Suna

Currently, while Araki was dealing with the Rinnegan, Gedo Statue and other things.

The whole Konoha was under military rule. As the Third Hokage wielded absolute authority right now, he didn't hesitate in enlisting many shinobi of the prestigious clans to the borders.

Hatake Kakashi, the son of Hatake Sakumo, the White Fang of Konoha. He was currently 5-years-old. A young age for someone to be graduating from the academy. Currently, he was assigned to the borders near Iwa while his father and mother were sent to the borders near Kumo.

It seemed that Konoha was truly on the ropes for them to be stationing mere children under the age of 6 on the battlefield.

If this was known to the founders of Konoha, they probably wouldn't have created this hidden village system. Instead of destroying the wars, this action had taken the wars to just another level.

Currently, although Konoha was at war against Iwa and Kumo, they still hadn't pulled out any big moves.

The Third Hokage was well aware that this wasn't the time to go on the offensive. It was to build up and let these young shinobi grow…

Only when they manage to increase their numbers would they have a chance in this war.

And while he was dealing with Iwa and Kumo, the Third Hokage didn't forget about Kiri. The chances of Kiri allying with Iwa and Kumo were not a lot, but it wouldn't be a bad idea to send them gifts and maintain good relations with them.

Kiri hadn't responded to any of these diplomatic gifts. They were simply strengthening their defences while maintaining neutrality.

This was already quite good for the Third Hokage. This was all he expected from the Third Mizukage.

And the next problem the Third Hokage encountered was… none other than Hanzo.

From Hanzo, he heard that Senju Araki had somehow teleported to the Amegakure and taken a small organization named Akatsuki under his wing.

This was somewhat out of his expectation. From what Hanzo had told him, it seemed that Araki had come to take away an Uzumaki Clan Member. Moreover, he took all the Akatsuki Members just as an addition.

Although the Third Hokage wasn't pleased with this move of Araki, he understood his character well enough. Araki could indeed make a move against Hanzo with such reasons.

The Third Hokage sent 60 or so Shinobi to Ame on the condition that they will remain under Hanzo's orders for the next decade. Hanzo could order them to do anything other than attack Konoha.

This was enough to calm down that man.

Although the situation was resolved, the Third Hokage couldn't let out a relieved breath yet. He felt like he had underestimated Senju Araki.

Senju Araki had grown strong enough to even shrug off Hanzo. The Third Hokage felt a significant threat from Araki. He was no longer as confident in dealing with him…

But he wasn't that worried… If worse came to worse and Senju Araki did raise his hand against Konoha, the Third Hokage was prepared to take him down with himself.

This was all that the Third Hokage was aware of. He was still not aware of Nagato's Rinnegan or Kurama roaming free in the land of fire and most importantly, the fact that Araki had sealed the husk of Juubi in his own body.

Perhaps no one in the world was aware of these three facts.

Currently, in Sunagakure, Orochimaru was having a meeting with the Third Kazekage. The Third Kazekage was curious about why the snake Sannin of Konoha would be in Sunagakure.

Moreover, it was quite strange that Suna's Shinobi managed to find Orochimaru. Although he didn't doubt the excellence of his shinobi, he was well aware that finding Orochimaru was a little beyond their capability.

This meant that the Snake Sannin wanted to be found… But for what reason?

Currently, Orochimaru was locked in a prison cell underground the village of Suna. His cell was quite special as they made sure he couldn't use chakra here. This was something even their seal masters were capable of.

Orochimaru though didn't appear to be worried. There was a mysterious smirk on his face even as he was in this place.

It was the Third Kazekage who spoke first, "Alright, you must talk now. Why did you appear in Suna? Have you betrayed Konoha and become a missing ninja?"

This was naturally one of the only possibilities that the Third Kazekage could think which would force Orochimaru to come here.

"Is there even a need to ask this question, Third Kazekage? Or do you think I am here to spy?" Orochimaru continued to talk with that smirk on his face which seemed to be annoying the Third Kazekage a little.

"With your skills, that might be possible. After all, the Third Hokage has still not listed you as a missing ninja." The Third Kazekage informed Orochimaru while coldly staring at him.

This fact didn't surprise Orochimaru one bit. In fact, this was entirely within his expectations.

"Sensei is quite intelligent. He doesn't want the world to know that I have broken all relations with Konoha. He wants to keep on the façade that the Three Sannin are reunited… Just like in the Second Shinobi War, we will display the power of our near-perfect teamwork." Orochimaru informed the Third Kazekage with a smirk.

"Then why did you leave Konoha? Leaving Konoha doesn't seem to pose any benefit to you." The Third Kazekage asked, a little confused at Orochimaru's words.

This question did make Orochimaru frown. In fact, he shivered for some reason. He remembered what he had seen during the time when he went to see Danzo.

"I appeared in Suna to meet you and convince you to attack Konoha." With that, Orochimaru gave his reason for coming here.

"For Suna to attack Konoha at this moment? If that was what you wanted, why didn't you meet me stealthily? For a ninja of your rank, it shouldn't be impossible, right?" The Third Kazekage asked with a confused expression.

To this, Orochimaru merely smiled and asked, "Tell me, Kazekage-dono, would you feel assured if I stealthily arrived to meet you? The only way you can even remain calm while talking to me is because I am behind these chakra sealing bars."

The Third Kazekage got angry at those words and flared his aura at Orochimaru, "Orochimaru! Don't go past your limits! Don't think for a moment that I am scared of your power! I can defeat you any day!"

Orochimaru shrugged off the pressure on himself and said, "Indeed, you are stronger than me in terms of chakra and maybe experience as well. But… if I want to kill you, I have multiple methods. Do you dare to try, Kazekage-dono?"

Now, this was where the Third Kazekage stopped retracted his aura. Although he didn't know how Orochimaru would achieve what he had claimed, it would be quite the foolishness to accept that dare.

The Third Kazekage knew that betting against someone of Orochimaru's calibre was pure foolishness.

He even had a faint idea that Orochimaru could leave this prison if he so wanted to.

"Why do you want me to attack Konoha?" The Third Kazekage finally asks this question from Orochimaru.

"It's because I am not safe in that village. If I remained there, I would have sooner or later lost my life. With the assistance of the Four Great Villages, nobody will be able to prevent Konoha's destruction." Orochimaru said confidently.

"Four? Even if Suna joins hands with you. It's unknown what the decision of Kiri would be. They might take advantage of this opportunity and assist Konoha at a crucial moment to deal a heavy blow to four of the Great Villages." The Third Kazekage said to Orochimaru, who simply shook his head.

"I have already talked about this with the Third Mizukage. He has given his agreement that as long as Suna agrees to attack Konoha, he would convince the Land of Water's Daimyo and lead Kiri's forces to attack Konoha as well. His reason is that he feels a massive threat from Senju Araki." Upon saying Araki's name, Orochimaru paused for some reason and took a deep breath. It was as if he was convincing himself that Araki couldn't hurt him right now. That he was safe here.