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Time flew by like a shooting star. Just like that, Aki spent an entire year caught between Tsunade's gambling hell and the hellish training under the Second Hokage. His taijutsu and genjutsu both saw huge improvements. If he fought Kakuzu now, his taijutsu wouldn't get instantly crushed like before.
…Well, he'd still die in the end, but at least he wouldn't go down in one hit.
Over the year, both Mito Uzumaki and the Second Hokage also tried to teach Aki sealing jutsu. But no matter what, he couldn't learn a single thing—not even the basic yin-yang chakra refinement. After almost six months of trying, they finally accepted the truth: when it comes to sealing jutsu, Aki's a total idiot.
So they gave up on that and focused instead on training his chakra control, taijutsu, and genjutsu.
One day, the Second Hokage summoned Aki to the Hokage's office. He ordered Aki to come with him to the Land of Rain to help quickly end the war with Sunagakure, the Village Hidden in the Sand.
After two days of prep, the Second Hokage personally led 800 ninja toward the Land of Rain, aiming to force a decisive battle against Sunagakure and bring the war to a close.
The Land of Rain
The Land of Rain is a small country where it rains constantly—hence the name. Strategically, it's a hot zone, sitting right between the Lands of Fire, Wind, and Earth. Because of that, all three big nations want to claim it.
For the Land of Fire, it's even more critical. Since the Land of Fire is smack in the middle of the Five Great Nations, controlling the Land of Rain—which connects to both the Lands of Wind and Earth—would let them launch a pincer attack. No way can they let Wind Country grab it first.
Inside the Land of Rain, it's complete chaos. Pro-Fire, Pro-Earth, Pro-Wind factions, and a bunch of minor groups are constantly fighting. Civil war and bloodshed are the norm.
Sunagakure Command Base, Land of Rain
The Kazekage sat in the center seat, surrounded by ninja. He said, "Confirmed—three days ago, the Hokage of Konoha, Tobirama Senju, set out with 800 ninja, marching toward the Land of Rain."
The room fell silent with shock.
"That's the First Hokage's little brother!"
"The brother of one of the strongest ninja in the world—his power probably isn't that far off either!"
"We can't beat him. We should pull back!"
"We need to retreat from the Land of Rain now, before it's too late!"
Just then, a female ninja slammed the table and stood up, glaring at everyone. "Look at you cowards! You're embarrassing Sunagakure! Tobirama isn't Hashirama, so what are you scared of? The strongest Leaf shinobi—Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju—are both dead. Tobirama's only famous because he rode their coattails. What, are you saying nearly 8,000 of us can't beat one guy who's just living in his brother's shadow?"
Right after she spoke, a young man beside her added, "If we can capture the natural barrier fortress held by Iwagakure before the Second Hokage arrives, we can cut off their supply route into the Land of Rain. If we use our puppet army to block Iwa's reinforcements, we'll reduce pressure on our frontlines. Then, we can turn our full strength on the fewer than 500 Konoha ninja in the region—plus their incoming reinforcements. We'd have a solid shot at winning the war."
The Kazekage nodded approvingly. "Losing your nerve before the battle even starts... you're all a huge disappointment. Chiyo and Ebizō are right. Ebizō's plan is solid. We'll move ahead with it. We must take out Iwagakure's threat before Tobirama shows up, so we can focus entirely on Konoha. Now then—who's leading the charge to attack the natural barrier fortress?"
No one spoke. Everyone looked down.
Finally, the female ninja, Chiyo, stood up again. "Lord Kazekage, I'll go."
The Kazekage sighed. Seeing everyone else already scared stiff, he agreed to Chiyo's request.
That night, Chiyo led a thousand Sunagakure ninja toward the fortress.
Allied Command Base: Kumogakure & Kirigakure, Land of Hot Water
The Second Raikage turned to the Second Mizukage sitting beside him. "So, what now? Our scouts confirm that the main Iwa force—led by the Second Tsuchikage—is moving toward the Land of Frost. Looks like they're going all in to invade the Land of Lightning."
The Mizukage laughed. "You handed over some coastal islands from the Land of Hot Water to us, which is the only reason I agreed to help fight the Iwa-Taki alliance. I did my part. But you still want more from me? You know Kirigakure is already neck-deep in a war with the Land of Whirlpools. And those Konoha pests who love to play heroes are still flying around our territory."
The Raikage smirked coldly. "Pick any group of islands extending south from the Land of Hot Water."
The Mizukage grinned. "How about all the offshore islands of the Land of Hot Water? And after the fight with Iwa, we declare war on Konoha too."
The Raikage growled, "Don't push it. We've got our limits."
The Mizukage stood up, walked to the door, and said over his shoulder, "Heard there's a big faction inside the Land of Lightning that's not exactly on your side. Wonder if that's true. If you lose this war, you're probably done for. Iwa and Taki together have close to 15,000 ninja. Heh… not feeling the pressure yet, Lord Raikage? Well, when you change your mind, you know where to find me. I'm right across the hall—just waiting to help important people like you with their little problems."
With a smirk, he walked out.
The Raikage cursed him under his breath and fell silent, deep in thought.
Beneath the Natural Barrier Fortress
The night was pitch black, and the rain poured down in sheets, making the already poor visibility even worse. Hidden below the fortress, Sunagakure forces had gone completely unnoticed by the Iwa ninja above.
Chiyo looked up at the guards and turned to her troops. "Attack the fortress in three quarters of an hour. Send 200 ninja to block enemy reinforcements. I'll go take the supply base to the north."
One ninja looked confused. "Shouldn't you take a squad with you? That place is heavily guarded."
Chiyo raised her head proudly. "I want you to see the true power of our village's puppet techniques. We, the shinobi of Sunagakure, are more than strong enough to go toe-to-toe with Konoha—and win."
With that, she headed north toward the unnamed supply fortress.
When the time came, she saw the fortress above light up—Sunagakure had launched the full assault. Her job was to take the supply fortress and cut off Iwagakure's logistics in the Land of Rain.
Hidden beneath the rocks, she scattered ten scrolls around her, then started weaving complex hand signs, sweat dripping from her brow.
"White Secret Technique: Chikamatsu Collection of Ten Puppets!"
Ten uniquely shaped puppets appeared around her. Looking at them, she thought:
"If I can fully master these masterpieces created by the puppet sage Monzaemon—the Chikamatsu Ten Puppets—then even beating the Second Hokage wouldn't be impossible. Time to test all the hard work I've put in over the years. Go! Chikamatsu Ten Puppets!"
The puppets shot toward the supply fortress. One opened its mouth and spat out a massive fireball that slammed into the gate. Two others flew up toward the walls. Two stayed behind, guarding Chiyo. The rest circled her like bodyguards.
Iwa ninja on the wall finally noticed her and launched a barrage: "Earth Style: Earth Dragon Bullet!" Dozens of earth projectiles flew her way.
Chiyo smirked. With a flick of her fingers, she commanded, "Guard!"
One puppet dashed forward and smashed through the earth bullets with hammer-like fists. The other crossed its arms and blocked the remaining blasts.
Meanwhile, the two puppets on the wall—one wielding dual blades, the other with chains—sliced into the Iwa troops.
The fireball puppet blasted open the front gate, and Chiyo charged in.
Konoha HQ
"What?! You're telling me that in just one night, both the Natural Barrier Fortress and the northern supply fortress were taken—and the northern one was captured by a single female Sunagakure ninja?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi frowned. "What's her name? And what's the current situation?"
The ANBU agent reported, "Her name's Chiyo. We're not sure exactly how she pulled it off, but it involved puppets. Iwa seems ready to pull out of the Land of Rain."
Koharu Utatane adjusted her glasses. "Iwa was never fully committed here anyway. The real problem for Konoha is that we're seriously outnumbered. Sunagakure has way more troops. Until Lord Tobirama gets here, how are we supposed to hold them off?"
Another ninja spoke up, "If Iwa's pulling back, maybe we can still turn things around. I've heard there's a poison-using prodigy in Amegakure named Hanzo. If we can pressure him with some benefits, maybe he'll launch raids behind Sunagakure's lines. Meanwhile, we retreat and fortify Ninja Rock, lock it down tight, and wait for Lord Tobirama to arrive."
"…Aren't you jealous of that powerful Sunagakure kunoichi? She's even stronger than you!"
"Get lost! I'm not jealous. Don't use your monkey brain to spout nonsense!"
Fuming, the female ninja stormed out while Hiruzen left the war room chuckling.
Koharu watched nervously as Hiruzen collapsed into a pit, eyes spinning.
"Not jealous? Yeah right. No way she'd beat him up that bad otherwise…"
"....."