March, Year 39 of the Land of Night. (Year 30 of Konoha)
Over a month earlier, after the Land of Night and the Hidden Rain Village settled their terms and all the details, both sides had moved remarkably quickly.
First, a shipment of armaments from the Land of Night bound for Yugakure in the Land of Hot Water was attacked by unidentified assailants. A large quantity of the weapons intended for Yugakure went missing, prompting the Land of Night to dispatch a Special Assault Department unit to investigate, determined to give Yugakure an explanation.
After several days of investigation, however, the Land of Night still had not discovered who was responsible. Although it made no explicit accusation, it vaguely pointed the finger at the Hidden Cloud Village in the Land of Lightning.
The Third Raikage felt deeply wronged and immediately responded. This was blatant slander, he declared, loudly insisting that the innocent would remain innocent and the guilty would remain guilty.
Although the Hidden Cloud Village regularly engaged in underhanded dealings, coveted other nations' secret techniques, and often stirred up wars between smaller nations to reap the benefits, this incident genuinely had nothing to do with them.
He also bitterly resented the Land of Night. Why did they always pin the blame on the Hidden Cloud Village whenever something bad happened?
The other major nations paid the matter a little attention as well, figuring that it probably really was the Hidden Cloud Village's handiwork.
Apart from the Hidden Cloud Village, no other ninja village had both the motive and the strength to do something like this.
While the incident diverted the nations' attention in public, behind the scenes, the military supplies originally intended for Yugakure quietly found their way into the hands of the Hidden Rain Village in the Land