Land of Wind, Sunagakure.
As the sun had just set, the temperature across the desert began to drop rapidly.
Under the moonlight, the vast village of Sunagakure lay silent, its dark streets devoid of a single soul.
Under the martial law imposed by the village, every household kept their doors tightly shut. The eerie silence of Sunagakure was only broken by the howling wind carrying grains of sand across the streets.
For the past three days, the villagers of Sunagakure had keenly observed the changes taking place.
And with the recent shifts in the entire shinobi world, everyone could feel it—war was imminent.
Though they were filled with anxiety, as members of a shinobi village, they understood that this was inevitable.
Sunagakure, the Heavenly Divide.
Hundreds of shinobi had already assembled, standing in formation, awaiting orders.
They were divided into three phalanxes, each consisting of five-man squads.
At the forefront of the left formation stood Pakura, while the right formation was led by Mikawa.
The area was heavily guarded, allowing no unrelated personnel to approach.
In the central formation, a dark figure descended from the sky.
At the sight of him, all the shinobi knelt on one knee in unison and shouted:
"Kazekage-sama!"
"Hmm!"
Dressed in shinobi attire similar to what Gaara would later wear as Kazekage, Rasa wasted no words. He cast a glance at Pakura and Mikawa before giving a low, firm order.
"Proceed as planned. Now—move out!"
"Yes!"
In an instant, the shinobi transformed into streaks of shadow, disappearing into the Heavenly Divide. Awaiting them was a battle of life and death. Rasa, Pakura, and Mikawa wasted no time, blending into the moving mass of warriors.
Under the cover of night, countless figures sped across the vast desert...
At the same time, within certain houses in Sunagakure, spies who had been lurking in the village began transmitting intelligence through various means.
A military operation of this magnitude could never be entirely concealed.
Within an hour of Sunagakure's movements, the entire shinobi world—every village—was informed of their deployment.
It was now clear: Sunagakure, long dormant, had finally decided to enter the war.
The only question that remained was—who would be their target?
This was not an easy question to answer.
After all, in both the First and Second Shinobi World Wars, Sunagakure had not exclusively targeted Konoha. Especially during the Second War, at the peak of its power, Sunagakure had attacked not just the Land of Fire but three of the Five Great Nations simultaneously, sparking wars with multiple villages at once.
Nevertheless, the other four major villages wasted no time reinforcing their border defenses.
The intelligence reports were clear—this time, Sunagakure had deployed its elite forces...
Dawn.
Inside the Land of Rivers, a small country wedged between the Lands of Wind and Fire.
In a world dominated by shinobi warfare, small nations held no dignity. They were nothing more than battlegrounds for the great nations.
The Land of Rivers was no exception.
It had no shinobi village of its own and could only watch helplessly as Konoha and Sunagakure's forces roamed its lands freely.
Ever since Konoha received intelligence of Sunagakure's movements, all stationed Konoha shinobi had heightened their patrols and defenses, preparing for a potential assault.
But their numbers were simply too few.
A portion of Konoha's forces had to remain stationed at the Fire Country's border, forcing each shinobi to take on multiple roles.
There was no other choice.
At present, the vast majority of Konoha's shinobi had already been deployed to the warfront against Kumogakure. They couldn't be recalled in time, nor could they afford to be. Unlike Sunagakure's uncertain threat, Konoha and Kumogakure were already on the brink of full-scale war.
The animosity between them ran deep.
Ever since the Second Shinobi World War, Konoha and Kumogakure had clashed repeatedly.
First, there was the death of the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju.
Though Kumogakure had been embroiled in internal strife at the time, the fact remained—Tobirama had died at the hands of Kumogakure shinobi.
Then there were Kumogakure's repeated provocations toward Konoha.
The most egregious of these was the attempted kidnapping of the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki.
This was an unforgivable act—one that struck a nerve at the highest levels of Konoha.
Although Konoha ultimately chose to endure the humiliation to avoid an all-out war, they never forgot this grievance. Later, Konoha responded when Kumogakure's Eight-Tails Jinchūriki went on a rampage.
But Kumogakure's ambitions did not stop there.
As one of the most militaristic villages, Kumogakure had always coveted the vast plains of the Land of Fire. The mountainous and river-laden terrain of the Land of Lightning made them yearn for Konoha's fertile lands.
This desire had the full backing of the Land of Lightning's Daimyō, who spared no effort in funding Kumogakure's military expansion.
Under the rule of the hawkish Third Raikage, Kumogakure's army and shinobi forces had reached unprecedented strength. They had also invested heavily in their study of tailed beasts—actions that provoked tensions across the entire shinobi world.
Yet, despite all their posturing, neither Konoha nor Kumogakure dared to be the first to start the war.
Until Konoha inadvertently gave Kumogakure the perfect opportunity.
First, following the Second Shinobi World War, the new Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, along with Danzō and the village elders, systematically suppressed the Uchiha Clan. This self-destructive move stunned Kumogakure's intelligence division.
Then came another piece of shocking news—one of the Legendary Sannin, Tsunade, had developed hemophobia after the war, rendering her unable to fight on the frontlines.
This was an enormous relief. Tsunade's medical ninjutsu was something every great village envied, and her absence was a major blow to Konoha's war capabilities.
Just as Kumogakure thought they had heard the last of their good fortune, an even more unbelievable report arrived.
The previous year, Konoha's White Fang—Sakumo Hatake, a man whose strength rivaled the Sannin—had taken his own life in his home.
When the Third Raikage received the report, he initially dismissed it as misinformation.
How could such a warrior, feared across the battlefield, take his own life over something as trivial as village gossip?
But when the intelligence was confirmed, the Raikage was stunned—and at the same time, he saw Konoha's growing weakness.
That year, he relentlessly sent Kumogakure shinobi to probe Konoha's defenses through the Land of Hot Water.
The results were shocking.
Time and time again, Kumogakure's test incursions proved one thing—Konoha's forces were dwindling.
Not only had they lost Sakumo and Tsunade, but even the other two Sannin, Orochimaru and Jiraiya, were rarely seen leading battles. Konoha's war efforts were being led by a mere twenty-something-year-old—Minato Namikaze.
At first, the Third Raikage thought this was a deception, a mere smokescreen.
But after thoroughly investigating Konoha's internal turmoil, he saw the truth.
Orochimaru and Jiraiya had been politically sidelined by Konoha's elders.
It was laughable.
With Konoha's weakness fully exposed, the Third Raikage finally saw his chance at victory.
Thus, he ordered large-scale deployments of Kumogakure's forces, marching through the Land of Hot Water to the borders of the Land of Fire.
Seeing this, Iwagakure's Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, realized that this was also an opportunity for Iwagakure. The Land of Fire was a prize too tempting to ignore.
So, Iwagakure began mobilizing its troops, marching through the Land of Grass to the Fire Country's borders, hoping to claim a share of the spoils.
Even Kirigakure, though hesitant to act openly, sent shinobi disguised as mercenaries to partake in the coming war.
For a long time, only Sunagakure remained silent.
But now, that silence had been broken.
Soon, the other great villages received the long-awaited news—Sunagakure had launched an assault on the Land of Fire.