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The disappearance of the Third Kazekage dragged on from days into weeks. The rumors, which were initially barely suppressed, finally broke through all obstacles like an undercurrent beneath the desert during the monsoon, exploding within Sunagakure and escalating into a massive panic that swept through every district.
"Did you hear? The Kazekage wasn't just on patrol—he was ambushed by a foreign coalition!"
"Nonsense! He defected! Someone saw him meeting with an agent from the Leaf!"
"I heard he was vaporized by a terrifying Forbidden Ninjutsu, leaving nothing but ash and magnetic residue..."
"It's over... If even the strongest Kazekage met with misfortune, what chance do we have? Is the Village doomed?"
All sorts of absurd and shocking speculations spread wildly in taverns, markets, and even the corners of the Ninja Academy. Every version was told with vivid, harrowing detail, as if witnessed firsthand, intensifying the rot of anxiety in people's hearts. The foundation of trust began to crack, and the air grew thick with suspicion. In the Mission Hall, the number of shinobi accepting tasks plummeted; many wore hollow, worried expressions, no longer focused on the work, but on the impending shadow of collapse.
Facing this escalating internal chaos and the obvious external threat, the high command—led by Elder Chiyo and Ebizo—was forced to adopt the most draconian measures to stabilize the state.
Emergency orders were issued in rapid succession from the High Command Conference Room:
Full Troop Contraction: All squads executing non-essential missions abroad must immediately return to the Village at maximum speed. Prioritize the consolidation of active forces.
Mission Control: Suspend acceptance of all cross-border and high-risk assignments. Only minimal domestic patrol and reconnaissance missions remain, which must be led by a Special Jōnin or higher and operate at double-squad strength.
Exit Ban: All shinobi currently within the perimeter are strictly forbidden from leaving without explicit clearance from the High Council. Violators will be branded as Village defectors.
This order had a direct impact on the "Sandstorm" squad. They had just completed a grueling border sweep, returning to the Village covered in the grit of the Gobi, only to be met by a scarlet-sealed directive locking them behind the walls.
"What the hell! We're grounded?" Lucado scratched his hair in a fit of frustration, staring at the bulletin board. "Doesn't that mean we just sit here and rot?"
"Shut up, Lucado," Captain Iryō reprimanded, his voice a low, dangerous warning. His expression was more solemn than Sayo had ever seen it. "This is the highest directive. The Village is at its most vulnerable; we must concentrate every ounce of our power for the defense. Do you want to wander out there and be picked off like a stray dog?"
Xu nervously pulled her collar up, her voice a tiny whisper. "The Village... should be safer, right?"
Sayo looked at the board with a clinical eye. He understood the logic—in the face of a massive structural failure, the most instinctive reaction is to pull back the fist, protect the vitals, and prevent strength from being further dissipated. However, he also knew the cost: Sunagakure's eyes and ears were being cut off. They were becoming a blind giant.
The scene on the streets confirmed his fears. The number of patrolling shinobi had tripled, and they were all heavily equipped core forces. The atmosphere was so oppressive it felt physical. Villagers hurried home after securing necessities, locking their doors as if wood and stone could isolate them from a geopolitical storm. A state of total "fortification" was forming.
Sayo returned home to find his father, Sharyu, had been recalled from the front lines to manage the puppet defense grids in critical sectors. The two met in the hallway, speechless, each recognizing the exhaustion and dread in the other's eyes.
"Don't wander outside the inner gates," Sharyu instructed, his voice heavy with the weight of a man who knew how thin their defenses truly were. "It's... very unstable out there."
Sayo nodded. He knew the instability wasn't just foreign—it was the vacuum left by the Kazekage. The powers that coveted the Land of Wind would see this silence as an invitation.
He was trapped in the Village, but his thoughts were with the ghost in the machine: Sasori. He alone knew the truth of the disappearance. What was Sasori's endgame? Was it merely the satisfaction of a personal vendetta, or was there a more terrifying schematic in play?
Sasori now possessed the Third Kazekage Human Puppet, a weapon of mass destruction capable of wielding the Iron Sand. If that puppet was unleashed upon the Village itself, the defensive walls they were currently manning would become their own coffins.
This feeling of knowing the blueprint of the disaster while remaining powerless made Sayo's blood boil with a cold, focused anxiety. He threw himself back into his workshop, frantically iterating on the "Ōgumo" and pushing his Magnet Release to the point of exhaustion. He needed more power—not just for the war, but for the internal storm that was clearly only just beginning to brew.
Sunagakure, the massive desert fortress, was curling inward in its agony, waiting for an enemy it couldn't see.
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