Uchiha Sora hadn't expected her grandfather to suddenly ask about Kakashi.
The question caught her slightly off guard, and she froze for a moment before quickly lowering her head and answering softly.
"I know him, but we weren't particularly close. He was recognized as the genius of our class… and he also possesses the Sharingan of our Uchiha clan."
"Did you interact with him in any other way?" her grandfather continued.
"I know a little about his current situation," Sora replied calmly. "He's currently on a team with Natsuhiko, and Natsuhiko is his captain."
"Natsuhiko? His captain?"
Uchiha Shin—Sora's grandfather—paused when he heard that answer, his brows knitting together as he fell into thought.
Because that information did not match the intelligence he had obtained.
There were many reasons he had asked about Kakashi. Aside from the fact that Kakashi was the disciple of the Fourth Hokage, the most important point was that Kakashi was now rumored to be serving in the ANBU.
The Uchiha clan had no members within the ANBU, and the organization's internal affairs were sealed tight. Obtaining information from within was extraordinarily difficult.
But even so, Uchiha Shin had to try.
Because he genuinely wished to guide the Uchiha clan toward reconciliation with the village.
One of the simplest approaches was to draw closer to the true center of Konoha's power—and, if possible, place his own people within it.
Let them become a gesture of allegiance.
A sign that the Uchiha were willing to move closer to Konoha.
His efforts weren't entirely fruitless.
If Natsuhiko were here, he would probably realize that Uchiha Shin's approach had some chance of success.
After all, in the future, both Uchiha Shisui and Uchiha Itachi would eventually enter the ANBU.
But before sending anyone inside, Uchiha Shin needed to understand the organization first.
He had paid a considerable price to obtain some vague intelligence.
Among it was one particularly interesting detail—
There was reportedly a silver-haired ninja in the ANBU, someone skilled in Lightning Release and possessing a Sharingan.
All signs pointed to a single person.
Kakashi Hatake.
Naturally, Uchiha Shin had been delighted upon hearing this.
First, Kakashi's public identity was extremely important—he was the disciple of the Fourth Hokage.
Second, Kakashi also had a deep connection to the Uchiha clan through the Sharingan.
And by coincidence, his own granddaughter happened to be in the same class as Kakashi.
If that relationship could be nurtured properly, the results could be very promising.
But now…
The answer Sora had given him seemed off.
Kakashi was a genius—that much he already knew.
But hadn't Kakashi's only captain always been Minato Namikaze?
Since when did he have another captain?
"The Natsuhiko you mentioned…" Uchiha Shin hesitated for a moment before asking cautiously, "who exactly is that boy?"
"He was my desk mate," Sora said, a faint smile appearing on her face. "But he left for the battlefield when he was eight years old."
"Now he's Kakashi's captain, and Kakashi respects him very much."
"Left at eight… Kakashi's captain…"
Uchiha Shin's gaze shifted slightly.
"And how did you learn about this?" he asked.
"It was actually an accident," Sora explained, noticing the subtle change in her grandfather's expression.
"One day during training, Kakashi came to deliver an order from the Hokage to Natsuhiko."
"He probably didn't realize I was nearby—or maybe it was just instinct."
"When he spoke, he addressed Natsuhiko as 'Captain.'"
"And after that, no matter the occasion, he always called him Captain."
Instinctively… and consistently afterward?
Hearing this, Uchiha Shin felt his heartbeat suddenly accelerate.
Someone capable of serving as Kakashi's captain…
Was definitely no ordinary person.
Uchiha Shin quickly calmed the turmoil in his heart.
He had already realized something—
He had likely brushed against a secret he wasn't supposed to know.
But at the same time, that secret might also be an opportunity.
An opportunity that could very well help the Uchiha clan.
Of course, before doing anything, he needed to investigate further. He needed to understand exactly what kind of person this "Natsuhiko" was—the boy who had once been his granddaughter's desk mate.
Only then could he decide his next move.
...
"Damn this place… why is the sandstorm so brutal?"
Inside the Land of Wind, Natsuhiko and Kakashi pushed forward against the relentless wind and sand. But after enduring it for a while, Natsuhiko finally couldn't help complaining aloud as he walked.
He had always known the Land of Wind had terrible geography, and he had made some preparations beforehand. At first, he thought the sandstorms would be manageable if he just endured them.
Now, however, he realized he had severely underestimated nature's destructive power.
Looking out across the endless sea of yellow sand, watching the sun rise and set over a horizon that was nothing but a pale golden blur, Natsuhiko felt his head starting to ache.
For the first time, he found himself genuinely respecting the people of Sunagakure.
To survive in a place where even birds wouldn't bother to land and chickens wouldn't bother to lay eggs…
And not only survive, but develop into one of the Five Great Ninja Villages.
Even if Sunagakure was often considered the weakest among them, that alone proved how formidable the people who lived here truly were.
At the same time, Natsuhiko finally understood why this village—often sitting at the bottom among the great powers—was so desperate to expand outward.
To be honest, if he had transmigrated into a place like this, he would also be eager for the village to expand as quickly as possible.
It was the only way to escape this environment that was practically unfit for human life.
There was almost no possibility of farming here. That probably meant Sunagakure—and perhaps the entire Land of Wind—had to import most of their food.
Without a self-sufficient agricultural system, that was practically a death sentence.
Once war broke out, all an enemy had to do was cut off the supply routes. Even if they had some grain stockpiled, it wouldn't last forever.
And beyond that…
As far as Natsuhiko could remember, the Land of Wind didn't have many economic resources either.
Which meant one thing.
They were poor.
And if a village was poor, it couldn't afford to train too many ninja. But if they had too many ninja, those shinobi themselves would become a massive drain on resources.
"I remember reading the manga before… Sunagakure supposedly follows some 'elite ninja policy.'"
Natsuhiko couldn't help thinking with a hint of sarcasm.
"Maybe that's just because they're broke."
"And when they go to war… who knows, maybe it's partly to burn off their excess manpower."
"Anyway, as long as they focus on training puppet masters, that's probably enough for them."
Natsuhiko's thoughts weren't exactly kind.
To be honest, he had never had much fondness for Sunagakure in the first place.
During his five years in the ANBU, Natsuhiko encountered far more enemies from Sunagakure than from anywhere else. Not to mention, just Sasori alone was enough to leave a lasting impression.
That bastard was enough for a lifetime, Natsuhiko muttered inwardly.
"Captain, we've already entered the interior of the Land of Wind," Kakashi suddenly said in a low voice. "At this pace, we'll reach Sunagakure soon."
"I know."
Natsuhiko nodded lightly.
But a moment later, his brows furrowed.
Because he had sensed something.
A chakra signature—and it was moving quickly in their direction.
That immediately piqued his curiosity.
...
Amid the endless storm of yellow sand, a lone figure walked beneath the blazing noon sun.
Pakura moved steadily toward the direction of the Land of Rivers.
She had received a mission.
A mission she could not refuse.
And one that, if successful, could bring peace to the village.
For that reason alone, she was willing to accept it without hesitation.
Although the Third Great Ninja War had ended, Sunagakure had suffered the humiliation of becoming the first village to surrender.
That surrender had preserved some of the village's strength and prevented them from becoming too deeply entangled in a prolonged war with Konoha.
But at the same time, it also caused many other villages to resent them.
In their eyes, if Sunagakure hadn't been so weak—
If they had managed to hold Konoha down just a little longer, preventing it from sending so many troops elsewhere—
Then Konoha might never have been able to "display its might" again.
Even if it had been a costly victory, even if Konoha itself had been severely weakened…
In the end, it still retained the title of victor.
And reputation mattered.
For a village, reputation was one of the foundations of credibility.
A village that had defeated four opponents at once—even at great cost—would naturally see its prestige soar.
Because of that, even though Konoha had grown weaker after the war, it still enjoyed a share of missions that other villages could only envy.
Sunagakure's surrender had angered the other three great villages.
But the situation was complicated.
The Hidden Cloud and the Hidden Stone were locked in a tense standoff. Sunagakure was geographically close to them, and their interests were intertwined in many ways.
For now, neither side wanted to turn around and strike at Sunagakure.
They were also wary of pushing Sunagakure too far.
If cornered, Sunagakure might suddenly throw its support behind one side—and that would be a devastating shift in power.
But one village was different.
The Hidden Mist.
Located in the Land of Water, isolated across the sea, the Hidden Mist had little to fear in terms of geographical retaliation.
And during its founding, many bloodline clans who had once fled the Land of Fire—driven out by Madara Uchiha—had taken root there.
Their hatred toward Konoha was obvious.
Now Sunagakure had not only surrendered, but had also signed a so-called alliance treaty with Konoha.
Yet the Hidden Mist couldn't easily provoke Konoha directly.
So naturally—
Sunagakure became the perfect target.
Even if the distance was far.
Even if the cost was significant.
By constantly harassing Sunagakure's mission teams, sabotaging operations, and lowering mission success rates…
They could undermine Sunagakure's already fragile economy and destroy the village's already shaky reputation.
If that strategy could drag Sunagakure down, why wouldn't they do it?
And so, even before the Third Great Ninja War had fully ended, the Hidden Mist had already begun launching raids and harassment attacks against Sunagakure.
And after the war ended—
Those attacks never stopped.
Sunagakure, of course, couldn't simply sit back and endure it.
They organized numerous counter-operations to fight back against the Hidden Mist's assaults.
Pakura was one of the shinobi tasked with those missions.
Her Scorch Release had proven devastating on the battlefield, and it was just as effective in these counter-raids.
Because of her efforts, the village had avoided many losses.
But compared to the scale of damage Sunagakure was suffering overall…
Even her remarkable achievements seemed insignificant.
And recently, the situation had grown even more dangerous.
It seemed that the Hidden Stone had noticed something about the Hidden Cloud's internal situation.
Although the two villages remained in a tense confrontation, the Fourth Raikage appeared to be focusing more of his attention on consolidating power within his own village.
The standoff was still dangerous.
But the chances of an actual war breaking out were steadily decreasing.
And so—
Onoki decisively shifted his gaze…
Toward Sunagakure.
Between Sunagakure and Iwagakure lay two small countries—the Land of Birds and the Land of Bears.
In reality, those territories functioned almost like mission warehouses shared between the two villages.
Now that Sunagakure's situation had worsened, the question naturally arose for Iwagakure:
Why not seize the opportunity to fully reclaim those regions and monopolize the mission commissions within them?
"Sunagakure really is plagued with disasters lately…"
Thinking about it, Pakura couldn't help but sigh.
These were words personally told to her by Rasa, the Fourth Kazekage himself.
And precisely because Pakura now understood the village's dire situation, she also understood the burden the Kazekage carried.
Rasa had to protect Sunagakure's mission share, which meant confronting Iwagakure directly—and perhaps even preparing for another war.
Because of that, the harassment from the Hidden Mist couldn't be allowed to continue.
And that was where Pakura's mission came in.
She had been sent as a representative for negotiations.
Her task was simple in wording, yet daunting in reality—
She had to persuade the Hidden Mist Village to stop.
"Hm?"
As she continued walking through the desert, Pakura suddenly frowned.
She sensed something.
Someone was approaching from the distance.
Having lived in the sandstorms for years, she had long since adapted to the desert. Though her skin remained pale, she had grown accustomed to the wind and sand—and she had learned how to use them to detect subtle disturbances.
"Shinobi from the village?"
Pakura considered the possibility for a moment before moving toward the source.
If they were Sunagakure ninja, she could at least provide some cover.
But if they were Hidden Mist attackers—or perhaps even Hidden Stone operatives harassing Sunagakure's mission teams—
Then she wouldn't show them the slightest mercy.
Pakura accelerated.
As an elite ninja, speed was naturally one of her strengths.
In only a short time, she could already see three tiny figures in the distance, barely more than ants against the vast desert.
Unfortunately, they were still too far away for her to make out clearly.
So she continued closing the distance.
But the closer she got, the more she felt something was off.
The two people walking in front wore black combat uniforms and masks over their faces.
Clearly—
They were ANBU.
And behind them, with his head lowered and his hands bound, was a man wearing Sunagakure clothing.
"ANBU… and a Sunagakure ninja?"
Pakura's gaze sharpened instantly.
As she drew nearer, she finally recognized something even more alarming.
Those ANBU uniforms—
They were standard-issue from Konoha.
Konoha ninja escorting—or rather detaining—a Sunagakure shinobi.
Even though they seemed to be traveling toward Sunagakure, that didn't prove anything.
Since she had encountered them here, she had no choice but to investigate the situation.
After all, Sunagakure's current hardships were closely tied to Konoha.
Even if it was true that Sunagakure had launched the initial attack during the war…
That had been the village's decision, not Pakura's.
"First, figure out what's going on."
Her eyes hardened.
"I need to know exactly what these people are planning."
With that thought, Pakura suddenly burst into motion.
The endless desert sand became her perfect cover.
As she rapidly closed the distance, chakra began surging through her body.
Her hands moved swiftly, forming seals.
Finally—
When she came within less than a hundred meters of them—
Her hand seals were complete.
Behind her, four strange floating fire spheres slowly rose into the air.
Silent.
Deadly.
Waiting.
...
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