"You…!" Pakura glared at Hancock, cheeks flushed with anger as if she were about to explode.
Before the two women could start another quarrel, Vegapunk cut in: "Your personal affairs are settled. Time to subjugate the entire Hidden Sand Village."
Pakura drew a breath and nodded. "Understood. However—"
"Need help? Don't worry, we came fully prepared. We'll make sure Hidden Sand doesn't dare utter a single word of protest."
Vegapunk waved a hand, a small smile playing on his lips. "Perfect—I've also prepared plenty of experimental weapons…"
Cold sweat dotted Pakura's forehead. "That won't be necessary! I can handle it myself. I just wish you two could keep quiet for a bit."
What she'd really wanted to say was "Leave this to me and please don't speak at all," but both of them were stubborn. Stating it outright would only provoke them, so she swallowed the words.
"Is that so?" Vegapunk sighed, disappointed. "Actually, leaving Hidden Sand half its strength would suffice. I'd rather teach them a lesson they'll never forget—makes future management easier."
As for Hancock, she merely rolled her eyes at Pakura. "Ugly people do have the most stories."
Pakura: Hold it in—you can't beat her.
With the plan set, the trio didn't linger. Vegapunk flicked his wrist, and a small aircraft descended from the sky.
It was a vehicle he'd whipped up on the spot. Before solving the energy problem, its cost-efficiency was low; only those with naturally massive Chakra reserves could power it for high-speed flight.
Yet Vegapunk could drive it directly with magnetism and electricity—faster, cheaper. From the Land of Water to the Land of Wind took under half an hour.
Pakura gazed at the sleek, shuttle-like craft with awe. To her it was a super-high-speed Ninja tool. Hard to mass-produce, but with a four-man capacity it could shuttle a village's top fighters to any battlefield in moments.
"Enough staring. It's just a stopgap. Wait until I develop planetary wormhole gates—then you can look impressed."
Seeing her expression, Vegapunk shook his head. People of the Ninja World had weaker hearts than pirates; those thick-skinned buccaneers would only get excited at the sight of a spaceship.
The three boarded, and the craft flashed silver, vanishing into the sky—toward Hidden Sand Village.
Ever since its defeat by Sea Ninja Village, Hidden Sand had fallen into bleak decline.
Thanks to the harsh environment, the village had few shops or merchants. Besides the Ninja themselves, only their families lived here, running the handful of stores.
The war had forced huge reparations in money and resources, sending the economy into retreat. Only essential shops survived; the rest shuttered.
With empty pockets, Ninja didn't shop; without customers, shops closed for good.
To recover from the losses, most Ninja took every mission offered. Repeated defeats had cost them clients, but with only thirty percent of their former manpower left, each remaining Ninja actually received more assignments.
This was standard after every Ninja World War. Ancient armies collapsed after ten percent losses; those enduring thirty percent were elite. Thanks to indoctrination, Ninja could bear seventy or eighty percent casualties if the gap wasn't overwhelming.
Such resilience meant population losses were never small. Even victorious nations lost thirty to forty percent of their Ninja.
Villages like Hidden Sand, hit hardest, ended with barely thirty percent survivors.
Though the village looked desolate, fewer Ninja meant more money per capita—once the transition passed.
If Hidden Sand once supported eight thousand Ninja, the losses shrank that number to five or six thousand. Once that new ceiling was reached and no solution appeared, another war would begin.
Limiting Ninja numbers was never an option among the Five Great Ninja Villages; if one weakened, the others would pounce.
The original story showed this: after the failed invasion of Konoha, Hidden Sand had to throw in with them simply because they couldn't keep up.
Had Kirigakure not been protected by the sea, it would have fared no better; that same ocean barrier drove its bloody civil strife—blessing and curse intertwined.
But enough digression. Though numbers were low, Hidden Sand still maintained basic defenses. Few Ninja could fly, but the village needed some precaution.
"Unknown aircraft in the sky, heading for the village—incredible speed, almost here!" The scout team sounded the alarm at the sight of the silver shuttle.
This wasn't the peaceful era of a decade later; fresh from the Ninja World War and badly weakened, Hidden Sand was at its most vigilant.
Yet all they possessed were detection measures; aerial combat remained a blind spot for most Ninja, limited to a few surface-to-air Ninjutsu.
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