Haido narrowed his eyes slightly, carefully examining the patterns on Nerugui's fur. A glint of sharp light flashed in his gaze.
After a moment, he smiled faintly and said,
"So that's it… turns out it's a ferret raised by a merchant caravan."
Just as he finished speaking, the voice of a communications officer echoed through the hall.
"Haido-sama! Bad news!"
"The fleet we dispatched to the Land of Wind… has been completely wiped out!"
At that moment, Shinju suddenly remembered something — they were currently stationed not far from the border of the Land of Wind.
Upon hearing the news, Temujin, eager to build his ideal nation, immediately charged ahead.
"I'll go check it out right now!"
Seeing this, Naruto quickly ran after him.
"Hey! Even if you're going, at least leave the snow ferret behind!"
Shinju and Sai exchanged helpless looks before following as well.
Since the Land of Wind was allied with the Land of Fire, Shinju was also curious about what exactly had happened there.
As they were about to leave the mechanical fortress and step out of the main hall, Shinju turned back and glanced deeply at Haido, who was still wearing that warm, pleasant smile.
Something about this man… felt wrong. As if he was hiding something.
...
Once Shinju and the others were out of sight, Haido's smile faded instantly.
He raised his hand, summoning one of his subordinates.
"I need you to investigate that caravan."
"There's a chance someone in that caravan knows the location of the thing we've been searching for."
...
A dozen minutes later — Land of Wind border, coastline.
Because it wasn't far, Shinju's group reached the beach in just a few minutes riding on the summoned hawk.
From the sky, Shinju spotted the wreckage of mechanical warships scattered along the shoreline.
Thick black smoke was still rising from them — they must have exploded not long ago.
Shinju guided the hawk to land.
The impulsive Temujin immediately dashed into the wreckage to investigate.
Shinju, Naruto, and Sai followed close behind.
Walking through the dark, charred interior of the ship, Sai muttered,
"A big battle broke out here, no doubt about it."
"The question is… who were they fighting against?" Shinju narrowed his eyes.
To take down this level of technology… only shinobi could pull that off!
"Rustle!"
Suddenly, in the pitch-black corridor, came the sound of wood scraping against metal!
The next moment, a wooden puppet lunged straight at Temujin in front!
"Clang! Clang!"
Temujin barely raised his broken sword in time, meeting the attack clumsily!
Shinju squinted at the puppet attacking Temujin — and suddenly froze.
This puppet looked… very familiar!
Half a second later, it clicked.
"Kankurō?!"
As expected, the puppet instantly halted its attack.
From the shadows, Kankurō stepped out, looking surprised.
"Shinju? Why are you here… in the Land of Wind?"
Shinju waved his hand dismissively.
"No time to explain. Can you tell us what happened here first?"
Kankurō glanced at Temujin, his face twisting with anger.
"It's simple. The people piloting these ships launched an unprovoked assault on the Land of Wind!"
"Several villages have already been reduced to rubble under their bombardment!"
"And that's not all—"
Before he could even finish, Naruto, unable to hold back his anger, grabbed Temujin by the front of his armor and shouted,
"I thought you said you wanted to build an ideal nation without war?!"
"Then what the hell are you doing? Using brute force to start wars left and right! You're the ones causing this chaos!"
Temujin, however, remained unfazed.
"To realize a great ideal… sacrifices must be made."
Naruto's fist slammed into Temujin's face with a loud bang.
"Causing pointless deaths isn't a 'great ideal' — it's just wrong!"
Sai instinctively touched his own cheek, remembering when Naruto had punched him before.
"Is he… always this hot-headed?" Sai muttered.
Shinju thought for a moment, then nodded.
"Pretty much."
...
Afterward, they restrained Temujin.
Shinju placed his hand on Temujin's head and used the Soul Search Technique to probe his memories.
From Temujin's memories, Shinju discovered the truth.
Temujin's village had once been attacked by bandits. Haido had saved him back then and told him about his grand vision of building an ideal nation.
Having once suffered deeply because of war, Temujin had been easily brainwashed by Haido and became willing to do anything for his so-called ideal country.
But within Temujin's memories, Shinju also stumbled upon something extraordinary.
Haido called it… the Stone of Gelel.
This stone possessed mysterious properties — granting those who used it incredible power.
The energy within Temujin's body, so similar to chakra, came from the Gelel implanted into his chest.
And the reason Haido and Temujin had crossed the seas to come here… was to locate the legendary Stone of Gelel mineral vein.
With this new understanding, Shinju finally realized why he had disliked Haido from the very start.
That guy was nothing but a smooth-talking liar!
Wait a second…
Shinju suddenly recalled Haido's strange expression when he looked at Nerugui earlier!
And there was more.
Kahiko-san had once mentioned that his ancestors had discovered a mysterious, power-infused stone, which later became the foundation upon which their nation was built.
If the stone Kahiko spoke of was the Stone of Gelel…
Then Haido's odd gaze toward Nerugui finally made sense.
Nerugui was a pet bred by the royal family. Wherever Nerugui existed… descendants of the fallen royal bloodline had to exist too!
"Damn it… Kahiko-san's in danger!"
Shinju's expression darkened as he shouted.
Naruto and Sai were both confused.
"Huh? How is that even possible?"
Shinju shook his head.
"No time to explain! We need to get to the caravan — now! Haido might have already attacked them!"
Without wasting another second, Shinju summoned his hawk again, bringing Sai, Naruto, and the restrained Temujin as they rushed straight toward the caravan's location.
...
Not far from the valley, beneath a cliffside, Shinju finally spotted the merchant caravan's wagons from the hawk's back.
He urged the hawk downward… and what he saw made his blood run cold.
Corpses were scattered everywhere.
Naruto and Shinju's eyes turned bloodshot instantly.
Rarely had Shinju shown such fury. He pointed at Temujin's face, his voice shaking with anger.
"For the sake of your so-called peace… why must they be the ones to die?!"
Raising his hand, Shinju prepared to strike—
"Calm down!"
Naruto quickly grabbed his arm to stop him.
Although Naruto also hated Temujin right now, if Shinju actually landed that blow, Temujin's head would probably be smashed into pulp.
And Temujin was still useful for now.
Temujin's expression dimmed. He had spent time living alongside these caravan people, sharing food, laughter, and hardship.
He knew they were kind, honest, hardworking folk.
They traveled across nations following the seasons.
If not for meeting him… they wouldn't have died.
Shinju took a deep breath, forcing himself to regain composure.
Right now, the priority was clear: Haido must be stopped.
Under no circumstances could Haido get his hands on the Stone of Gelel.
But first, they had to figure out where Haido's group had gone.
They began tending to the wounded, hoping to find someone who had survived long enough to give them information.
After a thorough search, Shinju discovered that out of a caravan of more than thirty people, only six or seven had survived with light injuries. Everyone else… was dead.
And Kahiko-san… was nowhere to be found.
"Where's your grandfather?" Shinju asked gently, kneeling beside Kahiko's granddaughter.
The little girl, sobbing uncontrollably, wiped at her tears and choked out,
"Grandpa… they took Grandpa. The bad people took him to find the mineral vein…"
"Do you know where the vein is located?" Shinju asked urgently.
The girl shook her head, her voice trembling.
"No… Grandpa's the only one in the entire clan who knows."