The Person He Most Wanted to See, Impure World Reincarnation Beneath the Sandstorm
In the Land of Wind, sand and dust filled the sky, and sand and stones flew everywhere.
To avoid getting sand or dirt into their eyes and hair, most ninjas opted for a simple and convenient hairstyle, with their heads wrapped and veils covering their cheeks.
Temari is Wind Release ninja, and as the Sand Village Princess, there's absolutely no need for her to do this.
At this moment, Temari looked somewhat tired, and there was a gloomy look around her eyes. Seeing the group from Konohagakure arrive, she had no choice but to force herself to walk forward.
"We've been waiting for you. Everyone from Konohagakure, is your journey there smooth?" Temari asked.
"Ah, thankfully nothing unexpected happened." Shikamaru scratched his head, looking like things were in trouble. "Anyway, the mission is the priority, take us to see what's going on."
"Um."
On the way, Temari and Sakura exchanged information, and it went pretty much as expected. Kankuro was seriously injured, and Gaara was kidnapped.
Naruto trailed at the back of the group, looking somewhat idle; he had anticipated this outcome. However, the Sand was too far away, and there was no reason for them to do anything strange to interfere.
Anyway, he didn't really care much about other people's lives or deaths, and besides, Gaara had his resurrection armor.
After thinking it over, I decided to just sit and wait.
Temari walked along, talking to Sakura, cold sweat already beading on her forehead. "Can it be cured?"
"I don't know, I'll have to go there and see for myself." Sakura is very serious when it comes to work, and she neatly tied up her pink hair.
"In short, please rest assured, I will do my best."
Sakura's demeanor was like that of an attending physician striding confidently towards the operating room, her eyes gleaming with unwavering determination and seriousness. Temari, was deathly pale and completely flustered.
The atmosphere in Sunagakure was unusually oppressive. Only wisps of smoke could be seen rising from the sand-covered village; the streets were deserted. Every house had its doors and windows tightly shut, and all was silent.
Walking down the street, the group, led by Temari, hurried toward Sand Hospital.
Choji's chubby body bumped into Naruto, giving him a wink. Unfortunately, Naruto couldn't decipher the little fat boy's tiny wink, so he leaned closer and asked in a low voice.
"How?"
"This village feels like someone's died." Choji deliberately distanced himself from the person in front of him, and the two communicated in hushed tones.
"If you remove the feeling, their village's shadow puppets are gone," Naruto said calmly. "You'd better watch your words, or you'll get dragged out and beaten up."
"That serious?" Choji immediately shut his mouth and gave a dry laugh. "What you're saying is making me a little scared."
"Look at how mournful those people from Sand are. And didn't you just hear what the Sand Village Princess said?" Naruto coughed.
"The Fifth Kazekage is seriously injured and captured. Kazekage brother Kankuro is dying and waiting for Sakura to save him. The village is filled with the smell of blood; the bodies must have just been recovered not long ago."
"Where are they?" Choji looked ahead, but Shikamaru, Neji, and the others had disappeared.
"Let's go first." He didn't seem to be in a hurry at all, instead leisurely observing the appearance of Sand.
"Shouldn't we ask someone for directions before following them?" Choji was completely bewildered. He couldn't help but feel that Naruto wasn't flustered at all, and even seemed to be harboring some mischief.
"Why are you following me? To watch Sakura have surgery without anesthesia?" He glanced at Choji and said with a sneer.
No anesthesia?
Choji felt a chill run down his spine at the thought of the scene. Given Sakura's style, she really might do that, after all, it was Chakra Ninjutsu. He'd hold her down if possible, and only use anesthesia if it became too dangerous.
"Then let's wait a little longer."
Naruto was just bluffing him. He turned around and started leading Choji on a leisurely stroll around, not in a very large area. He was just pretending to be lost, looking around everywhere.
The two of them didn't go back until the people from the Sand Building came out to look for them.
"The operating room is just ahead." The person leading the way bowed and slowly withdrew.
Only Naruto and Choji remained in the vast corridor. Outside the window lay the silent Sunagakure, and at the end of the corridor stood a large, earthen-yellow door.
"This place is strange," Choji whispered.
"Where?"
"People's hearts are not united," Choji said incisively.
"As expected of you, Choji, you recognized me at a glance." Naruto immediately offered his usual praise, "The pride of the Akimichi Clan, the bearing of an emperor."
As the guy's praises became increasingly outrageous, Choji's chubby face twitched.
"Stop, what use is this intelligence to us?"
"Completely useless," he said, turning around.
"We didn't even have time to wander around?" Choji was a little speechless. He rolled his small eyes, sighed, and said, "Let's hurry up and find Shikamaru."
"Don't rush, let's stay in Sand for a while," Naruto said, leaning against the wall. "We can't help you if we go in now, so you go in first, I'll just get some fresh air at the door."
"This..." Choji hesitated for a moment, but still turned around and went into the operating room.
Naruto didn't go in, and there's no point in having so many people crammed together. Currently, it seems only Kankuro has a lead on Red Sand Scorpion, which is why the situation is so passive.
Even Shikamaru, faced with no clues, had to wait patiently. Everyone placed their hopes on Sakura, waiting for her to revive Kankuro.
He stood by the window, his gaze shifting to the sky above Sand.
Sasori of the Red Sands.
I'm sorry in advance, I'm going to stop being human.
The doors to the operating room opened, and the Konohagakure group was waiting outside. Temari, as a family member, followed the Sand medical-nin into the operating room, where Sakura was currently performing the surgery.
Shikamaru turned his head, saw Choji, and asked seriously.
Where is Naruto?
"He said it was stuffy inside, so he wanted some fresh air outside," Choji said. Before he could finish, Shikamaru's expression changed, and he stammered.
"W-What's wrong?"
Shikamaru rubbed his forehead and sighed.
"You'll know if you go to the entrance and take a look."
Choji, confused, turned around, opened the door, and went out. He returned a short while later, his face ashen.
"Naruto is missing."
Ino suddenly stood up, completely losing her composure. She looked at Choji, then turned to Shikamaru, and asked in a flustered manner.
"Could he have just gone to the restroom?"
Shikamaru glanced back at Ino. "You should know him better than we do. Although he's usually lazy and easygoing, he's very decisive when it comes to important matters."
"That guy has probably already tried to find someone from the Akatsuki Organization."
"How can you do that! It's so dangerous!" Ino said anxiously, glancing towards the door, almost ready to leave to find someone.
The three of them had practically grown up together, Shikamaru could tell what Ino was up to just by looking at Ino. He subtly took a step towards the door, a troublesome expression on his face.
"Ino, calm down. This is Sand, not Konohagakure." Shikamaru turned to Neji two, gently raising his chin to signal them.
"You all stay seated and don't move, lest the Sand notice something's wrong."
Shikamaru stood there, blocking the only way out of the operating room. The Sand members were all in the operating rooms for the time being, leaving only the six of them in the empty hall.
Sakura is undergoing surgery, Naruto is missing, and the six of them are temporarily unable to leave the operating room.
"Naruto is missing?" Tenten was stunned.
"Sit down for now and listen to Shikamaru." Neji was clearly more composed, and he also pulled Rock Lee, who was about to get up, down with him.
"What should we do?" Choji asked Shikamaru.
This time, Shikamaru is still the team leader. With fewer people, there's room for some debate, but with more people, things can't get chaotic; there still needs to be someone to lead the group.
"Don't panic, just pretend nothing happened," Shikamaru said to the others. "We currently know nothing about the Akatsuki Organization, Naruto is probably just trying to find clues."
"It'll be fine once he comes back after his failure. The most important thing is that we're in someone else's village, so we absolutely mustn't lose our composure. Otherwise, Naruto's side will also be in danger."
"It's all my fault for not keeping a close eye on him," Ino with some self-reproach.
"That guy is inherently wicked and lawless; Lord Tsunade can't control him," Shikamaru said with a helpless smile, trying to comfort him.
"Anyway Ino, you don't need to blame yourself too much. Although I don't want to admit it, Naruto is much smarter than us. Let's keep it a secret for now, and we'll talk about what to do next when there's progress on Sakura's side."
At this point, Shikamaru scratched his head and said with a smile.
"Anyway, Kakashi-sensei should be arriving soon, let him worry about it."
In the operating room.
Kankuro's pained expression with a pale Temari. Sakura washed her hands and, in front of the prepared medicine, expressionlessly directed the others.
"Prepare for surgery, hold him down."
"Yes!" The Sand medical-nin nodded.
Kankuro looked pained, Temari were entirely focused on her two younger brothers. Even though everything seemed to be getting better, Gaara had made a change, beginning to learn how to become a Kazekage even better than his father.
The siblings' relationship has become even closer, and since their father's death, they are more like a family. Even the vague and inexplicable feelings they once had seem to be thawing.
But now, everything has been shattered.
Gaara has been taken away, his fate unknown. Kankuro's life hangs by a thread, saved only by this surgery. And she can do nothing, not even knowing who the enemy is.
All I could do was stand on the operating table and hold Kankuro down so he wouldn't struggle from the pain of the surgery.
"I'm sorry, this surgery requires the patient to be awake and cannot be anesthetized," Sakura said without any emotion, seemingly sensing Temari's reluctance.
"Next, I will remove the toxins from his body."
Sand, in front of a desolate stone tomb.
The wind and sand raged, and dust billowed everywhere. Countless rough stone tombstones stood here, their inscriptions long since eroded by the wind and sand, making the text illegible.
Naruto spat out a mouthful of sand, looked around, and pondered for a moment. It seemed that the technique could be limited to a specific area; it only required Impure World Reincarnation technique.
So Naruto stretched out his hands and said softly.
"Wake up!"