Teizawa had just returned to the Kazekage's office.
He pushed the door open and had not even had time to sit down before Temari followed him inside.
She wore a fitted Suna uniform.
Her long blond hair shone softly in the sunlight, and her green eyes were bright with excitement.
A scroll was clutched in her hand.
Her steps were so light she seemed to be walking on clouds.
Teizawa turned and looked at her lively expression, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly.
"What's the good news?"
Temari walked up to him and handed over the scroll.
But she did not let go.
Instead, she used the motion to lean into his arms and tilted her face up to look at him.
"News from the Anbu… Following the intelligence you provided, they found what appears to be a ruin of the Sky Ninja Village in the forests northwest of the Land of Hot Water."
Teizawa's eyes lit up.
The Sky Ninja Village…
That mysterious organization that had quietly rebuilt itself after being destroyed by Konoha.
They possessed flight technology far beyond this era.
That flying fortress, along with the aerial weapons capable of carrying ninja into battle.
He had been thinking about them for a long time.
Ever since he took over Suna, he had dispatched the Anbu to search throughout the Land of Wind for traces of the Sky Ninja Village.
There had never been any results.
He had not expected the wait to finally end today.
He wrapped an arm around Temari's waist.
Then he took the scroll from her hand, unfurled it, and quickly scanned the words written across the page.
The ruin was located roughly three hundred li northwest of the Land of Hot Water.
It was buried beneath a stretch of jungle-covered wreckage.
The entrance was extremely well hidden.
If they had not searched according to the information he had provided, there was almost no chance anyone would have found it.
"Excellent." Teizawa closed the scroll, tucked it away, and lowered his head to kiss Temari on the forehead. "This news came at exactly the right time."
Temari's cheeks flushed faintly. She shot him a reproachful look, but did not push him away.
"Who are you planning to send? Gaara? Or Deidara?"
Teizawa shook his head.
"I'm going myself."
Temari froze, then straightened in his arms.
Her green eyes were full of surprise.
"You're going yourself? For a place in the middle of nowhere like that, wouldn't it be enough to send any capable ninja? You're the Kazekage. How can you—"
"You don't understand."
Teizawa cut her off, cupping her face in both hands. His gaze was serious and unwavering.
"That ruin is far more valuable to me, and to Suna, than you can imagine."
"The report says there are large amounts of metal wreckage and mechanical structures beneath the ruins, suspected to be parts of some kind of large aircraft. If that really is the Sky Ninja Village's aerial base…"
There were some things he did not say aloud.
Even setting Shinnō and the so-called Zero-Tails aside…
That aerial base possessed a laser cannon with destructive power comparable to a Tailed Beast Ball.
A strategic weapon like that.
And in the original timeline, no one had coveted it?
It was absurd.
He did not continue, but Temari already understood.
Although she was not a puppeteer, she still knew enough.
She had seen the power of Kankurō's steel puppets.
If there truly was a flying aerial base…
Suna's military strength would immediately double.
An aerial base was not merely a mobile fortress.
It was a strategic deterrent.
With it, Suna would no longer have to read anyone's expression or bow to anyone's pressure.
"I'll go with you."
Temari's voice was soft, but firm.
Teizawa smiled and pulled her back into his arms.
"All right."
Sunlight poured in through the blinds.
It fell across them both.
On the floor, their shadows joined in a warm patch of light.
In the distance came the familiar bustle of Suna: vendors calling out their wares, children laughing, ninja training.
Everything was peaceful. Everything was proceeding in proper order.
Teizawa suddenly leaned down and whispered something beside Temari's ear.
Temari froze, her face turning red.
In the quiet office, the moment softened into intimacy, leaving the matters of state briefly outside the door.
By the time the room had settled again, Teizawa was leaning back in his chair.
His fingers tapped lightly against the armrest, and his gaze rested on the sky outside the window, now dyed red by the setting sun.
The light in the office gradually dimmed.
Temari remained close beside him, her breathing still not entirely steady.
"Any word on Naruto?"
Teizawa's voice was low, as though he were afraid of disturbing something.
Temari shook her head.
"They're still searching. Jiraiya took him out to train, and their whereabouts keep changing."
"The Anbu have already sent out three teams. The last report came half a month ago. They were said to have been seen near the border of the Land of Rice Fields, but by the time our people caught up, they had already left."
Teizawa nodded slightly, but said nothing.
Of course, he was not merely looking for Naruto.
He was looking for the eye hidden inside Naruto…
The other Mangekyō Sharingan of Shisui, the one Itachi had concealed within Naruto.
Shisui had possessed two eyes in total.
One was in Teizawa's hands.
The other was inside Naruto.
In the original plot, Itachi had set that eye to activate Kotoamatsukami automatically when it saw his own Sharingan.
It had been meant to protect Sasuke from being threatened.
But Itachi was not dead yet.
That eye was still dormant.
If Teizawa could get his hands on it…
"Keep searching." Teizawa's voice was as calm as if he were commenting on the weather. "You must find him."
Temari nodded.
A faint sound of acknowledgment escaped her.
She had been with Teizawa long enough to grow used to his way of thinking.
The things he searched for were never ordinary.
Naruto had the Nine-Tails inside him and was one of the Akatsuki's targets.
She knew that much.
But what Teizawa wanted did not seem to be just the Nine-Tails.
She did not ask, because she knew there would be no answer even if she did.
If it was something he should tell her, he would naturally tell her.
"There's one more thing." Temari's brows drew together slightly. "The ruins of Rōran have been found. But Rōran's people have already migrated elsewhere."
Teizawa narrowed his eyes and said nothing.
Rōran…
That ancient kingdom forgotten deep in the desert.
It possessed the legendary Ryūmyaku.
In the original plot, the Ryūmyaku was an enormous chakra source capable of reversing time.
It had been sealed by the Fourth Hokage, Minato.
Later, Mukade used it and nearly caused a distortion in space-time.
Teizawa had little interest in traveling through time.
Something like that was too dangerous and unstable.
Besides, who knew what kind of wretched place it might throw him into?
But he was very interested in the Ryūmyaku itself.
That was a near-limitless chakra energy source.
If it could be extracted in a stable way, Suna would not have to worry about development for the next several hundred years.
"Have them keep searching." Teizawa's fingers tapped the armrest twice. "No matter what method they use, find the surviving people of Rōran for me."
He remembered very clearly.
To activate the Ryūmyaku's key, they had to find the bloodline of Rōran's queen.
Temari nodded.
She hesitated for a moment, but still asked the question.
"Aze, what exactly are you looking for? Naruto, Jiraiya, Rōran… Is there some connection between all these things?"
Teizawa looked at her, confidence gleaming in those deep eyes.
He was silent for a moment.
Then he smiled.
"You don't need to know that much. You only need to know…"
"Everything I do is for Suna."
He paused. "And for us."
Temari's face flushed faintly.
She did not ask anything more.
Teizawa gazed at the darkening sky outside the window.
Shisui's other eye. The Ryūmyaku. And all those forgotten powers hidden throughout the ninja world…
He would find them all, one by one.
"Temari," he suddenly said.
"Mm?"
"How strong do you think a person can become?"
Temari paused.
She looked at his back, at the outline of his figure gilded by the sunset.
For a moment, she felt dazed.
He was the Kazekage. Suna's strongest ninja.
A man who had already drawn the eyes of the entire ninja world.
For him to ask that question…
Was he worried about something?
"I don't know," Temari said softly. "But you'll definitely become stronger than everyone."
Teizawa turned and looked at her, the smile on his face settling a little.
"You have that much faith in me?"
"Of course." Temari stood up and lifted her face to him. "You're the man I chose. How could I not have faith in you?"
Teizawa laughed and pulled her into his arms.
The last light of dusk sank beyond the window.
Whatever came next belonged only to the two of them.
(End of Chapter)
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