"Leaving again?"
The next day, at the main gate of the Hidden Sand Village.
Yubi leaned against the gate, watching Sasori walking from a distance.
With his hands behind his head, he opened his eyes a crack. "You guy... you didn't even say a word when you got back, acting all mysterious."
"Are we that close?"
Sasori walked straight past Yubi, treating him like air.
But despite his cold words, his body betrayed him... he hadn't gone far from the gate before he stopped and turned his head back.
"Saying that... makes me sad."
Yubi reached out and touched his chest, pretending to be hurt.
Clearly, Sasori, who had just successfully completed a mission, was ready to set off again without a moment's rest.
Although Sasori only stayed for a short while this time, he noticed that the people in the Village seemed to have high praise for Yubi.
From the villagers to the Ninjas... everyone was talking about Yubi, the Little Divine Doctor.
Some praised his good personality... some said he was cute. In short, although Sasori didn't know everything, he knew what Yubi had done for the Village.
After all, even on the front lines, people were discussing Yubi.
"Are you happy?"
Sasori stared at Yubi and said indifferently.
"I can't help it... who told me to be so popular?" Yubi walked over with a joking tone.
Sasori frowned.
Half a year had passed in the blink of an eye; both of them were now nine years old.
"What's so good about staying in the Village?"
Sasori's tone changed, suddenly becoming somewhat questioning.
In his view... Yubi was completely wasting his talent.
He had been resting for too long.
Medical Ninjas... saving lives... the guy in front of him was better suited for killing.
Where Yubi belonged wasn't the Village, but the battlefield.
"Did you miss me? Want me to go on missions with you? It's boring when there's no one to compete with you, isn't it?" Yubi cleared his throat and coughed, acting full of himself, then... he suddenly reached out and patted Sasori's shoulder.
"Don't worry... in a while, I'll go out on missions with you. I'm just a bit tied up with things in the Village for now."
"I know... you really want to team up with me. After all, we had quite the chemistry in our previous missions."
Sasori's eyelid twitched as he glanced at Yubi's hand on his shoulder.
His expression turned cold.
There should be a limit to being thick-skinned, right?
"Don't try to get close to me. I have no interest in wasting time on weaklings... If you stay away from the battlefield for too long, you'll gradually lose your survival skills and won't be able to stand on the same starting line as me."
With a smack.
Sasori slapped Yubi's hand off his shoulder, and after speaking, he continued walking away without looking back.
"Still so tsundere."
Watching Sasori's receding back, Yubi smiled faintly. "But... he does feel more dangerous now."
"I can only say... as expected of you, you're always growing."
He thought to himself.
Soon, a Sunagakure squad that had just assembled in the Village also set off from the gate.
When the captain leading them saw Yubi, he greeted him warmly: "Yubi."
"Captain Shinji."
Yubi bowed politely.
The reason people in the Village liked Yubi was not just because of his outstanding abilities, but more so because of his humility and politeness, never being arrogant or impatient.
Even with the title of a genius and so much praise, he still didn't put on any airs.
"Did you see Sasori?"
Shinji asked.
"He just left."
Yubi pointed towards the gate.
"Sigh."
Shinji shook his head after hearing that, gave a call, and hurriedly led his team to catch up... On the other side, the Land of Fire... Konoha.
At this time, in the Hokage Building.
A group of Konoha's high-ranking officials, led by Hiruzen Sarutobi, were all present.
"Recently... our Village's battle situation with Sunagakure hasn't been very optimistic."
Hiruzen took a puff from his pipe and said in a deep voice.
"According to the intelligence sent back from the front lines, Sunagakure's combat power has suddenly been replenished. Normally, with their Village's manpower and deployment across multiple fronts... it would be difficult to mobilize and support military forces. Besides the friction with us, there are also Kirigakure and Iwagakure... Sunagakure is mainly wary of the Land of Earth. On that battlefield, the leader is Rasa... he should be the strongest junior of Sunagakure's new generation... Like the Third Kazekage, both possess the Bloodline Limit Sand Manipulation Technique, but his Bloodline Limit controls gold dust instead of Iron Sand. It's precisely because of him that even though the Land of Earth has always coveted the Land of Wind and keeps making small moves, they haven't been able to cause any substantial trouble for Sunagakure."
Utatane Koharu spoke.
"Although Sunagakure's manpower has been replenished, it's not new blood... some people are still fighting with injuries, it's just that their physical condition isn't as burdened."
Homura Mitokado added.
At this moment, both Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others at the table appeared somewhat young.
Not as old as they would be in later years.
"So they were forcibly sent to the battlefield after a brief recovery... It seems the Hidden Sand Village is also struggling to sustain this great war." Hiruzen sighed.
Now, one of the key figures in this Ninja World War, Hanzou of the Land of Rain, has already exited the stage.
It's just Konoha and Sunagakure fighting to the death now.
Logically, in a one-on-one, Konoha is definitely not afraid of Sunagakure.
They could easily handle them.
But the problem is... the intensity of the other Three Great Ninja Villages' attacks on Konoha is far greater than Sunagakure's.
Especially Kumogakure of the Land of Lightning... Kumogakure's style has always been very aggressive, and they advocate for developing military power. Due to old grudges from the First Ninja World War, Kumogakure has always held a 'grudge' against Konoha.
In this Ninja World War, due to geographical location and some 'historical reasons', Kumogakure has almost exclusively targeted the Land of Fire, without harassing the Land of Wind much.
So, not just Sunagakure... Kumogakure is also their top enemy.
Sunagakure can hold off Iwagakure on the battlefield because the Land of Earth isn't serious, but it's not that simple for Konoha to withstand Kumogakure.
Because the opponent is serious!
To put it simply, the pressure Konoha faces is incomparable to that of the Hidden Sand Village.
"Kumogakure and Iwagakure are also fighting intensely."
Someone said.
Every Ninja World War is almost always a chaotic mess.
For the time being, the Village cannot make peace with Kumogakure... The Raikage's personality is well known; he is domineering and highly ambitious.
This Ninja World War started with a high profile, and it was not without the Raikage's slogan of using military expansion to reshape the peace of the Ninja World.
It sounds very impressive.
In fact, it's just telling Konoha... this time, I'm coming for you.
As for the Land of Wind, it's not that Konoha has not thought about peace talks... but because of this war, both sides have fought too fiercely and many people have died, making it difficult to reconcile.
In addition, the Hidden Sand Village always thinks Konoha is about to be defeated... they have no intention of backing down at all.
Therefore, they can only fight to the end.
That's the current situation.
Hiruzen Sarutobi felt a bit of a headache.
"The appearance of a large number of wounded on the battlefield... indicates that Sunagakure's medical capabilities have improved. This war has been going on for so long, and Sunagakure's losses have been quite heavy. If they had this capability, they would have utilized it long ago... rather than ending up in this situation."
At this moment, someone at the table suddenly spoke.
Everyone looked over.
It was Danzo.
"What do you mean?"
Hiruzen stared at Danzo, knowing his old friend all too well. "Do you know something?"
"The matter of the Sand... leave it to me for now."
Danzo didn't answer but simply stood up, said those words, and then... turned and left.
"..."
Hiruzen Sarutobi.