Two days later.
Land of Earth, Iwagakure.
In the conference room of the Tsuchikage Building, acting Tsuchikage Kitsuchi sat at the head of the table, his face ashen.
Three ANBU stood before him. The one in the middle was reporting with his head lowered, his voice extremely grave:
"...We have thoroughly examined the scene. The entire valley was razed to the ground, and no survivors were found. Lord Tsuchikage, Lord Roshi, Lord Han, and the 127 elite ninja accompanying them... are all missing."
"Judging by the chakra traces left at the scene, the battle was extremely fierce. There were traces of large-scale Earth Release, Lava Release, and Boil Release, as well as Lightning Release and some kind of... unknown chakra fluctuations."
"We suspect there were lingering traces of snakes and some kind of eye power."
Kitsuchi clenched his fists and asked gravely:
"Can you confirm who did it?"
A senior official on the left slammed the table. "Who else could it be? It must have been those brutes from Kumogakure! That bastard, the Fourth Raikage, has been unhappy with the treaty for ages!"
Another senior official frowned. "But could Kumogakure alone wipe out Lord Tsuchikage and two jinchūriki in such a short time? Not to mention the hundred-odd elites..."
"Don't forget Kumogakure has the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, Killer B!" the first official retorted. "And they might have colluded with other forces!"
The conference room descended into argument.
Kitsuchi took a deep breath, suppressed his irritation, and issued a solemn order:
"Contact our spies in Kumogakure immediately. I want to know every move the Fourth Raikage has made over the past two days! Also, send additional reconnaissance squads to the border and closely monitor Kumogakure's movements!"
"Yes!"
The ANBU accepted their orders and withdrew.
Just then, another ANBU flashed into the conference