One of the ANBU stepped forward, his voice urgent but still impeccably polite.
"Everyone from Konoha, the Kazekage Tower is under attack. An unknown enemy is causing widespread destruction."
"By the Kazekage's order, we've come to request Konoha's assistance. Please lend us your strength so we can repel the enemy together!"
After speaking, he bowed his head slightly and waited for an answer.
The room fell quiet for a beat.
Kakashi's gaze met Might Guy's for an instant, then slid over Shikamaru's thoughtful expression, and finally landed on Asuma.
Asuma's face turned… complicated.
He'd just been gloating a moment ago, guessing it was "internal resistance."
And now they were here, asking for help to their faces.
And more importantly…
It was the Kazekage himself who'd given the order.
"Uh…" Asuma opened his mouth, wanting to say something, only to realize he had no idea what to say.
Shikamaru sighed and muttered under his breath, "This is a pain…"
If this were Sand messing around with their own internal politics, Konoha could stay out of it under the banner of "non-interference," or even pull out outright on the pretext of "protecting the delegation."
But now…
Sand was formally asking for aid as an "ally."
Konoha and Sand had an alliance treaty.
By sentiment and by obligation, they couldn't just stand by.
More importantly…
"An order from the Kazekage himself."
Kakashi spoke slowly, his tone carrying a complicated edge.
"That means he not only knows we're here, but also… he's very confident about our stance."
Or rather, he was certain.
Certain they would step in.
Asuma's expression darkened even further.
That bastard…
He'd calculated even this?
"Kakashi-sensei."
Ino's voice suddenly cut in, with an urgency she didn't quite manage to hide.
"Let's… let's go help!"
Her cheeks were faintly pink, her eyes shining.
It was obvious she wasn't worried about "allied obligations."
She was worried about someone's safety.
Sakura stood beside her.
She didn't speak, but the concern in her eyes refused to be hidden.
The two girls' worry made no rational sense.
It was completely because someone was handsome enough to make them anxious.
Simply put: they were total looks freaks.
Kakashi glanced at them, then looked to Shikamaru.
Shikamaru lifted a shoulder and mouthed two words.
"Go."
There wasn't a choice.
Or rather, the Kazekage hadn't left them one.
Kakashi drew in a steady breath and turned to the two ANBU.
"Understood. We're leaving now."
He paused, then added, "But we'll only assist with defense and rescue. As for overall command, Sand should handle it."
The ANBU ninja nodded.
"Of course. Please, follow us."
With that, both figures flickered and vanished out the window.
Kakashi turned back to the group.
"You heard them. Move out."
"Yeah…" Might Guy answered first, already lit on fire.
"Youth! This is a trial of youth! Let me protect our allies with blazing passion!"
With that, he took the lead and jumped straight out the window.
"That idiot," Shikamaru sighed, but he followed with a leap.
Choji shoved the last handful of chips into his mouth, dusted his hands off, and went after them.
Ino and Sakura exchanged a look and jumped out as well.
Only Kakashi and Asuma remained in the room.
Kakashi looked at Asuma and said nothing.
Asuma stayed silent for a few seconds, then finally sighed.
"Let's go."
He walked to the window, but before stepping out, he paused. With his back to Kakashi, his voice dropped low.
"Kakashi… do you think that bastard knew this day would come?"
Kakashi didn't answer.
He just stared at the smoke-choked sky in the distance.
In his exposed right eye, something complicated flickered.
Maybe.
He thought silently.
Maybe he'd predicted everything.
Including the choice we'd make right now.
The next second, both of them disappeared out the window.
In the distance, the explosions still hadn't stopped.
…
Meanwhile.
Above the Kazekage Tower.
Two enormous white clay birds circled slowly.
Sunlight poured from behind them, casting two massive shadows on the ground below, blanketing the chaotic plaza.
On the first bird stood two figures.
Deidara sat cross-legged at the bird's head.
His blond hair whipped in the wind.
His face wore that artist's expression, the kind of near-sick excitement.
He looked down at the panicking crowds.
At the buildings blasted into pieces by his bombs, his mouth spreading into a wild, arrogant grin.
"Heeey, heeey…" His voice carried chakra, ringing clearly across the entire plaza.
"Sand Village, this is it?"
He spread his arms dramatically, as if presenting his masterpiece.
"One of the legendary Five Great Villages, and this is all you've got?"
Sasori stood beside him, the puppet body of Hiruko hiding his true form, unmoving.
Those eyes peering through the puppet's seams swept across the frantic Sand shinobi.
Across the Kazekage Tower burning below.
Across the ninja trying to counterattack, futile and disorganized.
"Sand Village…" His voice was hoarse and low, carrying an emotion too complex to name.
"These past few years… you've really gone downhill."
There was a trace of nostalgia. A trace of reflection.
But more than anything…
Contempt.
He had once been Sand's genius puppet master.
The Third Kazekage's grandson.
The youngest commander of Sand's Puppet Brigade in its history.
More than anyone, he knew how strong this village had once been. How brilliant it had once been.
And now?
Watching the ninja scatter, watching their shapeless resistance…
Sasori suddenly felt even more certain.
Leaving this village back then had been the right decision.
On the second bird stood two more figures.
Kakuzu stood with his hands behind his back.
His green eyes coldly surveyed the chaos below.
He wasn't loud like Deidara, and he wasn't sentimental like Sasori.
He was like an experienced hunter, calmly evaluating prey.
"Be careful," he said suddenly, his voice rough and low.
"That guy isn't that simple."
The one he meant was obvious: the Kazekage who could drop mountains on people.
Deidara glanced back at him and curled his lip.
"Tch. Puppet guys are always so cautious."
"My bomb just blasted open that Kazekage's meeting room."
"For all we know, that guy's already buried under the rubble!"
Kakuzu didn't respond.
But his brow tightened slightly.
Too smooth.
He thought.
A Kazekage who wiped out more than a thousand elite Iwa shinobi in a canyon.
A strategist who'd arranged things so even that old fox Ōnoki didn't dare retaliate openly…
How could he die that easily?
"Hahahahaha!" Hidan stood next to Kakuzu, hoisting his massive three-bladed scythe.
He was in a feverish, ecstatic high.
He stared at the dense crowd below, blood-red eyes glittering with hunger.
"So many! So many offerings!"
His voice trembled with excitement.
"Jashin-sama is going to love this! He's going to love it!"
He licked his lips, scanning the people below.
"Who first? That old lady looks pretty devout… or that little brat?"
"No, no… that jōnin's blood should taste better…"
Kakuzu flicked him a glance.
For once, he didn't call him an idiot.
Because he was looking down too.
Just not at "offerings."
At money.
So many ninja. If he could harvest a few hearts…
That was all cash.
Four figures, floating brazenly over Sand Village.
No hiding. No disguises.
Not even a hint of caution.
They'd marched in openly, acting like the current Kazekage's so-called "team" was nothing at all…
As if this weren't one of the "Five Great Villages," but a hunting ground with no power to fight back, free for anyone to enter and leave at will.
(End of Chapter)
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