Pulling the view back from ancient times: Year 64 of Konoha. Naruto Uzumaki and the others had been missing for two and a half years since the Dragon Vein mission.
Yellow sand—an endless expanse of yellow sand.
The dry climate made the surroundings unbearably hot. The grains of sand beneath the sun were scorching, and even the light warped unnaturally in the heat.
The wind rose, still carrying a chill. Sand filled the sky, obscuring vision as a hazy yellow swallowed everything in the desert.
This sort of mild Sandstorm was extremely common in this country blanketed by wind and sand.
The crisp chime of wind bells carried across the silent desert for a great distance. Black robes patterned with red clouds flickered in and out of sight amid the yellow sands.
"What's that?" On a towering wind-carved rock in the distance, a Sunagakure ninja asked in confusion. Many more Sunagakure ninja stood beside and behind him.
Sunagakure lay deep within the desert, and its location was exceptionally unique. Back then, the First Kazekage, Retto, had put considerable effort into finding this site, even using ninjutsu to reshape the terrain.
Towering rocks surrounded the village, not only blocking the Land of Wind's distinctive Sandstorms but also serving as a barrier against enemy ninja attacks. There was only one narrow route into the entire village, like a slit between cliffs.
As long as Sunagakure's ninja prepared an ambush in advance, even an enemy force several times their number would find it extremely difficult to break through.
Throughout the Ninja World Wars, Sunagakure had always been renowned for being easy to defend and difficult to attack.
"Who are they?" a Sunagakure ninja asked, while the ninja around him all adopted grave expressions.
The ninja who had spoken first turned and hurriedly asked,