Beast Trap

A convoy struggled through the vast desert amid howling sandstorms. Their attire made it clear they were ninjas from the Konoha, and the carts carried drinking water and supplies bound for the front lines. (A brief note here: if you consider the entirety of Naruto, you could see that their technology was somewhat distorted. In some areas, it surpassed Earth's civilization—for example, Orochimaru's laboratory—yet the broader setting remained one where communication mostly relied on shouting and travel mostly relied on walking. Although the anime never went into much detail about the worldbuilding, careful observation of certain scenes revealed that industrialization had already begun to emerge. So for now, technology and civilization would be based primarily on the manga. As for Boruto, that could be tossed aside and not used as reference. We could not just make things up where there was no evidence. For instance, if you searched through every scene involving Sunagakure in Naruto, you would barely spot a single camel. Therefore, these large carts could only be human-powered.)

"Something's happening!" said a Konoha ninja scouting at the head of the convoy. His eyes widened, veins bulging around his temples. His pupils turned completely white. He appeared to be a ninja of the Hyuga Clan.

The convoy came to an immediate halt, and every ninja assumed a guarded stance.

Before long, a force seemed to be charging toward them through the blowing sand. Amid the piercing wind, they could faintly hear something like the turning of a well's pulley.

Many Konoha ninjas decided to strike first, hurling kunai and shuriken into the billowing cloud of dust ahead. Yet there were no cries of agony from anyone being struck. They heard only several sounds like blades chopping into a cutting board. When the dust finally cleared and they saw who had come, they were utterly dumbfounded.

Ten white-clad puppets of varying shapes stood at the front of the formation. Several hundred Sunagakure ninjas followed behind them, wielding all manner of weapons as they swept into the convoy like a gale...

"How many times has Sunagakure attacked our supply convoys now?"

"This was the fourth time!"

"Who led them?"

"Sunagakure Elder Chiyo!"

"Good!" Danzo abruptly rose to his feet as though he had heard news that delighted him.

"Jiraiya, Orochimaru, Tsunade, you will escort the supply convoy from now on. I have only one demand: make sure you deal a crushing blow to the ambushing Sunagakure forces!" Danzo issued his orders to the Three Legendary Ninja.

The Three Legendary Ninja had already accepted the mission and left. Danzo then looked toward the ninja who had come to report.

"Why are you still here?"

"I have yet to report the battle losses. In this attack, we lost eighty-two personnel. Fifteen carts of drinking water, food..."

"Enough. I do not want to hear it. Notify Matsumoto and have him properly ration the water and food for the next few days. This situation will be alleviated soon enough."

Danzo impatiently cut the ninja off.

"Food is manageable, but the drinking water..."

"Then organize ninjas proficient in Water Release and have them use Water Release techniques together to gather it."

"The climate here is dry, and there is very little moisture in the air. Water Release techniques will not be very effective."

Water Release was merely a method of swiftly using chakra's shape transformation and energy conversion to condense moisture from the air into liquid water for attacks. Water Release could not create water from nothing. With so little moisture in the desert, Water Release techniques naturally would not be very effective.

"Did you not hear my order clearly?!" Danzo's tone grew somewhat displeased.

"Ninjas must always make certain sacrifices."

"Yes!" The ninja withdrew from the command tent helplessly.

"Fool." Danzo was somewhat dissatisfied. After calming himself, he spoke to a figure in the darkness.

"You should prepare as well."

The battle was developing exactly as Keiko had expected. Danzo's army at the front could not overcome his fortifications, while he organized several guerrilla units to circle around and harass the Konoha's supply lines. By his calculations, the Konoha's food and drinking water could last ten days at most, perhaps even less. When the time came, if Danzo retreated, Keiko would pursue him from behind. If Danzo refused to retreat, then he could die of thirst, the bastard! The scales of victory were gradually tipping toward Sunagakure.

"Lord Kazekage, our guerrilla unit failed in its attack on the Konoha transport convoy." Garukei's face was smeared with blood, and a kunai was still lodged in his shoulder.

"Hmm? Didn't I tell you? If you encountered a transport convoy with a large escort force, you only needed to destroy the water carts."

"The enemy escort force was not very large. It was just that their leaders were formidable."

"Who were they?"

"Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and Tsunade!"

"All three of them were there?"

"Yes."

"Then it was not your fault. Go get treated and rest." Keiko waved a hand.

It seemed Danzo was truly willing to go all out. He had actually deployed such powerful fighters to protect the supply route.

"Elder Chiyo, Jonin Uekusa, I will trouble you to hold the main camp. Baki, choose three hundred men and follow me to intercept the Konoha's transport convoy." Keiko issued his orders as he began putting on his cloak.

"No. Have I not told you before? You are the Kazekage; you must not act rashly." Chiyo reached out to stop Keiko.

"Granny Chiyo, do not worry. As long as we intercept this supply convoy, the Konoha will certainly be defeated. With the Three Legendary Ninja guarding it, if I do not go, who among you can guarantee success? Rest assured, I will only destroy their water carts and leave. I will not linger." Keiko smiled faintly, put on a windproof veil, and flashed out of the tent.

"You really do suffer for ignoring an elder's advice! Baki and the others should have already withdrawn, right?" Looking at the middle-aged man before him with his hair tied into a topknot, Keiko instantly understood that he had paid for his arrogance.

"Shadow Imitation Technique! You are from the Nara Clan, aren't you?"

"Nara Shikacho." The middle-aged man gritted his teeth and maintained the Shadow Imitation Technique. Keiko was quite strong as well.

"Looks like you have me cornered?"

"By my calculations, there is a seventy percent chance that you will die here."

"Is that so? But your technique cannot restrain me for very long."

"A little while is enough," Orochimaru said darkly. Beside him stood Jiraiya, arms folded and grinning smugly, along with the expressionless Tsunade.

"Just the three of you? I may not be able to take your heads right now, but if I want to leave, none of you can stop me!" Keiko directed Iron Sand tendrils to unravel a scroll and release even more Iron Sand.

"Do not be so certain." Jiraiya tossed out a wooden kunai, which embedded itself in the ground. As though it had triggered some mechanism, five towering arched iron structures suddenly sprang from the earth around Keiko and rapidly closed in on him. At the same time, five rawhide ropes snapped upward through a system of pulleys, binding Keiko tightly in an instant. The released Iron Sand was drawn onto the iron structures as well.

"Whew! You are really strong!" Nara Shikacho collapsed onto the ground. His Shadow Imitation Technique had reached its limit. His face was pale, and sweat drenched his brow.

"Hey, where did you find so many magnets? Incredible. To deal with me, Danzo must have gathered every magnet within a hundred miles." Keiko feigned surprise as he watched the iron powder being pulled away, secretly observing his surroundings and considering his options.

"More than that. Every magnet in the entire Land of Rain was gathered. We spent a full two months setting this trap to build this Beast Trap. Shouldn't you give us some applause?" Jiraiya said boldly.

At Jiraiya's words, a bolt of lightning flashed through Keiko's mind. In an instant, he understood every link in the chain.

Shimura Danzō! You truly are impressive. To catch one chicken, you were willing to scatter half a load of grain.