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Late in the afternoon, Kushina sidled up to Shin and tapped his shoulder.
"Shin, now that you've joined Suikagakure, shouldn't we try expanding the place a bit?"
Kushina poked him in the side, looking rather annoyed.
"Got some bright ideas, Kushina?"
Shin cocked an eyebrow at her.
"If I did, I wouldn't be bothering you for a plan, would I?"
She huffed in frustration.
"I don't have a miracle fix either,"
Shin said, shrugging. In truth, calling this handful of people a "village" might be an overstatement.
They did build a settlement—Shin had used Wood Release to construct houses back then—but with no inhabitants, those buildings might as well be sprouting mushrooms by now.
"I thought you were the one with all the ideas,"
Kushina grumbled, folding her arms. She'd finally gotten Shin on board, but so far, he seemed about as motivated as Tsunade and Mikoto—which was to say, not at all.
Shin offered, mildly exasperated,
"if you want ordinary villagers, I could go scoop up a bunch right now—but is that what you really want?"
"I want Elite Shinobi,"
Kushina declared, nose in the air.
Shin gave a resigned sigh.
"Then I guess this place stays the same size forever. Without average civilians as a foundation, how's a village supposed to grow?"
Even average townspeople are a cornerstone of any hidden village. They provide fresh blood, an economy—basically everything you need to expand. Shin still had no clue what Kushina's plan was.
He changed the subject abruptly,
"By the way, I picked up some info: The Third Shinobi World War might spark off soon."
"Third Shinobi World War?" Tsunade frowned. For a moment, she looked puzzled.
"What are you talking about? The shinobi world's been pretty peaceful," Kushina said, eyeing him skeptically.
"Peaceful? Only on the surface. Beneath it, everything's a mess—it always is,"
Shin answered with a small chuckle.
Indeed, even in supposed times of "peace," hidden villages schemed in the shadows, each working their own agenda.
"So they spent only a few years rebuilding after the last war, and now they're eager to destroy each other all over again. Typical."
Mikoto murmured, shaking her head in dismay.
Konan fell silent. She was a war orphan, after all—the thought of another conflict made her uneasy.
Kushina, however, straightened her shoulders:
"If a war does break out, maybe we should…join in. Isn't it a chance to make Suikagakure known?"
She sounded strangely excited. After all, Suikagakure was practically unknown, so perhaps a war was the fastest way to gain notoriety.
Tsunade gave her a withering look, and Mikoto similarly folded her arms in disapproval.
Kushina turned back to Shin with questioning eyes, waiting for his take on the looming conflict.
"War hasn't fully erupted yet, Let's wait until it does. No need to rush." Shin said calmly.
'I've got bigger fish to fry'
He'd been finalizing a new Jutsu, something that demanded all his focus, and now it was nearly complete—especially with his mastery of Yin-Yang Release, he felt ready for the finishing touches.
Meanwhile, In Sunagakure.
"It's been half a month since the Third Kazekage disappeared. We can't hide his absence much longer,"
Chiyo muttered, frowning deeply. Turning to her brother, Ebizō, she added,
"The village is growing restless."
"We need to appoint a Fourth Kazekage soon, or things will only worsen."
They'd managed to keep word of the Kazekage's disappearance from spreading far, but more and more people had begun to suspect. And a good chunk of them suspected Konoha had something to do with it.
Half a month had passed since his disappearance—nobody believed he'd still be alive after vanishing for so long.
"Who in the world murdered him? Could it be Shin Uzumaki?"
At the name, Chiyo's expression darkened. She disliked even thinking about that "Reaper" of the Shinobi world.
Shin, after all, was the only person she knew capable of casually assassinating a Kage.
"No clue. But even if it was him—Suna can't hope to stand against Shin. He's only grown stronger over the years…"
Chiyo gritted her teeth. Indeed, if Shin truly had done it, attacking him would be suicidal.
"Then we'll simply pin the blame on Konoha. Whether it's true or not doesn't matter. As long as we accuse Konoha, we can rally the village," Ebizō suggested.
"You want to accuse Konoha? That'll mean another war," Chiyo muttered, albeit with grim acceptance.
"Today's Konoha isn't what it used to be—no Shin Uzumaki, no Tsunade, and no Sakumo Hatake…"
At that, Chiyo's features hardened. Ebizō inwardly cursed himself for bringing up Hatake Sakumo—Chiyo's son and daughter-in-law had died at his hands.
Unfortunately, Sakumo had taken his own life some years back, meaning Chiyo never got her revenge.
A snarl crept over her face:
"Fine. Let's do it. We proclaim that Konoha is behind the Third Kazekage's disappearance—and we rally for vengeance."
Soon after, Suna appointed the Fourth Kazekage—Rasa, father of the future Gaara. For now, Gaara wasn't even born.
Rasa had studied under the Third Kazekage, inheriting Magnet Release. While the Third specialized in Iron Sand, Rasa's specialty was Gold Dust.
Once Rasa was instated, he immediately led the Sand forces in a campaign "to avenge the Third Kazekage," launching a full-scale assault on the Land of Fire.
When news reached Hiruzen Sarutobi, he was flabbergasted.
"I expected Suna to make some noise, but to outright invade us…?"
But Konoha's intelligence suggested Suna was dead serious. Hiruzen mentally cursed that incompetent Kazekage who went missing, only for Suna to blame him.
Whatever the reason, the moment Suna's army invaded Land of Fire territory, the Third Shinobi World War officially began.
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