Sunagakure Preparatory Class.
One training ground, after renovation, no longer looked anything like it had before.
It had been turned into a small shinobi school.
Principal: Yashamaru.
Teacher: also Yashamaru.
Rasa had named it the Preparatory Class.
At present, there were twelve students in total.
Temari, Kankuro, Uchiha Izumi, Uchiha Hai…
The remaining eight were all orphans from Sunagakure.
They had been carefully selected.
At that moment, under Yashamaru's direction, all twelve were going through training.
Though in truth, only ten were actually training.
Kankuro and Uchiha Hai were still too young, after all.
One held a lollipop.
The other also held a lollipop.
When Temari finished a round of training, she lifted her chin proudly and swept her gaze around.
Only when her eyes landed on Uchiha Izumi did she pause slightly.
Yashamaru looked toward the outside, expectation flickering in his eyes.
Compared to staying here, he would much rather have been on the front lines.
But Rasa's order was not something he could disobey.
And now that he was here, Yashamaru's sense of responsibility drove him to do the job as well as possible.
"I wonder when Kazekage-sama will finally assign someone else to replace me."
"I want to go to the front too. I want to fight Kirigakure shinobi."
Yashamaru drew back his gaze and looked over the twelve children.
At that moment, Temari was challenging another student.
And in just a few exchanges, she beat down a student who was even a year older than she was.
Seeing that, Yashamaru felt a headache coming on.
In his previous impression, Temari had been cute and sweet.
But now, his image of her had changed completely.
"This isn't right…"
"Why is Temari's personality like this? My sister is clearly so gentle, and Kazekage-sama isn't violent either. At most, he's a little scheming."
Yashamaru's gaze shifted again and landed on Kankuro.
As for Temari, he was no longer worried.
After arriving here, she had quickly blended in.
More than that, she had gradually taken a dominant position.
Within this preparatory class, Temari was basically the big sister boss.
Even though Uchiha Izumi's talent was not bad, and she was older than Temari by a bit—
Izumi's personality was simply too soft.
And she was keenly aware of her own position.
She was only a captive.
Until she contributed enough to Sunagakure, she had no right to truly think of herself as one of Sunagakure's people.
At that moment, Kankuro was engaged in a struggle with Uchiha Hai over a third lollipop.
Kankuro had clearly been winning.
But the instant he noticed Yashamaru looking over—
He immediately turned himself into the wronged party.
With a loud wail, he burst into tears.
Uchiha Hai froze.
What was happening?
The one being bullied had clearly been him.
So why was the other one crying?
Had he remembered wrong? Had the one bullying others actually been himself?
Uchiha Hai looked blankly at Kankuro, then at himself.
Yashamaru: "…"
At that point, Yashamaru stopped worrying about Kankuro too.
When Rasa had first suggested sending Temari and Kankuro to the preparatory class, Yashamaru had refused.
He'd been worried he wouldn't be able to look after them well. There were too many children in the class already.
And they were all kids. They didn't know restraint. They could easily hurt one another without meaning to.
But now, Yashamaru felt completely reassured.
One had arrived and instantly become the boss.
The other was already this cunning.
There was no way Temari and Kankuro would be the ones suffering here.
"Yashamaru, come out for a moment."
At the sound of Rasa's voice, Yashamaru quickly rose and stepped outside.
"Kazekage-sama."
He had also heard about the Hongshan Clan incident.
Now, as he looked at Rasa, there was even more reverence in his eyes than usual.
One man suppressing an entire clan—
How terrifying was that strength?
"I promised Uchiha Hanazuki that I would give her one full day alone with Uchiha Izumi," Rasa said. "She'll come tomorrow morning. Just hand Uchiha Izumi over to her."
Yashamaru nodded.
"Yes, Kazekage-sama."
"Oh, and Yashamaru—how are Temari and Kankuro doing in the preparatory class?"
At once, Yashamaru's mind filled with images of the two children's recent behavior. He instinctively wanted to complain.
But in the end, he held it back and reduced it to three simple words.
"They're doing well."
"That's good."
Rasa patted him on the shoulder.
"Yashamaru, the work you're doing now is very important. Make sure you put your heart into it."
"Yes, Kazekage-sama."
Rasa returned home.
With Temari and Kankuro away, the courtyard suddenly felt much quieter. Karura had become noticeably more relaxed. She kept the entire place clean and orderly by herself, inside and out.
"Karura."
"My husband, you're back."
Karura turned around, delight on her face, and hurried over in a small run.
Rasa reached out and lifted her straight into his arms.
Karura's face flushed.
"My husband, it's still daytime."
"Daytime is good. Once night comes, Temari and the others will be back."
"That… does make sense…"
…
…
The second Sunagakure army arrived near the front lines.
Not only did Kirigakure not know—
Even Sunagakure's first army didn't know.
The purge of the Hongshan Clan was not yet fully complete. Rasa could not guarantee that there were no traitors left on the front line.
At this time, Kirigakure's condition on the front was somewhat better than it had been before.
Jinpachi Munashi's injuries had mostly recovered.
And with Raiga Kurosuki arriving as reinforcement, the number of Seven Ninja Swordsmen on the front with combat ability had returned to five.
On top of that, Ao's Byakugan truly played a massive role on the battlefield.
Enemy traps—one look with the Byakugan, and they were exposed.
Enemy personnel deployment—one look with the Byakugan, and it became clear.
"These Sunagakure fools have grown too full of themselves," one Kirigakure ninja sneered. "They actually used Fuguki Suikazan's defection as an opportunity to counterattack us. They really don't know their own limits."
"With their strength, do they seriously think they're a match for us?"
"It's time to teach them a lesson."
"As long as we move fast enough, even if Rasa's summoning beast is quick, it won't make it in time to support them."
"And if we spread out our positions, the Yatagarasu's exploding egg attack won't be nearly as destructive."
"We need to form an elite strike force."
Genji looked over the people in front of him and said, "Jinpachi Munashi, Kushimaru Kuriarare, Raiga Kurosuki, and Jinin Akebino—you four will serve as the core of an elite assault unit."
"Each of you will select thirty shinobi."
"You will strike back at the Sunagakure army."
The four exchanged glances and nodded at once.
"Yes, Genji-sama."
Very quickly, Kirigakure's elite strike team was assembled.
On Genji's order, it set out toward the Sunagakure forces.
But right at that moment—
The second Sunagakure army appeared at the flank of the Kirigakure army.
"Kill!"
Kirigakure's forces were thrown into panic.
"Enemy attack!"
"This is bad—Sunagakure's army has struck us!"
Genji's pupils contracted sharply as he shot to his feet.
"Impossible!"
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