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"What did you say? The mission is missing?" The outpost Captain felt like his head was about to explode. How could this be? Was fate playing a cruel joke on him?

As Jonin, he knew how much effort the village had put in to form an alliance with Sunagakure, but at this crucial moment, the delegation had disappeared. The garrison Captain felt like the sky was falling.

"Explain every single detail to me." The garrison Captain suppressed his anger, each word seemingly squeezed out from between his teeth, which clenched so tightly they made a grinding sound.

"Because a patrol team went missing yesterday, Lord Rousha was worried about an ambush, so he sent a few of us to impersonate the delegation and scout ahead—" The returning ninja recalled the events and reported the details to the garrison Captain.

"----We waited there as agreed, but almost half an hour passed and the delegation still hadn't arrived, so we hurried back to report."

After hearing the Chunin's report, the garrison Captain was now certain that the envoy group was indeed in trouble. He didn't dare to delay and quickly ordered someone to send a message to the village explaining the situation. He himself led a team to the place where the envoy group and the scouting team had separated to look for any possible clues.

However, they didn't have to search too hard; with so many traces of Ninjutsu being released, the garrison Captain quickly found the battle site.

Looking at the terrain, which had clearly been cleared and altered extensively by Earth Style, the garrison Captain was speechless with humiliation. What an arrogant enemy! Assassinating the delegation was one thing, but having the leisure to meticulously handle the scene was another.

His hands were clenched into fists, his fingernails digging deep into his palms from the excessive force.

"Dig three feet into the ground and see if there are any more clues!"

At his command, the several Sand Village Ninja had followed him began to fight, but to the Captain's disappointment, they found no valuable clues.

The Sakumo Squad mainly used Taijutsu to resolve battles. Their only weakness was the Glazed Ground, which Taiichi sank into the ground and then smashed into pieces with his Earth Style: Earth Splitter Palm. Furthermore, the Earth Style: Earth Flow River stirred it up and mixed it with the surrounding land.

In this way, even if Sunagakure saw it, they would only think it was an ordinary piece of glass. So after searching for a while, they only found some scattered Puppet fragments and poisoned Kunai, finally confirming that this was indeed the location where the mission had met its demise.

With a heavy heart, the garrison Captain returned to the outpost, reported his latest findings to the village, and ordered his men to relay the message to all the outposts. The alliance had failed; who knew what other changes the two nations would face next? But strengthening vigilance was certainly the right thing to do.

While Konoha's Sakumo squad was busy evacuating the Land of Birds, Sunagakure's garrison Captain was eager to investigate the delegation's whereabouts, on the other side of the Land of Birds, Iwagakure's envoy, Kitsuchi, was already quite impatient.

What should have been a proper alliance meeting has now turned into a one-man show by Iwagakure. What, do they really think the people of the Land of Earth are all as honest and simple as rocks, without any temper at all?

"Haven't we found any envoys from Sunagakure yet?" Kitsuchi said impatiently to the observing ninja.

"No trace of anyone has been found yet, Lord Kitsuchi."

It seems something's happened in Sunagakure. I wonder if Sunagakure changed their minds or if there's some other reason. Now, the old man is going to have a headache again.

Thinking of his old man's frantic state, Kitsuchi was no longer so anxious and wanted to go back as soon as possible to inform him of the news.

"If Scout another 50 kilometers and they still don't come, we'll go back."

97

"Yes!"

However, no matter how the Iwagakure ninjas Scout, the Sunagakure messengers never came.

Scout nothing, the Iwagakure delegation had no choice but to return to the village. As they left, Kitsuchi glanced back in the direction of the Land of Wind, a premonition welling up in his heart for no apparent reason—next time they came, there might not be so many people.

A day after the assassination of the Sunagakure delegation, Sunagakure finally received the message from the front-line outpost. The entire Sunagakure was in an uproar, like a school of fish that had been bombed with a depth charge.

All high-ranking officials in the village were notified immediately, regardless of their position, that they must come to a meeting to discuss how to handle the situation.

The village had spent a great deal of time and manpower to promote the alliance with Iwagakure, and even traded a large amount of controlled materials to Iwagakure at cost price for this purpose. Now that all these initial investments were about to go down the drain, everyone became nervous.

The huge conference room was now full of people: the heads of various departments, the members of the Elder Council, and even Chiyo and Ebizo, who were gradually retiring, were all present.

Before the meeting even started, there was no one to restrain the crowd, and it was quite noisy. People were huddled together in small groups, whispering and discussing what to do next.

The only two people who remained relatively calm were Chiyo and Ebizo. They were sitting upright in their seats, resting with their eyes closed, but their constantly trembling eyebrows indicated that they were not at peace either.

Just as the meeting room was getting noisier, the door was suddenly flung open, and the atmosphere inside abruptly froze as everyone turned to look at the door.

The Third Kazekage, wearing the Kazekage hat, slowly walked into the conference room. Everyone's eyes were immediately focused on the Kazekage. Once the Kazekage was seated in the main seat, the room fell completely silent. Everyone looked at the Kazekage expectantly, waiting for him to speak.

"I believe everyone is aware of the mission's situation. So, what are your thoughts?"

As Kazekage spoke, hushed discussions broke out in the meeting room again, but as time went on, the discussions gradually turned into arguments, and everyone's tempers flared up in unison.

At this moment, a Militant Faction elder slammed his fist on the table and stood up abruptly. "This is clearly Iwagakure's betrayal! They took our supplies and benefits, and then turned around and stabbed us in the back!"

He pointed towards Iwagakure and cursed the Third Tsuchikage without any restraint, "That bastard Ōnoki, he's capable of even hiring Bounty Ninja, what else can't he do? He has no dignity whatsoever for a great nation. Besides, who else could so accurately evade the Scout of all the outposts?"

"Absurd!" the Intelligence Department immediately retorted. "If Iwagakure wanted to break the agreement, they could simply refuse the alliance outright. There's no need to risk their reputation. In my opinion, this is more like Konoha's doing. Have you forgotten the news from Iwagakure a while ago that they injured Konoha spy?"

Perhaps by then, our alliance with Iwagakure would have already been exposed.

"Who knows if the information provided by Iwagakure is true or false? Maybe Iwagakure deliberately leaked it to Konoha," the former Militant Faction elder retorted.

"Stop arguing!" Chiyo suddenly interrupted the argument, her aged voice carrying an undeniable authority. "Although I also hate Konoha, have you considered Cloud Village? That Raikage, that brute, is very wary of Iwagakure."

"Would he just stand by and watch Iwagakure ally with us, and then divert excess troops to deal with them?"

At this moment, Ebizo was standing next to Chiyo, nodded slightly and added, "Don't forget, Kumogakure has been Cloud Village restless these past few years. They're the Ninja World with the most petty antics right now. Didn't they even disguise Iwagakure to ambush us a while ago?"

Chiyo and Ebizo were less offering their opinions and more filling in all the possibilities. After they finished speaking, they closed their eyes to rest and stopped participating in the discussion.

After a brief silence following their speeches, the meeting room erupted into an even more heated argument. Gradually, several camps emerged within the room.

The moderates believed that the status quo should be maintained and that further alliances with Iwagakure should be avoided, as it would be a thankless and troublesome endeavor.

The Militant Faction believes that external forces must be behind this, and that the culprit must be found and severely punished. This faction is further divided into those pro -Iwagakure, those pro- Konoha, and those pro -Cloud Village. In short, everyone holds their own opinion.

Watching their endless arguments, without even a concrete solution, Kazekage's temples throbbed, and his fingers unconsciously tapped on the table, faster and harder with each tap.

"Enough!" Suddenly, Kazekage stopped tapping, his eyes flashing with cold light, and the entire conference room fell silent instantly.

"Sabaku, as the Intelligence Department, personally lead a team to Iwagakure again to confirm Iwagakure attitude." The Kazekage's voice was as cold as icy Iron Sand as he surveyed the crowd. "Notify the Border Troops to enter a state of combat readiness and be prepared for any possible attack from Iwagakure."

Send more professional investigators to the scene to see if we can find any more clues. I need to know who did this!

Although the Kazekage sent someone back to Iwagakure and ordered the troops to be on guard against Iwagakure, it was clear to anyone with eyes that the Kazekage still hoped to maintain the alliance with Iwagakure.

This can be seen from the fact that he sent the Intelligence Department, a pro- Iwagakure Militant Faction. Therefore, everyone in Sunagakure also shut up, some secretly rejoicing, and others quietly gathering their strength again.

And the Sunagakure's massive war machine silently accelerated its operation under this order.

Compared to the anger of Iwagakure and the frustration of Sunagakure, Konoha's Sakumo squad was incredibly relaxed and successfully completed their mission, breaking the alliance between Kaze and Tochi. All of this made the squad members very happy.

Their return to Konoha proceeded smoothly, guided by the Byakugan.

Two days later, the four-person team returned to Konoha, which they had been away from for many days.

Looking at this harmonious and peaceful scene, and recalling the precarious existence they had faced when they ventured into other countries, Taiichi had a new realization: without the sacrifices of others, there would be no peace and prosperity today.

Now I've become one of those carrying the burden, but everything I've done has been worthwhile.

"Let's call it a day now. Everyone should go back and get some rest. You all cooperated very well on this mission."

Upon entering the village, Hatake Sakumo immediately disbanded the squad. The squad had only been formed temporarily for the mission, and now that the mission was successfully completed, everyone had to return to their original mission-related lives.

No one objected; it's common for ninjas to split up and reunite for missions, and even Taiichi had worked with others before. After saying goodbye, everyone headed home as soon as possible.

As the Captain, Hatake Sakumo headed straight for the Hokage Building. For S-rank assignments like this, he always reported directly to the Hokage in person.

In the Hokage's Office, having heard that Sakumo's team had successfully completed their mission and returned, the Konoha High Council F4 gathered once again to hear Sakumo's report.

"That concludes this mission, Hokage-sama."

The Hokage flipped through the two scrolls that Sakumo had handed over. One was a detailed report of the mission, and the other was a Storage Scroll containing the spoils of the mission—the corpses of Rousha Sunagakure Kazekiri, as well as many Puppet that had been destroyed at the time.

This can be considered the biggest gain from this operation, besides the mission itself. The corpse of a Jonin, and especially the corpse of a high-ranking Sunagakure official, allows Konoha to obtain a wealth of useful information, including details about Ninjutsu and Sunagakure's activities.

Even if some confidential information in their minds is protected by Sealing Jutsu, it is still possible to analyze some hidden information about Sunagakure from some everyday matters, such as the amount of missions and prices, which can reveal the current state of Sunagakure.

In particular, there are those broken Puppet. As one of the most skilled ninjas in Rousha 'Sunagakure Puppet Technique, his Puppet must be among the newest and best in Sunagakure. Konoha can study the strengths and weaknesses of Sunagakure's Puppet from them, laying a solid intelligence foundation for possible future battles.

Besides these factors, the most anticipated aspect of this mission was the performance of each team member.

Hatake Sakumo may seem conventional, but he actually plays a crucial role. Without him restraining so many of the Puppet Rousha, the others wouldn't have been able to end the battle quickly and without injury.

Although Minato Namikaze has only recently learned the Flying Thunder Flying Thunder God, he has already been able to apply it in actual combat, and its future effectiveness is promising.

Although Hizashi Hyuga was only a member of the Hyuga Branch Family, through this mission, the Byakugan's abilities were further enhanced, and its Scout range now exceeded that of most Main Family ninjas, making it another powerful weapon in future wars.

The most outstanding performer this time was Taiichi. Whether as a Medical Ninja or a combat ninja, he has already reached a high level of proficiency, and he can be described as an all-rounder in Ninjutsu.

Given time, his achievements will surely surpass Tsunade's, after all, Tsunade at his age was far from reaching his level.

Hiruzen Sarutobi turned to the other three elders beside him, "What do you think? What will Sunagakure and Iwagakure do next?"

Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura shook their heads at each other. What could they say? They had done all they could. What Sunagakure and Iwagakure should do next was up to fate.

Danzo, however, was Danzo in deep thought. After a while, a slight smile appeared on his sinister face, "I think Sunagakure and Iwagakure missed their previous opportunity to form an alliance, and they won't have that chance again."

"Oh, Danzo, do you have any new information?" Mitokado Homura asked curiously.

"We just received news this morning that the Kumogakure dispatched a force of 100 ninjas towards the Land of Earth the day before yesterday."

"Sending this many ninjas to the border makes no sense!" Utatane Koharu looked puzzled. What could these few ninjas do? They weren't going to fight, so adding so few people wouldn't be of any use.

At this moment, Hiruzen Sarutobi seemed to understand Danzo's meaning. "You mean, this is a warning from Cloud Village!"

"Yes, I didn't understand the significance of Cloud Village's actions at first, but after considering the failure of the Wind and Earth Alliance, I figured it out!" Danzo with a smug look. "Cloud Village has obviously also received news of the failure of the Wind and Earth Alliance."

Adding this small number of people wouldn't provoke an overreaction from Iwagakure, but it would also let Iwagakure know that Cloud Village was aware of their and Sunagakure dealings. If they continued, the next ninja sent to the border wouldn't be 100 people.

Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu carefully considered Danzo's words and discovered that this was indeed a possibility.

If that's the case, then the crisis arising from the alliance between the two nations can be said to have been averted.

"Although we successfully thwarted the alliance between Kaze and Tochi, it also exposed our current weaknesses. In the coming period, I have decided to strengthen the training of the village's ninjas, especially those who have already shown talent, and increase the allocation of resources to them."

Upon hearing this, Danzo's face immediately darkened. Could Hiruzen Sarutobi be any more shameless? Why didn't you just say to give Taiichi more resources, increase ninja training, and specifically mention giving resources to ninjas who showcase their talents? You're blatantly hoarding resources for your own loyal ninjas!

At this point, Danzo was filled with prejudice against Taiichi, and he would think the worst of anything related to him.

Naturally, Danzo, having been provoked once again, was now brewing an evil plan in his mind.