The Ninja World Is Shaken

The Stone ninja wanted to bury it, cover it up, and find Yotsuki Sora as quickly as possible to erase him.

But Yotsuki Sora had entered the battle precisely to draw the Stone ninja's attention, so he made no effort whatsoever to conceal his whereabouts. The Cloud Hidden Village even deliberately helped publicize him to a certain extent.

Thus, from the moment he set foot in the Land of Earth, countless eyes had already fixed themselves on Yotsuki Sora.

Combined with the terrifying commotion and brilliant results he had created in Rock Town Village, news of everything that had happened there, along with Yotsuki Sora's intelligence, was placed before the leaders of every ninja village immediately after the battle ended.

"Yotsuki Sora..."

Land of Wind, Hidden Sand Village.

Looking over the latest intelligence Ebizo had delivered, Rasa, the newly appointed Fourth Kazekage, frowned deeply, his expression grave.

No wonder the Stone ninja had been so quiet lately. Such a spectacular show had been unfolding one after another within the Land of Earth!

Then wouldn't that mean we...

"The Hidden Stone forces stationed in the Land of Birds have indeed been reduced, but the one leading them is Roshi, the Four-Tails jinchuriki."

Ebizo seemed to have seen through Rasa's thoughts and said, "At this stage, we lack sufficiently powerful means to deal with a jinchuriki."

The moment those words were spoken, Rasa's expression visibly changed.

Jinchuriki, weapons of natural disaster and nuclear destruction, generally did not easily set foot on the battlefield. The major ninja villages all basically possessed jinchuriki, and once one side deployed theirs first, the other side would inevitably resort to the same tactic.

A war between two jinchuriki would be nothing short of a disaster for ordinary ninja!

But disaster or not, the problem was that the current Hidden Sand did not even have the qualifications to create such a disaster!

The reason was simple: Hidden Sand's jinchuriki had died many years ago.

Of old age, at that.

Over the years, Hidden Sand had not failed to try creating a new jinchuriki, but every attempt had failed.

One test subject after another had gone berserk. Not only had they failed to produce a jinchuriki, they had also lost quite a few buildings and ninja in the process.

That fellow Shukaku was still sealed inside a vessel to this day.

"We still haven't settled our score with the Cloud Hidden Village. I believe the Third Tsuchikage won't refuse our goodwill."

A sharp glint flashed in Rasa's eyes as he slowly said, "However, our main forces are currently deployed against Konoha... How about this? Send Pakura over."

"Pakura?"

A strange look flashed across Ebizo's face before he nodded slightly. "I understand."

"Beautifully done, Sora!"

"I told you it was the right call to send him!"

"After all, we traded the Amber Purifying Pot for him. More than a decade has passed, and that brat has only gotten stronger."

Cloud Hidden Village, advisor conference room.

Several elderly advisors looked over the frontline battle reports that had been sent back and burst into hearty laughter, their faces full of delight.

They had originally only intended to make the fullest use of Sora's position to help ease the Third's pressure. They had never expected that fellow Sora to be this powerful.

He had defeated Kitsuchi and captured the Five-Tails jinchuriki.

Such results were simply too important for the current Cloud Hidden Village.

"Onoki is nearly insane. There are no fewer than a thousand Stone ninja searching for Sora throughout the Land of Earth right now!"

"He's been a tremendous help. The Third should be able to rendezvous with the main force smoothly."

"That kid Sora really is..."

"If not for that incident back then, Sora would probably..."

The elderly elder seated in the corner suddenly let out a sigh. The old men who had just been excitedly discussing the frontline battle situation immediately fell silent, each revealing a complicated expression.

They knew better than anyone how outstanding Sora had been back then, because they had watched him grow up.

But that accident had destroyed everything.

"What worries me most is what we'll do when Sora returns," the elder said softly. "Between him and the Eight-Tails..."

For the Cloud Hidden Village of the past, although Sora had possessed unmatched talent, a genius was still only a genius—not a true powerhouse.

Between a genius and the Eight-Tails, they would naturally have chosen the latter. Not to mention that the Eight-Tails was bound to another genius.

But the strength Sora had displayed now was already no weaker than that of a Kage.

If they were truly forced to make that choice again, it would be difficult...

"Damned Rasa."

Land of Fire, Konoha Ninja Village.

Inside the Hokage's office, Hiruzen Sarutobi frowned deeply as he looked over the situation at the frontlines.

After defeating Hidden Cloud, Hidden Sand, led by Rasa, turned its blade toward Konoha.

The Hidden Sand army had already clashed fiercely with Konoha's forces in the Land of Rivers. In particular, the puppetmaster unit led by Chiyo had caused Orochimaru and the others immense trouble.

"If only Tsunade were still here..."

Hiruzen Sarutobi let out a sigh, a trace of weariness in his clouded eyes.

If Tsunade were still here, she could greatly mitigate Hidden Sand's puppet poisons and drastically reduce ninja casualties.

But that disciple of his now...

"Hiruzen! Hiruzen!"

The Hokage's office door was pushed open. Danzo, leaning on a cane, his head wrapped in bandages and his expression gloomy, strode inside.

Besides Danzo, Hiruzen Sarutobi noticed that his other two old companions had come as well.

One was a middle-aged woman with her hair pinned up, her eyes narrowed and her expression extremely stern.

The other wore glasses, had spiky hair, and a raised white collar around his neck.

"What's happened for you to be in such a rush?"

All three Hokage advisors had arrived together, making Hiruzen Sarutobi realize the severity of the matter.

"See for yourself. The latest battle report from the Land of Earth."

Danzo handed over the scroll in his hand.

After only one glance, Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression became incomparably solemn.

"Three days ago, that man broke into Rock Town Village alone. Despite facing a hundred enemies by himself, he defeated and captured Onoki's son, Kitsuchi. And today, he even defeated the Five-Tails jinchuriki!"

"The entire Land of Earth is in chaos now. No one knows how many Hidden Stone ninja are pursuing him. Onoki has even pulled back the ninja stationed at the border, yet they still haven't found anything."

Danzo's gaze was sharp, his tone grave.

The two advisors behind him also wore solemn expressions.

To venture alone into Hidden Stone territory, fight a hundred enemies by himself, and still capture the Tsuchikage's son—this man already possessed strength at the "Kage level."

And now, he had even defeated a jinchuriki head-on.

This man fully possessed the strength to become the Kage of a village.

"Yotsuki... Sora."

Hiruzen Sarutobi took a deep draw from his pipe and looked up at his old friend. "I seem to have heard that name before."

"That was more than ten years ago."

Danzo took out a scroll and handed it to Hiruzen Sarutobi. "ANBU investigated him more than ten years ago. Later, he vanished for over a decade. Everyone said he was already dead, so the investigation came to an end."

"This is the intelligence file compiled on him back then."

"Yotsuki Sora, born in Year 16 of Konoha..."