The ruined Sunagakure camp had fallen quiet again. Only the scorched ground and blast craters bore witness to the fierce battle that had taken place there.
No one knew how the battle had unfolded.
Fugaku concealed himself nearby once more and waited for Sand Shinobi reinforcements.
The Ninja searching for supplies and survivors would surely return when they saw the distress signal.
Time passed slowly. Soft footsteps sounded as three squads of thirty-six Sand Shinobi returned one after another.
"Who sent the distress signal? Where are the two squads that stayed behind to clear the ruins?"
Someone studied the ground. "A fierce battle took place here not long ago, but there's no telling how it ended.
Since our people sent a distress signal, the enemy must have had the upper hand."
"The Ninja stationed here probably couldn't withstand the attackers and retreated for now," said a Sand Shinobi.
None of them imagined that nearly thirty Sand Shinobi were already dead, their bodies buried beneath the very ground they stood on.
To many of them, such a thing would have sounded absurd.
"The attackers were probably Konoha shinobi. The Rain shinobi wouldn't dare start a fight on their own now that hostilities have stopped.
Konoha is more likely."
"Those bastards just won't leave us alone. They even dared to wait here."
"What matters most is getting word of the situation in the Land of Rain back to the village. We don't know where the Ninja stationed here went, so we need to request reinforcements at once.
Otherwise, forget keeping Konoha occupied. Our own safety will be at risk."
Not far from the ruins, Fugaku watched the Sand Shinobi from within his Black Mist. Another squad returned in the distance.
Four squads had now gathered in the ruins, forty-eight people in all.