svetikya Chapter 126 Sand Village Elite, Side Quest
Chapter 126 Sand Village Elite, Side Quest
Chapter 117 Sand Village Elite, Side Quest
Just before the Konoha team arrived at Kikyo Castle—
In the capital of the Land of Rivers, nine Sand Village ninjas gathered inside a relatively large residential building.
In the very center sat an elderly man around fifty years old, about 1.6 meters tall, with a white cloth strip wrapped around his head like a hat, and two long eyebrows that drooped down to his cheeks.
He was calm and deep in thought; he was none other than Ebizo, an elder of Sunagakure.
The remaining Sand Village ninjas in the room were divided into two teams, all under the age of thirty. Leading them, however, were two young ninjas, a man and a woman, both around twenty years old.
The male ninja has short brown hair and wears a black ninja outfit with a mesh undergarment.
The female ninja has birch green hair, a slender and graceful figure, and a fair back exposed from behind her clothes.
They are the two most outstanding Jonin of the younger generation in Sunagakure—Rasa and Pakura.
Each of them possesses a bloodline limit and is recognized by the village as a strong contender for the Fourth Kazekage.
Ebizo was deep in thought, and the ninjas in the room dared not disturb him, so they could only remain silent.
"Alas, despite all the careful consideration, there is still a mistake," Ebizo thought to himself.
He had been laying the groundwork in the Land of Rivers for years, having thoroughly understood the personalities and beliefs of the daimyo and his two sons. His original plan was to exploit the ambition of his eldest son, Minamoto no Kō, to gain benefits and gradually infiltrate the Land of Rivers.
However, he did not expect that the daimyo of the river country, Minamoto no Okimori, would be able to survive "Suna Shigure"—perhaps the dosage added to the sake was insufficient, or perhaps Minamoto no Okimori's will was simply too strong.
The reason is no longer important.
What should have been a natural succession by the eldest son turned into a chaotic situation with the daimyo in a coma and the second son fleeing.
Now, he has no choice but to personally lead a team to the Land of Rivers to deal with the actions of the Konoha ninja.
However, Ebizo was not anxious about this. Unexpected events, even failures, should have been within the scope of his plans.
As for the Land of Rivers, no matter how bad the situation becomes, the Land of Wind will not lose much substantial benefit because they already have almost nothing here.
No matter how much influence Konoha has over the Land of Rivers, it will not attack the Land of Wind because of this.
After all, one side is fertile farmland with abundant water and soil, while the other side is a vast desert with sandstorms.
Conversely, any progress they make in the Land of Rivers is an extra bonus and worth pursuing.
Unlike the radical faction within Sunagakure who aspired to conquer other countries and even the Land of Fire, Ebizo only wanted one thing—water.
He had planted numerous spies in various countries, knowing full well that even the most powerful and wealthy nations were riddled with internal conflicts.
Therefore, he never believed that occupying other countries' lands would solve the problems of the Land of Wind or Sunagakure.
For them, sandstorms are both a disaster and a protection.
With enough water, even a desert can be transformed into an oasis.
The Land of Rain and the Land of Rivers—these two neighboring countries of the Land of Wind—have abundant rainfall, sometimes to the point of causing disasters, much like the sandstorms of the Land of Wind.
If the water sources of both countries could be diverted to the Land of Wind, everything would be perfect.
Ebizo had conducted on-site calculations: as long as a sufficiently high dam was built in the Land of Rain and the Land of Rivers, and then canals were dug through the mountains, the water could be diverted into the Land of Wind.
This project is massive in scale, but not impossible. It can be completed in a few years with the combined efforts of Sunagakure and even the Land of Wind.
The biggest obstacle is not the project itself, but the interference from Iwagakure and Konoha.
Sometimes Ebizo felt that his idea was somewhat naive—it was almost impossible to get the two villages to agree to the project.
He only mentioned this idea to his older sister, Chiyo, and was met with ridicule.
In a sense, for such a project to be implemented, Sunagakure must be powerful enough to suppress Iwagakure and Konoha.
This essentially puts them on the same path as radicals who crave to occupy other countries' lands.
Occasionally, Ebizo would let his thoughts drift away: perhaps one day, the ninja world could achieve complete peace, and then the Land of Wind could join hands with its neighbors to accomplish this great undertaking.
However, he knew that this vision was even more unattainable than Sunagakure's military conquest of other countries.
"Judging by the time, the Konoha ninja should be arriving at Kikyo Castle by now—who will be leading the team? The Legendary Sannin, or the White Fang of Konoha?"
"No matter who it is, things have come to this point, and Sunagakure cannot easily back down."
Ebizo raised his head and glanced at the eight people in the room.
"Rasa, Pakura, the leader of Konoha this time will likely be one of the Legendary Sannin or White Fang. Your mission is to defeat them while ensuring your own safety—that will count as a success."
His tone was calm, yet it carried a sense of scrutiny.
He already had a preference in mind for who was more suitable to become the next Kazekage, but he still wanted to witness it with his own eyes.
"My lord, why don't we just take action and kill the unconscious Minamoto no Mori? This would save the ministers of the River Country..."
"The nobles will have no choice but to support Genjiro Akihiro's succession." Ye Cang frowned slightly, his eyes showing confusion, and asked directly.
Upon hearing this, Ebizo frowned almost imperceptibly, inwardly sighing, "As expected, Yecang is not good at political strategy and tactics; he is only suitable to be a vanguard in battle."
He pondered for a moment, then turned his gaze to Luo Sha, who stood to the side, his expression shifting slightly as if he wanted to speak but hesitated. His tone was calm but carried a hint of testing: "Luo Sha, you tell me."
A barely perceptible glint flashed in Rasa's eyes before he calmly replied, "Firstly, it is a taboo for ninjas to directly attack a daimyo, a taboo tacitly accepted by all nations. Even if the target is the daimyo of the Land of Rivers, there must be an official order from the daimyo of the Land of Wind; otherwise, it is an overstepping of boundaries."
"Secondly, Minamoto no Mori is currently heavily guarded, and the level of vigilance has been fully upgraded. If he makes a move now, no matter how well he disguises himself, it will be extremely difficult to completely erase the traces. Once he is discovered, Sunagakure will find it difficult to extricate itself from the situation."
"Thirdly, Sunagakure cannot afford the risk of being held accountable by its own daimyo—that would shake the relationship between the village and the daimyo's government, and even affect funding and mission sources."
He paused briefly, his tone becoming even calmer: "The poisoning was entirely orchestrated by Genjuro Yukichi himself; Sunagakure never directly intervened. To outsiders, Genjuro Yukichi merely appeared to have suddenly fallen ill. If we were to take his life now, we would be handing over leverage to others."
Ebizo listened quietly and nodded to himself.
The daimyo and noble forces both relied on and feared the ninja village.
When faced with the threat of ninja force, the daimyo of the Land of Wind and the daimyo of the Land of River would actually stand on the same side.
Ye Cang looked at Luo Sha, who was trying to appear calm, his eyes narrowed slightly, and he remained silent.
She was naturally aware of the various comparisons made between her and Luo Sha in the village.
She never coveted the position of Wind Shadow, yet she was always compared to Luo Sha—she harbored a deep resentment and was unwilling to easily admit defeat.
"Alright," Ebizo said, "Morimoto's poisoning is severe, and he will hardly survive tonight. Our mission objective is to defeat the Konoha ninja and help Michiru succeed to the throne."
"The Konoha ninjas will inevitably pass through Toyogen Gorge on their way from Kikyo Castle. We will ambush them there and deliver a crushing blow."
"Yes, sir!" The Sand Village members answered in unison.
Kikyo Castle.
The Konoha team rested for only about thirty minutes before setting off again.
Before leaving, Xingyuan Qianshuo quietly left a Flying Thunder God Technique seal under the table in the rest room—without any special purpose, just a casual arrangement.
During the march, he had already quietly left many marks along the way, and he planned to continue doing so in case of unforeseen circumstances.
After the group left Kikyo Castle, Hatake Sakumo placed Minamoto no Wataru in the center of the group, in the most protected position.
Sakumo's squad led the way, while Sakazaki Yamamasa's squad brought up the rear. Hoshino Sensaku and Tsunade stood guard on either side of Minamoto no Oka, secretly taking on the responsibility of protecting him.
Although it was clear that Genjuu had trained, his pace was still not fast.
Seeing this, Hatake Sakumo did not send a team of medical ninjas ahead.
Dispersing troops is too dangerous, and protecting Minamoto no Oka Watari is clearly a higher priority than saving the daimyo of the river province.
The slow march will allow the Konoha members to gradually recover, as an enemy attack could occur at any time.
Along the way, the terrain of Kikyo Mountain gradually changes: from lush forests to sparse forests, with mountain streams crossing the road from time to time.
It took the group about four and a half hours to travel from Konoha to Kikyo Castle; however, although the distance from Kikyo Castle to the capital of the Land of Rivers was only one-third of the former, the time required might be even longer.
After traveling about forty kilometers, Yuanqiudu could no longer keep up with the group, so everyone had to stop and rest.
"Lord Sakumo, I am truly sorry—I have dragged you all down with me," Genjuu Wataru apologized gently.
"You are my employer, protecting you is my top priority," Sakumo Hatake replied. "The road ahead is fraught with danger, so it's only right to proceed cautiously."
"Lord Sakumo, will we encounter Sunagakure ninjas?" Wataru asked in a low voice.
"If all of this is truly a scheme orchestrated by Sunagakure, then encountering their ambush is probably inevitable," Hatake Sakumo replied in a deep voice, his brows furrowed.
Everyone listened quietly to their conversation.
Xingyuan Qianshuo and Tsunade sat leaning against the rock wall, listening intently, each lost in their own thoughts.
Chisaku's gaze toward Hatake Sakumo carried a subtle, almost imperceptible scrutiny.
After leaving Kikyo Castle, he keenly noticed that the deep sorrow hidden in Sakumo-senpai's expression was even heavier than before.
After realizing that this mission was likely the same one in the original work where Sakumo Hatake abandoned it to save his comrades, ultimately leading to Sakumo's suicide, he paid extra attention to this senior.
Although his involvement with Tsunade will inevitably change many things, the root of the problem will not disappear as a result.
The root cause, on a smaller scale, is Sakumo Hatake's personal inner conflict; on a larger scale, it is the predicament of the entire ninja survival system.
Ninjas rely on missions for a living, so they must prioritize missions to maintain the reputation of the ninja village and attract more commissions. This is a situation that Hoshinohara Chisaku has been trying to change, but has found difficult to reverse in the short term.
Sakumo Hatake himself seems to have equally serious problems.
If he held the principle of "comrades' lives are more important than missions" to the highest standard, and chose to commit suicide after his beliefs collapsed, then in his past missions, had no comrades ever been injured?
When Xingyuan Qianshuo thought of Kakashi's mother, Hatake Shiori, a thought struck him: Perhaps after his wife's death, Senior Sakumo suffered a severe emotional blow and developed a heart ailment.
It is not uncommon for ninjas to have psychological problems; in fact, the stronger the ninja, the more intense the mental impact they often experience. They use this to construct their own ninja way and philosophy in order to heal their trauma.
This also makes their spiritual energy stronger and their chakra more abundant.
However, when Qian Shuo used the system to check Shuo Mao in the past, the condition was always shown as "healthy".
At this moment, looking at Senior Sakumo, whose brows were still furrowed, a thought flashed through his mind, and he quietly activated the system to investigate:
Name: Hatake Sakumo
[Symptom: Complex grief]
[A special condition has been detected, generating a side quest: "Healing Sakumo Hatake's Complex Grief." Accept?]
"Complex grief—?" Hoshino Senju thought to himself, "So it's another mental illness? Did it relapse after entering the Land of Rivers?"
With a thought in mind, he silently murmured, "Receive."
Although I have never heard of this disease, I can infer from Sakumo-senpai’s various behaviors that it is related to Shiori Hatake and the concept of “comrades are more important than tasks”.
Judging from the situation, the other party had indeed overcome his mental illness through willpower in the past, and it is very likely that his old illness has relapsed.
Curing Sakumo-senpai would probably be more difficult than curing Tsunade's hemophobia.
However, this mission involves a transformation of the ninja survival model, which coincides with Chisaku's own long-standing pursuit.
Before he could think it through, Hatake Sakumo had already gotten up and called on everyone to continue forward.
Xingyuan Qianshuo and Tsunade immediately stood up, but left another Flying Thunder God mark in a hidden spot on the rock.
One of the guards at Yuanqiu Ferry offered to carry him for a while.
Sakumo Hatake nodded slightly. He had already considered this method, but had not brought it up himself.
The team set off again.