Chapter 10: Raid on the Land of Fire (Part 2)
The Border of the Land of Fire.
By the time Konoha's sensory ninja detected the incoming Sand Shinobi, it was already too late.
Rasa's strategy was to strike fast and hard, leaving no room for the enemy to react. Because of this, the Sand Shinobi showed no restraint in their assault.
With the assistance of Sunagakure's intelligence operatives, Konoha's spies within the Land of Rivers were swiftly eliminated before they could relay any warnings to the border.
As a result, the Konoha forces stationed at the border were caught completely off guard and annihilated.
In mere minutes, the ground beneath the Sand Shinobi's feet was littered with the corpses of Konoha's defenders.
The fallen ninja were clear evidence of Konoha's dwindling military strength—most of them were merely genin, with only a handful of chūnin among them. Some of the dead were even children.
But now was not the time for mercy.
Rasa coldly gave his command, "Rest for ten minutes to recover your strength. Then, proceed with the plan and continue the attack!"
"Yes, sir!"
After a night of marching and several skirmishes along the way, they had finally breached the Land of Fire's borders. Since large-scale battles were likely to break out soon, Rasa allowed his forces a brief respite.
The Sand Shinobi immediately obeyed, taking the opportunity to eat and replenish their chakra.
Meanwhile, Rasa turned to one of his Anbu and ordered, "Send a message to the village. Tell Baki to proceed."
"Yes, sir!"
At once, three messenger hawks took flight from the Anbu's hand, soaring toward Sunagakure.
Unlike Konoha, which had deep reserves of power and control over all three of the Great Summoning Clans, Sunagakure lacked any significant summoning beasts. As a result, they relied on specially trained messenger hawks for communication.
The ten-minute break ended quickly, and under Rasa's command, the Sand Shinobi resumed their march into the dense forests ahead.
Not long after, Konoha's patrolling forces arrived at the battlefield. Witnessing the carnage left behind, they were horrified and immediately relayed the information back to the village…
Sunagakure
At the gates of Sunagakure, Anbu guards quickly intercepted the incoming messenger hawks and rushed to deliver the intelligence to Baki and Elder Ebizō.
"Commander, Elder, we've received a report from Lord Kazekage!"
"Hmm."
Baki took the message, scanned it, and then passed it to Ebizō.
Without even glancing at the scroll, Ebizō stated, "If that's the case, then we move out immediately. This is a rare opportunity for Sunagakure—we must not fail."
"Understood!"
Soon after, the entire village witnessed a massive force of shinobi assembling at the main gate—thousands of them, forming an overwhelming army.
The sheer scale of the mobilization left the spies hidden within Sunagakure utterly stunned.
"What is Sunagakure planning? Are they really about to go to war with another nation?"
The current shinobi world was still in a state of cold conflict—skirmishes and border clashes were common, but full-scale wars had not yet erupted, even between Konoha and Kumo.
Yet Sunagakure's sudden mobilization looked like they were preparing for an all-out war.
What was going on?
This left the spies utterly perplexed.
But even if they didn't understand the reasoning behind it, they wasted no time in sending reports to their respective villages. At the same time, they planned to stir up chaos within Sunagakure to disrupt this unexpected operation.
However, before they could act, hundreds of Sand Shinobi suddenly emerged on the rooftops, each one accompanied by eerie, humanoid figures.
"Puppets…!"
Standing at the highest point, at the very center of the puppet corps, was Chiyo. Her cold gaze swept across the entire village as ten white-cloaked puppets hovered silently behind her.
No matter how much she disliked Rasa's methods, her love for Sunagakure was genuine.
She would not allow anyone to undermine their village at such a critical moment.
Konoha
Hokage Tower
Not long after Sunagakure's invasion of the Land of Fire began, Konoha received the intelligence report.
In response, the entire Council of Elders convened for an emergency meeting.
Sarutobi Hiruzen, now in his prime, rubbed his temples as he reviewed the report. His sharp gaze swept across the gathered elders.
"Let's hear your thoughts. As expected, Sunagakure's target is us."
Why expected?
Because in every past Shinobi World War, the Land of Fire had always been the prime target of the other great nations.
The reason was simple—the Land of Fire possessed the most fertile and resource-rich territory in the entire shinobi world.
Danzo's response was blunt.
"What is there to discuss? We fight. Sunagakure is nothing but a minor threat."
"Don't be ridiculous, Danzo. Fight? How exactly do you propose we fight?"
Hiruzen's voice carried a hint of frustration.
Calling Sunagakure a "minor threat" was absurd.
A year ago, perhaps Konoha could have made such a claim, but now?
Kumo had stationed troops at their borders, Iwagakure was watching for an opportunity to strike, and even Kirigakure was eager to exploit the chaos.
A single misstep could trigger a four-nation assault against Konoha.
Koharu Utatane spoke coldly.
"This is different, Hiruzen. Kumo, Iwa, and Kiri may be hostile, but they've only been provoking us at the borders. Sunagakure, on the other hand, has outright invaded the Land of Fire. This is an act of war."
Hiruzen sighed.
"The problem is that we don't have enough shinobi to respond immediately."
Homura Mitokado adjusted his glasses and offered a suggestion.
"We can't move the troops stationed at the Kumo border. That means we'll have to pull forces from the Iwa front. If we combine them with the shinobi still in the village, we should be able to mount a response."
"That could work. But who will lead the counterattack?"
Hiruzen asked.
The answer should have been obvious.
Jiraiya was currently away on one of his "research" trips, but Orochimaru was still in the village. As one of the strongest shinobi in Konoha, he was the natural choice for the job.
However, the Council of Elders had a different idea.
"Recall Minato from the front lines. Let Orochimaru take his place."
Danzo's "suggestion" carried the weight of an order.
This decision would cause unnecessary delays. Even though Minato and Orochimaru were both fast, switching their positions would waste valuable time.
But the elders were adamant.
The reason was simple—after the Second Shinobi World War, Orochimaru's reputation had soared too high.
Danzo had never abandoned his ambition to become Hokage.
He would never allow Orochimaru's prestige to grow any further, especially since Orochimaru had the backing of both Jiraiya and Tsunade.
Minato, on the other hand, was different.
As a commoner-born shinobi, he would never pose a political threat to Danzo's ambitions.
Hiruzen understood Danzo's motives, but his greatest flaw had always been his soft-hearted nature.
Moreover, Koharu and Homura shared Danzo's concerns.
They had no personal desire for power, but they also didn't want Orochimaru to become Hokage.
With Orochimaru's ambitions, his rise to power would undoubtedly weaken the Council's influence.
"Very well. We'll do it your way."
In the end, Konoha's interests came first.
The Land of Fire was vast—Sunagakure wouldn't be able to overrun it overnight.
A small delay wouldn't cost them too much.
And so, as Rasa advanced deeper into enemy territory, he noticed something strange—
Despite Sunagakure's relentless advance, they encountered surprisingly little resistance…