--- That day, Before dusk. Fine, wispy sand occasionally blew up in the wind, like drifting snow, filling the air. Outside the Sand Village,
---
That day,
Before dusk.
Fine, wispy sand occasionally blew up in the wind, like drifting snow, filling the air.
Outside the Sand Village, towering, hundred-meter-high stone walls blocked much of the sand blown in by the wind, providing the people inside with a place to live and work in peace.
The only safe entrance and exit to the entire Sand Village was a passage called One Line Heaven.
It was named so because when you walked inside and looked up, you only saw one "line" of "heaven."
Sand ninjas guarded the various levels of the high stone walls, holding binoculars and observing the outside.
In this wide desert, there were no obstacles, so it was difficult for large-scale enemies to hide their tracks and invade the Sand Village.
"Huh… that's… Kazeyuki-sama!"
"He… quickly, prepare to support Kazeyuki-sama. There are enemies chasing him!"
On the fourth level of the stone wall, a Sand ninja holding binoculars suddenly spoke out, making the guards, who had been idle for a long time, instantly tense.
Everyone prepared their kunai and explosive tags. The companions on the upper levels of the stone wall used binoculars to look in the direction where Kazeyuki was spotted, searching for the enemy.
They saw their Sand Village's genius ninja, Kazeyuki-sama, in the distance, amidst the drifting sand. His hands were open behind him, and he was running forward while occasionally turning his head to look back, as if someone was chasing him.
But no one saw anyone behind him.
However, everyone didn't relax their vigilance. Instead, they searched for the enemy even more carefully.
"Gara, Yeyi, you two come with me. Go support Kazeyuki-sama."
"Yes, Captain Tichi."
"We'll go too, Captain Tichi."
The moment he saw that Kenshi's Wind Release clone might be being chased, the male Sand ninja named Tichi's expression changed. He immediately called for support. Instantly, countless Sand ninjas who were guarding responded.
"We'll go. You guys watch out for enemy attacks."
After saying this, Tichi and the man and woman he had called ran quickly towards Kenshi's Wind Release clone.
These three were all ardent followers of Kenshi's Wind Release clone. The others who wanted to go to support him also completely regarded Kenshi's Wind Release clone as the future Fourth Kazekage.
This showed the influence that Kenshi's Wind Release clone had in the Sand Village.
It was no wonder that the Sand Village's upper echelon was so shameless as to send people to assassinate him.
It was because his influence was a real threat to the absolute control of the traditional ten clans over the village.
Even the Sand Village's strongest puppeteer unit had many civilian ninjas who supported Kenshi's Wind Release clone becoming the Fourth Kazekage.
In the end, the world was still full of ordinary ninjas.
That was why Kenshi's Wind Release clone, who was born a civilian, had such a huge influence among ordinary ninjas.
Everyone hoped that he would become the Fourth Kazekage.
Because if Kenshi's Wind Release clone succeeded, it meant that they, these civilians, as long as they worked hard to become stronger, would also have a chance to become Kazekage, the nominal leader of the Sand Village.
There was no such thing as support without reason. Everything was about fame and fortune.
It was a pity that they were still naive.
If Kazeyuki hadn't become Kenshi's Wind Release clone, he wouldn't have been the Fourth Kazekage in the original story. In fact, no one even mentioned him later.
He obviously didn't survive the assassination by the Sand Village's upper echelon clans.
"Not good!"
As Tichi and the other Sand ninjas went to support Kenshi's Wind Release clone, the ninjas who had been specially arranged by the Sand Village's upper echelon clans to guard the area recently saw Kazeyuki's appearance, especially the fact that he was returning alone. Their faces instantly changed, and they quickly left to inform the Advisor Elder.
"Kazeyuki-sama, we're here to support you."
From a hundred meters away, Tichi and the three of them shouted loudly, intending to deter any enemies that might be behind Kenshi's Wind Release clone. At the same time, they were also secretly reminding Kenshi's Wind Release clone to show his identity information.
Kenshi's Wind Release clone quickly formed a special hand seal.
This was the special hand seal for entering and exiting the village today. It was like a password.
The Sand Village, unlike Konoha and the Mist, didn't have a perception barrier.
So, every month, they would set up a special hand seal for entering and exiting the village each day. It was like a password with a certain pattern. The ninjas guarding One Line Heaven and the ninjas on missions would all remember it and use it to show their identity information when entering and exiting the village.
This way, they could prevent enemies from transforming into comrades and infiltrating the Sand Village as much as possible.
"It's Kazeyuki-sama."
The three of them saw the hand seal that Kenshi's Wind Release clone had formed and instantly confirmed that the person in front of them was Kenshi's Wind Release clone. They all felt relieved.
"Kazeyuki-sama!"
The female ninja named Yeyi was beautiful and pure, but she wore a backless ninja suit, making her look hot and sexy.
As she looked at Kenshi's Wind Release clone, she couldn't hide the admiration and love in her eyes.
As soon as she got close to Kenshi's Wind Release clone, she couldn't help but blush slightly and say again that they had come to support him, afraid that Kenshi's Wind Release clone wouldn't remember her.
"Go. The enemy might be in the sky."
Kenshi's Wind Release clone quickly glanced at the three of them. He didn't stop, but just nodded slightly before reminding them and then continued to run quickly towards the One Line Heaven gate.
"Yes."
Tichi and the three of them reacted quickly. They immediately turned around and guarded both sides of Kenshi's Wind Release clone. As they ran back, they looked up at the sky.
But they didn't see anything. The fine sand drifting in the wind affected their vision.
The four of them quickly reached the entrance of One Line Heaven.
"Watch the sky. I'll go find the Kazekage-sama to report the situation."
Kenshi's Wind Release clone still didn't stop. He reminded them before quickly passing through One Line Heaven, jumping across the rooftops of the village, and heading towards the Kazekage Tower.
At this time, in the Kazekage Tower.
The ninja who had come back to report from the ten clans had already arrived at the Advisor Elder's office.
The upper echelon of the Sand Village, like Konoha, was composed of the Kazekage and two Advisor Elders.
The Kazekage made major decisions, while the two Advisor Elders were responsible for daily administrative management.
"Advisor Watanabe, Kazeyuki has returned."
"He's back!"
The newly appointed Advisor Elder was from one of the three great clans. He was a middle-aged man in his mid-forties, at the peak of his ninja career.
When he heard his subordinate say that Kenshi's Wind Release clone had returned, the newly appointed Advisor Elder Watanabe was startled. He stood up and hurriedly asked, "Did he come back alone?"
"I only saw him alone."
"He's alone… that's impossible?"
Watanabe frowned and sat back down.
Since Kazeyuki had returned alone, it meant that the assassination mission they had arranged had failed.
Watanabe believed that Kazeyuki must have guessed who had tried to assassinate him.
So, Kazeyuki had only one choice: to become a rogue ninja. Otherwise, he would only have a dead end if he returned.
With Kazeyuki's intelligence, he shouldn't have returned.
But now, Kazeyuki had returned.
"Quickly go and invite Elders Chiyo and Ebizō. Kazeyuki might have become a rogue ninja."
Watanabe quickly instructed.
In their plan, killing Kazeyuki was the first option.
The second option was that if the assassination failed, the assassins would also leave traces that would allow Kazeyuki to guess that they had done it, forcing Kazeyuki to leave.
After all, knowing that the Kazekage and the ten clans had sent people to assassinate him, any normal person would choose to defect from the Sand Village.
The third option was for Kazeyuki to pretend to be oblivious and return.
But even if that were the case, they could still detain Kazeyuki and interrogate his memories, claiming that they suspected him of killing the two comrades who had gone on missions with him.
Then, they could do whatever they wanted.
If Kazeyuki was smart, he shouldn't have come back.
Now, Kenshi's Wind Release clone had suddenly returned, which really caught Watanabe off guard.
Kenshi's Wind Release clone's strength, over the past year, had been witnessed by the entire upper echelon of the Sand Village.
His unparalleled speed and razor-sharp Wind Release Slash gave them the feeling of facing the White Fang of Konoha, who had gone on a rampage in the Sand Village during the Second Shinobi World War.
Watanabe believed that he wasn't Kenshi's Wind Release clone's opponent.
Now that Kenshi's Wind Release clone had returned, Watanabe didn't know if he was here for revenge or some other purpose.
He only knew that if Kenshi's Wind Release clone went on a rampage for revenge,
Only Chiyo and Ebizō, the two former Advisor Elders, could stop and capture Kenshi's Wind Release clone.
---
P@TREON
[email protected]/ShixT9
60+ ADVANCE CHAPTERS PER FIC
We are in Chapter 378 in P@treon