At this time, Chiyo was also explaining some basic knowledge about sandstorms.
After all, not everyone from the various shinobi villages knew about these things.
"The thing that poses the greatest threat to us in a sandstorm is a sand tornado."
"But even if a sand tornado doesn't form inside the sandstorm, some violent air currents can still sweep people away."
"People caught in violent air currents or sand tornadoes are basically nine times out of ten going to die."
"Because it's not just people that get caught up in them. There can also be all kinds of rocks, pieces of wood, and other objects."
"The simplest and most effective way to avoid them is to get underground."
"However, the greenery we've planted recently might get buried."
Nawaki was somewhat surprised, "I deliberately accelerated the growth of the trees here until they were twenty meters tall. They can still get buried?"
Chiyo smiled, "Of course. Sand dunes twenty meters high can be blown around, changing position and piling up elsewhere. Whether your trees can survive will depend on the direction of the wind and sand."
Neither sandstorms nor sand tornadoes were things Nawaki had ever seen, and he had no idea how powerful they were.
At this point, he could only give a sheepish laugh, "It's fine. If the oasis is gone, we can just build it again."
Chiyo nodded slightly. This young man might not have as much experience as she did, but he had plenty of drive. Every day, he laid out large areas of greenery.
"Here it comes."
Most of the Hyuga clan members had never seen such an all-encompassing sandstorm either.
They all activated their Byakugan and looked into the distance.
The Byakugan's vision could penetrate the ground, allowing them to easily see the sandstorm roaring toward them in the distance.
They were all underground and could only feel slight vibrations around them.
What these Hyuga clan members saw was a completely different scene.
At the very front of the sandstorm, huge amounts of yellow sand were surging forward.
The trees that had only just been grown recently had all their branches and leaves whipped around wildly by the wind.
Visibility instantly dropped to zero.
If these Hyuga clan members hadn't been underground, they would have had no way to detect what was happening outside.
The people from Iwagakure and Konoha were relatively calm. Even if the greenery disappeared, they could simply make it again.
For now, their main concern was waiting for the sandstorm to end and seeing how much damage it would cause to the oasis.
———
[At the Other End of the Demon Desert]
Although the ground here was also covered entirely in yellow sand, it was relatively flat.
A huge formation had been drawn on the ground, and more than a thousand Sunagakure shinobi were standing at the formation's energy-supplying positions.
The violent wind whipped everyone's clothes around with loud flapping sounds.
Everyone held hand seals, while a huge vortex churned above the formation, countless air currents flowing toward the distance.
"This time, the Demon Desert has produced a medium-scale sandstorm. We can begin the experiment. We can first increase the sandstorm's level."
"When a large-scale sandstorm appears in the Demon Desert, we can generate sand tornadoes inside it and move them over."
"No matter how many trees Konoha plants, they'll all be wiped out in one go."
Futaro stood beside the formation and spoke in a deep voice.
Pakura stood to the side with her arms folded, saying nothing.
The Wind Prison Sandstorm Formation had to rely on naturally occurring sandstorms in the Demon Desert before it could be activated.
In other words, it was something that merely added fuel to the fire.
She had no idea how much damage it could actually cause Konoha.
The key issue was that this thing could stop Konoha's plan to expand its oases.
But if Konoha stopped playing along with them and attacked directly, then Sunagakure would have no way to deal with it.
'Although we prepared for war ahead of time, we simply have too few resources to use.'
'There's no way we can fight Konoha head-on.'
In the current situation, Kumogakure wouldn't come to their aid either.
Originally, Sunagakure had nothing to lose. They weren't afraid of anyone coming to seize their land when the entire place was desert. As long as they could survive, that was enough.
But now, Konoha had transformed the entire desert into valuable green land.
Their days in Sunagakure had effectively begun counting down.
Pakura couldn't help looking into the distance, thinking of Elder Ebizo, who had insisted on pushing her into the position even if it cost him his life.
'If only you were still alive.'
———
[Iwagakure]
A clay bird quickly flew into the village.
Deidara arrived at the Tsuchikage's office and pushed the door open before walking straight in.
"Old man, why did you call me back in such a hurry?"
He had always been carefree and uninhibited, so he had never developed the habit of knocking.
When Deidara entered, one of Onoki's aides was still talking to him.
Seeing Deidara come in, the aide gave Onoki a look and withdrew.
Onoki's expression remained unchanged, but his happiness at seeing Deidara return was obvious.
"I called you back because there's naturally something important I need to tell you."
Deidara walked over and dropped onto the sofa, "What is it? I'm still in a hurry to get back to the Land of Wind."
Onoki recalled what his aide had just discussed with him.
He got straight to the point, "You and Kurotsuchi aren't children anymore. It's time for you two to get married."
Deidara clearly hadn't been prepared for this. He froze completely.
"Get married?"
Deidara had never had the slightest interest in matters between men and women, so he had naturally never considered this.
"Old man, this is way too sudden. I never thought about this."
There was some awkwardness in Deidara's expression, completely unlike his usual carefree self.
Onoki didn't get angry. His aide had already anticipated this reaction from Deidara.
"If you're unwilling, then I'll marry Kurotsuchi off to someone else."
"From then on, she'll only follow someone else around and act spoiled with them."
The image of Kurotsuchi acting spoiled with someone else immediately appeared in Deidara's mind. He shouted instinctively,
"No way! Old man!"
He paused for a moment before finally finding an excuse.
"You should ask what Kurotsuchi thinks."
Seeing Deidara so agitated, Onoki secretly laughed, but outwardly he remained completely composed.
"Kurotsuchi said she's willing to marry you. She's just worried that you won't be willing to marry her."
'Kurotsuchi is willing?'
Just moments ago, Deidara had still been thinking about what he would do if Kurotsuchi married someone else.
Now his thoughts immediately switched to Kurotsuchi being willing to marry him.
"I'm willing to marry her," Deidara said, and after comparing the two possibilities, he gave Onoki exactly the answer he had wanted most.
Onoki smiled broadly, "Then I'll arrange your wedding. The day after tomorrow."
Deidara was somewhat taken aback, "Isn't that too fast?"
Onoki waved his hand indifferently, "You just need to register and have a drink. As for whether you want to hold a wedding ceremony, discuss it with Kurotsuchi."
"Kurotsuchi used to follow you around every day too. Now she's grown up. If you're going to be this close, she needs to have a proper status."
Hearing this, Deidara also realized it belatedly and said awkwardly, "Then... all right. Old man, you arrange it."
"Come in. Why are you standing at the door?"
Onoki suddenly spoke toward the doorway.
The door opened, revealing Kurotsuchi standing there with a flushed face. Clearly, she had already been listening for quite some time.
[T/N: New fanfic chat—"Genshin Impact: Just Another Guy who Transmigrated". Currently, it has a Powerstones Goal for 5 bonus chapters. It ends on Monday, so rain those Powerstones.]