"There are only interests between nations. I'm afraid our fragile alliance with Iwagakure is about to end as well. The Third Kazekage has also agreed to a ceasefire with Konoha. Just a few days ago, news came from Ebizō's side that a secret scouting unit from Kirigakure was spotted along the western border."
Chiyo sat upright in her seat, addressing the assembled jōnin.
What is Kirigakure's reconnaissance for? Naturally, to scout out the wealthiest areas to plunder.
After all, with the vast sea separating the two countries, only a madman from Kirigakure would consider occupying the Land of Wind's territory.
The western coastline of the Land of Wind has a climate similar to that of the Mediterranean—one of the rare habitable regions. Although it covers only a small part of the vast Land of Wind, it is one of its most important and prosperous areas.
"In this situation, it is indeed necessary to conduct joint naval exercises with Konoha. Under external pressure, both sides need to end their conflict quickly and deter the Land of Lightning and the Land of Water."
Hardy thought silently.
In the past, Konoha was too powerful, and with a formidable figure like Hanzō, Sunagakure and Iwagakure were under immense pressure. Only by joining forces did they stand a chance at victory.
But now, both Sunagakure and Konoha—once the strongest military powers in the Land of Rain—want a ceasefire. Hanzō, the most formidable force in the Land of Rain, also seeks peace. Even if Iwagakure doesn't want to stop, they have no choice.
With Iwagakure's main forces still engaged with Kirigakure, relying only on the Five-Tails jinchūriki and their remaining strength, it would be difficult to defeat Hanzō, let alone the other two villages.
Moreover, both Sunagakure and Iwagakure have gained the upper hand and plundered considerable wealth and resources from the Land of Rain. If Iwagakure's leadership is wise, they'll know when to stop.
Chiyo continued assigning new tasks in response to the shifting situation, delegating responsibilities to each jōnin.
This made Hardy realize that the war between Sunagakure, Konoha, and Amegakure, which had lasted for years, was finally coming to an end.
And as Konoha frees up its forces, even if the protracted Second Great Ninja War isn't over yet, it will gradually wind down.
Perhaps just a few months, maybe a year or so, but the intensity of the war will slowly decrease until it ends.
Konoha was eager to negotiate, and Sunagakure wanted to secure its gains as soon as possible. Within two days, both sides announced a ceasefire, though their garrisons had yet to withdraw.
The basis for negotiations is strength. Everyone wants to gain more benefits, so a certain degree of toughness is necessary.
However, Konoha was indeed in a hurry. After some probing, they decisively gave up on some interests they could afford to lose, focusing on holding their bottom line. As a result, it took only four or five days for Chiyo to conclude negotiations with Konoha.
With that, both sides began to withdraw their troops.
Hardy was among the first group to leave, but they did not return directly to Sunagakure.
Chiyo assigned Hardy and the others a task that seemed quite easy, and before they set out, she sent Baki a notice of promotion to Special Jōnin.
After Hardy and Pakura, Baki finally mastered the nature transformation of Wind Release, and with enough accumulated military merit, successfully joined the ranks of Special Jōnin.
Now, Pakura has also mastered Wind Release nature transformation and is seeking the achievements and merits required for promotion to Jōnin, even researching information in preparation for fusing a kekkei genkai in the future.
Currently, besides the One-Tail jinchūriki, Sunagakure has only two relatively stable paths to producing Kage-level powerhouses: the White Secret Technique of puppet arts, and Magnet Release, which is born from the combination of Wind and Earth Release.
Pakura is neither a puppeteer nor possesses earth-nature chakra, but she does have the talent to become a Kage-level powerhouse, so she must plan ahead.
If she manages to fuse Scorch Release in the future and, like the Third Kazekage, trains new Scorch Release users, Sunagakure will have a third path to producing Kage-level ninja.
As for Hardy, with Chiyo's backing, the pressure to be promoted to Jōnin isn't great, and he has inherited puppet knowledge from the Monzaemon era that can reliably lead to Kage-level advancement—making his future the clearest among the three.
Back to the main point: the mission Chiyo assigned was to travel to Loulan and, on behalf of Sunagakure, negotiate with the Queen of Loulan about the country's future direction.
This was just the official pretext.
Loulan sits at the border of the Land of Wind and the Land of Rivers—a large oasis in the desert. Previously, as Konoha's sphere of influence expanded into the Land of Rivers, little countries like Loulan, caught between two superpowers, could only play both sides to survive.
Because Konoha was stronger, Loulan tended to lean toward Konoha and more frequently commissioned missions from them.
But now that Konoha has abandoned its interests in the Land of Rivers and the area has become Sunagakure's sphere of influence, Loulan finds itself in a very awkward position.
Hardy and his team were going to settle accounts with Loulan.
If the Queen of Loulan knew what was good for her, as long as she was willing to pay a certain price and cooperate with Sunagakure from now on, things would be easier for both sides.
Afterward, Sunagakure would station ninja in Loulan to "protect" it, and officials from the daimyo would come to negotiate with the Queen and her ministers.
If she didn't cooperate, then Hardy's team would have to eliminate all of the Queen's power in Loulan, rendering her a puppet who could do nothing.
After that, they would install their own people as new Loulan ministers and proceed with negotiations.
The outcome would be the same—the only difference was whether Hardy's team would have to exert more effort. There was no possibility of failure in this mission.
In short, Hardy and the others were tasked with clearing the way for Sunagakure to smoothly take over Loulan and incorporate it into their sphere of influence.
Because this mission involved dealings between nations, it was rated as S-rank—a relatively easy opportunity for Hardy to complete an S-rank mission, courtesy of Chiyo.
Once again, Kazearashi Senran would lead the team, as per protocol—S-rank missions must be led by at least a Jōnin.
Leaving the Land of Rain, the four-person squad...
After five days of steady marching, they finally arrived at Loulan.
"So this is Loulan? Looks like there's a lot of construction going on here."
On Loulan's main street, Pakura looked curiously at a large building under construction in the distance.
"The current Queen of Loulan must not be an ordinary person," Fengshang Qianlan remarked as she surveyed the surroundings.
"Ten years ago, I came here on a mission. Back then, Loulan was just a small town that had developed around an oasis. Now, it's gradually transforming into a large town. To develop Loulan to this scale at the border of two major powers—her abilities in both domestic governance and diplomacy must be quite impressive."