As Sara transitioned to the Land of Rain, Zero also returned to the Land of Wind. Her trip to the Land of Wind had the Ryumyaku as a secondary objective. Her main goal was to negotiate cooperation with the Hidden Sand Village, and this was Zero's primary mission at the moment.
However, Zero's actual destination was not the Hidden Sand Village itself, but the border of the Land of Wind, at the junction with the Land of Rivers.
Soon, Zero arrived at the border of the Land of Wind. When Zero reached this point, the Free Trade Company's caravan had not yet arrived.
Zero intended to negotiate with the Hidden Sand Village as the representative of the Free Trade Company. It was important to remember that when Gato was still alive, he was responsible for grain trade in the Land of Wind and was also one of the largest traders in the Land of Wind.
The Land of Wind, being in a desert, mostly needed to buy grain from outside, and Gato, as a wealthy man in the Naruto world, would definitely be involved in this.
Therefore, when Kisuke had Zero take over Gato's company, he valued Gato's company so highly. Controlling Gato's company meant controlling the Land of Wind's second-largest grain supplier, and Gato was also a respected guest of the Hidden Sand Village.
If she negotiated as the representative of the Free Trade Company, the identity issue would be easily resolved. It would be logical and well-supported, so no one would suspect anything.
Not long after Zero arrived at the Land of Wind's border, she saw a long caravan, loaded with goods, slowly moving from the Land of Rivers towards the Land of Wind.
This caravan was the newly dispatched trade caravan of the Free Trade Company. Zero saw this and walked towards the caravan's leader.
The caravan leader, Koichi, saw Zero approaching and quickly got off his horse to greet her. Zero used to be the boss of the Free Trade Company, and even though Takayama was now acting as her proxy, no one would underestimate Zero.
Moreover, at the Free Trade Company headquarters, Takayama had also explained that Zero was the leader of this caravan and that her orders were to be followed.
When Zero saw the leader, she asked, "Were there any mishaps along the way? Are the goods intact?"
Koichi, the caravan leader, said, "Master, rest assured, there were no incidents along the way, and the goods are perfectly preserved."
Zero glanced at the surrounding security forces and nodded. This was a strategic objective of the Mechanical Empire, so Takayama's side had naturally given strict orders. Zero was just cautiously inquiring, and when she heard there were no problems, she naturally felt relieved.
This time, the caravan's escort personnel included six ninja trained by Zabuza, 80 samurai, and more than ten logistics personnel. It could be said that this escort force was definitely very strong.
Normally, there would only be one or two ninja and a few samurai, unlike now, with such a high defense force. Even if there was a need, they could ask the local ninja village for help by issuing a mission.
Zero saw that there were no problems and said to Koichi, "Since there are no problems, let's go. Head to the Hidden Sand Village."
Everyone responded, and Zero also had the robot soldiers spread out around the caravan to prevent any sudden incidents.
And so, a caravan loaded with goods slowly advanced towards the Hidden Sand Village in the shimmering desert.
Meanwhile, in the Hidden Sand Village, the Fourth Kazekage also heard the news of the caravan's arrival and was very happy.
"I didn't expect the caravan to arrive so quickly this year. This is good news."
In previous years, Gato's caravan only came twice a year, once near summer and once near winter.
If needed, extra deliveries would be made, but normally it was twice a year. After all, the Hidden Sand Village had more than one supplier, and they could find others if needed.
Chiyo nodded. The arrival of the caravan also meant that the Hidden Sand Village would soon have a more prosperous period.
However, she was also curious about the caravan coming directly to the Hidden Sand Village. Before, caravans always went directly to the capital of the Land of Wind, and then the Feudal Lord would issue supplies to the Hidden Sand Village.
She hadn't expected this time to be different. The caravan wasn't going to the capital of the Land of Wind, but directly to the Hidden Sand Village.
"Lord Kazekage, I suggest we arrange some people to go and meet them, to prevent any accidents?"
Rasa heard Chiyo's suggestion and nodded. After all, if something happened to the caravan, the Land of Wind would suffer a great loss.
It was important to note that these goods were purchased by the Land of Wind. If the goods were lost while still in the Land of Wind, the Kazekage would bear great responsibility and would definitely be questioned by the Feudal Lord.
"Alright, I'll arrange for people to meet the caravan now."
Rasa finished speaking and had the Anbu go to meet the caravan to prevent any accidents. After the Anbu left, Rasa also began his own work. As the Kage of a village, he had many things to do and couldn't just focus on the caravan.
The sky gradually grew dark. Due to the caravan's slow speed, it didn't reach the Hidden Sand Village before sunset and had to find a place to set up camp.
After the caravan had set up camp, in the central large tent, Number One entered from outside.
After Number One entered, he reported the surrounding situation to Zero.
"You said there are Hidden Sand ninja around?"
Zero heard Number One's report and, upon hearing him say that there were Hidden Sand Village ninja guarding the area, couldn't help but ask.
"Yes, three squads have appeared and are patrolling the area."
"Alright then, recall the robot soldiers spread around. Don't let the robot soldiers meet the Hidden Sand ninja, and especially don't let them get into an argument or fight."
"Yes, I'll go do that now."
As Number One left the tent, Zero also thought about these issues. They couldn't let the Hidden Sand Village people know the characteristics of the robot soldiers yet, otherwise, the Hidden Sand Village might find out who captured the Ryumyaku. This would greatly hinder the current negotiations.
And last time, because she wasn't sure if the Hidden Sand Village ninja that Number One and the others intercepted had sent back intelligence, she could only have the robot soldiers temporarily avoid meeting the Hidden Sand Village people.
As the robot soldiers spread around gradually returned, Zero felt relieved. After all, this mission was quite important, and there couldn't be any mistakes.
After a night of rest, the caravan set off at dawn the next day, continuing towards the Hidden Sand Village.
Two hours passed, and the caravan arrived at the Hidden Sand Village. After reporting at the Hidden Sand Village gate, they entered the Hidden Sand Village.
It must be said that compared to the Land of Fire, the Hidden Sand Village had fewer people, and most of their houses were specially built from sand and earth. It could be said that all aspects of the entire Hidden Sand Village were much worse than the Leaf Village in the Land of Fire.
As they walked, Zero also followed the Anbu to the Kazekage's office. After being checked by the guards at the building's entrance, the Anbu led Zero into the Kazekage's office.
When Zero met the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, two elders were sitting next to him: Chiyo and Ebizo. These two were the elders of the Hidden Sand Village, and could also be said to be the foundation of the Hidden Sand Village.
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