It had been several days since the Third Kazekage was intercepted and killed by Aizen and the others.
During that time, Iwagakure had sent several letters to Sunagakure in succession, tactfully asking what the Kazekage intended to do about the Tsuchikage's invitation to negotiate.
Ebizo and the others, who were responsible for handling Sunagakure's affairs, were puzzled when they received these letters. They couldn't understand why Iwagakure would ask such a question.
Before the Third Kazekage set out, Sunagakure had already informed Iwagakure that the Kazekage would be visiting.
Under the circumstances, why were they asking about the Kazekage's plans again? Could it be... that after all these days, the Kazekage still hadn't reached Iwagakure?
At the thought, Ebizo furrowed his brow, sensing that something seemed amiss.
Ebizo soon informed Iwagakure that the Kazekage had set out for their village several days earlier. But the reply they received shocked all of Sunagakure's leaders.
Iwagakure's response was that the Third Kazekage had never arrived.
Nearly five days had passed, and the Third Kazekage still hadn't reached Iwagakure!
There was no doubt that this news shook Sunagakure's leaders deeply.
For a Kage to take nearly five days and still not arrive at an allied village could only mean one thing.
The Third Kazekage, hailed as the strongest Kazekage in history, had gone missing!
If something had happened along the way, the Third Kazekage had four Kazekage's Guards with him. He could easily have sent one of them ahead to Iwagakure to deliver the news.
Yet with no clues whatsoever, "missing" was the only word that could describe the Third Kazekage's situation.
For a time, rumors of the Third Kazekage's disappearance spread like wildfire among Sunagakure's leaders.
Of course, some of Sunagakure's leaders suspected that Iwagakure had used the negotiations as a pretext