelligence officer withdrew.
Kawaii's younger brother was named Kaxiong. He was Kawaii's half-brother and also an elite Jonin of Kumogakure.
Unlike his older brother Kawaii, Kaxiong was short, with limbs proportionally even shorter than those of an ordinary person. He looked every bit like a malformed dwarf.
However, Kaxiong possessed remarkable talent in taijutsu, not inferior to Kawaii's in the slightest. Though born disabled, he had become an elite Jonin through taijutsu by the age of thirty. With his older brother looking after him