Rasa had finally received the reinforcements from Konoha.
And the moment he saw Kagetsu's figure among them, the heavy tension in his heart finally eased.
Because the Hollow Plague had already started to spread.
Signs of Hollows had begun appearing in multiple areas.
These Hollows were like parasites, spreading outward from the oases scattered across the Land of Wind.
The origin point had already been confirmed — the ancient city of Rōran, the starting node of the Ryūmyaku vein. But even knowing that… what difference did it make?
Could they even shut down the Ryūmyaku vein?
And if they did, would the Hollows vanish immediately?
Where exactly did these Hollows come from? Were they truly from the Pure Land?
These past few days, Rasa not only had to worry about attacks from the Hollows, but also a deep sense of unease.
After all, the alliance with Konoha had bound the two villages' interests tightly together.
Any disruption now would shake everything to the core.
If the Land of Wind fell into decline again because of the Hollows, all of their progress would be undone, and they'd be back to square one.
"What are these?"
Kagetsu was momentarily speechless as he stared at the rows of pyramids outside the oasis, each one inscribed with sealing tags.
"They're Hollows that have been sealed away," Rasa replied with a sigh.
Sunagakure, which had only just begun to recover, had taken more damage from this latest disaster.
Thankfully, there had been some time to prepare.
If this had hit right after the Third Great Ninja War, the Sand Village might have been wiped off the map—or worse, removed from the ranks of the Five Great Ninja Villages entirely.
The last Kazekage?
That was not a title anyone wanted.
"So the creatures sealed in here... they're the Hollows?"
A bright, energetic female voice sounded behind Kagetsu. Before anything else, what caught the eyes of Rasa and the others was a head of vivid blood-red hair.
"Kushina, is that you? How's Naruto doing? Both Gaara and Karura were hoping he could come visit again sometime," Rasa said, visibly relieved by her appearance.
Although he hadn't yet seen Minato, if Kushina had already left the village, then there was no doubt—Minato would surely be with her as well.
Over the past few years, ties between Konoha and Sunagakure had grown stronger.
The leadership of both villages had frequent interactions, and there was even regular exchange of promising young ninja for cross-village training.
Karura had a difficult childbirth back then, but she was saved by Konoha's medical ninja.
Later, to recover her health, she went to Konoha for a period of rest.
During her stay in Konoha, Tsunade helped adjust her condition. She also became familiar with Kushina and also her child with Minato, Naruto.
"Naruto was sent to Mikoto's place, with Sasuke. This time, it's not for a visit," Kushina explained.
Her mood was somewhat uplifted. Although she was quite stable now, being able to leave the village always made her feel better.
Rasa nodded. He knew who Mikoto and Sasuke were — the wife and child of the Uchiha clan leader, and a child with great ninja talent.
The younger brother of Uchiha Itachi, a disciple of Kagetsu!
"Did you not receive the information from Pakura?" Kagetsu asked as the two finished their greetings and walked toward the oasis together.
"I did, but the problem can't be solved," Rasa said with a bitter smile.
The understanding of Hollows by ninjas was still shallow. When he first saw the appearance of a Hollow and personally felt that familiar power, he almost suspected the Cloud ninja were playing tricks again!
After all, besides Konoha, the only ninja village using Hollow power was the Hidden Cloud! And the Cloud had a record!
"Roran has already become what you called a 'Concentrated Spirit Zone.' After discussing with Queen Sara, she temporarily relocated the citizens of Roran to other oases."
"Are there many Hollows in Roran?" Kagetsu asked hoarsely.
Since Roran had relocated its citizens, it seemed the area was too dangerous.
"It's just a cautious move," Rasa explained, seeing Kagetsu's expression and guessing his thoughts. He shook his head. "Ninjas with chakra are the primary targets of the Hollows. Ordinary people are mostly just affected indirectly for now."
"But since Roran is like a powder keg, it's best to move people nearby to reduce casualties before solving the powder keg problem."
Kagetsu nodded, agreeing with Rasa's reasoning.
Roran's relationship with the Hidden Sand was also good, especially because Queen Sara, who had the power to control the Ryūmyaku vein, was cared for by the Sand ninja.
"Before coming here, Orochimaru-sensei asked me to prepare some intelligence about the Hollows. This is top secret, but since the Hollows have appeared and are causing havoc, threatening the real world, it's only right to share some information. After all, the Hidden Sand and Konoha are close allies."
In the oasis camp, Kagetsu unrolled a scroll and handed it to Rasa while speaking.
Rasa carefully took the scroll, opened it, and read it with focus, not answering Kagetsu immediately.
After he finished reading the information about Hollows on the scroll in his hand, his expression grew particularly heavy.
"Could it actually be related to the Pure Land, or rather the Hueco Mundo? So, does that mean these Hollows represent lost souls?"
Rasa felt the scroll in his hand weigh heavily.
Although the content on the scroll explained the origin and the place where Hollows exist, the information was so shocking that even now, after finishing it, he still felt a bit dazed.
"That understanding is not wrong, but it's more complicated. Although both the Hueco Mundo and the Pure Land are places for souls to go, the Hueco Mundo is not peaceful at all.
A long time ago, we discovered the existence of the Hueco Mundo through a forbidden jutsu from the Second Hokage and conducted some limited research on it.
The Hollow Mask was an experimental product of that research. We realized the power of the Hollows, or rather, another form of energy different from chakra but of a higher quality. We tried to use and control it, but the technology was immature then.
The Hollow Mask created far exceeded what a ninja's mind could bear. It was a power even more dangerous than natural energy."
Kagetsu explained this without hesitation, casually putting some blame on the Second Hokage again.
It seemed the Second Hokage either knew and didn't care or was too absorbed in his research to pay attention.
His main body was always lost in studies, while his sub-body was active in the Land of Water, tracking people like Madara, Zetsu, and Uchiha Setsuna, ignoring everything else.
"So, you don't have a good solution for Hollows either, and still need to rely on sealing techniques?" Rasa's heart sank.
The Hollow disaster was clearly a long-term problem. If sealing was the only solution, then many ninjas skilled in sealing would need to be trained.
But ninjas who are talented in sealing and effective enough are at least at the Chunin level.
And Chunin are already the backbone of a great ninja village!
"No, no, no. We developed another set of jutsu to convert the Hollow power and effectively harm them," Kagetsu shook his head slowly, speaking under Rasa's astonished gaze.
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