Facing the Sand Shinobi

Ōnoki listened to the Iwagakure senior officials discuss the matter and fell silent for a long moment. Sunagakure's actions had gone too far,

but the prospect of invading the Land of Fire was too tempting.

"Tell Zebon to hold his position once he reaches the Land of Rain and wait for word from Iwagakure. Furukawa, take two thousand shinobi to reinforce Zebon. You are to wait for word from Iwagakure as well.

I'm sure the Sand Shinobi want to invade the Land of Fire even more than we do. I want to see what terms the Wind Shadow offers.

Once Furukawa reaches the Land of Rain, tell Zebon that if Sunagakure's terms don't satisfy Iwagakure, we'll seek justice for our fallen shinobi ourselves."

"Yes, Tsuchikage."

To Ōnoki, crippling either Konoha or the Sand Shinobi would be a good outcome. Both were enemies of Iwagakure.

It was just that invading the Land of Fire promised greater rewards than invading the Land of Wind.

Inside the Konoha Camp's Command Headquarters,

the camp's senior officials had gathered: Orochimaru, Elder Shinsuke, Fugaku Uchiha, Jiraiya, and Hatake Sakumo.

"How are you feeling, Sakumo?" Fugaku asked.

"I'm fine now."

"Jiraiya, Sakumo, have either of you heard from Advisors Homura and Koharu? You were in the same camp as them. They've been missing for days, and the Intelligence Department still has no news," Elder Shinsuke said.

Hatake Sakumo considered this. "When we regrouped, both advisors were already wounded. After the Wind-Earth Allied Forces attacked, they may have found somewhere to hide and recover."

"I hope so."

A day passed slowly.

More and more Konoha shinobi returned, but there was still no word of Homura or Koharu. Their absence cast a shadow over everyone's relief.

An intelligence officer hurried into Command Headquarters.

"Orochimaru, the latest intelligence: Iwagakure has