"Ahhh! Why isn't there a single enemy around, Ya' Know!" Naruto yelled. Not only were there no enemies—none of the forest animals dared come near them either. Only a few bloodsucking insects tried, and before they could even get close, the sand drained them dry.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
Gaara: "Sorry."
"I wasn't blaming you or anything, you know. Don't just apologize out of nowhere like that," Naruto said, scratching his cheek.
He thought the guy's personality shift was way too sudden. Just two days ago, Gaara had been radiating killing intent, looking down on him the same way Sasuke did. Now he was apologizing so earnestly that it actually made Naruto feel a little awkward.
They'd already finished their bento and needed to look for more food.
It was worth mentioning that when Naruto saw the Sand siblings eating soldier pills, he pouted and grudgingly handed Gaara an onigiri.
As he passed it over, he muttered, "This is Auntie Mikoto's special, super-precious onigiri, you know." It was a small gesture, but for Gaara, it felt even more impactful than the time Sasuke and Sakura shared their bento with Naruto during the exam—something new, like finding a place to belong…
Sasuke said, "Let's split into groups of three and move separately. Don't stray too far from each other." Things were so safe that there wasn't much else to say.
And just like that, Sasuke—who'd planned to honor his promise to Kaa-san to "look after Naruto"—was beaten to it by the Sand Village's little prince…
"I'll be with Naruto."
That tone left no room for refusal.
Sasuke glanced at the two of them. He couldn't very well leave Sakura alone to team up with two Sand ninja.
In the end, the teams were:
Naruto, Gaara, and Temari.
Sasuke, Kankuro, and Sakura.
Naturally, Naruto had plenty to complain about. He insisted Sakura should be in his group, which successfully made the heir of the Uchiha clan go dark in the face—until Sakura shut Naruto down with force.
...
At the same time, another round of questions appeared in the Hidden Sand Village.
[Question: Whose power is Absolute Defense?]
A Sand ninja shouted, "Is this another trick by Konoha?! How do they know about that monster Gaara—"
[Incorrect answer]
"Boom."
Before he could finish, the Sand ninja was crushed by warped space, instantly reduced to a mist of blood and minced flesh.
"A—"
The Sand ninja nearby almost screamed, but a quick-thinking companion sealed their mouths with sand.
Death loomed close.
Dozens of Sand ninja were trapped inside the domain barrier…
...
Inside the barrier, words surfaced on the ground of the Hidden Sand Village—
[Rules:]
Three chances total. All living beings within the domain may answer.
Any living being that answers incorrectly will immediately be deprived of life.
After three independent living beings lose their vital signs, this Q&A event ends and the domain barrier will automatically open.
If the correct answer is given within the allotted chances, the domain barrier will automatically open, and the respondent will receive a corresponding reward.
"Hurry! The Kazekage isn't here—get the advisor elders!" Sand ninja outside the barrier stayed on guard against the sudden threat, while several others scattered to search for any remaining high-ranking officials who could take charge.
Inside the domain, one of the Sand ninja who had sealed everyone else's mouths thought furiously: What the hell is Konoha trying to do?! Are they starting a war?!
Wait—
This isn't a Konoha technique! There isn't even any chakra to sense!! Could it be they were all wrong from the start, and this has nothing to do with the Hidden Leaf at all?
To kill a jōnin like Runa in an instant without any detectable chakra—what kind of existence has that level of power?! Could it be that masked man from the images who proclaimed the Fourth Great Ninja War?!
The unknown danger temporarily overwhelmed their grief, leaving them lost and panicked.
A mechanical voice suddenly announced new information:
[Reward 1—]
As the voice sounded, what appeared before everyone was a humanoid puppet.
The moment they saw it, shock spread across every face—quickly followed by raging fury burning in their eyes.
[Reward 1: A special ninja tool for the Hidden Sand's secret Puppet Technique—a Human Puppet forged from the corpse of the Third Kazekage and a portion of his chakra.]
The Third Kazekage?!
The one hailed as the strongest Kazekage in history was dead—actually dead?!
Although the Kazekage had gone missing over a decade ago, with no body ever found, no one in the village had believed he was truly dead… let alone reduced to a Human Puppet in such a cruel, humiliating way.
Who did this?
Whoever it was, the Hidden Sand would be their eternal enemy!
An elder who had rushed over seemed to realize something upon examining the puppet. Gritting his teeth, he barked to a nearby ninja, "Go! Get that old woman Chiyo here—now!"
"Yes!" The ninja vanished instantly.
[Reward 2—]
There are more rewards?!
The Sand ninja no longer knew whether to be shocked or terrified.
...
This time, along with the mechanical voice, an old-fashioned, visibly worn teddy bear appeared.
"W-What is that?"
"A doll?"
"It's actually a pretty common style in our village. I even bought one for my daughter once."
"Is now really the time to say that, idiot?!"
"Ah—s-sorry, I just slipped…"
[Reward 3—]
There's still more?!
The Sand ninja were completely at a loss.
...