One Piece: I am Imu

Yahiko, Konan and Nagato followed Hanzō closely, running together through the desert.

Surrounding them were one hundred Amegakure shinobi tasked with their protection.

The reason for bringing only a small escort was simple: Hanzō deemed it unnecessary to mobilize the bulk of the village's forces.

After all, he was only there as reinforcements—regardless of victory or defeat, there was no need to risk too much.

If any serious trouble arose, he could simply take Yahiko and retreat swiftly.

Moreover, Amegakure still needed to retain enough shinobi to defend against other villages.

"Ugh, it's so hot..." Konan muttered as she ran, looking at the sun hanging over the desert.

Every ray of sunlight felt scorching, like searing flames raining down.

And it wasn't just her.

Everyone from Amegakure, including Hanzō, felt varying degrees of discomfort—the temperature here was simply too extreme for them.

"Endure it. Do your best to adapt. We'll be fighting soon, so you need to get used to this environment," Yahiko said in a serious tone.

Nagato nodded, fully understanding Yahiko's true intent. "Yeah. We'll take good care of ourselves."

"That's right! You don't need to worry about us, Yahiko!" Konan added firmly from the side.

Up ahead, Hanzō chuckled when he overheard the exchange between the three 'little ones' behind him.

"As long as you stay by this old man's side, nothing will happen to you."

He had good reason to be so confident.

Primarily because he had already learned that the one who had captured the Third Raikage—Crocodile—was no longer in Rōran.

So how could Rōran possibly stop them now?

After all, he considered himself somewhat stronger than the Third Raikage.

"Yahiko, how are things going between you and the Two-Tails?"

"Pretty well," Yahiko answered with a gentle smile. "It only looks fierce on the outside, but I can tell from its eyes—the Two-Tails is actually kind-hearted deep down."

Despite his calm response, Yahiko still didn't fully accept Hanzō as his sensei.

Not just because of Jiraiya-sensei, but also because they hadn't known each other long.

Of course—

He wasn't stupid enough to say such things out loud.

At that very moment—

Inside Yahiko's body, the large blue-flamed feline sealed within him was lying on the ground, resting with its eyes closed.

But when it heard those words—

It suddenly opened its eyes—

"What an amusingly naïve brat."

This kid had actually gone on and on about his ideals.

Talking nonsense about achieving world peace without relying on overwhelming violence.

And he had stared it straight in the eyes the entire time, completely unafraid.

To be honest—

The Two-Tails found it baffling. What do your ideals have to do with me?

It had even growled impatiently at him, viciously ordering him to shut up.

But to its surprise, Yahiko had completely ignored it and just kept talking.

What was worse—every word he spoke sounded so sincere, so earnest.

As if he were truly pouring his heart out to it.

And somehow, that actually struck a chord with the Two-Tails, whose real personality did somewhat resemble that of a gentle older sister.

Without even realizing it, it had gone quiet and started listening to Yahiko's words in silence.

That was roughly how Yahiko became a jinchūriki.

He had essentially persuaded the Two-Tails with nothing but honest eyes and heartfelt words.

Elsewhere, in Sunagakure—

Rasa, Chiyo, and the rest of the village's leadership had already learned about the large-scale invasion by Iwagakure and Kumogakure.

Naturally, over the past few days, they had made thorough preparations.

At this moment—

Every one of the Sunagakure elders, including the current Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, had their gaze fixed on the man sitting in the Kazekage's chair—

Crocodile.

"My lord, should we send help to Rōran..."

"Kuahaha... No need. Let them do as they please."

Crocodile grinned coldly.

Even he wasn't sure what kind of monster might still walk out of Rōran.

Compared to that, those Kumogakure idiots would've been better off coming here instead.

"Alright then. Since that so-called Third Tsuchikage has shown up, why don't you all go greet him? When the time is right, I'll make my move."

Crocodile had no intention of being the first to act.

Otherwise, what would have been the point of taking over Sunagakure?

What he really enjoyed was watching these shinobi tear each other apart.

It was also a good chance to see what tricks Iwagakure had up its sleeve.

He wasn't like a certain fool who only knew how to charge forward blindly, underestimating what the Shinobi World had to offer.

Couldn't even think straight, and yet dared to compete with him for the title of general?

What a joke!

...

The desert.

Ōishi was one of the few jōnin of Iwagakure, which was why he was appointed as the leader of the reconnaissance unit.

He had deployed a group of shinobi skilled in concealment, sensory, and scouting techniques like a tight, seamless fishing net cast across the region.

After setting up a relay station with ten shinobi responsible for transmitting intel, he went out alone to investigate.

Ōishi, taking advantage of his perfected camouflage, advanced at a pace far faster than the other scouts toward Sunagakure's direction.

But out of caution for the sand-based traps Suna shinobi often employed, he could only proceed briskly, not at a run.

"As expected, those bastards are as despicable and sinister as ever!"

Ōishi narrowed his eyes, staring at a patch of sand barely a meter ahead. Under the sunlight, he spotted a few faint glints of cold light.

Definitely senbon. And no doubt coated with poison.

He dared not take another step forward—who knew how many other traps lay hidden in this area? Those senbon might just be a warning, or bait.

Ōishi wasn't wrong.

The scouts he'd sent ahead had already died in numerous locations, falling to traps under various circumstances.

In truth, Iwagakure's reconnaissance unit was blazing a trail with blood—each safe route carved out at the cost of many lives.

[Boom!]

Suddenly, Ōishi heard an explosion in the distance.

"Someone probably stepped on an explosive tag," he muttered.

However, what unfolded next left Ōishi—and every Iwagakure shinobi—utterly bewildered.

[Boom, boom, boom, boom...]

Since that first explosion, it was as if an overture had begun.

Explosions erupted one after another, booming across the battlefield. Towering pillars of fire stunned many of the Iwagakure shinobi into a daze.

"Have the Suna shinobi lost their minds?"

Kitsuchi stood atop a towering sand dune, surveying the reconnaissance unit desperately struggling amid the flames and shockwaves.

A jonin suggested to Kitsuchi in a serious tone: "Captain Kitsuchi, I suggest we pull the reconnaissance unit back. Let me lead a thousand men forward to clear out any potential traps and explosives with a joint ninjutsu attack!"

"Hmm..."

Kitsuchi considered for a moment, then finally nodded.

"Do it. There's no need to waste more of our comrades' lives exhausting Suna's traps. It seems they really are fighting for their lives."

Although Sunagakure was the poorest among the Five Great Shinobi Villages, it was still one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages.

He didn't dare bet on how many explosive tags they had stockpiled.

Soon after the order was given, the surviving members of the reconnaissance unit breathed a collective sigh of relief.

They didn't dare push forward any further and quickly turned back, racing toward the main camp at full speed.

Along the way, the sight of their comrades' shattered remains strewn across the ground left their faces pale and cold sweat dripping down their backs.

It wasn't the deaths that unsettled them—it was the sheer brutality of how they had died.

At the same time—

The jonin led a thousand Iwagakure genin, arranged in a neat battle line, to kneel at the front.

"Earth Release: Tearing Earth Turning Palm!!!"

Over a thousand shinobi shouted in unison, slamming their palms onto the scorching surface of the sand.

The next moment—

With a rumbling roar—

The vast sea of yellow sand before them began to tremble violently, crisscrossed by twisting fractures that made the surrounding dunes collapse like flowing water.

But that wasn't the important part.

The important part was that, with the shaking of the sand, wave after wave of explosions erupted.

[Boom, boom, boom, boom...]

Explosions flared one after another, the flames roaring so fiercely that it seemed as if the entire desert had been set ablaze.

Every single Iwagakure shinobi was left utterly stunned.

How was this possible?

How could Sunagakure have this many explosive tags?!

How many explosive tags did they even have?!

Meanwhile, the lucky reconnaissance unit members who had managed to escape wore faces full of lingering fear—had they continued advancing, they would have been dead for sure!

"Could there be even more explosive tags buried ahead?"

On the sand dune, Kitsuchi muttered under his breath, his expression grave.

Were they going to have to clear a path using joint ninjutsu all the way to Sunagakure?

If it came to that—

By the time they reached Sunagakure's gates, their forces would be exhausted and unable to fight.

Their chakra would have been nearly depleted.

How were they supposed to wage battle then?

Kitsuchi found himself in a serious dilemma.

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