By the time Yuji woke up, he had already slept until noon.
He woke up... because he was hungry.
The Sunagakure within the base were all looking joyful.
Yuji took a Military Ration Pill from a Medical Ninja and consumed it. After an explanation from the other person, he learned that the Third Kazekage, Grandma Chiyo, and others had gained a clear advantage on the front lines, with reports of victory coming in succession.
It seemed that this great war between Sunagakure and Amegakure already had a result.
"So fast?"
To be honest, Yuji was a little surprised.
Since the Third Kazekage and Chiyo had both been deployed, then perhaps Hanzou himself would be personally overseeing things on the Amegakure side.
In a large-scale war like this, generally speaking, it's hard for the curtain to fall without fighting for several days and nights.
"It seems Hanzou's intention to launch a sneak attack on the Land of Wind this time wasn't that resolute..."
Yuji thought to himself.
In the original story, Hanzou was portrayed as a formidable leader who allowed the Land of Rain to expand continuously from a tiny place, gaining a certain amount of territory and capital.
He indeed deserved the title of Demigod of the Ninja World, but after the Second Great Ninja War ended, it was also because of Hanzou's inaction that the people of the Land of Rain lived in misery and the country was in utter chaos.
His close associates took advantage of his prestige to act recklessly in the Land of Rain... they had no intention of managing the country properly at all.
From this point of view, this Hanzou was just so-so... his powerful strength was undeniable, but he... wasn't necessarily a good leader.
"Where's Sasori?"
Recalling his thoughts, Yuji's gaze searched around and found that Sasori, who should have been recuperating, was nowhere to be found.
"He went out as soon as it got light," someone added.
Currently, the Amegakure in the canyon had been mostly cleared out.
But Sasori was injured after all; acting alone rashly was still very dangerous.
"He wouldn't have secretly slipped off to the front lines by himself, would he?"
Yuji's eyelid twitched.
Just as he was pondering, Sasori's figure emerged from the passage.
This made Yuji breathe a sigh of relief.
Sasori also glanced at him, then found a deserted corner to sit down and continued to tinker with his puppet parts.
Yuji rested for a bit, then along with the other Medical Ninjas, began to treat the wounded.
Because the rear lines now had a certain level of security and there was no more Amegakure infiltration, the main job of their medical team was to treat the comrades transported back from the front lines.
The main task of these rear bases in this war was to provide a certain level of logistics and medical support for the front lines.
In addition to facing the invasion from the Land of Rain, the Land of Wind was also being troubled by the Hidden Mist Village and Iwagakure.
The Hidden Mist was quite special, somewhat like an island nation; it didn't border other countries, so naturally, there were no direct territorial disputes.
This allowed the Hidden Mist Village to have a lot of spare energy to strive for its own interests during changes in the Ninja World... the Hidden Mist not only harassed the Land of Wind but also frequently made moves against the Land of Fire.
The same was true for Iwagakure.
Currently, the most intense fighting was between the Land of Rain, the Land of Wind, and the Land of Fire... so for other forces, the more fiercely these three fought, the better. That way, they could reap the benefits of being the bystander while also kicking them while they were down.
Therefore, Sunagakure couldn't possibly mobilize all of its combat power to deal with Hanzou; they only deployed the Third Kazekage and Chiyo.
And combatants like Rasa also had to guard against Konoha taking the opportunity to cause trouble.
The fuse for this Ninja World War seemed to be caused by the rise of Hanzou, but in reality, the major hidden Villages were using 'peace' as a gimmick to take the opportunity to expand and reshape the landscape of the Ninja World.
The ambitions of several major hidden Villages were not small... including the Land of Wind.
Until now, the Land of Wind had been thinking about annexing the territory of the Land of Fire, eyeing the Land of Fire's fertile resources.
In contrast, Konoha appeared to be the defensive side, engaged in passive defense.
Because the 'peace' emphasized by the major hidden Villages was, at its root, dissatisfaction with Konoha's'sole dominance'.
Konoha was the focus of being targeted.
Even the attacks from Iwagakure and the Hidden Mist against Konoha were more frequent than those against Sunagakure.
But facts proved that while this Ninja World War seemed to be fought tooth and nail, no one was able to gain an advantage.
Konoha still produced many rising stars and didn't collapse overnight from being exhausted by the situation as the major hidden Villages had expected.
Although its vitality was also wounded, in Yuji's view, the impact of the Second Great Ninja War on Konoha was not as serious as that of the Third Great Ninja War.
On the contrary, it was Sunagakure Village whose foundation was truly shaken... By nightfall, the great war finally ended.
It concluded with Hanzou leading the Amegakure in retreat.
The Third Kazekage, Grandma Chiyo, and others also withdrew from the front lines.
Many of the wounded began to be sent back to the Village, and the Village's deployment and arrangements for the front lines were also reappointed and divided.
The Sunagakure army was temporarily stationed on a stretch of Gobi desert.
Yuji and Sasori also left the canyon to join the main force.
Yuji's mission term hadn't ended yet... logically speaking, he still had to carry out missions.
However, the Third Kazekage wanted to see him.
On the barren sandy ground, simple tents were pitched one by one.
Sunagakure moved among them, some cooking, some organizing marching supplies.
Yuji and Sasori were led by a Kage Guard into the largest tent in the center of the camp.
"Kazekage-sama, they are here."
After entering, the guard knelt on one knee and announced.
Yuji finally saw the appearance of the Third Kazekage up close.
Although he had seen the Third Kazekage once before in the Village, it was from too far away, and there was no way to have close contact.
From the initial friction to the outbreak of the Second Great Ninja War, and up until now, the fighting had been constant. As the Kage, the Third was naturally extremely busy... he rarely showed his face in front of outsiders.
He had long dark blue hair, amber pupils, and his facial features were somewhat cold and stern, carrying a great sense of majesty.
His physique was a bit thin.
"Bloodline Limit... Magnet Style Iron Sand."
A thought flashed through Yuji's mind.
All of Sunagakure Village's current combat reserves were thanks to one person, and that was the Second Kazekage, Shamon.
It was he who researched Puppet Jutsu and promoted it, making it a specialty of Sunagakure Village.
Then, there was the Sand Manipulation Technique.
It was also during this period that many excellent Ninjas were born in Sunagakure Village.
"Sasori..."
The Third Kazekage's voice was somewhat deep and slightly serious. His gaze lingered on Sasori for a moment, and he nodded in approval.
Clearly, he and Sasori were very familiar with each other.
And facing the Kazekage, Sasori's expression didn't change at any point.
"Yuji."
Subsequently, the Third's gaze shifted to the boy standing beside Sasori.
"Kazekage-sama."
Yuji called out with a smile.
There was no excitement or cowardice; instead, he was very calm.
Yuji's attitude made the Third a little surprised... because this was not quite the reaction of a young Genin when meeting him.
"Not bad."
The Third rarely curled his lips up in a smile and praised him.
"The real intention behind Amegakure's surprise attack on us this time was that Hanzou wanted to break through our front-line defenses and disrupt our rear camp, thereby dismantling the entire army deployed by the Village at the border," the Third said. "However, he thought Amegakure could more quickly annihilate our Ninjas in the rear, believing that the personnel in the rear didn't possess the strength and level of the front lines. But he didn't expect that you could actually hold out for so long... causing him to miss the timing on other battlefronts."
"Although everyone at the rear base performed exceptionally well... the two of you are undoubtedly the most outstanding in this battle."
The Third said.
"Outstanding is an overstatement... there are many seniors who are more excellent than us; we just did our best. In fact, I feel that the use we were put to wasn't that great... at certain times, we even held the seniors back," Yuji replied.
Sasori, who was on the side, heard this and glanced at Yuji.
His look seemed to say: if you're going to answer, just answer, why bring me into it?
"Modesty is a good virtue... but you shouldn't be too modest; young people should have a certain amount of pride."
The Kazekage met Yuji's gaze.
"The area Sasori and I were in was only a single canyon. Although there were many Amegakure appearing, in terms of the number and scale of enemies, the whole thing simply couldn't compare to the front lines... For those seniors who rushed to the border, this kind of battle should be nothing more than a small scene... The reason Kazekage-sama says we are outstanding is just that, in comparison, we showed decent abilities at our age."
"I'm not being modest... I'm just seeing the facts clearly. Compared to the seniors of the Village, what we've experienced... is not enough."
Yuji's words made the Kazekage fall silent.
The look in his eyes when he watched him also showed some emotion.
The Third hadn't expected that at such a young age, Yuji would have such a clear understanding and awareness of the battlefield.
This was a good thing.
Indeed, although it seemed dangerous, for Ninjas who were veterans of many battles, the situation Yuji and Sasori encountered was as common as could be during the Ninja World War period.
Outstanding... was also because of the talent of the two boys.
"You are you, and I am I. Don't lump me in with you."
Finally, Sasori couldn't take it anymore and said coldly.
"What does it matter... we have a life-and-death friendship now."
Yuji grinned cheekily.
Sasori frowned and ignored him.