"What did you say? The envoy is missing?" The outpost captain felt his head might explode.
The village had invested immense effort into this alliance. And now, at the critical moment, the envoy vanishes?
"Tell me every detail." The captain suppressed his rage, grinding his teeth.
"Yesterday, a patrol went missing, so Lord Rousa worried about an ambush and had us act as decoys..." The Chunin recounted everything. "...We waited at the rendezvous point for half an hour, but they never showed up."
The captain realized the worst had happened. He immediately reported to the village and led a search team to the separation point.
It wasn't hard to find the battlefield. The traces of large-scale ninjutsu were obvious.
Looking at the cleaned-up, altered terrain, the captain felt humiliated. The enemy was so arrogant they took the time to meticulously clean the site.
"Dig three feet deep! Find something!"
His subordinates dug, but found little of value. Taiichi's cleanup was thorough. The vitrified ground was buried and crushed, mixed with the soil. They only found scattered puppet fragments and poisoned kunai, confirming this was indeed where the envoy died.
With a heavy heart, the captain reported to the village and ordered heightened alerts. The alliance had failed.
---
Meanwhile, in the Land of Bird, Kitsuchi, the Iwa envoy, was growing impatient.
"Still no sign of the Sand envoy?"
"No traces, Lord Kitsuchi."
Sand has problems. Did they back out, or did something happen? The Old Man is going to have a headache.
Thinking of the Tsuchikage's frustration, Kitsuchi relaxed slightly. He wanted to go back and deliver the news.
"Scout another 50km. If they aren't there, we return."
"Yes!"
No matter how they searched, the Sand envoy wouldn't come.
Kitsuchi returned to Iwa empty-handed. Looking back at the Land of Wind, he had a premonition: Next time we come, it won't be with just this many people.
---
Sand Village.
A day after the assassination, news reached the village. Sand exploded like a school of fish hit by a depth charge.
All high-ranking officials were summoned for an emergency meeting.
The village had spent immense resources and sold restricted materials at cost to facilitate this alliance. Now, it was all wasted.
The conference room was packed. Department heads, elders, even the semi-retired Chiyo and Ebizo were present.
Arguments broke out immediately.
Suddenly, the doors opened. The Third Kazekage entered, silencing the room. He sat at the head of the table.
"You've heard the news. Thoughts?"
Arguments erupted again.
"This is clearly Iwa's treachery! They took our goods and stabbed us in the back!" A hawk shouted, pointing toward Iwa. "Ohnoki is capable of anything! Besides them, who could bypass all our outposts so precisely?"
"Absurd!" The Intel Head retorted. "If Iwa wanted to renege, they would just refuse. Why risk their reputation? This looks like Konoha's work. Remember Iwa reporting they injured a Konoha spy recently? Maybe the alliance was leaked then."
"Who knows if Iwa's intel was real? Maybe they leaked it to Konoha on purpose!"
"Quiet!" Chiyo slammed her hand on the table. "I hate Konoha too, but have you considered Cloud? The Raikage is wary of Iwa. Would he watch them ally with us and free up troops? Cloud has been active recently. Remember them disguising as Iwa to attack us?"
Ebizo nodded. "Cloud has the most covert operations lately."
Chiyo and Ebizo silenced the room briefly, but arguments resumed, splitting into factions: anti-alliance, pro-retaliation (blaming Iwa, Konoha, or Cloud).
The Kazekage's temple throbbed. He tapped the table faster and faster.
"ENOUGH!"
His killing intent silenced the room.
"Sabaku, as Intel Head, lead a team to Iwa personally. Confirm their stance." His voice was cold as iron sand. "Notify border troops to enter combat readiness against Iwa. And send investigators to the site. I want to know who did this!"
Despite the precautions against Iwa, sending a pro-Iwa hawk like Sabaku showed the Kazekage still hoped to salvage the alliance.
The Sand war machine began to accelerate.
---
Compared to Iwa's annoyance and Sand's fury, Sakumo's team was relaxed. Mission accomplished, alliance broken.
Their return journey, guided by the upgraded Byakugan, was smooth.
Two days later, they returned to Konoha.
Seeing the peaceful village after days of danger, Taiichi felt a new appreciation. Peace is built on someone carrying the burden. Now, I am one of them.
"Dismissed. Go rest. Good work, everyone." Sakumo disbanded the team at the gate.
Taiichi, Minato, and Hizashi went home. Sakumo went straight to the Hokage's office to report.
---
Hokage's Office.
The F4 gathered again to hear Sakumo's report.
Sakumo handed over the mission report and a storage scroll containing the corpses of Rousa and Kazekiri, plus puppet fragments.
This was a huge haul. A high-ranking Sand official's corpse was an intel goldmine. The puppet fragments would reveal Sand's latest tech.
But the most notable part was the team's performance.
Sakumo was the pillar, holding off multiple puppets. Minato's Flying Raijin was combat-ready. Hizashi's Byakugan had evolved, exceeding most Main Branch members.
And Taiichi... he shone the brightest. Medical ninja, combatant, strategist. His potential exceeded Tsunade's.
Hiruzen turned to the advisors. "What do you think Sand and Stone will do?"
Homura and Koharu shook their heads. They had done their part; the rest was up to fate.
Danzo, however, smirked. "I think the window for a Sand-Stone alliance has closed."
"Oh? New intel?" Homura asked.
"This morning, I received news. Cloud sent a 100-man unit toward the Land of Earth border two days ago."
"100 men? That's insignificant," Koharu frowned.
Hiruzen understood. "A warning from Cloud?"
"Exactly. Cloud knows the alliance failed. Adding a small force won't trigger Iwa but signals that Cloud knows about their moves with Sand. If they try again, next time it won't be just 100 men."
The advisors realized the implication. The crisis was averted.
"Although we succeeded, this exposed our lack of strength. I've decided to increase resources for nurturing village ninjas, especially those showing talent," Hiruzen announced.
Danzo's face turned black. Shameless! Just say you want to give more resources to Taiichi!
His prejudice against Taiichi deepened. Anything related to the boy was now viewed with malice.
And in the darkness of his mind, a new, evil plan began to brew.