Chapter 66: In Other Words, War

Inside a small grove not far from Konoha's base camp in the Hot Water Country. 

"Holy crap!!" 

"I did it! I actually hit Shindai!" 

Obito raced around the clearing twice and a half, bursting with excitement. 

Earlier, Shindai and Obito had been sparring, and this time, Obito successfully landed a hit on Shindai. 

They'd sparred many times before, but usually, Obito ended up getting beaten into the ground by Shindai. 

Initially, back when they were in front of Minato Namikaze, Shindai had still tried to hold back a bit. He hadn't expected Obito, who was well aware of his strength, to suddenly go all out. One aggressive move completely stunned him. 

Shindai took a long time to recover from that. 

The moment he recovered, Shindai immediately pounded Obito senseless, not caring if Minato ever found out. 

Besides, if Minato asked, he'd just say that thanks to Minato's training over the past few days, he'd gotten way stronger—beating Obito was no big deal anymore. 

Afterwards, during their sparring matches, Shindai dominated Obito completely. 

Eventually, Minato started feeling sorry for Obito and even suggested he try a different opponent—like Rin Nohara, for instance. 

But stubborn Obito was dead set on fighting Shindai and kept challenging him—only to get his ass kicked over and over. 

However, Minato noticed that Obito's abilities were actually improving quite quickly through all that punishment, so he stopped interfering. 

Then again, if getting pummeled helped him grow stronger, maybe a few more beatings were just what he needed. 

This time, Obito had actually landed a punch on Shindai. It wasn't just Kakashi and Rin who were shocked—even Minato was left momentarily astonished. 

After a brief moment of surprise, Minato slightly furrowed his brows. 

Although Obito had improved, there was no way he should've improved this much this quickly. 

After all, Shindai was an escape artist—an expert evader. He shouldn't have been hit by Obito at all. 

Plus, something about Shindai had seemed off lately. 

Take right now, for example. After getting punched by Obito, Shindai didn't immediately charge forward to retaliate. Instead, he just stood there letting Obito dash around the clearing twice and a half, celebrating wildly. That clearly wasn't normal. 

Minato clapped his hands. "Alright, take a short break." 

He walked over to where Shindai sat on the ground leaning against a tree and asked, "Shindai, are you okay? You seem distracted these past few days." 

Shindai hung his head slightly, his voice dull and lifeless. "I don't know why, but I've had a really bad feeling since a couple of days ago. It's hard to explain… But if I had to put it into words, it kinda reminds me of that time when I got framed by Master Jiraiya!" 

Minato asked in surprise, "That feeling of being framed by Jiraiya-sensei? You mean the incident where you made that puppet for Master Jiraiya, Lady Tsunade found out about it, and she gave both of you a good beating?" 

Shindai frowned and said gloomily, "Sensei Minato, you don't need to go into such detail… Just keep it in your heart, alright!"

Minato Namikaze hesitated for a moment before saying, "The training has probably been too intense these past few days. Here's what we'll do—you take the day off. Shindai, return to the stationed camp and rest well. Maybe everything will look better after some sleep."

Shindai nodded silently, then walked back alone, looking somewhat dazed, to his tent at the base.

Lying on his bed, Shindai kept frowning intensely, as if sensing that a huge black cauldron was about to drop straight onto his head.

...

Two weeks flew by in the blink of an eye.

During this time, both Konoha and Iwagakure detected signs of unusual activity in Sunagakure.

Both villages dispatched their ninja to investigate the situation in the Land of Wind.

However, any ninja sent to investigate would face relentless attacks once discovered by the Sand shinobi.

What they found out was that Sunagakure had become extremely chaotic.

This made Hiruzen Sarutobi and Onoki become wary—they believed something major must have occurred within Sunagakure to cause such chaos.

Meanwhile, the higher-ups inside Sunagakure were also growing increasingly anxious.

The disappearance of the Third Kazekage left Sunagakure leaderless. Although Ebizō forbade anyone from spreading news of the Kazekage's disappearance, everyone knew it wouldn't remain a secret for long.

After all, the ninja sent to search for the missing Kazekage certainly knew what had happened. Even under strict orders to remain silent, word would inevitably get out, and the whole village would eventually learn the truth.

Now, part of Sunagakure's villagers had already learned about the Third Kazekage's disappearance, and the news was spreading rapidly.

Once all citizens of Sunagakure knew about the Kazekage's disappearance, it wouldn't be long before other shinobi villages learned about it too.

Inside the meeting room of the Kazekage Building.

Chiyo, Ebizō, and other Sunagakure elites were holding a meeting.

"Our ninja have already spotted Konoha and Iwagakure shinobi within the Land of Wind. The news about the Third Kazekage's disappearance cannot remain hidden much longer."

"Most of the villagers already know the Third Kazekage is missing, and everyone feels uneasy."

"If this tense atmosphere isn't resolved soon, trouble is inevitable."

"But only the reappearance of the Third Kazekage can settle this crisis."

...

The elders of Sunagakure voiced their concerns one after another.

Ebizō tapped the table with his hand, signaling for silence.

Once the room quieted down, Ebizō spoke: "We've practically dispatched every ninja in the village, exhausted our entire forces searching for traces of the Third Kazekage—and still, we find nothing."

"Now we can no longer pin our hopes on finding the Third Kazekage. Continuing this search will drain us beyond our limits in manpower and resources, even before considering whether we can find him at all."

"Therefore, our top priority must not be searching for the Third Kazekage, but solving the problems within our village."

"I propose we appoint a new Kazekage immediately to unite this village—it has become as scattered as sand."

A council member said with a serious expression, "Right now, the Third Kazekage's disappearance has thrown the entire village into chaos. Many villagers deeply revere the Third Kazekage—as a true leader and symbol of Sunagakure. They will demand that the new Kazekage continue searching for him."

"If the new Kazekage refuses, they will resent the decision and may even refuse to follow his orders. If the new Kazekage agrees, then nothing is truly resolved—we'll only waste more resources searching again."

"Since the Third Kazekage took office until now, he has tirelessly worked to govern Sunagakure, and everyone has witnessed it firsthand."

"That is why the Third Kazekage's prestige in Sunagakure is truly unmatched."

After letting out a heavy sigh, Ebizō's gaze turned piercing: "That's exactly why we need a new Kazekage even more urgently. We must shift everyone's attention outward to resolve the crisis facing our village."

Chiyo furrowed her brow at Ebizō's words: "Ebizō, what do you mean by shifting attention outward..."

Ebizō replied solemnly, emphasizing every word:

"[War!]"

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