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Kakashi and Guy, bringing the injured Aburame Shibi, returned to the outpost at the border of Kusagakure. After handing the wounded over to the medical-nin, they immediately reported the experiences of their trio to Jiraiya, who was temporarily in charge of the frontline.
Jiraiya promptly brought along one medical-nin and one ninja from the Hyūga branch family, setting off with Kakashi and Guy back towards Kusagakure.
When the group of five reached the village, they were utterly stunned by the scene before them. Every street was piled with corpses, and some buildings bore signs of having been scorched by fire.
After inquiring about the location of the Kusagakure leader's residence, Jiraiya immediately headed there—they needed to communicate with the person in charge of Kusagakure as soon as possible. Otherwise, even if they wanted to help Kusagakure, they would lack a legitimate reason.
"The war is already over, isn't there no point in us staying?" Guy asked, puzzled.
"You can't put it that way," Kakashi shook his head. "Kusagakure has suffered a devastating blow. It will be difficult for them to be self-sufficient in the short term. If we don't help them, refugees will enter Konoha. But they aren't Konoha villagers themselves. Whether it's finding work or temporarily residing in Konoha, they represent an unstable factor. Lacking food and shelter, if they resort to desperate measures out of necessity, it's the citizens of Konoha who will get hurt. So, we need to provide Kusagakure with whatever assistance we can. This is also for the stability of Konoha."
Guy was enlightened.
"But, judging from the current situation, achieving reconstruction won't be easy," Jiraiya said, feeling the pressure as he looked at the state of Kusagakure.
The three of them arrived at the Kusagakure leader's residence and immediately saw the collapsed building.
It was a house resembling a large hall. Although it had collapsed, it wasn't hard to tell from the ruins that its original scale was quite grand.
Generally, such buildings had strong structural resistance; it was hard to imagine how much force it would take to make it collapse like this.
Kusagakure ninja were busily moving away the fallen wooden pillars and bricks, trying to rescue anyone trapped inside. Jiraiya had the Hyūga clansman use his Byakugan to determine the location of any survivors.
"There's one person still alive, but their vitality is very weak," the Hyūga ninja said.
The Byakugan's auxiliary capabilities surpassed other ninjutsu, especially in reconnaissance. Using this ability, they could pinpoint the location of ninja buried beneath the rubble.
This was more convenient than using ninja hounds for the search.
Once the survivor's location was determined, the rescue became much simpler.
After the injured person was rescued, the medical-nin immediately stepped forward to begin treatment.
"Was this done by the Akatsuki?" Kakashi's brow furrowed tightly.
The Akatsuki didn't have many members, yet they had killed over a hundred Kusagakure ninja.
Although some of these were only Chūnin with average strength, even so, the death toll was somewhat frightening.
"This matter isn't that simple," Jiraiya shook his head. "Compared to the Akatsuki's involvement, isn't the bigger question "who" hired the Akatsuki? But from the perspective of an outsider village, no matter how many casualties there are, it's an internal affair of Kusagakure. The Akatsuki merely accelerated the process."
"But what about the people who died!? Did they die for nothing!?" Guy disagreed with Jiraiya's answer.
"Do you know the origins of the Akatsuki?" Jiraiya countered.
Kakashi and Guy shook their heads, not understanding the connection between this and the "Akatsuki's origins."
"It traces back to the Second Shinobi World War... In a sense, it should be considered a product of that war, born in Amegakure, opposing Hanzō. During that time, two forces emerged simultaneously in Amegakure: the traditional force represented by Hanzō, and the emerging power represented by the 'Akatsuki.' The two sides were bound to determine a winner, who would then rule Amegakure. In this process, casualties were inevitable. Doesn't it resemble today's Kusagakure? Tell me, who was responsible for the civil war in Amegakure back then? What could an outsider village do about such a war? Intervene in another country's internal conflict?"
After saying these words, Jiraiya felt extremely uncomfortable inside.
He knew he was "making excuses" for the Akatsuki.
From his personal perspective, this wasn't the "path" he endorsed, but these phenomena truly existed.
What made Jiraiya feel even more helpless was that the situation of intervening in wars under the guise of "mercenaries" wasn't unique to the Akatsuki.
In fact, all the major shinobi villages, including Konoha, relied on conflicts between other shinobi villages or countries to gain benefits. This was also one of the primary ways a shinobi village could profit.
To rationalize these actions, shinobi needed justifiable reasons—either there was a client, or it was for the sake of justice.
But who defined what "justice" was?
When they intervened, it was "justice," but when other shinobi organizations intervened, it was "evil"?
Such a standard was utterly illogical.
Moreover, the targets the Akatsuki focused on were only shinobi, not civilians. They were merely fulfilling a "contract."
Kakashi, who tended to think more deeply, quickly grasped the implications hidden in Jiraiya's words and rubbed his forehead helplessly.
"But, they destroyed 'Hōzuki Castle,' and many prisoners died," Kakashi said, steeling himself, trying to make one last effort.
Jiraiya quickly turned his head, about to ask for details, when he heard Guy say, "But they didn't admit it."
"Do you have any proof?" Jiraiya asked Kakashi.
Kakashi shook his head. "They were the only ones near Hōzuki Castle. If it wasn't them, who else could it be?"
"What if... that's exactly what they thought too?" Jiraiya retorted.
"Huh?"
"If they said it was Konoha who did it, how would you refute that?" Jiraiya saw Kakashi at a loss for words and shook his head helplessly. "Evidence. Unless we have solid evidence, even if we know they did it, there's nothing we can do."
Kakashi puffed out his cheeks, out of arguments.
He knew Jiraiya was telling the truth.
Furthermore, even if they had evidence, Konoha couldn't use it as a reason to declare war on the Akatsuki—Konoha wouldn't do something that offered no benefit.
Just then, two people wearing masks ran in, looking very disheveled, but were stopped by the Kusagakure ninja maintaining order.
"Let me go!" The monkey-masked man took off his mask, revealing a green-haired middle-aged man. The forehead protector he wore bore the mark of Kusagakure.
"Lord Ōiwa, you're still alive!?"
"Do you wish I was dead that much!?" Ōiwa angrily retorted.
"I wouldn't dare..."
"Quickly, contact the other shinobi villages! Hōzuki Castle has been set on fire!"
"Do you know who set it on fire?" Kakashi quickly asked.
"Who are you..." Ōiwa saw the symbol on Kakashi's forehead protector, immediately guessed he was a Konoha ninja, his expression changed slightly, and he said, steeling himself, "It was Kusagakure Jōnin, Muī."
That bastard Muī actually tried to kill him... Unforgivable!
Ōiwa clenched his fists.