Caw!
A ninja hawk circled in the sky, then folded its wings and descended into the area where the Anbu squad was stationed.
After decrypting the scroll the hawk brought, the Konoha Anbu Intelligence Division immediately rushed toward the Hokage's office building.
Soon, Pakura, the envoy of the Sunagakure delegation stationed in Konoha, was also invited to review the intelligence information sent from the Sand Village.
"An invisible monster?"
Looking at the intelligence recorded on the scroll, Pakura was stunned.
What exactly is an invisible monster?
But seeing that Orochimaru, Kagetsu, and the others in the office didn't intend to answer, Pakura suppressed the questions in her heart and continued reading.
After she finished reading, she began to understand why something happening within the Land of Wind would cause the Kazekage to send a message all the way to Konoha asking for help.
It was true that an invisible monster had appeared within the Land of Wind.
However, the scroll contained a detailed description of the creature—its body was dark like a beast's, with a ghastly white mask, and a massive, gaping hole right through its torso.
This was something Rasa had seen with his own eyes and described himself. On the scroll, he referred to such creatures as "Hollows."
Pakura's mind drifted slightly. Of course, she knew the name "Hollow."
In the Land of Wind, that term belonged to a class of sealed, top-secret information.
It wasn't just because of the Hollow masks that had appeared during the Third Great Ninja War—it also involved the Ryūmyaku vein of Rōran, and a joint mission once carried out by Konoha and Sunagakure.
It was during that mission that the Ryūmyaku vein's energy was first tapped, and the Oasis Project was born.
You could say that Konoha and Sunagakure's close alliance and the easing of old hostilities began with that Ryūmyaku vein mission.
Pakura didn't know the exact details, because even Baki—who was directly involved—had willingly accepted a memory seal afterward.
Some details of certain missions were still clear to Pakura.
For instance, there had been reports of "Hollow" sightings in Roran.
The rogue puppet master from Sunagakure, Mukade, had once fallen into madness under the influence of the Ryūmyaku vein's power and transformed into a strange and twisted creature.
As for the Hidden Cloud Village, they were the first to use Hollowfication on the battlefield.
Even now, it's said that they've already mastered the power of the Hollows.
But what truly shocked and terrified Pakura was the fact that within the borders of the Land of Wind, the Hollows could infect the souls of those they killed—turning them into more Hollows.
At first, there were only a few of them.
But in this request for aid, the number of Hollows was clearly increasing with every death.
Especially when it came to ninja.
Because of their mastery of chakra, their deaths were far more prone to corruption and Hollowfication.
Even a Genin who died or was severely wounded could mutate and become far more dangerous than they were in life.
It often took several Chūnin just to subdue and seal one of them.
Yes—Sunagakure's standard ninjutsu had a hard time dealing lethal damage to these creatures. So most of the time, sealing techniques were the only solution.
In recent years, with Konoha's support, Sunagakure had developed a well-structured training and knowledge system for sealing arts.
Having solved their financial problems, they were now capable of raising many functional ninjas who specialized in non-combat support roles.
Thanks to this, even with the growing number of Hollows, Sunagakure still had a surplus of sealing ninja to handle them.
But this approach only treated the symptoms, not the cause.
As time went on, if they couldn't find the source of the incident or uncover the truth behind it, the number of ninja casualties would only continue to rise, and the Hollow population would increase even more.
This would turn the Land of Wind into an even greater danger.
What made it worse was that many of the oases had already completed their resettlement programs.
The inhabitants had started building homes and living within the green zones.
If this issue wasn't resolved quickly, the entire Oasis Project could be in jeopardy.
Rasa would come under pressure from the Daimyō and the nobles of the Land of Wind.
After all, they had invested heavily into the Oasis Project, and any unexpected losses would no doubt trigger their fury.
So, even though Sunagakure could still barely manage the situation, they had already sent a formal request for aid to Konoha.
Because when it came to understanding and researching the power of Hollows, Konoha was second to none.
Under both internal and external pressure, Rasa had no reason to hesitate.
Before greater losses could occur, he was more than willing to ask for help from their strategic ally—Konoha.
"Does the Land of Wind have something that's attracting those monsters?"
Pakura couldn't understand it. She looked at Orochimaru and Kagetsu, hoping for an answer.
"Maybe… it's the Ryūmyaku vein," Kagetsu said after a brief pause. Under Pakura's gaze, he gave a cautious response.
"The Ryūmyaku vein?" Pakura blinked in surprise. "Are the Hollows connected to the Ryūmyaku vein? Did they appear because we tapped into its power?"
"Years ago, Konoha and Sunagakure worked together on a mission in Rōran to eliminate rogue ninja," Orochimaru said.
"I know about that. The genius puppeteer from Suna—Mukade. He created a type of mass-producible puppet made from clay. Some of them were filled with explosive chakra, turning them into bombs," Pakura nodded.
Mukade still had a reputation in the Sand Village. Some puppeteers even believed he could rival another genius—Sasori.
"He used the Ryūmyaku vein in the future to travel back in time, bringing his memories with him. That means he's now part of our current era. He heavily modified his body and carries a portion of Hollow energy," Kagetsu explained, exchanging a glance with Orochimaru.
"Hollow energy is extremely corrosive."
"So you're saying Mukade contaminated the Ryūmyaku vein, and by using its power, we unknowingly gave birth to the Hollows?"
Pakura frowned, carefully analyzing the information Kagetsu had shared.
A deep fear crept into her heart.
The Ryūmyaku vein was now tightly linked to the future of the Land of Wind.
Even if this theory was true, they would never seal away the Ryūmyaku vein or stop using its power.
It wasn't just the daimyo and nobles of the Land of Wind who had staked everything on it—Sunagakure had as well.
There was no turning back now.
Even if the Ryūmyaku vein is sealed, it would deal a massive blow to both the Land of Wind and Sunagakure.
The daimyo and nobles would lose their new territory and profits, while Sunagakure's economy would be cut in half and continue to decline.
The Land of Wind simply can't afford such consequences.
Compared to sealing the Ryūmyaku vein, Rasa and the Land of Wind would probably rather start another Great Ninja War.
"The energy from Mukade might not be enough to corrupt the entire Ryūmyaku vein," said Kagetsu, shaking his head.
"Besides, I already sealed Mukade back then. Whether he still exists is uncertain. And in any case, Hollows have always existed—just like the souls in the Pure Land—they simply can't enter the living world."
He paused, then continued, "But the Ryūmyaku vein may have undergone some unknown changes. Perhaps it used its own power to evolve into a powerful spiritual zone, weakening the barrier between the two worlds. That may be why Hollows are now appearing in reality."
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