Wild Flights of Fancy

"Captain Takichi! How is this possible?" Two Chunin Sunagakure exclaimed in shock. Takichi, hailed as a rising star among the common people and a genius of the new generation in Sunagakure, had been easily defeated by Konoha Ninja, and his death was incredibly gruesome.

"Takichi?" Shuichi was stunned. Shouldn't it be Takiji? Had he remembered wrong?

However, he quickly gave up on dwelling on the issue and decided to deal with the remaining two Chunin first, as there was important information that needed to be extracted from them.

With a flash, Shuichi appeared beside one of them, giving him no chance to react. His short sword swiftly slashed, opening a huge wound on the man's upper body. "I avoided your vital points. If you don't stop the bleeding, you'll bleed to death in a few minutes."

Hyuga Akiha and grabbed the heavily injured Sunagakure, using a grappling technique to subdue him.

Chunin his teammate instantly defeated, another Chunin was terrified and broke out in a cold sweat. "Sir, I surrender! I'll tell you anything, just please spare my life!"

"Nakazawa, what are you saying?" The heavily wounded Sunagakure ninja looked on in disbelief. This teammate was actually using this as an excuse to cling to life. "Sunagakure only has ninjas who die in battle. A guy like you is a disgrace to the village, ah..."

He struggled desperately, enduring the excruciating pain in his chest and the dizziness from blood loss, and Hyuga Akiha, wanting to fight one last time before he died.

"Swoosh!" A Kunai was plunged directly into his throat. Shuichi said casually, "Your teammates are much more sensible than you."

"Speak," he said, turning to surround the timid Sunagakure. "If you're honest enough, I might consider sparing your life."

"No problem, sir." This Chunin was the oddball Shuichi had encountered since becoming a ninja; his behavior was more like that of a street thug. "Our mission is to patrol the front lines of the Land of Rain and the Land of Rivers..."

Under the threat of death, he spoke rapidly, rattling off all the information he knew, as if afraid that Shuichi might lose his temper and stab him.

"That's about what I thought." Shuichi squinted at him. This person didn't seem to be lying; this information was similar to their experience. "So, finally, could you tell me about this Takichi? I only remember someone named Takiji..."

"Takiji is his Twin Younger Brother. Years ago, he became a cripple because of a mission..." Nakazawa said, his mouth dry.

These two brothers are Civilian Ninjas from Sunagakure. It's already extremely rare for someone like Takichi to become Jonin. It's not surprising that Sunagakure would have someone like Nakazawa who has no feelings for the village. How can a place with limited resources take care of everyone?

"I see..."

"My lord, do you think I may leave?" Nakazawa cautiously probed. "After what happened, I certainly can't return to the village. I can only change my name and leave the Land of Wind. Could you please spare my life?"

Shuichi, "Of course I keep my word. You can leave now."

"Really?"

Seeing that Shuichi didn't make a move, Nakazawa tentatively turned and left.

He had barely taken a step when a swarm of Kikaichū swarmed over him, enveloping him like a black man. "Ah... you wretched Konoha Ninjas, you will all die a horrible death..."

"I said I'd let you off the hook, but my teammates don't want to, so that's none of my business."

Shuichi actually believed that this person would leave Sunagakure and become Rogue Ninja, and under normal circumstances he might have let him go.

However, they are currently carrying out a dangerous infiltration mission. If this person is intercepted and killed halfway, it could expose their whereabouts. As the captain, he must be responsible for the safety of his team members and must not be careless.

"Huff, huff..." Aburame Shihei felt extremely uncomfortable. "Captain, my insects aren't active at all in this temperature. Are we still going to infiltrate from inside the Land of Wind?"

"Don't worry, I've already figured out a plan. It'll be even simpler once we get the Sunagakure's defensive strategy," Shuichi replied. "Let's rest for a bit. Earth Release: Earth Core!"

The three of them began to plummet rapidly, creating a large crater more than ten meters Shuichi in the ground.

"Earth Release Four Pillars House Technique!"

A mud house appeared inside the pit, with a strange chimney pipe on the roof. Sand flowed around and filled the pit, leaving only a small hole on top.

"How about it? Much cooler now!" Shuichi said proudly. He was a true captain of the Shinobi World, capable of anything from flying to disappearing into the ground to building houses whenever he wanted.

Only a faint light remained in the room as he began to explain his plan, "Sunagakure has focused its efforts on the defense of the Land of Rivers, and they have completely withdrawn their troops from the Land of Rain. If we proceed south as originally planned, we will encounter many difficulties."

"But traversing the Land of Wind is also very difficult," Akiha reminded him. "Now I understand why Sunagakure is so confident in its border defenses; even ninjas find it difficult to operate in the desert region for extended periods."

This is what makes the desert environment so terrifying: firstly, the scarcity of water; secondly, the temperature fluctuations; and thirdly, the extremely open field of vision makes it easy for enemies to spot you whether you are flying or walking.

"That's exactly what I wanted to say, which is also related to these points." Shuichi began by mentioning the considerations behind her plan.

"First, we need to replenish our water supply. I plan to talk to Teacher Orochimaru. If he agrees to my plan, we can use Summoning Technique to obtain water every day, which will allow us to stay active in the desert for extended periods."

This breaks through the barriers set up by Sunagakure. Originally, to obtain water, they would have to go deep into the Land of Wind to find oases, but those locations would definitely be heavily guarded areas and quite far away.

"Next is concealing one's whereabouts. Desert regions offer a significant advantage to Earth Release ninjas, as terrain-altering Ninjutsu can conserve a large amount of chakra."

"When the daytime temperature is high, we'll go deep underground and move around again at night when the temperature drops. We can also coordinate with your senses, allowing us to stay within the Land of Wind for extended periods."

After listening, the two were speechless. Shuichi used his omnipotence to solve all the problems with chakra, and he had probably already thought out how to infiltrate and conduct reconnaissance.

Three hours later, the sound of Summoning Technique emanated from the underground cabin.

"Teacher Orochimaru has agreed." Shuichi made the snake he summoned open its mouth, then took out several pre-filled water bags. "It might smell a little fishy, but it's definitely clean water, enough for us for two days."

Perhaps even Sunagakure couldn't have imagined that a Konoha Squad had infiltrated the desert using Summoning Technique allowed them to exchange chakra for water and food, and was preparing to sneak up on them.

"There's still a long time until dark, you guys rest first. I'll take this opportunity to go out and scout things out, and also test whether my idea is feasible."

"?" Akiha was a little confused about what Shuichi was trying to do, and he used the Summoning Jutsu again.

"They're here, just in time!" Shuichi said happily, taking out a bottle and Scroll. "I had my teacher urgently order Sky Blue Chakra Scroll and ink, so that the Super Beast Imitation Drawing can summon a bird that blends into the sky. I'll go test the effect now."

"..."

How can you be so outstanding?

Aburame Shihei and Hyuga Akiha begin to wonder if their family rules are stifling their creativity.