The Land of Wind... this place had always been covered in endless yellow sand since ancient times.
An endless desert, vast and boundless, with fine, delicate sand. As the wheels of time rolled ceaselessly, the desolate desert remained unchanged despite countless trials, with only the sound of camel bells echoing through the empty expanse.
The sunsets here were both sorrowful and magnificent. Whenever the sun began to set, the desert's inhabitants walked barefoot across the sand, playing freely and feeling the warmth left behind by the sunlight.
In the desert, a team was moving forward. They were faster than the wind that swept across the desert. The sand could not hinder their steps; instead, it surrounded them like a protective barrier.
There were very few people in the world who could use sand to travel. This team crossed sand dunes and seas of sand, entering the more prosperous eastern region of the Land of Wind.
This was the transition zone between the desert and the plains of the mainland. Every year, the Land of Wind invested heavily in protecting this land and water.
The team entered the westernmost town in this region. Compared to the bustling cities in the Land of Fire, this town had a rough and rugged style.
"We'll rest in town for the night, regain our strength. There's still two days of travel ahead."
"Yes, Kazekage-sama."
At the inn, after issuing his orders, Rasa retired to his room with his guards to rest. Among the genin squads, one particular team stood out, because the other teams kept their distance from them.
"Kankurō, stop looking. Let's rest too." The girl in the team patted the boy beside her.
"Ah, alright." Kankurō replied.
He couldn't help but glance at his younger brother.
As the children of the Kazekage, the three of them received no special treatment. On one hand, such privilege in Suna would label them as "useless" instantly. On the other hand, their youngest brother, aside from his own siblings, had no one who dared to approach him.
Even most jonin avoided him. Was this really... going to be okay? Kankurō was no goody-two-shoes. Suna didn't produce those.
But he really didn't want to interact too much with his younger brother. It wasn't that he hated him, actually, they used to get along quite well when they were little. But ever since the day he witnessed Gaara losing control, he could no longer look at his brother the same way.
That scene was terrifying.
"Gaara, it's time to rest." Temari took a few steps forward and noticed that one of her brothers hadn't followed, so she quickly called out.
Gaara turned his head and glanced at her, then silently walked toward them. The other Suna genin hurriedly stepped aside, making way for him.
He was not like Naruto from the original timeline. Naruto sought attention through pranks to dispel his loneliness. Gaara, on the other hand, embraced the tough-guy approach, crushing people to feel alive.
You could hate him, sure, but try blocking his way?
You're dead.
Temari and Kankurō were among the very few people who could talk to him without making him immediately think, "Come here so I can crush you."
In fact, Gaara, who never argued with people, only crushed them, would actually argue with Kankurō. That was one of the rare forms of sibling bonding they had. However, Gaara had stopped walking just now not for any of those reasons, but because he felt that his so-called father seemed a little different from usual.
But that was it.
Whether that so-called father lived or died, he had no interest. After all, the man sent assassins after him constantly, just before this journey, another one had come.
At this point, killing special jonin was effortless for Gaara. But he was very much looking forward to Konoha.
He recalled the man he had once seen on the battlefield. That man… was strong!
Gaara had retreated back then, not just because the opponent was from Konoha, but because that man gave him a terrifying feeling.
Ever since that moment, he had been training like a madman. He wanted to challenge that man! But he was still far from strong enough. Just thinking about it made him excited, and he couldn't help but smile.
That expression happened to be caught by Kankurō, who was facing him. For a moment, he almost thought some idiot had pissed off Gaara again. There was only one thing Kankurō was worried about, would the Suna team suffer casualties before even reaching Konoha?
While the siblings interacted, elsewhere in the room, Rasa stood by the window, enjoying the night breeze.
"Kazekage-sama, Gaara has already gone to his room with Temari and Kankurō."
"Hmm." Rasa grunted in acknowledgment.
The guard suddenly didn't know how to continue the conversation.
"About Orochimaru..."
"What about him?" Rasa turned his head.
Speaking of the Sannin, back in the Third Great Ninja War, he had completely blocked the Suna ninjas forces at Kikyō Pass.
Now, the tables had turned, and Orochimaru had become an ally of Suna. To Rasa, Oto was nothing but a pile of garbage. If it weren't for Orochimaru being its leader, it wouldn't even be worth considering an alliance.
"His subordinates just made contact."
"Oto is utterly unreliable, they've delayed our schedule," Rasa said coldly. "Why didn't they respond earlier?"
"They claim they were making preparations."
"What do they even need to prepare?" Rasa sneered. "They really think they're important, huh? Has Orochimaru sent the supplies?"
"They have arrived."
"Good. Stick to the original plan, leave them in this city for the follow-up troops to collect."
"Understood."
The guard saluted and left.
Rasa stood at the window for a moment with his hands behind his back. Then, in a sudden swirl of sand, he disappeared.
---
Rasa reappeared in the streets, where two guards were already waiting.
"Let's go meet Orochimaru and see what he's up to."
The sand surged again, and the three of them vanished. The street returned to silence.
When Rasa and his men appeared again, they were outside the city. This was a barren area near the desert, filled with scattered rock formations.
He led his guards into the stone forest, where a figure was waiting.
"You came alone?" Rasa walked up and stopped about a meter away.
That distance, close enough to attack at any moment.
"I'm thinking about your safety," Orochimaru said, looking at his former enemy without much emotion. "What? Not happy to see me?"
"You missed our agreed time. You know that, right?" Rasa's tone was anything but polite.
Without Konoha behind him, Orochimaru was just a lone missing-nin. Rasa saw no need for formalities.
"Had to make some preparations. Konoha is much stronger than Suna now, you know?"
Orochimaru's smile remained unchanged. But in his mind, a thought crept in. This guy talks way too much. Maybe I should just kill him.
Orochimaru vaguely remembered making a vow, if he ever met someone who wasted too much time talking in negotiations, he'd just stab them and be done with it. But today, he had come alone, and Rasa wasn't weak. Fighting here would introduce too many unpredictable variables. So, he decided to hold back, for now.
If Rasa kept rambling, though, he wouldn't hold back anymore. He might not be able to beat Masashi, but he could definitely scheme against Rasa. Without a change in expression, Orochimaru had already begun calculating what kind of poison to use.
"Did you bring the stuff?" Rasa asked.
The Land of Rice Fields was a relatively wealthy nation, at least richer than the Land of Wind.
However, the Land of Rice Fields lacked mineral resources. While the neighboring Land of Iron was a major mining nation, its output capacity was far inferior to that of the Land of Wind. Since the Land of Iron had to ensure self-sufficiency, its export volume was limited, and its main customer was the Land of Earth.
Naturally, Orochimaru set his sights on the Land of Wind.
It just so happened that Rasa needed a nation operating within the association system, and both parties quickly reached an agreement.
Thus, among the Five Kage, Rasa was the only one who knew that the leader of Oto was actually Orochimaru.
"Here you go." Orochimaru pulled out a scroll and tossed it over.
A sand-formed hand rose in front of Rasa and caught the scroll.
The sand hand unfurled the scroll midair, functioning just as if Rasa had done it himself. He first examined the sealing script on the scroll before taking something out for inspection.
It was another scroll.
"This is your summoning scroll? How can you ensure that it will obey commands after being summoned?"
"Absolute obedience is impossible, but it won't attack whoever uses this scroll."
Rasa thought for a moment and found that acceptable. As long as it didn't target the Suna ninjas, that was fine. If it attacked the Iwa ninjas, that would be a bonus. If it attacked the Kumo ninjas, that would be even better.
"And what about my part?" Orochimaru reminded him that he wasn't giving gifts for free.
"Give it to him."
A guard also took out a scroll and handed it to Orochimaru.
The Sannin glanced at the guard, causing him to tense up.
Rasa could speak bluntly to Orochimaru, worst case, they would fight. But the guard's duty was only to call for reinforcements if a real fight broke out.
The Kage's guards existed only to handle enemies unworthy of the Kage's direct action. After all, a Kage had an image to maintain and couldn't personally fight every random enemy. However, when a Kage did have to step in, the guards' only role was to summon reinforcements.
Orochimaru took the scroll without even looking at it and tucked it into his sleeve.
Another deal was done.
"Then, I wish you success in his plans."
"Hmm." Rasa responded indifferently.
If it weren't for the need for a summoning beast, he wouldn't want to deal with Orochimaru at all. But he had no choice, large summoning beasts were a weakness for almost every ninja village outside of Konoha. This issue was especially pronounced for the Suna ninjas, who relied heavily on puppetry techniques.
During the Third Great Ninja War, the Suna ninjas had been halted at Kikyo Mountain because of their lack of strong assault capabilities.
Puppet techniques excelled in open-field battles and skirmishes but were not effective for siege warfare.
Especially against opponents with large summoning beasts.
In this area, Suna had always relied on the Kazekage's Magnet Release to make up for their shortcomings. However, this meant that if the Kazekage was tied down in battle, the Suna ninja forces would struggle with sieging.
Konoha was the largest fortress city on the continent, both in terms of land area and population. Even if its high walls were breached, fighting within the village still required strong siege tactics; otherwise, Konoha's forces would exploit the terrain to launch relentless counterattacks.
Because of this, Rasa had no choice but to strike this rental deal with Orochimaru. At the same time, he also procured some battle supplies. Compared to those, these snake "rental contracts" were important enough for him to personally oversee the transaction.
Naturally, the payment was in supplies. Whenever Orochimaru made direct trades with him, it was always an exchange of goods.
The golden sand spread out once again. When it cleared, Rasa and his guards had already disappeared.
Orochimaru didn't mind, he could tolerate Rasa's bad temper. After all, even though his words were unpleasant, he handled business efficiently.
The Land of Wind, with its advanced manufacturing, supplied Orochimaru with a large amount of experimental equipment. The chakra-infused minerals needed by Oto could also be obtained through the Land of Wind. The Land of Wind and the Land of Rice Fields had opposite strengths and weaknesses. Given that, it was better to maintain the partnership.
He was always in it for the long run.
Having worked with Masashi for years, Orochimaru found himself agreeing with some of his views, some people might be talkative, but they were reliable and kept their word, with great professional ethics. Such people deserved some patience.
At this moment, he even felt like humming a tune. He sank into the earth.
---
Lately, Konoha's ANBU had been moving frantically. While their skill level wasn't impressive, it was still troublesome to be discovered. Meanwhile, Konoha itself remained unaware of the turbulence brewing beyond its borders.
Minato had officially announced the opening date for the joint Chunin Exams: July 1st of Year 63.
Among the most recent batch of new genin, four teams had qualified to participate.
Team 6, led by Kakashi: Members: Konohamaru, Udon, and Moegi.
Team 7, led by Masashi: Members: Sasuke, Naruto, and Hinata.
Team 8, led by Kurenai: Members: Kiba, Shino, and Sakura.
Team 10, led by Asuma: Members: Shikamaru, Choji, and Ino.
Apart from that, among the genin who graduated in the previous year, Shisui recommended Haku from the Police Force, Neji, and Karin from the Sealing Team.
Guy also recommended his own Team 3, consisting of Lee, Tenten, and Sai.
The relevant documents were issued to each genin on the same day as the public announcement. These past few days, the administrative department had been extremely busy. Even though they were short-staffed, they still had to set up a dedicated station to handle the registration of these genin who were about to participate in the exam.
After all, any genin eligible to take the Chunin Exam was not ordinary, they were at least under the guidance of a jōnin. The identity registration of the examinees was crucial, and no mistakes could be made. On the third day after the announcement, at the entrance of the Hokage Building, six genin walked out together.
"It's finally done! That was such a hassle. Seriously, if our teachers already said we could take the exam, why do we still have to register separately?" Naruto complained while looking at the exam qualification certificate in his hand.
He had a straightforward personality and was impatient, he hated dealing with procedures the most.
"Are you an idiot?" Sasuke glanced at him. "Without this, how would the examiners know if you're a real participant? What if you're a spy?"
"Huh?! Your academic scores are the same as mine! Why are you calling me an idiot?"
"That's only because I'm not interested in those subjects. Unlike you, who actually tries to study but still fails."
"Uh..." Hinata watched the two start bickering again, looking nervous.
"Don't worry, Hinata. They've been like this since they were kids." A red-haired girl grinned and suddenly hugged Hinata playfully. "You look so flustered... Could it be? Do you like Naruto? Or is it Sasuke?"
"Karin, stop teasing Hinata." Neji spoke up from the side. "She's very shy and might not be able to tell if you're joking."
"Huh? Is that so?" Karin was momentarily stunned.
Compared to when she was first brought back to Konoha by Masashi, her personality now was much closer to how she was in the original timeline.
After all, her adoptive mother was Kushina, who had also suffered the pain of losing her homeland and family. Kushina treated Karin as her own daughter. With the Uzumaki clan re-established, more and more of her clansmen surrounded her, gradually healing the scars of her childhood and allowing her closed-off heart to recover.
In front of Masashi and the Minato couple, she still acted obediently, but around her peers, she was lively and energetic.
At this moment, as she looked at Hinata's completely flushed face, Karin leaned in closer to her. Sure enough, Hinata was so embarrassed that she was practically steaming.
"Wow! You're really adorable!" Karin exclaimed. She had a soft spot for cute people.
As their group bustled with laughter, another figure approached Sasuke and Naruto.
"Sasuke, sensei said he'd give us special training, but he's been busy these past few days and hasn't come back. Do you guys know when we're supposed to start?" Haku asked.
"He said we'd start after we finished the registration," Sasuke replied, recalling the details. "By the way, Haku-nii, are the Police Force missions more exciting than regular genin missions?"
Thinking about all the D-rank missions he had done lately, he felt like he was going to lose his mind.
"Not really. For genin in the Police Force, most of our work consists of patrol duties, which can actually be pretty dull."
"That's true," Neji added. "Our mission range is even more limited than regular genin since the Police Force is a public service unit. Most of our work is directly related to law enforcement."
"But that's still so cool." Sasuke sounded envious. "It's way better than pulling weeds and catching stray animals all the time."
"The genin in the Police Force are actually envious of you guys," Neji shrugged. "We stay in the same area from morning till night. Even when we go outside the village, it's just patrolling the forest."
"So what should we do now?" Naruto asked. "Now that we're registered, we don't have any more missions. What about you guys?"
"Same here. The department gave us time off until the exam ends, so we can arrange our own schedule," Haku replied before glancing at Karin. "What about you?"
"I'm the same as you guys! My senpai in the Sealing Team told me to focus on preparing for the exam."
"Then let's go eat ramen!" Naruto rubbed his stomach. "I'm starving. All I had this morning was milk, and it filled me up too much."
"You get scolded by Mother because you're such a picky eater," Karin teased. "If you lived alone, I bet your milk would always go bad."
"What's wrong with leaving milk in the fridge? You just drink it when you want, right?"
"I think barbecue sounds better," Sasuke voiced a different opinion. "Ramen is great, but I want to eat meat."
"Since we can't agree, let's head to the shopping district first," Neji suggested. "That way, everyone can find something they like."
"Wow! Neji-nii, you're a genius!" Naruto instantly gave him a thumbs-up. "I already know, I'm definitely getting ramen!"
Neji's idea was quickly accepted by everyone. With their minds now set on delicious food, the group cheerfully set off toward the northern shopping district.
At the same time, in the direction they were heading, a group from Suna had just passed through Konoha's northern gate.