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Six months had passed since the Third Kazekage vanished. The heavy gloom had not lifted; like a desert sandstorm, it kept growing, crushing Sunagakure under its weight. The initial all-out search had yielded nothing, and day after day of futility snuffed the last sparks of hope. A silent consensus took hold: the strongest Kazekage in history was almost certainly dead.
The Ninja World was sliding even faster toward the abyss. Reports were suffocating: Iwagakure and Konoha were clashing fiercely in the Land of Rain; Kumogakure had massed troops along Konoha's northeast border. Trust had vanished; the world was a cage stuffed with exploding tags, waiting for a single spark.
Most of Sunagakure's forces—including Sayo's squad—were dispatched to the border of the Land of Rivers. The mission scroll still spoke of "seeking clues," but it was effectively armed patrol and desperate defense.
At eleven, Sayo was still slight, but his cheeks had a healthy color and his eyes held a calm focus far older than his years. Constant sessions in the Body Tempering Furnace had pushed his chakra past Chūnin levels. His mastery of Magnet Release grew daily, his analytical mind treating the bloodline like a complex magnetic field problem.
Right now, he was guiding several upgraded "Spider" puppets through the River country undergrowth.
"Something's wrong," Captain Iryō signed. The team froze. "Too quiet—even the birds and beasts are gone."
Sayo closed his eyes, sharing the puppets' senses. His face tightened. "Captain, five kilometers southeast—massive Lightning Chakra flared. It's chaotic... not natural!"
"Southeast?" Iryō blinked. "That's the coast! What's happened to the village?"
As if answering, the emergency receiver at his hip shrieked—the highest-level alarm. Iryō flooded it with chakra. Through bursts of thunder and screaming, a voice was torn to shreds:
"…coastal line… breached! It's Cloud! Full-scale invasion! Enemy is the A-B Combination! Repeat—A-B Combination! Request—argh!!" A deafening blast cut the signal dead.
"The A-B Combination?!" Iryō, Xu (Jo), and Lucado went white. In the Ninja World, that name represented Kumogakure's peak might—A, son of the Third Raikage, and Killer B, the Eight-Tails Jinchūriki.
"They slipped the main war—their target is the village!" Iryō saw the trap: strike while Sunagakure was leaderless and hollow. "All missions aborted! Top speed—back to the village! Move!"
Without hesitation, Sayo recalled every scout puppet. The four shinobi became blurs of speed, tearing out of the jungle and racing for home.
As he ran, Sayo's fingers locked on the Sealing Scroll at his back—his newest work: the experimental "Mirage" Flight Platform and Combat Puppets. His mind raced, mapping Cloud's Lightning nature against his own Earth and Magnet Release. Lightning usually counters Earth, but magnetism... that was a different variable entirely.
Far ahead, twisted lightning tore the clouds; dull booms drummed like war-beats against every heart. The fires of the Third Great Ninja War had struck Sunagakure at last—brutal, unforeseen, and right over their heads.
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