"Gaara?" Several elders exclaimed in shock, not expecting Baki to recommend Gaara. They had assumed Baki would take the opportunity to nominate himself.
"Impossible!" the square-faced elder barked coldly. Baki looked at him expressionlessly, waiting for him to continue.
"How can the dignified Kazekage position be entrusted to a mere child? If word gets out, others will think the Hidden Sand Village has no capable people left, that we actually need a child to take control."
The square-faced elder sneered, quickly gaining agreement from the others.
"Exactly. Gaara is still too young. What does he know about governing a village? Handing the Hidden Sand Village over to him is no different from courting destruction."
"Indeed. Gaara is far too young, even if he is the Fourth Kazekage's son."
Hearing the elders support him, the square-faced elder grew increasingly smug. Then, as if struck by inspiration, he continued speaking at length.
"And don't forget—Gaara is the One-Tail's jinchūriki. Are you all willing to disregard the village's safety? If he fails to control the tailed beast's power, the village could be destroyed by his own hands."
Everyone present frowned slightly, including Baki. The power of the One-Tail Shukaku was indeed a double-edged sword. If mishandled, the Hidden Sand Village could be wiped out.
But the truth was harsh—the Hidden Sand Village was in a period of decline. Baki could not think of anyone besides Gaara who had the strength to take on the role of Kazekage. At this point, he could only press forward.
So he spoke firmly, "Then tell me—aside from Gaara, who else is qualified to become Kazekage?"
The room fell silent again. Even the loudest critic, the square-faced elder, had nothing to say.
Upon calm reflection, the Hidden Sand Village was indeed in disarray. With the Fourth Kazekage's death, the village was gripped by panic. Their ability to trade with other nations had relied on the Fourth Kazekage's Magnet Release gold dust, and now that their primary source of income was gone, the villagers were filled with fear.
Seeing that no one spoke, Baki slowly stood and addressed them.
"Since you all believe Gaara is too young to take on this responsibility, then let this invasion by the surrounding small nations serve as a test. We will see whether Gaara can resolve this crisis perfectly. If he succeeds, none of you may oppose him becoming Kazekage again."
The elders whispered among themselves before finally reaching an agreement. The square-faced elder said reluctantly,
"Fine, we'll do as you say."
Though unwilling, he could not oppose the majority and had no choice but to accept.
After receiving their answer, Baki left the meeting room in satisfaction. His original plan had been to use this crisis as a trial. If Gaara could lead them to victory, his prestige among the people would rise significantly.
Baki smiled faintly. Moreover, they had already requested assistance from the Hidden Leaf Village—and nothing in the conditions forbade outside help.
...
As Baki stepped out of the meeting room, he saw Kankuro waiting at the door.
Leaning against the wall, Kankuro opened his eyes and asked softly, "Is everything settled?"
Baki nodded. The two then headed to the Hidden Sand Village's square, where a group of ninja had already gathered. Gaara stood quietly on the platform, with Temari behind him.
Earlier, Baki had used his influence to gather nearly a hundred ninja and place them under Gaara's command. Gaara would personally lead this battle, with Temari and Kankuro assisting him.
When Gaara saw Baki and Kankuro arrive, he exchanged a nod with Baki.
Baki stepped beside Gaara, looked at the ninja below, and spoke slowly.
"Everyone, the surrounding small nations are trying to invade us while the Fourth Kazekage has just passed. But we will not let them act as they please. Our objective this time is to crush them."
At first, the Sand ninja were uneasy, but as they heard the rest, their fighting spirit surged.
"This operation will be fully commanded by Gaara. At the same time, we have requested assistance from the Hidden Leaf Village."
Baki said no more. It had already been nearly four days since the enemy launched their attack at the borders of the Land of Wind. He handed the stage over to Gaara.
Gaara stepped forward calmly, arms crossed, and said flatly, "Move out."
With that command, everyone departed the Hidden Sand Village and headed for the front lines. Gaara led at the front, with Temari and Kankuro behind him, followed by over a hundred Sand ninja.
Watching them leave, Baki let out a deep sigh, then looked toward the Land of Fire, clenching his fists.
...
Meanwhile, Rorin's team was on the move.
After some conversation, Rorin became acquainted with the nine chunin participating in the mission. It had to be said—Tsunade took this operation very seriously, assembling a well-balanced team.
Two Hyūga sensory-type ninja, two Aburame clan members and two Yamanaka clan members forming an intelligence transmission unit, three medical ninja, and finally the combat unit consisting of Rorin, Kakashi, and Might Guy.
The group of twelve traveled day and night toward the Land of Wind, finally arriving within its borders after four days. Upon learning Gaara's unit's location, they headed straight for the front lines.
...
At the main battlefield on the border of the Land of Wind—
Gaara was simultaneously commanding the battle and using sand to protect his allies. Upon arriving, he quickly identified the reason the enemy could invade: among their forces were ninja from the Hidden Stone Village and the Hidden Cloud Village. As for their supplies, if his guess was correct, they were provided by the Hidden Stone Village.
Neither the Hidden Stone Village nor the Hidden Cloud Village had openly deployed large forces—otherwise, this would escalate into a full-scale ninja war. Instead, they participated under the guise of being hired by small nations, sending only small squads. At the same time, they were using this rebellion to test the Hidden Sand Village's strength. If the Sand proved incapable, they might join forces and launch a full-scale attack.
After four days of fighting, both sides had suffered losses. The coalition of small nations had deployed over 200 ninja, along with squads from the Hidden Stone and Hidden Cloud, totaling around 300 fighters. By now, the Sand's fierce resistance had eliminated about 100 of them—though none of those losses came from the Stone or Cloud squads, as they were only probing and avoided unnecessary risk.
On the Sand's side, despite Gaara's protection, they had already lost around 30 fighters, most of whom were genin.
Gaara frowned. The situation was far from optimistic.
On the lower right side of the battlefield, Temari was locked in a tough fight. Three enemy chunin had targeted her. Seizing a brief moment of distraction, they launched a sudden attack.
At that moment, a streak of blue light shot in, instantly killing all three chunin.
Blue Bird.
Rorin has arrived!