Within the Land of Rain.
With Amegakure having withdrawn from the war, only the shinobi of Konoha and the Sand Ninja remained active in this land.
At that moment, a light drizzle fell over a dense forest. Raindrops slipped through gaps in the leaves and landed softly on the forest floor.
"Whoosh!"
A dark figure flashed across the thick branches!
Ahead of him, a Sand Ninja squad was moving quickly through the rain.
"Captain, Konoha's shinobi have been much more active lately. Can we really hold out...?"
Beneath the rain, a young Sand Ninja hesitated before finally asking in a low voice.
Hearing him, the Sand Ninja Captain didn't try to deceive him. He explained gravely, "After the Rain Ninja withdrew from the battlefield, Konoha's attacks against us intensified dramatically. As far as I know, several of our strongholds have already fallen..."
"That's... why I'm leading you away from here."
"Now... all we can do is hurry to Lady Chiyo and then decide what to do... Hmm!?"
He abruptly cut himself off, his expression turning grave as he looked ahead!
"Tap!" "Tap!" ...
Seeing their captain's reaction, the other Sand Ninja stopped as well, coming to a halt on a thick branch.
Only then did they see the figure blocking their way.
The Sand Ninja Captain at the head of the squad gritted his teeth and spat out a few icy words at the sight of that conspicuous white hair.
"Konoha... White... Fang...!!"
The other Sand Ninja stared at the white-haired figure, their faces trembling. They had already lost the will to fight before the battle had even begun!
"W-what do we do... That's the White Fang of the Leaf...!"
"C-Captain... We should fight him!"
"No... There's no way we can handle someone like that... Please, just let us go...!"