Showing Dominance

With that, the three of them left the cloud-shrouded Hidden Cloud Village. They stumbled down the mountain path. Yugito Nii stood far away, seeing Moriyue off. This tsundere just wouldn't admit she was worried about Moriyue's safety; she only came out to relax because she was tired from training.

They traveled in silence. Upon seeing the small grove of trees at the foot of the mountain, Moriyue couldn't help but feel a sense of melancholy. He had died there before.

He touched his chest. The Dog Talisman was still there, and he felt much more at ease. He was no longer the useless person who could be bullied by anyone. This time, leaving the village, he could also inquire about the whereabouts of other talismans and see if anyone else had come into contact with them.

"Oh right, let me introduce myself. You guys should know me. You tested me together back then. My name is Moriyue, 森 for forest, 越 for surpass." Moriyue felt it was necessary to communicate with his two temporary partners. After all, it was a team operation, and knowing each other wouldn't hurt.

The two ninjas, the male and female ninjas who had watched Moriyue and Darui's spar earlier, were very easy to get along with and didn't put on any airs.

"Ah, okay. My name is Ando, I'm 18 years old, currently a reserve member of Darui's squad, and a genin. My favorite food is red bean buns, and I dislike..." The male ninja with slightly graying hair stood up straight, his expression serious, like a student caught slacking off in class by the teacher, revealing his entire background without reservation.

The female ninja beside him couldn't watch any longer and directly covered his mouth, interrupting his story about peeking into a neighbor's house when he was seven.

"Ahem, my name is Kazeki. My strength is also genin level. I'm a sensory ninja, specializing in healing and reconnaissance, and I serve as an auxiliary in the team."

Moriyue was listening intently to Ando's childhood anecdotes. It was Kazeki's reminder that made him realize this was an introduction. After hearing Kazeki's introduction, he nodded. See, that's what an introduction should be, professional.

"A sensory ninja, huh. Well... please take care of me in the future." Moriyue solemnly patted Kazeki on the shoulder. The Dog Talisman couldn't restore his body, so healing would have to be done by a professional.

Kazeki shivered all over when Moriyue patted her, as if she had been stimulated. She took several steps back. Then, she seemed to realize her rudeness and quickly stepped forward to apologize:

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to, it's just that I... I don't really like people touching me, sorry!" Kazeki bowed deeply. The core of this mission was with Moriyue, and they knew their strength was no match for his. If they didn't get along with him, they might be targeted.

Oh no, I lost control for a moment. This is bad... Kazeki, with her expressionless face, was panicking internally. She would be targeted, right? She definitely would be!

"Ah, sorry, I wasn't paying attention before. My apologies, it's not your fault." To Kazeki's surprise, Moriyue didn't show any negative emotions because of her actions. Instead, he nodded very seriously, looking like he was genuinely reflecting.

Ando on the side also breathed a sigh of relief, wiping away nonexistent sweat. He became even more curious about this Moriyue.

"Compared to the other hotheads in the village, his temper is surprisingly good..." He had witnessed the tempers of other hot-blooded guys before; they were like walking powder kegs. They were somewhat restrained with their own people, but towards outsiders, if they didn't see eye to eye, they would just fight, without any hesitation.

"If there's nothing else, let's get back on the road. Let's try to get there early. We're going to become Chunin this time." Moriyue said with a smile, cheering them on. Although Kazeki and Ando thought Moriyue was joking, the atmosphere had indeed eased considerably.

The atmosphere was no longer as oppressive as ice. The three of them chatted more and more congenially. They found that although Moriyue had only become a "ninja" not long ago and his strength far surpassed theirs, he didn't put on any airs of a superior. Along the way, he humbly asked them about their doubts regarding ninjutsu. Although they knew that Moriyue couldn't be considered a conventional ninja, and more realistically, he was just a doomed person with some remaining value, this did not affect their respect for him.

The three of them chatted and laughed all the way, and finally arrived at the Hidden Sand Village without encountering any danger.

Moriyue handed the document Darui had given him to the tattooed Sand ninja wearing a white cloth who was on guard duty. The Sand ninja told them to wait there and then returned to the village, seemingly to confirm the authenticity of the document.

Taking this opportunity, Moriyue also got a good look at the Hidden Sand Village.

The entire Hidden Sand Village was surrounded by desert. They had ingested quite a bit of sand on their journey, and even now, the area outside the Hidden Sand Village was covered in a layer of yellowish sand and wind. Everything looked blurry. The architecture here was adapted to the harsh environment, with all of them using cave-dwelling designs.

Basically, they dug a pit in the sand and stone pillars, and then polished it slightly to make it habitable. It looked extremely simple.

In reality, this was all out of necessity. The Hidden Sand Village had harsh natural conditions and scarce resources. The Daimyo of the Land of Wind also cut the funding for the Hidden Sand Village, making the village increasingly poor. Then, fortunately, a person who could manipulate gold dust, Rasa, appeared, but he was killed by Orochimaru. Since then, the Sand ninjas had to form an alliance with Konoha.

If this had happened in their Hidden Cloud Village, it would definitely not have happened. The Daimyo cutting funding? With the hot-blooded temperament of the Cloud ninjas, if you dared to cut funding today, the Raikage would lead his villagers to exterminate your entire Daimyo family tomorrow.

What use is a dog-like Daimyo if he's not beneficial to us? If it weren't for the trouble, I wouldn't even let this Daimyo exist?

Although it was a bit exaggerated, that was generally the case. Each village had its own customs and differences.

Moriyue and the others had been waiting there for half a day. Ando believed that the new Kazekage was giving them a show of dominance. Kazeki also nodded. After all, the Hidden Cloud Village didn't have good relations with other ninja villages, so being targeted was quite common.

They were all getting impatient. It was at this moment that a ninja with short red hair, wearing a Kazekage hat, and carrying a giant gourd on his back walked over unhurriedly. He had the character for "love" carved on his forehead and no eyebrows. His dark circles seemed to be permanent. This person was the One-Tailed Jinchuriki – Gaara, who was also the newly appointed Kazekage.

"I thought the Cloud ninjas wouldn't come to participate, so it seems I miscalculated. Everyone, welcome to the Hidden Sand Village." Gaara showed a passable smile and spread his arms wide in a magnanimous gesture.