Chapter 244: Sand Village
Sand Village.
Located in the barren desert, the land is poor, and the environment is extremely harsh.
Thus, it could be said that barren mountains and turbulent rivers breed unruly people.
—Alright, Sakura admitted that this was all her own prejudice.
However, in her impression, the ninja of the Sand were quite fierce, including the blonde girl Temari she had met a few days ago.
Not to mention Kankuro, Gaara, and Baki. Their eyes were fiercer and more sinister than the last, and their killing intent was colder and gloomier than the next.
On the way from Konoha to the Sand Village, the closer she got to the desert, the more Haruno Sakura could feel this unique temperament belonging to the desert people.
Rough and tough.
"From here on, we've already crossed the border of the Land of Wind," Shino said, after walking to the top of a small hill after several days of trekking through the wilderness since leaving the Hokage Tower.
From here on, the scenery gradually became desolate. The land was not covered by vegetation. When the wind blew, it brought with it a dry breath and coarse sand, which hit their faces, stinging their skin.
"The Land of Wind... is it such a barren place?" Haruno Sakura asked, while pulling the hand of Yūzuki, who had begun to pant, and helping her up to the top of the hill.
"Otherwise, why do you think they would think of invading Konoha?" Shino said with a shrug. He looked back at the somewhat tired Yūzuki, shook his head, and added, "Yūzuki, although you are a genjutsu-type ninja, you can't fall too far behind in terms of stamina! As an Anbu, you will often encounter such arduous missions. It's not acceptable to not have good stamina!"
Terumi panted heavily, unable to speak, and just nodded to show that she had heard.
On the contrary, Sakura, who was supporting her, spoke up for Terumi. "Shino, Yūzuki-san is a new recruit who has just joined the Anbu. It's very normal that she can't keep up with this intensity of a forced march!"
After all, she and Terumi were neighbors. Of course, she had to side with her.
Having moved together for these few days, Sakura's impression of her had changed greatly. Before, they hadn't had much contact, and she had thought she was that kind of very cold girl. Only now did she know that she was actually just shy and not good with words.
Upon closer inspection, this short-haired young lady was also quite cute. If she had long hair, she might have been another goddess-level beautiful older sister.
It was just that in the world of Naruto, a pretty appearance didn't mean much. Shino hadn't even noticed what she looked like at all. After watching Yūzuki's combat assessment that day, his only evaluation of this girl was "mediocre."
As unremarkable as a passerby.
"Forget it, let's rest for a bit!" Shino said, looking at the sweat-drenched hair on Yūzuki's forehead and sighing. He took out his dry rations and distributed them to the two girls. "Eat something and replenish your stamina."
The three of them sat down, rested for a while, and chatted for a bit.
It was mostly Shino and Sakura talking, and Yūzuki listening.
However, after getting familiar with each other, she was not as reserved as she had been at the beginning, and she could occasionally interject a sentence or two. This kind of long-brewed words was often sharp and to the point, with a unique insight.
The topic quickly turned to the mission this time.
"This mission, I feel there's something strange about it!" Sakura said, her mouth full of an energy pill, her speech a little slurred.
"Hn, I think," Yūzuki, who was eating her dry rations in small bites like a squirrel, glanced at the two of them, swallowed the food in her mouth, and also said, "The biggest problem is, why are we allowed to cross the border into the Land of Wind's territory to do a mission!"
Her question... was very sharp.
At the same time, hundreds of kilometers away from Squad 14, in the Kazekage's building in the Sand Village, in a top-secret meeting room.
Someone had also raised the same question.
"Why are Konoha's ninja allowed to cross the border into the Land of Wind's territory to do a mission!"
The speaker was Baki, an elite Jonin with a high status in the Sand. He slammed the table and sternly questioned the people in front of him.
The reason Baki was sitting here was that the Fourth Kazekage had been assassinated, and the Sand Village, which was without a leader, could only temporarily push him to the position of temporary leader to preside over the overall situation.
It was just that both Baki himself and the other Sand-nin knew very well in their hearts that in terms of either strength or prestige, Baki was not qualified to take on the position of Kazekage. The Sand Village was actually in a state of collective leadership by the higher-ups. There was no Lord Kazekage with a commanding presence and enough prestige to suppress the masses.
In the world of ninja, this kind of democracy was not a good thing! It meant that the Sand-nin did not have a powerhouse strong enough to protect them...
Right now, although Baki's face was gloomy, so much so that it was as if water could drip from it, and he was reprimanding the Sand elders in front of him in a stern voice, the few high-ranking Sand-nin did not even raise their eyelids, their faces unchanged, completely disregarding Baki's words.
"Allowing Konoha to bring more than 30 Anbu into the Sand Village is already a huge concession," Baki said coldly, sweeping his gaze over the high-ranking Sand officials sitting at the table. "To allow them to carry out missions in our country again, what dignity do we, the Sand Village, have left as one of the five great ninja villages?!"
For the five great villages, a cross-border mission was a very sensitive matter. After all, ninja were the main units of war. None of the five great nations would sit back and watch the ninja from the other four great villages enter their own borders to cause trouble, regardless of whether he was here to complete a mission commission, or just on the surface he was here to complete a mission commission...
It was still fine for allies like Konoha and the Sand Village. An occasional one or two cross-border incidents could be accepted. But for Konoha to dispatch Anbu into the Land of Wind in such a high-profile manner, it was a bit like a certain world police in her previous life dispatching troops into another country to maintain peace!
However—
"As a defeated nation, we, who have been greatly weakened and are just barely surviving, have long since had no dignity as one of the five great nations to speak of!" an elder with a wrinkled face said, cruelly revealing the facts. "Allowing the Konoha Anbu to enter the Land of Wind is also a last resort! Do we, the Sand Village, have the confidence to refuse them?"
"The Sand Village is not Konoha's dog. We don't need to be subservient to them!"
"Extremely foolish! In the ninja world, if the weak want to survive, they can only be humble to the strong. What's more, what right do you have to say such a thing, Baki? Don't forget, you are only the temporary leader of the Sand! Before, as a Jonin Squad Leader and a Kazekage guard, you were by the Kazekage's side every day, yet you didn't even notice that the Kazekage was being impersonated by Orochimaru! The fact that our village has fallen to this state today, Baki, you also have a responsibility!"
He stood up and pointed his finger at Baki's nose.
"Enough, Ebizō. It's all in the past. Now is not the time to argue about responsibility. We are not here to quarrel!" an old female elder next to him suddenly stood up, pulled Ebizō's hand down, her cloudy old eyes still vaguely showing the sharpness of her youth. "And Baki, you sit down too."
Ebizō was stunned for a moment, looked back at the person who had pulled him, suppressed his anger, and sat down. "I know, old sister."
"Yes, Lady Chiyo!" Baki also lowered his eyelids and obediently sat down with the posture of a junior. The tense atmosphere in the meeting room then eased a little.
Granny Chiyo glanced at Baki and Ebizō, then also sat down and said slowly, "If we are to talk about responsibility, everyone sitting here, including me and Ebizō who are in seclusion, has an unshirkable responsibility for the current state of the village!"
She and Ebizō were the only remaining high-level figures in the village who had lived from the time of the Third Kazekage until now. They were already old and in a state of seclusion from the world. But both their prestige and their strength were extremely high. After the Sand Village had received the intelligence on the Akatsuki shared by Konoha, they had felt that the matter was serious and had decided to invite them out of their retirement.
This old woman, who was cold on the outside but warm on the inside, although she had repeatedly said that everything about the Sand Village was no longer her business, when she had learned of the village's plight, she had still dragged her old bones and stood up.
Several of the elders and advisors sighed almost imperceptibly upon hearing this.
"But now is not the time to pursue responsibility, but a time for the Sand Village to unite as one and forge ahead. No one can hold the village back at this time! Since the matter of allowing the Konoha Anbu to enter the Land of Wind has already been decided, let's not argue about this topic anymore. Let's just carry it out with all our strength," Chiyo said in a deep voice.
At this time, a much younger, middle-aged advisor stood up and said in a clear voice, "Let me explain. Our core area has not been opened to Konoha. We have only allowed their Anbu to investigate for dangers in the peripheral cities of the Land of Wind. Although it is a bit of a loss of face as one of the five great ninja villages, it is also a matter of necessity."
"This is also to show the outside world that our Sand Village and Konoha are still mutually trusting allies. Of course, the fact that Konoha has sent out elite Anbu to check their route of travel actually shows that Konoha is full of distrust for us Sand-nin!"
Chiyo lowered her eyelids, her gaze fixed on her nose, her nose on her heart, and said faintly, "It can't be helped. Who told us to tear up the treaty first and attack Konoha? It's very normal for them to be wary of us. Trust needs to be built up step by step. Our making such a big concession this time is also to show Konoha that we do not have any unfavorable intentions towards them... However, I still insist on my point of view. An alliance is the most unreliable thing. Konoha cannot be completely trusted..."
"Baki, can you understand what I'm saying?"
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