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Uchiha Madara scoured the desert in search of Loulan.
In the original movie, there was no clear indication of where Loulan was located within the Land of Wind. This left Madara with no leads to follow.
Initially, he assumed that Loulan would be a large city and thus easy to find. However, after flying across the vast expanse of the desert for an entire day, Madara had yet to locate it.
This was unsurprising given the sheer size of the Land of Wind. While the map made the country appear manageable, in reality, its actual area was immense. Even for someone like Madara, who could traverse the skies, it took an entire day to cross from one end of the desert to the other—let alone search for a small, hidden city amidst such desolation.
Madara grew irritated. Was the original movie entirely fictional? Unlike the main manga storyline, did the Land of Wind truly lack a city called Loulan?
Frustrated and restless, Madara decided to seek answers by interrogating others.
During his search, Madara encountered numerous Sand ninja. As locals, they might know where Loulan was hidden. Thus, Madara began questioning—or rather, assaulting—the Sand ninja he encountered along the way.
Of course, his method of "questioning" was far from gentle.
Whenever Madara spotted groups of Sand ninja below him—whether they were delivering reports, conducting reconnaissance, or transporting supplies—he would descend from the sky without warning and unleash a Shinra Tensei, knocking them unconscious on the spot.
Afterward, the process was simple. Activating his Rinnegan, Madara used its power to extract their souls and sift through their memories.
However, what drove Madara to near madness was the realization that Loulan indeed existed—but as a secluded city. It had cut itself off from the rest of the Land of Wind, and very few people knew its exact location within the desert.
Enraged, Madara resorted to absorbing the souls of as many Sand ninja as possible, hoping to glean useful information from their fragmented memories. Over the course of just a few days, Madara ambushed and interrogated dozens of Sand ninja squads, totaling over a hundred individuals.
Unsurprisingly, Madara's relentless attacks caught the attention of the Hidden Sand Village. The Sand sent out forces to hunt down the mysterious assailant, but how could they possibly locate someone like Madara, who could fly and vanish without a trace?
Meanwhile, the Hidden Sand Village was locked in fierce combat against the invading forces of the Hidden Leaf within the Land of Wind.
The invading Leaf shinobi force was led by the highly skilled White Fang of Konoha, Sakumo Hatake, with Tsunade, Orochimaru, and Jiraiya providing support.
Opposing them was the Sand's elite force, personally commanded by the Third Kazekage and supported by the renowned puppet master Chiyo.
The two armies were stationed at separate locations within the vast desert of the Land of Wind. Their camps were positioned at a distance that allowed for strategic coordination while still being close enough to respond swiftly to each other's actions.
As fate would have it, disaster struck the Hidden Sand Village, while the Hidden Leaf narrowly avoided calamity.
On this particular day, Madara, having searched fruitlessly for five days, was seething with frustration. He resolved that if he failed to find Loulan today, he would directly confront the Kazekage—or even the daimyo of the Land of Wind. Surely, the two most powerful figures in the Land of Wind must know something about Loulan's general location!
As for what might happen during this confrontation, Madara cared little. If the Kazekage or the daimyo refused to answer his questions, Madara vowed to turn the Hidden Sand Village and the entire Land of Wind upside down.
Little did he expect that, while flying above the desert, he would suddenly stumble upon an oasis. Nestled within this verdant refuge was a massive encampment of Sand shinobi!
No further explanation was needed. This was undoubtedly the main camp of the Sand's forces—and the Third Kazekage himself must be present. Surely, the Third Kazekage would know where Loulan was hidden!
Below, in the oasis, within the Sand's main camp, a young Chiyo pushed aside the tent flap and entered, her face etched with worry as she handed a scroll to the Third Kazekage.
"Lord Kazekage, this is already the sixteenth squad of our ninja who have gone missing in the past few days!"
The stern-faced Third Kazekage unrolled the scroll and read its contents, his brows furrowing deeply.
"This time, it was one of our reconnaissance squads. Last time, I believe it was a squad responsible for delivering battle reports, correct?"
"That's right," Chiyo confirmed. "And just like before, the bodies of the last missing squad were found in the desert. They showed no signs of injury—it's as though they simply dropped dead under mysterious circumstances!"
"Chiyo, how many of our ninja have died in this manner so far?"
"Lord Kazekage, a total of one hundred thirty-three."
Setting the scroll aside, the Third Kazekage's brow knitted into a deep frown.
"This cannot continue. At this rate, the very foundation of our Sand forces will be shaken. Our intelligence network, reconnaissance lines, and supply routes are all under grave threat. If this persists, we will collapse without even fighting!"
Chiyo slammed her hand onto the table, her voice laced with murderous intent.
"Whoever is using such underhanded tactics—it must be Konoha!"
The Third Kazekage shook his head, disagreeing with Chiyo's assertion.
"Not necessarily Konoha. According to our intelligence, both Sakumo Hatake, the White Fang of Konoha, and the Sannin—Tsunade, Orochimaru, and Jiraiya—have remained in their camp and shown no signs of engaging in combat recently.
Furthermore, the ability to completely annihilate an entire squad of ninja without leaving any trace of battle is beyond the capabilities of ordinary Konoha shinobi. Only someone like the White Fang or the combined efforts of the Sannin could achieve such a feat.
What troubles me more is the fact that none of the bodies of our fallen ninja bear any wounds.
This bizarre method of killing—it doesn't seem to be something Konoha is capable of."
Just as Chiyo was about to respond, a commotion erupted outside the tent. A bold, commanding voice rang out, unmistakably belonging to Uchiha Madara.
"Third Kazekage! Come out—I have something to ask you!"