Return to the Land of Rain, A Lead!

Konoha Year 43, July 21, 9:00 a.m.

Asuma and the other two entered the Land of Rain, where it happened to be raining without end.

This time, however, none of them wore raincoats. They only put on masks to conceal their identities.

After entering the Land of Rain, the three began searching for traces left behind by ninja.

Before long, they tracked them to a village that looked utterly desolate.

"There are obvious Chakra fluctuations. Ninja are fighting here!"

Yūhi Kurenai said.

However, they were still some distance away, and her Sensory Ninjutsu could not sense things precisely.

Asuma immediately blew from his mouth, sending a gust of wind toward the village ahead.

He soon received feedback.

"Eight people!"

"And three of those Chakra signatures feel familiar."

Asuma said.

"Familiar Chakra?"

"Could they be other teams from the village?"

Yūhi Kurenai asked.

"No."

Asuma shook his head. "They're the ninja organization we encountered during our last mission, the group that tried to stop us from fighting each other."

Yūhi Kurenai and Shizune froze for a moment before finally recalling it.

That had been during their second mission in the Land of Rain.

"Let's go take a look!"

Asuma made his decision.

The three immediately rushed forward through the rain. Once they entered the village, they saw two groups locked in battle.

Yahiko, Nagato, Konan, and four people from the other side.

Their earlier sensing had indicated that the other side had five people, but one had already fallen.

And more than one person had fallen on this battlefield.

"Looks like we got lucky. They're Sunagakure ninja!"

Asuma smiled, then gave the order. "Kurenai, Shizune, support me. End this quickly, capture one Sand Ninja, then withdraw. Don't get tangled up with the ninja organization from the Land of Rain."

"Understood!"

Yūhi Kurenai and Shizune nodded together.

The next moment, with Asuma in the lead, the three suddenly attacked from behind the Sand Ninja.

Boom!

Asuma opened with a Wind Style—Great Breakthrough. The storm swept forward, lifting mud into the air like a rolling wave of sludge.

"Fall back!"

Nagato and Yahiko shouted almost simultaneously. The latter flashed away, carrying Konan as he retreated.

The Sand Ninja reacted a beat too slowly. By the time they turned around, the storm was already upon them. The four hurriedly joined forces and used Wind Style to counter it.

The two storms collided less than a meter away from the four Sand Ninja, then exploded.

Two of the Sand Ninja failed to react in time and were sent flying by the shockwave.

The other two were stronger and managed to evade the aftermath of the explosion.

But the instant they landed, two identical Asumas appeared before them and swung their blades in unison.

"So fast!"

The two Sand Ninja were startled and hurriedly raised their Kunai to block.

But in the next instant, their Kunai were sliced in half by Asuma's Chakra Blades.

One of them, along with his Kunai, was cut cleanly in two. The other lost an arm, and Asuma sheathed his blade before knocking him unconscious with a punch.

On the other side, Yūhi Kurenai and Shizune worked together. One used Genjutsu to restrain their targets, while the other used poisoned needles, followed by a Chakra Scalpel. They easily dealt with the two injured Sand Ninja.

"Withdraw!"

Asuma picked up the unconscious Sand Ninja and gave the order.

In the blink of an eye, the three vanished, leaving behind only three corpses.

Nagato wanted to give chase, but Yahiko quickly stopped him. "The Chakra of those two people just now felt familiar. They're from Konoha!"

"They came for the Third Kazekage?"

Nagato realized.

Yahiko frowned and nodded. "Most likely."

"The Third Kazekage has gone missing. War is coming!"

At that moment, Konan heard children crying and quickly said, "Let's save them first!"

Yahiko and Nagato hurriedly nodded.

The three immediately rescued the children they had hidden earlier.

Unfortunately, only these few children remained from the entire village.

"Damn it!"

Yahiko was furious.

"We should drive them out of the Land of Rain!"

Nagato said.

Yahiko took a deep breath and calmed down. Looking at the ceaseless falling rain, he said, "We have to stop this war. We absolutely cannot let them fight in the Land of Rain and make this country weep!"

Nagato fell silent.

He knew Yahiko's wish would come to nothing.

With their strength, they could not stop war from breaking out.

Even so, he and Konan nodded, supporting Yahiko without hesitation.

Elsewhere.

Asuma and the other two found a cave and interrogated their captured Sand Ninja.

The results came quickly. The Third Kazekage had indeed gone missing.

The Sand Ninja were now searching for him everywhere.

Unfortunately, this captured Sand Ninja was only a Chūnin and knew nothing about the details of the Third Kazekage's disappearance.

For example, how had he vanished?

Had he been killed?

Who was suspected of killing him?

Or whether the higher-ups intended to use this as an excuse to start a war.

He knew none of it.

But Asuma was not disappointed.

The intelligence they wanted was not something just any Sand Ninja would know.

Besides, the Sand Ninja likely did not yet know who had killed the Third Kazekage.

Sasori is only around fifteen now. How did he kill the Third Kazekage? A poisoned ambush?

Most likely. There definitely couldn't have been much of a commotion, otherwise the Sand Ninja couldn't possibly know nothing.

I just wonder if Sasori has already turned the Third Kazekage into a puppet.

Asuma pondered silently.

He was considering whether to release the news that the Third Kazekage had been killed by Sasori.

Whether anyone believes it is one matter, but the Third Great Ninja War is definitely impossible to prevent.

The Third Kazekage is already dead. The newly installed Fourth Kazekage won't have the prestige to suppress the internal factions, so war is the only option.

The key question is, what benefit would releasing this information bring me or Konoha?

At that moment, Yūhi Kurenai asked, "Asuma, what are you thinking about?"

Asuma came back to his senses. After considering it, he said, "Who do you think killed the Third Kazekage, if he has already been murdered?"

Yūhi Kurenai considered it. "Given the current situation, it's highly likely that the Third Kazekage was murdered."

"As the Kazekage, he should not have left the village easily."

"If he was silently killed or abducted within Sunagakure, then the person responsible must first be extremely familiar with Sunagakure and exceptionally powerful."

Shizune added, "The Third Kazekage was known as the strongest Kazekage. There should be very few people in the entire ninja world stronger than him."

"Someone familiar with Sunagakure would most likely be one of their own people, or perhaps a Rogue Ninja capable of infiltrating without a sound."

"And to subdue the Third Kazekage, they would not necessarily need to be stronger than him. They could have used poison."

After hearing this, Asuma summarized, "Based on that reasoning, if the Third Kazekage was murdered, then the most likely culprit would be a Sand Ninja. They may not necessarily be a Rogue Ninja yet, but they must have already decided to betray Sunagakure."

"And if such a person exists, their identity would not be simple. They would be someone the Third Kazekage could lower his guard around."

Yūhi Kurenai and Shizune nodded together, both agreeing that the deduction was highly reasonable.

"So what do we do now?"

Yūhi Kurenai then asked.

Instead of answering, Asuma asked, "Do either of you know anything about the talented Sand Ninja who have emerged in recent years?"

"Sand Ninja prodigies?"

Yūhi Kurenai and Shizune immediately began to recall, and before long, they thought of someone.

"Sasori!"

"His parents were said to be excellent puppet masters. They died by Teacher Sakumo's blade, and he later became an outstanding puppet master himself. But over the past two years, he seems to have faded from prominence."

Asuma immediately said, "Kurenai, ask him whether Sasori is still in Sunagakure!"

Yūhi Kurenai nodded.