Land of Fire.
Konoha, inside the Hokage Administration Building.
Hiruzen Sarutobi was bent over his desk, handling official documents.
With a whoosh,
a cloaked figure wearing a mask flashed into the room and dropped to one knee before the desk.
"Lord Hokage, this is the latest intelligence from Kumogakure."
Hiruzen Sarutobi accepted the document tube. After opening it, he narrowed his eyes and slowly read its contents.
The further he read, the deeper Hiruzen Sarutobi's frown became.
"Kumogakure is gathering a large number of ninja?"
The masked figure rose to his feet and nodded slightly. "Lord Hokage, I'm afraid it truly is as you predicted."
"The leaders of the Four Great Nations met in the Land of Hot Springs a few days ago. They may really have set their sights on our Land of Fire's territory."
With another whoosh.
Before the ninja could say anything else, another masked figure leaped in and knelt on one knee before Hiruzen Sarutobi.
"Lord Hokage, this is the latest intelligence from the Land of Earth."
Hiruzen Sarutobi took a hard draw from his pipe and exhaled a thick cloud of smoke.
Somewhat reluctantly, he accepted the scroll, as though he had already guessed what it contained.
"Iwagakure has assembled a force of ten thousand ninja and is moving them out of the Land of Earth?"
Bang!!
Hiruzen Sarutobi slammed his palm down on the desk, producing a dull boom. "It seems those old bastards want to take advantage of the chaos. With the Uchiha Clan's defection from Konoha costing us some of our elite forces, they want to pull this move."
Hiruzen Sarutobi rose from his chair and gave a loud order. "Notify Konoha's advisers and the daimyo at once. Convene an emergency meeting immediately."
"This time, we must make them understand that Konoha