A gentle breeze passed by as Rorin stood still, releasing the Eight Gates state and retracting the bone spikes from his body. He turned to Temari and said softly,
"Long time no see."
Temari froze for a moment before replying,
"Yeah… long time no see. I didn't expect it would be you coming to support us this time."
Following behind Rorin, Kakashi and the others also arrived on the battlefield. Earlier, when Rorin saw Temari in danger, he made his move for the sake of Nara Shikamaru's happiness.
After exchanging greetings with Rorin, Temari glanced around as if searching for someone in the crowd. After looking around, she came back to her senses and shook her head slightly.
Left to the side, Rorin's lips twitched faintly. Looks like Temari is a bit disappointed. He teased,
"Looking for Shikamaru? That guy didn't come this time. He doesn't know what's happening here."
Hearing his teasing, Temari's cheeks flushed slightly, and she snapped,
"What nonsense are you talking about? Whether that idiot came or not has nothing to do with me. Even if he did, he'd just drag us down."
On another part of the battlefield, the Hidden Leaf Village support team moved in and out of the fight. Two Hyūga sensory ninja identified areas where the Hidden Sand Village forces were at a disadvantage, then relayed the information to Kakashi and Might Guy. The two of them would charge into enemy lines, rescue injured Hidden Sand Village ninja, and hand them over to the medical team for treatment.
Rorin didn't continue chatting with Temari. After confirming she was safe, he joined Kakashi and the others.
Watching Rorin move freely through the enemy ranks, his bone spikes dancing brilliantly as he wiped out enemies with ease, Temari felt her heart settle. She muttered to herself,
"Even though he says strange things… he's definitely a reliable teammate."
With the sudden interference of the Hidden Leaf Village, the enemy forces fell into chaos. It had to be said—this group of twelve from the Hidden Leaf Village was comparable to over a hundred elite fighters.
With their formation shattered, the enemy troops panicked, and their commander hurriedly ordered a retreat.
Seeing the enemy withdraw, Gaara, who had been directing from above, finally let out a breath of relief. Rorin and the others had arrived just in time.
Rorin used the Body Flicker to appear beside Gaara and extended his hand.
"Gaara, as promised last time, I've come to the Land of Wind."
Gaara rarely showed a smile, but this time he managed a faint one as he took Rorin's hand.
"Welcome… and thank you."
Seeing Gaara smile, Rorin was momentarily stunned, but didn't dwell on it. He asked,
"Gaara, why were you struggling so much? From what I saw, the enemy seemed like weaklings."
Gaara's expression turned serious as he spoke slowly.
"That's because the Hidden Stone Village and the Hidden Cloud Village have also interfered. While they didn't directly send large forces to attack us, they've been supplying smaller nations with war materials and dispatching two elite squads to support them. Meanwhile, due to internal instability in our village, most of the ninja we deployed this time are genin. That's why we've been overwhelmed."
So the Hidden Stone Village and the Hidden Cloud Village really did get involved… Rorin rubbed his chin. The mission scroll had hinted at their involvement, but he hadn't expected them to go this far.
After the temporary ceasefire, Rorin returned to the Hidden Sand Village camp with Gaara. Inside the camp, medical ninja were doing everything they could to treat the wounded, while Kakashi and Might Guy were busy helping. As for negotiations with Gaara, it had already been decided before departure that Rorin would take the lead.
Gaara once again expressed his gratitude to the Hidden Leaf Village rescue team. The three medical ninja sent by the Hidden Leaf Village greatly minimized casualties.
After making a round through the camp, the two returned to the main tent. Gaara, Kankuro, and Temari took their seats as representatives of the Hidden Sand Village, while Rorin, Kakashi, and Might Guy attended on behalf of the Hidden Leaf Village.
During the meeting, Gaara once again brought up the presence of Hidden Stone Village and Hidden Cloud Village ninja among the enemy. Kakashi and Might Guy exchanged a glance before Kakashi asked,
"Do we know the strength of the enemy forces they sent?"
Gaara nodded. "According to ANBU intelligence, the Hidden Cloud Village squad has two jonin and four chunin, while the Hidden Stone Village has one jonin and five chunin."
Three against three… Rorin felt no pressure at all. Leaning back with his hands behind his head, he said calmly,
"Gaara, leave those three jonin to us."
Hearing this, Might Guy looked at him with concern.
"Rorin, don't push yourself. Your Shikotsumyaku can only last ten minutes a day, right? How about this—Kakashi and I will handle the three jonin."
Ten minutes? Everyone looked at Rorin in confusion, but he had no intention of explaining.
He waved his hand. "Guy-sensei, it's fine. Ten minutes is enough."
Kakashi also spoke up, "Rorin, leave it to me and Guy."
Rorin stood up with a smile. "Kakashi-sensei, don't worry. I don't take risks without confidence."
For Rorin now, the power of Shikotsumyaku no longer had any time limit, so he wasn't worried at all. Besides, if he went all out, he doubted those jonin could even last ten minutes.
Seeing his determination, Might Guy and Kakashi didn't argue further, though they both planned to finish their own fights quickly and go support him if needed.
In the end, it was decided that Rorin and his two companions would deal with the high-level forces from the Hidden Stone Village and Hidden Cloud Village, while Gaara's group would handle the remaining chunin.
...
Elsewhere, the leaders of several small nations gathered to discuss countermeasures. The sudden appearance of the Hidden Leaf Village had caught them completely off guard.
"Damn it! The situation was going perfectly for us, and now the Hidden Leaf Village shows up to interfere."
"Looks like the rumors are true—the Hidden Leaf Village and Hidden Sand Village have reconciled. Their relationship seems even closer now."
"There's no need to worry too much. They have the Hidden Leaf Village backing them, but we have the Hidden Cloud Village and Hidden Stone Village supporting us."
After one sinister-looking man said this, the others' expressions brightened as they silently agreed. That's right—we also have two great ninja villages backing us.
However, the Hidden Stone Village and Hidden Cloud Village squads—whom the smaller nations saw as their solid support—were already discussing withdrawing from the war.
Their main purpose in coming here had been to assess the true strength of the Hidden Sand Village.
And now it was clear—the Hidden Sand Village was indeed weakened internally, but they had the powerful backing of the Hidden Leaf Village.
The Land of Wind borders the Land of Fire. If something happened to the Hidden Sand Village, the Hidden Leaf Village could arrive in time to assist. No matter what, neither the Hidden Stone Village nor the Hidden Cloud Village wanted to face two major ninja villages at once.
Moreover, there was no absolute trust between them. At any moment, the other side might turn on them and join forces with the Hidden Sand Village and Hidden Leaf Village instead.
As night fell, everything gradually returned to calm.