Sunagakure's Fourth Kazekage Rasa had died, and Konoha's Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi had fallen in battle. The supreme leaders of two major shinobi villages had perished on the same day, something unprecedented in the history of the shinobi world. The leadership of every major village convened emergency meetings to assess the situation, and unease and speculation filled the air.
A few days later, Konoha and Sunagakure jointly released detailed official intelligence in an attempt to quell the panic and steer public opinion. The statement identified Orochimaru, Konoha's S-Rank Rogue Ninja, as the mastermind behind the incident. He had assassinated the Fourth Kazekage, impersonated him, and torn up the alliance treaty with Konoha before joining forces with the mysterious Akatsuki to brazenly launch the Konoha Crush Plan.
The intelligence further revealed that Konoha's Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi had died heroically in a fierce battle with Orochimaru. Meanwhile, Root had suffered a devastating blow: its leader, Shimura Danzō, and all the elite operatives under his command had been wiped out.
According to survivor testimony and traces left at the scene, the attackers who struck Root had been Akatsuki's "Sasori of the Red Sands" and a mysterious member who possessed the legendary "Rinnegan."
To lend greater credibility to the information, Konoha even released a portrait drawn by Sai, an ANBU survivor. It depicted a man with short orange hair and black chakra receiver rods covering his face. His cold, stern features were unmistakably those of "Deva Path Pain."
The intelligence hit the Black Market like a bomb. The Konoha High Command swiftly posted astronomical bounties there, targeting "Sasori of the Red Sands" and "Deva Path Pain." The sums were high enough to tempt any desperado into risking his life.
The supplementary official intelligence that followed peeled back yet another corner of the veil