Forever Friends! The Lost Jewel of the Virgin Ring

Soon, everyone in Kazekage's Office was evacuated.

The high-ranking officials exchanged glances, their gazes settling on the Shinki.

"You brat, what exactly are you up to by placing the Flying Thunder God Mark in the Kazekage's Office?!"

This is not something you can joke about!

The Office of the village's shadow is arguably the most confidential and important place.

This kid can use Flying Thunder God to come and go as he pleases.

This is tantamount to them, the high-ranking officials and the Kazekage, being able to assassinate them at will!

How are Sunagakure supposed to survive after this?!

Shinki shrugged. "I just dropped one off when I came to the Kazekage's Office for a meeting, thinking it would be convenient for me to come to your Sunagakure in the future. ┐(´-`)┌"

The high-ranking officials of Sunagakure were speechless.

"Convenient? You think this is your backyard?!"

"Can we interpret this as Konoha provoking Sunagakure?!"

Shinki: "..."

"I just left it anywhere because it was convenient to get there... I just suddenly remembered it then. →_→"

"If you feel this threatens your personal safety, just move this table and throw it away..."

"Besides, do you really think I need to assassinate someone to attack Sunagakure...?"

Upon hearing this, the Sunagakure's high-ranking officials pointed a trembling finger at the Shinki, displaying an unyielding and defiant attitude. "You... you!! This is utterly outrageous! It's outrageous!"

"You want to shit and piss on our Sunagakure heads?!"

"You're taking the alliance between Konoha and Sunagakure way too lightly!!"

"In any case, Konoha must give us an explanation for this, otherwise Sunagakure will not let it go!"

Just then, Chiyo stepped forward.

"Enough!"

The high-ranking officials immediately fell silent.

Although Chiyo had been out of the public eye for many years, this old Puppeteer made outstanding contributions to Sunagakure and was someone they had to respect.

Chiyo Chiyo's gaze swept over the high-ranking officials present, revealing a disappointed expression.

"Gaara has been kidnapped, and you're all afraid and don't want to rescue him."

"It was the Konoha Ninjas who rescued Gaara from the Akatsuki!"

"Do you know that the Red-Haired Kid almost got targeted by the Death God and paid with his life in order to revive Gaara?!"

"Although I, this old woman, once held prejudices against Konoha Ninjas, I still want to say that you are too narrow-minded, you...!!"

After listening to Chiyo Sunagakure fell silent.

I never imagined that the Red-Haired Kid would go to such lengths for Sunagakure...

Could it be that he really just randomly placed the Flying Thunder God Mark...?

Perhaps we're all getting old, and it's really time to replace the high-ranking members of Sunagakure?

At that moment, Gaara walked to the desk with the Flying Thunder God Mark on it, patted the surface, and signaled for everyone to be quiet.

He said, "Konoha is Sunagakure's forever friend."

"This table, bearing the Flying Thunder God Mark, is proof of our friendship."

"Sunagakure welcomes Mr. Shinki to visit anytime!"

"At that time, I will serve him the finest tea and give him the highest honors!"

Now that even the Kazekage, the highest leader of Sunagakure, has made his stance clear, the many high-ranking officials are speechless.

With their business concluded, Shinki and his party planned to return home.

Gaara had someone escort them to the Village Entrance.

Although they knew that Shinki used the Flying Thunder God to teleport back to Konoha in a flash, there was no need to send him off.

But the necessary procedures still need to be followed.

Sunagakure.

Gaara handed Shinki a Scroll: "Thank you for coming to help Sunagakure."

Shinki asked in confusion, "What is this?"

"I heard from Temari... Sister..."

Gaara probably rarely calls Temari "sister," Gaara the last "sister" sounded a bit forced and awkward.

But to Temari, that was already more than enough!

Gaara continued, "I heard her say that you like the medicinal herbs from Sunagakure, so she had her men dig up more for you to bring back to Konoha... These herbs were all handpicked by me; they're unique to Sunagakure and not found in Konoha."

"Also, I added extra portions of precious medicinal herbs like Crystal Orchid and Dragon Worm Grass..."

Shinki:( ˝ᗢ̈˝ )

Dragon Worm Grass have extremely high medicinal value and are very effective; even a single coin of them can fetch a sky-high price of 150,000 on the Black Market!

Gaara gave, but it must have been a lot!

Shinki immediately said enthusiastically, "Kazekage, you are my friend forever!! (σ≧︎▽︎≦︎)σ."

After exchanging a few more pleasantries, Shinki used the Flying Thunder God to take away all the Konoha Ninjas.

After Shinki and his group disappeared.

A gentle breeze stirred, ruffling Gaara's hair and stirring up the desert dust.

Gaara's eyes flickered, a smile played on his lips, and he turned and walked back to Sunagakure.

Konoha.

The team went to the Hokage's Office to hand in their mission as soon as they returned to the village.

Tsunade showed a satisfied expression, then looked at Shinki with a hint of reproach. "That technique you developed is a bit dangerous. It wasn't discovered by the Death God this time, but who knows if it won't be... banned next time!"

Shinki: "..."

"Good..."

Then, Neji, who was standing next to him, handed him a ring.

Neji said, "I found this near the battlefield. It seems that every member of the Akatsuki wears a ring."

Tsunade carefully examined the ring Neji handed her, but after a long time, she couldn't figure out anything suspicious.

Finally, she handed the ring to Shinki: "Shinki, you're practically a member of the Konoha Research Institute, take this back and study it carefully."

Shinki nodded and accepted the ring, then made a gesture.

OK. (●´∇`●)

Tsunade: "Oh, right."

"I haven't settled the score with you yet for leaving the Flying Thunder God Mark in the Sunagakure Office! (ꐦ ಠ 皿ಠ)"

"To put it mildly, this was unintentional on your part; to put it more seriously, it was a malicious attempt to disrupt the peace between the two villages... blah blah blah..."

Shinki:(||๐_๐)

He wanted to say that since no one else was pursuing the matter, why did you have to scold me again, Master?

But seeing that Tsunade seemed to be scolding him quite earnestly, he didn't bother to argue.

The Land of Rivers, the mountain cave.

The Zetsu, dressed in Black Robe, appeared inside the cave with Deidara, Sasori, and a Masked Man.

The Zetsu man said, "I didn't expect you two to both lose."

"That kid is too troublesome; he even managed to neutralize my Garuda..." Deidara said resentfully.

Beside them, a scorpion possessing an unknown puppet was searching for something.

Scorpion, who controlled numerous puppets, searched extensively before saying somewhat discouragedly, "Why isn't it here? I remember my Original Body Puppet was clearly nearby... Could it be that the flood washed the ring away?"

The Masked Man said in a playful voice, "Senior Scorpion, you actually lost the ring? Won't the Leader be angry with you?"

Shut up, Tobi! You think I won't saw you to death?!

Scorpion looked irritated.

Deidara chimed in, "Tobi, don't provoke Sasori, or he might turn you into Human Puppet."

The Masked Man, known as Tobi, nodded as if he understood, then turned to Deidara: "Deidara- senpai, your art doesn't seem to be very good..."

Deidara: (╬￣皿￣)=○#(￣#)3￣)

"Deadly Scissor Legs!!"