Konoha, reported by the Fourth Hokage at the start.

Chapter 248 Feng Ying is dead, I killed him.

In the blink of an eye.

Three days have passed.

Watanabe was getting anxious in the consultant's office at the Kazekage Building.

"Is there still no news about the Third Kazekage?"

Watanabe's face was gloomy, and if you looked closely, there was a hint of fear in his eyes.

The Sunagakure ANBU member standing in front of Watanabe replied, "The ANBU has not yet received a reply from the Third Kazekage."

The Third Kazekage has been away from the village for ten days, heading towards the Daimyo Prefecture.

Logically speaking, they should have arrived in Daming Prefecture five days ago. Even if there were delays along the way, they should have arrived two days ago.

Upon arriving in Daimyo Prefecture, the Third Kazekage would send a message back to the village to let them know he was safe, so that they wouldn't be caught off guard if something happened.

This was agreed upon beforehand.

As a result, five days had passed since the scheduled arrival time, and they still hadn't received a reply from the Third Kazekage.

Especially now, the clay explosion technique expert that Feng Xing mentioned, who killed the Third Mizukage, is in the Land of Wind.

With the Third Kazekage now out of contact, Watanabe couldn't help but wonder if there was a possibility he didn't want to see.

"Quickly, notify all members of the Anbu to search for the Third Kazekage in both directions, using the route from the village to the Daimyo's residence as the center, until there is any news of the Third Kazekage."

Watanabe's expression hardened. He couldn't wait any longer. He immediately made a decision to mobilize all the members of the Anbu to search for the Third Kazekage.

"Yes, sir."

The ANBU ninja accepted the order and withdrew.

Soon, all members of the Anbu, including those on missions outside, will receive orders to search for the Third Kazekage's whereabouts.

"Three days!"

Watanabe sat back down at his desk, tapping his index finger on the surface with a furrowed brow.

The secret service only has three days.

Three days passed, and there was still no news of the Third Kazekage. He could only inform all the ninjas in the village that the Third Kazekage had disappeared and mobilize everyone to search for him.

When will it be... Damn it!

Why didn't Nanjiro and his gang act sooner? Even if they didn't kill Fengxing, they could have forced him to defect.

Now things are really messed up; the person has most likely been killed by that mysterious powerful figure beforehand.

Now that the Third Kazekage has gone missing, if the Third Kazekage cannot be found, the village will inevitably have to re-elect the Fourth Kazekage.

At that time, Feng Xing, who is still alive and well, will undoubtedly be the only candidate for the fourth Kazekage.

Because Sasori of the Red Sand, the grandson of Chiyo, who was most likely to threaten Kazekage's chances of becoming the Fourth Kazekage, also disappeared along with the Third Kazekage.

Of the three major families, only Rasa, who has some reputation left, has just mastered Magnet Release and is far from being able to pose a threat to Kaze.

"hateful!"

The thought of all this made Watanabe feel a surge of irritation.

"Are we really just going to watch that brat Fengxing become the Kazekage?"

"No, I will never allow a commoner ninja to sit on top of my clan."

"New Two".

After Watanabe's face contorted in a ferocious expression, he immediately summoned Shinji, who was standing outside the door.

"My lord," Shinji said respectfully as he entered.

"What has Fengxing been doing these past three days? Has anything unusual happened?" Watanabe asked.

"Reporting, sir," Shinji said, "For the past three days, Fengxing has been meeting with his supporters every night, including as many as twenty Jonin."

"What! Twenty Jonin!" Watanabe was shocked, but then felt a deep sense of dread.

The number of Jonin is a basic standard for measuring the strength of a ninja village. Twenty Jonin is a number that most of the small countries and hidden villages in the ninja world combined might not be able to muster.

This shows the significance of twenty Jonin.

Moreover, these twenty Jonin also have some close ninjas. If all these people are included, Kazekage has already gathered a terrifying force in Sunagakure.

No.

We can't let this guy continue like this any longer; we must force him to defect from the village immediately.

The Third Kazekage has conveniently gone missing, so we can link this to Kazekage and frame him, implying that he attacked the Third Kazekage in collusion with that mysterious clay explosion ninja in order to become the Fourth Kazekage as soon as possible.

If Fengxing objects, then make him undergo a memory probe.

Fengxing would definitely not dare to accept memory probing.

In this way, they would have a reason to take action, and others would also blame Kazeki for the Third Kazekage's disappearance and the deaths of Nanjiro and the others.

"Perfect! Why didn't I think of that sooner?"

Watanabe was secretly delighted. Although Chiyo and Ebizo were not around, his pressure on Fuuki would surely cause chaos in Sunagakure, and many people would die.

But what does it matter?

No matter how strong Feng Xing is, he is not as powerful as all the ninjas of the ten major clans combined.

As long as Feng Xing is killed and the position of Feng Ying is returned to the hands of the three major families, then everything will be worthwhile.

Just as Watanabe was about to reveal his plan, Shinji added, "By the way, sir, five of those twenty Jonin are from three of the seven great clans outside of the three great clans."

Ah… Watanabe’s pupils contracted upon hearing this. He opened his mouth but couldn’t utter a word, staring at Shinji with a shocked expression.

"impossible!"

"How could they...?"

Watanabe suddenly fell silent. He had originally intended to say that the ten great clans were all of one mind and ruled Sunagakure together, so they had no reason to support Kazekage, a mere commoner.

But then it suddenly occurred to him.

The position of Kazekage has always been held by the three major families. Even without Sasori of the Red Sand, Rasa is still a member of one of the three major families.

From beginning to end, none of the seven major families besides the three major families had any chance of getting their hands on the Wind Shadow.

It's likely that the seven major families have long harbored resentment towards the three major families, or perhaps they also covet the position of Wind Shadow.

Thinking about it this way, it's not surprising that some of the seven major families support Fengxing.

"This is troublesome!"

Those guys might not dare to help Fengxing take action against their three major families, but they obviously won't help them deal with Fengxing either.

In this way, the balance of power was immediately reversed. Even if the supporters of Fengxing were not as powerful as the three major families combined, the three major families could not afford the consequences of a complete break.

"this……"

After some thought, Watanabe slumped down, his earlier fierce determination instantly extinguished by a bucket of cold water, and his plan to force Feng Xing into a corner was shattered in an instant.

"Go ahead and keep an eye on the Third Kazekage and Chiyo's replies." Watanabe waved his hand, dismissing Shinji.

The only option now is to find the Third Kazekage.

If the Third Kazekage returns, given his age, he can still suppress Kazekage for at least another ten years.

Ten years is a long time; many unexpected things can happen.

However, the first unexpected event sent a chill down Watanabe's spine.

three days later.

Chiyo and Ebizo returned with two ANBU squads, bringing with them news that the Third Kazekage had most likely perished.

Of course, this is just speculation.

Chiyo returned to say that the Third Kazekage had gone missing and that all the village's ninjas needed to search for him.

However, Watanabe knew that the Third Kazekage was most likely gone.

He had already obtained relevant information from the ANBU ninjas who accompanied Chiyo.

Chiyo and the others followed the route taken by the Third Kazekage and finally found traces of the Third Kazekage's battle with someone in a small oasis.

Although the battlefield has been dealt with accordingly.

However, the large-scale use of iron sand by the Third Kazekage was not so easy to handle cleanly.

Clearly, the Third Kazekage engaged in a battle with a powerful opponent in that small oasis.

The fact that the Third Kazekage was forced to use Magnet Release: Iron Sand Manipulation, which covers a radius of two kilometers, demonstrates the enemy's strength.

With such a powerful enemy, and considering what Fengxing said, Watanabe couldn't possibly guess that the one fighting the Third Kazekage was the mysterious clay explosion ninja that Fengxing had mentioned who killed the Third Mizukage.

Chiyo and her group searched the surrounding area for a long time but could not find the body of the Third Kazekage.

This could be good news, but it could also be bad news.

Because Chiyo's grandson also disappeared.

Later, news came from the village that the Third Kazekage had not arrived at the Daimyo's residence.

After gathering a wealth of information, a reality that devastated Chiyo emerged in her mind.

But she refused to accept this reality. Upon returning to the village, her first thought was to mobilize the village's ninjas to search for the Third Kazekage and her grandson.

The whole village is now in an uproar because of the Third Kazekage.

"No need to look for him, your Third Kazekage is already dead. I killed him."

Just as everyone in the village was excitedly preparing to search for the Third Kazekage, a voice resounded throughout Sunagakure through a loudspeaker.

(End of this chapter)