47th Year of Konoha's Founding.
Land of Wind.
Ma Jia couldn't suppress his curiosity and stealthily followed after the Third Kazekage, who had abruptly left Sunagakure without informing anyone.
Utilizing advanced concealment techniques, both Hidden Sand's cloaking method and his own unique stealth methods, Ma Jia buried himself within the desert sands, tracking the Kazekage to a remote and desolate region of the northern Gobi Desert beyond the village.
"So, this is the 'secret discovery' you were talking about, Scorpion? I've noticed your unusual behavior lately. What the hell are you up to?"
As expected from the Kazekage—someone with power and experience. If even Ma Jia could sense Scorpion's abnormality, then surely the village's shadow had perceived it long ago.
Suddenly, with no warning, the Third Kazekage spun toward his right flank, clawed arm lashing out from the sand. A puppet had emerged swiftly, launching an ambush. Despite being aware of Scorpion's suspicious actions, the Kazekage hadn't expected an outright assassination attempt.
Caught off guard, the Kazekage was still fast enough to evade fatal injury, but he was grazed on the arm by the puppet's claws.
Frowning at the blood seeping from his wound, he muttered darkly, "Poison...?"
In that instant, Scorpion had already vanished again using a concealed jutsu, leaving his question hanging in the still air.
The Kazekage quickly circulated chakra through his system to suppress the spread of toxins. Scorpion's poison was potent—formulated specifically for this attack—but the Kazekage was a seasoned shinobi with formidable chakra control. While he could suppress the effects, doing so diverted a portion of his focus and stamina, diminishing his combat capability.
"Scorpion! You attacked the Kazekage! Are you betraying the village?!"
His voice thundered across the silent wasteland, but the response was only silence.
"Iron Sand Rain!"
The sky darkened as thousands of iron sand needles formed and rained down in a massive wave of offense.
Ma Jia, observing from a concealed vantage point far from the battlefield, remained calm. His shadow clone, equipped with a lesser version of his Sharingan—equivalent to a two-tomoe—still possessed enough perceptive ability to observe the battlefield safely, thanks to its strategic distance and spatial awareness.
"Tch... This explains it," Ma Jia muttered to himself. "Scorpion may be talented, but he's nowhere near strong enough to face the Kazekage in direct combat. That poison must've been prepared solely for this ambush. And the Kazekage—what was he thinking, lowering his guard?"
Ma Jia surmised that while the poison could be suppressed, the price would be heavy. It would sap the Kazekage's strength gradually.
The barrage didn't force Scorpion to appear. Instead, under the cover of the overwhelming sand and iron, he launched a second attack through his puppet.
This time, the Kazekage defended, no longer underestimating his opponent. However, he couldn't predict Scorpion's resolve.
Boom!
The puppet self-destructed.
Caught off guard once more, the Kazekage was pierced by shrapnel. Multiple wounds allowed the poison to infiltrate his body more thoroughly.
"Damn it! Scorpion!"
Now it was clear—Scorpion didn't just want to injure the Kazekage. He intended to eliminate him completely.
Scorpion revealed himself, chakra threads flicking through the air as he manipulated multiple puppets—puppets that had once belonged to his parents, finely crafted and lethal.
Despite the Kazekage's immense power, his ability was now halved. Against the onslaught of Scorpion's elite puppets, even he was forced into a defensive stance.
But iron still falls before sand.
"Iron Spear!"
The Kazekage's iron sand condensed into massive spears, skewering several of Scorpion's puppets.
Boom!
Scorpion detonated them instantly, continuing his relentless attack.
Ma Jia watched the scene unfold, astonished. "This brat... he's insane. Sacrificing every puppet just to wear down the Kazekage."
And it was working. The Kazekage, though maintaining chakra control to suppress the poison, could not stop its spread completely. Each new wound accelerated the poison's effects.
"This is it... the moment of conclusion."
Ma Jia recognized Scorpion's strategy—it was attrition. Bleed him slowly, cut him down piece by piece.
And it was working.
Scorpion vanished again under the cover of another puppet's explosion. This time, something different stirred in the air.
An overwhelming surge of chakra and heat erupted beneath the battlefield.
Explosions.
Detonating tags?
Ma Jia's eyes widened.
The entire terrain had been trapped—rigged with hundreds of explosive seals. Scorpion's preparation had been meticulous, even psychotic.
"How deep does this grudge go?" Ma Jia muttered. "He's willing to blow up the Kazekage's body... What kind of hatred is that?"
And yet, somehow, the Kazekage survived. Emerging from the choking dust and debris, body trembling, breathing ragged.
He was bleeding. He was poisoned. But still standing.
How much longer, though?
"Tch... the mighty Kazekage, undone by a boy's schemes."
The Kazekage glanced toward Ma Jia's direction.
"You... come out already."
Busted.
Ma Jia's clone emerged with an awkward grin.
"Ehehe... just spectating, promise. No interference. I'm just here to watch—my lips are sealed."
With that, Ma Jia vanished again using his teleportation technique.
"Space-Time Ninjutsu?!"
The Kazekage's eyes widened. A ninja in the village, capable of teleportation jutsu?
Scorpion was startled as well, but concluded quickly that if Ma Jia had stayed hidden this long, he likely had no interest in intervening.
It was too late to turn back now.
Scorpion pressed the attack, despite having expended his elite puppets. His remaining units were hastily constructed, subpar in design—but still dangerous.
The Kazekage could barely defend himself now. His strength was bleeding out. And Scorpion wasn't letting up.
"Damn... to think I'd be stalled by defective puppets."
Ma Jia popped back in for another look, smirking.
The Kazekage looked at him with despair. He had hoped the presence of another shinobi might offer salvation, but now...
This man was no ally.
A Sunagakure ninja with space-time ninjutsu—and yet uninterested in helping the Kazekage.
Worse, Ma Jia's jutsu meant he could never be allowed to return. Anyone who had witnessed space-time ninjutsu would become a liability if they talked.
Ma Jia's casual attitude sealed the Kazekage's fate.
In this era, space-time jutsu was extremely rare. Aside from storage-type abilities used by puppet masters, only the rogue ninja Tobi was known to utilize true teleportation.
And now—Ma Jia. Were they connected?
The Kazekage could no longer deny it—this was a conspiracy he hadn't seen coming until it was far too late.
"Iron Sand Rain!"
One final gambit. He stopped holding back. Let the poison flow freely and unleashed every last drop of chakra he had.
A thousand iron needles tore through the sky like a hurricane.
Scorpion countered, deploying a wall of massive puppets.
But they weren't combat units—they were hastily assembled shields, cobbled together from scrap and old armor. Slow, clunky... but functional.
The iron needles stopped.
The Kazekage growled.
"Iron Spear!"
Larger, denser, piercing—he formed massive iron sand spears and launched them at the shields.
They pierced through.
But Scorpion was gone.
He had used the moment to slip away again, vanishing behind his shield wall.
Ma Jia observed from afar, sighing.
"It's over."
He was right. The fuse had already been lit.