Hidden Sand Village frontline headquarters
"What?! We've lost contact with every puppet unit?!"
Chiyo shot to her feet, crumpling the intelligence scroll in her hand.
For the first time, shock appeared on her aged but still sharp-featured face.
The intelligence ninja knelt before her, forehead pressed to the ground, his voice trembling:
"Yes... all three puppet units, twenty-seven elite puppeteers in total, have gone silent.
Not one of the Sand Birds we sent out has returned, and all their Summoning Contracts have been severed..."
On the battlefield, "all gone silent" meant only one thing.
They had been wiped out!
Twenty-seven elite puppeteers-the cream of decades of effort by the Hidden Sand Village-were simply gone?!
Chiyo's fingers trembled slightly. She slowly sank back into her chair, closed her eyes, and drew a deep breath.
Ebizo stepped forward, another intelligence scroll in hand, his expression grave:
"Sister, we just received word that a large force of Leaf Village ninja is moving toward the front.
According to our scouts, they should arrive within five days."
He paused.
"Could their main force have arrived early and surrounded them?"
Chiyo opened her eyes and shook her head. She was, after all, a veteran of countless ordeals, and within moments she had forced herself to calm down.
"It couldn't have been a large force."
She rose and walked to the map on the wall.
"The puppet units have always been cautious. Before every operation, they use Sand Birds for aerial reconnaissance, then scout again with lizards once they approach their targets.
If a large force had approached, they would certainly have noticed. At least some of them would have escaped."
She turned, her gaze as sharp as a blade.
"There's only one explanation for a total annihilation. The space-time specialist who killed the Third eliminated them