The journey back to Konoha lasted nearly three days. Because they no longer had to match the slow pace of a client, the return trip took much less time than their original trip to the Land of Wind.
Unlike that first journey, nobody complained about the pace. Yogi remained unconscious for most of the trip, only regaining consciousness for about four hours a day. His condition was barely kept stable by the antidotes provided by Tanigakure's medical ninja. Every stop they made was solely to replace his bandages or conduct a brief medical check before the team pressed onward.
By the time Konoha's massive gates finally appeared on the horizon, none of them had the strength left to celebrate.
As soon as the guards noticed the injured Yogi, they quickly escorted him to the hospital and sent a messenger to the head of the Yamanaka clan to inform him of the injury to one of their Jōnin. Meanwhile, Team Eight headed toward the Hokage Building after a quick checkup.
Shinra knocked on the door. From inside, Hiruzen called out, "Come in."
Shinra entered. Hiruzen's desk was littered with even more papers and files than usual, a consequence of the Chūnin Exams starting the following day. In addition, Shinra could feel the watchful eyes of the hidden ANBU stationed throughout the office.
Hiruzen recalled the mission he had assigned to Team Eight a little over a week ago. Judging by their grim expressions and the absence of their Jōnin instructor, it appeared that something had gone terribly wrong.
'Their mission was to investigate the mysterious disappearance of villages in the Land of Wind, the Hokage thought. What could have happened?'
Shinra stepped forward from between his teammates and began his report. "Lord Third, our mission was a trap. We encountered an S-rank rogue ninja. While we managed to escape, Yogi-sensei was severely injured, losing an eye and being afflicted by a deadly poison."
Hiruzen's expression darkened. An encounter with an S-rank rogue ninja was practically a death sentence for a newly graduated Genin team; the mere fact that they had survived was a miracle.
Hiruzen looked at Shinra. "I need you to calm down and tell me everything. Do not miss a single detail."
Shinra took a deep breath. "Our mission, which was requested by a village chief named Tarō, was to investigate the mysterious disappearance of a civilian village in the Land of Wind."
Hiruzen nodded. At the time, preparations for the Chūnin Exams were already underway, and most available shinobi had been assigned to escort the Land of Fire's nobles and the Daimyō. As a result, he had been forced to delegate this B-rank mission to a Genin team.
"It took us five days to reach the village," Shinra continued. "Upon arrival, we found no signs of struggle or resistance. The only clue left behind was a poisoned water source. Sensei identified the toxin as the same one used by Chiyo of Sunagakure during the Second Great Ninja War, leading us to conclude we were dealing with rogue Suna shinobi."
Shinra's expression grew serious. "Yogi-sensei decided it would be safer for us to merely locate the rogue shinobi's base and report back to Konoha, while he visited the surrounding villages to search for clues."
Hiruzen's brow furrowed. Although it was indeed more efficient for Yogi to investigate alone, leaving a group of Genin unsupervised in foreign territory was highly reckless.
"After scouting the desert all night, Hyori located a network of underground, man-made tunnels that extended past her line of sight," Shinra narrated. "Since Yogi-sensei hadn't returned yet, we decided to send a shadow clone into the tunnels to check for traps before we headed out to search for him."
"Deep within the tunnels, the passage expanded into multiple chambers filled with wooden boxes. At first, I only found puppet parts and maintenance oil. However, in the adjacent chambers, I found the missing villagers—all of them dead, and many already converted into puppets."
Hiruzen's eyes widened slightly. Transforming humans into puppets was inherently a forbidden technique. No village would ever publicly sanction such a practice, lest their Daimyō cut their funding entirely.
Had the victims not been turned into puppets, his first suspect in such a scenario would have been his own rogue student, Orochimaru.
Shinra took another deep breath. "Upon further investigation of the base, I discovered that the culprit was none other than the S-rank rogue ninja of Sunagakure, Sasori of the Red Sand. Unfortunately, before I could investigate further, a hidden mechanism in one of the puppets triggered, destroying my shadow clone and collapsing the tunnels."
The eyes of both Hiruzen and the hidden ANBU widened. There were countless rogue ninja listed in the Bingo Book, but only a handful were classified as S-rank—and even among those elite threats, Sasori was mostly unknown outside the Land of Wind, but was considered one of the most lethal.
"Our immediate instinct was to abort the mission and report back to the village, but Yogi-sensei's prolonged absence made us fear he might have crossed paths with Sasori. We tracked down the nearest villages, and at the third one, we found Yogi-sensei surrounded by a hundred puppets, locked in a desperate battle with Sasori."
"We didn't have enough time to formulate a proper strategy, so I decided to impersonate Lord Jiraiya in hopes of buying us enough time to escape."
"Jiraiya?" Hiruzen asked, bewildered. Of his three legendary students, Jiraiya was easily the hardest to predict, let alone impersonate.
"Yes. I initially debated whether to impersonate Lord Jiraiya or Kakashi the Copy Ninja, but I decided Jiraiya would be far better suited to stall. His legendary reputation would make even Sasori think twice before attacking."
Hiruzen remained silent. While Jiraiya's reputation was indeed formidable, most S-rank rogue ninja wouldn't simply turn and flee at his mere presence; they would at least test their strength against him. How had Shinra managed to buy enough time to rescue Yogi without blowing his cover?
"Once I made my appearance, Hyori and Inumaki followed behind me disguised as ANBU reinforcements. This was done to solidify my identity as Jiraiya in Sasori's eyes, while they worked to extract the injured Yogi-sensei to safety."
Hiruzen eyed him carefully. "That explains how your team escaped, but how did you escape from an S-rank shinobi?"
Shinra remained calm. "I didn't know if he was a sensor, so before showing myself, I sent a shadow clone to rig the surrounding buildings with explosive tags. Because he failed to notice my clone, I decided to use the chaos of the detonations to escape underground and evade his pursuit."
Hiruzen analyzed Shinra's plan. Though the strategy had its share of risks, the fact that a mere Genin formulated such a plan on the fly against an S-rank opponent is highly impressive.
"Before Yogi-sensei was rescued, he warned me that Sasori was targeting Hyori's Byakugan," Shinra added. "I still don't know how Sasori knew Team Eight would be assigned this specific mission rather than any other team."
Hiruzen looked at Hyori. "The Byakugan?"
The last time another village had targeted the Byakugan, it had been Kumogakure. Once again, the Hyūga clan's Caged Bird Seal had proven its defensive worth. Without it, the Byakugan would have long since become a commodity traded throughout the shinobi world.
Shinra nodded. "Yes, and it appears his human puppets are able to retain their Kekkei Genkai, allowing him to use those bloodline traits at will."
"What?!" Hiruzen was genuinely shocked by such an unnatural ability. The only other technique he knew of capable of utilizing the power of the dead was the Reanimation Jutsu—the Edo Tensei—developed by his sensei the Second Hokage.
"One of his puppets even possessed a Sharingan," Shinra added, dropping another bombshell.
Silence.
Even Hiruzen found himself momentarily speechless.
There was a reason why, between Konoha's two legendary dōjutsu, the Byakugan was historically more sought after by enemy nations than the Sharingan. Unlike the Byakugan, every Sharingan outside the Uchiha clan was treated as an active national security threat. The clan maintained strict protocols requiring the destruction of fallen members' eyes and body to prevent enemies from acquiring them. If word spread that someone possessed a stolen Sharingan, the Uchiha would stop at nothing to reclaim it.
With the sole exception of Hatake Kakashi, there was no any other instance of a non-Uchiha being allowed to keep a Sharingan and even that came with a steep cost from the village.
Unbeknownst to everyone present, one of the ANBU hidden within the office belonged to the Uchiha clan. Consequently, this highly sensitive information had already reached a clan member by mere coincidence. The only question left was whether he would report it back to his father or not.
Yet, before anyone could recover, Shinra scratched his cheek. "That's not even the most shocking part. I managed to uncover information regarding the missing Third Kazekage."
Hiruzen's face hardened. "Are you certain of your sources? This topic is highly sensitive in the shinobi world, especially right now."
With the Third Great Ninja War having officially concluded two years prior following the treaty with Kumogakure, any intelligence regarding the spark that ignited the conflict could grant Konoha massive leverage. After all, Konoha had been the ones accused of assassinating the Third Kazekage.
"Yes, I am absolutely certain of this news. There are even eyewitnesses." He gestured toward Hyori and Inumaki, who both looked thoroughly confused by Shinra's claims.
"I see. Keep quiet for now and remain here." Hiruzen signaled to one of the hidden ANBU, and a few minutes later, there was a knock at the office door.
"Enter."
Four individuals filed into the office. Shinra recognized each one of them but remained silent. Leading the group was Konoha's chief strategist, Nara Shikaku, closely followed by the village elders: Mitokado Homura, Utatane Koharu, and Shimura Danzo.