In a snow-covered forest, two dark-skinned, burly men and a blonde man were running through the trees.
Having agreed to a certain proposal at the summit, they were now preparing to rush back to Kumogakure as quickly as possible to implement the contents agreed upon during the Five Kage Summit.
"Boss, are we really going to adopt Konoha's proposal?" The Raikage's guard, C, approached his superior. "My Jutsu senses that person is not good..."
"No kidding. Whose aura of a good person would be so domineering and full of aggression?" The Fourth Raikage glanced at his young subordinate and rolled his eyes.
"Boss, is it really necessary to form a combined force? Can't we just search on our own? Besides, that's Iwagakure we're talking about!" Using a small burst of Chakra, another guard, Darui, sped up, arriving behind his Kage to whisper his protest and dissatisfaction.
The Land of Earth and the Land of Lightning had been at odds for so many years. To suddenly have to work together, the Ninja of the two villages naturally couldn't easily accept it.
Darui worried that on the battlefield, they would have to guard against not just the enemy's kunai, but also the senbon from their own teammates.
"No choice. To save B, endure it!!" The Raikage, running at the front of the three, also gritted his teeth, his frustration clear on his face.
As the three were lamenting this situation, C's brow furrowed and he stopped.
"Boss, wait! There's a situation!"
The moment he spoke, a white light flashed from a nearby bush. A beam of light, filled with destructive energy, shot towards the three.
Sensing the dangerous chakra contained within the transparent cylindrical beam, A's face showed horror.
"Not good! C, Darui, get away from there!"
In a millionth of a second, A reached out and pulled the two behind him.
His Chakra surged, entering Lightning Release Chakra Mode. He raised the heavy vambrace covering his arm, and the high-frequency vibrating Lightning Release transformed into a penetrating terrifying attack.
The cylindrical white light collided with the turbulent lightning, immediately erupting in a violent energy impact.
Boom!!!
The explosion trampled scorch marks across the earth. Terrifying flames shot into the sky, melting the surrounding snow and exposing the black soil.
Darui and C, their strength insufficient, were blown away by the shockwave the moment the two chakra forces erupted, but the subsequent flames did not reach them.
"Boss!!!" x2
Their exclamations were drowned out by the roar of the explosion.
Panicked, disregarding the high temperature that nearly ignited their lungs, they rushed straight into the sea of fire, searching for the Fourth Raikage.
Before long, C used his Jutsu to locate the Fourth Raikage buried under the earth.
"Darui, over here!" C shouted to his companion beside him.
He quickly rushed to the location his Sensing Jutsu detected, digging out the Fourth Raikage from beneath the soil with his hands and feet.
Even though Kumogakure's Lightning Release Chakra Mode was renowned for its high durability, A was still a Ninja. Once his Jutsu was destroyed, being severely injured was only natural.
Having faced that attack head-on, his condition was now extremely bad. His clothes were torn, he had multiple cuts on his chest, abdomen, and thighs, and the skin exposed to the air was also burned, oozing pus.
The most serious injury was to his dominant right hand. Using a Lightning Release Ninjutsu to forcibly clash with that transparent white beam had caused the flesh and blood on it to almost disappear.
The remaining skeletal structure hung limply, blood slowly seeping out, soaking the scorched earth.
Seeing Darui and C appear, the Fourth Raigake finally relaxed a little. With a weak voice, he instructed them, "Dust Release... Onoki... Iwagakure... Return to village!"
Having spoken these few words, the Fourth Raikage lost consciousness from his injuries, leaving the two bewildered guards to quickly react under the stimulation of the cold wind and snow, carrying the Raikage and fleeing towards the Land of Lightning.
After the three from Kumogakure left the forest, a spiral singularity slowly twisted space, and three figures emerged from within.
The leading man was wrapped entirely in bandages, with terrifying burn scars visible on the skin underneath.
The man following behind him was covered in a robe, his face under the hood obscured by reflective glasses.
The last man had vacant eyes, bandaged so only his eyes were exposed. His pupils were dark gray, giving him the appearance of not being a living person.
"Didn't manage to kill that guy?" The first man to emerge turned back to look at the man with the snake-like hood, his voice hoarse.
"Wouldn't letting him live better achieve your goal, Obito-san?"
The man in the wine-red robe emitted an eerie laugh, raising his hand to pull down the snake-like hood on his head.
"Yakushi Kabuto... you bastard!" Obito's cold gaze swept over Kabuto, his single purple Rinnegan emitting a Chakra Glow.
"Whoa, whoa, I'm not here to fight you. Don't forget your plan~" Seeing the other provoked and genuinely ready to fight, Kabuto quickly spoke to calm him down.
"Hmph, I don't need your reminder. Hurry up and prepare the Third Raikage's Impure World Reincarnation body. I'll take you to Onoki!" Snorting coldly, Obito reached out and grabbed Kabuto. The spiral distortion of space once again devoured the three.
…
On the other side, having successfully completed the summit mission and facilitated the formation of the Allied Ninja Forces, Sakura also began her journey home, boarding the train from the Land of Iron to the Land of Fire.
Along the way, she had pondered many times why the Akatsuki's members hadn't declared war at the venue or ambushed them on the road.
This forced Sakura to waste words, personally explaining the existence of the Ten-Tails to the Kage of the other villages.
"Sakura, the tenth Tailed Beast you mentioned..." Kakashi, who had been silent the whole trip, finally spoke up.
Because following the earlier attack by Pain, the Akatsuki's member killed by Naruto had been confirmed by Konoha Hospital to be Deidara.
This led to a problem: Kakashi's old classmate, Obito, was still at large.
And with the concept of the Ten-Tails now put forward, Kakashi finally understood what kind of dangerous thing the other party was doing.
"I didn't deceive anyone. It's all true!"
Withdrawing her gaze from the window, Sakura looked seriously at Kakashi. "None of us want to see that thing revived. It will drain the planet's energy, eventually turning this place into a dead planet!"
Asuma, sitting nearby, also found this headache-inducing. He pressed the two buttons on the train window, raising it to let fresh air cool his spinning head.
The train continued its journey and soon arrived in the Land of Fire. Transferring through a few more cities, they finally reached Konoha village three days later.
Just as they entered the village, Jiraiya-sensei's big face immediately thrust itself in front of Sakura. "You... you... you... what exactly happened in the Land of Iron?! Kumogakure has declared war on Iwagakure!"
Hearing this, Sakura felt a tremendous sense of disconnect. All her doubts coalesced into a single question:
"Huh, I didn't catch that. Say it again?"