And just like that, Uchiha Ran was drafted without mercy by Uchiha Ruka.
To be fair, Ruka hadn't planned on picking Ran at first. Unfortunately for him, he had walked right into her line of sight—and even greeted her.And since he'd already called her "big sister," how could she not bring him along?
Bring him.Absolutely bring him.
Uchiha Ruka decided it was time for the kid to witness the heroic bearing of a proper big sister on the borderlines.
"Very well," Hiruzen Sarutobi said after some consideration. "Since you've chosen Uchiha Ran as your assistant, make sure you bring him back safely. Otherwise… I really don't want to deal with Orochimaru's expression."
With that, the Third Hokage approved Ruka's choice and began explaining the mission.
Recently, the Sunagakure—the Hidden Sand Village—had produced a prodigy named Pakura.
Not only was she the wielder of the rare Scorch Release kekkei genkai, she was also famed as a great beauty of the Land of Wind.
Yet lately, this woman had been appearing repeatedly along the border between the Land of Wind and the Land of Fire—clearly acting with some undisclosed purpose.
Once Hiruzen learned that Pakura was active near the border, a spark of suspicion ignited in his heart.
Sunagakure was notoriously impoverished. There were even rumors that their Kage-level shinobi—Rasa—used his Gold Dust techniques to sift real gold out of the desert sands and sell it to sustain the village.
Rumors didn't arise without reason.
A village that poor yet still possessing military power was something Konoha could never afford to ignore.
Pakura's frequent, unannounced appearances along the border were deeply suspicious. She was already an elite jōnin and a top genius of Sunagakure—someone of her stature had no reason to conduct covert border activities without explanation.
Hiruzen decided to send investigators.
He needed to uncover Pakura's true intentions and determine whether Sunagakure posed a threat to Konoha.
And since Pakura was a female shinobi, dispatching Uchiha Ruka, also a female ninja, was an excellent choice.
As for Uchiha Ran…
Well.
Purely a bonus.
If relations soured and Sand and Leaf ended up clashing, a sunny-looking boy like Ran might at least be able to exchange a few words with someone like Pakura.
Probably.
Without providing much more detail, Hiruzen waved the two of them off.
In his estimation, while the Land of Wind showed signs of unrest, it wasn't anything too serious.
After all—Sunagakure had only sent Pakura.And she was moving in secret.
—
"Damn it… why am I the one assigned to this?" Pakura muttered irritably. "Wouldn't Rasa be the better choice?!"
Endless desert stretched to the horizon of the Land of Wind, barren and desolate like a lifeless wasteland.
Fine grains of sand drifted endlessly under the wind's command, forming towering dunes and violent sandstorms.
The sky churned with yellow haze, blotting out the sun and drowning the world in a suffocating blur.
Pakura traveled alone through this hellscape, constantly on guard against the raging winds and sand.
Worse still—she had arrived just as a sandstorm was forming.
The howling wind made breathing difficult, while countless razor-sharp grains lashed against her skin like blades.
Even an elite jōnin struggled against such relentless punishment.
"AHHH—this is so annoying!" Pakura screamed, clawing at her hair in frustration. "I'm so sick of this stupid desert!"
In the great sands of the Land of Wind, even shinobi had to remain vigilant at all times.
During sandstorms, shelter was mandatory—exposure meant death.
Those born in the Land of Wind were forced to adapt to the desert.
And those who couldn't… were swallowed whole, erased forever by the merciless sands.
Konoha's intelligence network, however, was frighteningly efficient.
Pakura had barely made a circuit through the Land of Fire—detecting the presence of Leaf intelligence operatives and quietly returning to the Wind–Fire border—when the report had already landed on Hiruzen's desk.
These were Konoha's intelligence shinobi.
In another era, they would've been watchtower sentries and night scouts—silent eyes guarding the realm.
Pakura herself had accepted an extraordinary mission, which was why she endured the torment of crossing the Great Desert to reach the border.
"The Third Kazekage… has gone missing."
The man hailed as the strongest Kazekage in history, master of the Magnet Release kekkei genkai, had vanished within the deserts of his own country.
It was almost laughable.
The Third Kazekage—also known as the "Magnet Release Shadow."
Widely regarded as the most powerful Kazekage of all time.
The only shinobi in the ninja world to possess such an unparalleled Magnet Release bloodline.
His mastery over magnetism granted overwhelming offense and defense alike—combined with exceptional battlefield intelligence and tactical genius.
Calling him the strongest Kazekage was no exaggeration.
And yet—
He disappeared without a trace, inside his own territory.
There was no evidence implicating Konoha.
But Sunagakure still sent Pakura to the border.
Because among all neighboring nations, only Konoha had the power to threaten the Third Kazekage.
Suspicion naturally fell upon the strongest village in the shinobi world.
After all, Konoha possessed Danzo Shimura, the darkness of the shinobi world—and Minato Namikaze, the "Yellow Flash," master of space–time ninjutsu.
Motive.Capability.Opportunity.
Konoha had all three.
What Pakura didn't know was that her deployment also carried political intent.
The Third Kazekage was missing—and highly unlikely to be found.
Soon, more jōnin would be dispatched to patrol the borders. News would spread—both domestically and abroad—that Sunagakure had lost its Kazekage.
That was when the ambitious would act.
Sunagakure would be forced into a wartime stance, forming an emergency council and appointing an acting Fourth Kazekage.
And at that moment, the only Kage-level shinobi left in the village—Rasa—would naturally rise as the interim leader.
After all, his rivals—Pakura, Bunpuku, and others—had all been assigned to border duties.
This was political exchange.
A deal Rasa had struck with Ebizo and Chiyo.
So what if you have a kekkei genkai?So what if you're strong?So what if the people love you?
Without political leverage—
You still lose to Rasa.
—
While Pakura was choking on sand deep in the desert…
Uchiha Ran and Uchiha Ruka were setting up camp in a warm forest, even roasting two rabbits over the fire.
The two chatted idly.
After all, the mission wasn't especially dangerous—and the sandstorms would severely slow Pakura's advance.
If they traveled at a steady pace, they might even reach the border before she did.