The rooftop of the Sand Village Kazekage Building.
Grandma Chiyo stood amid the swirling sand, looking haggard.
The villagers were even more confused.
They could accept Gaara becoming Kazekage. After all, he was the son of the powerful Fourth Kazekage and the One-Tail Jinchuriki.
But the problem was—
Why declare war on Amegakure right away?
The two places were practically kindred spirits in misfortune: one never got a drop of rain, while the other was drenched in downpours all night long.
Neither was suitable for human habitation.
Never mind how much it would cost to take Amegakure; there was no value in doing so at all.
Ordinary people didn't know how powerful Akatsuki was.
But Grandma Chiyo was deeply worried.
When she looked at Naruto, who stood between the Feudal Lord and Gaara, the Fifth Hokage—
A sigh rose in her heart.
Sunagakure was already under their control.
After the Konoha Alliance was established, Sunagakure would inevitably become part of it.
And Konoha, now growing more powerful and successfully extracting oil from the desert, would surely expand its strength even further.
It would become the absolute enemy of every Ninja Village.
"Sunagakure's declaration of war on Amegakure is nothing more than a war Naruto Uzumaki is using to expand Konoha's influence."
Grandma Chiyo felt powerless.
Judging by the way Naruto had stopped her Puppet Technique just now—
His strength was already comparable to that of the top-tier shinobi Grandma Chiyo had seen in her youth.
As an elder from the same era as Onoki the Fence-Sitter and Hiruzen Sarutobi—
Grandma Chiyo had also witnessed the era when Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha ruled with absolute authority.
"Before absolute power, we so-called advisors and Elite Jonin are no different from ordinary people."
Grandma Chiyo gave Kankuro a bitter smile.
"Granny, maybe this isn't a bad thing. If oil really is valuable, we can benefit from it too. Besides, Sunagakure really does need allies right now."
Kankuro had witnessed the strength on display during the Konoha Crush Incident.
Konoha was indeed far stronger than Sunagakure was at present.
So while the others still doubted the strength of Naruto, the Acting Hokage, the few of them knew the truth all too well.
"It's the young people's era now, after all."
Grandma Chiyo said no more.
If she couldn't stop it, then at least she shouldn't antagonize a future ally.
On the rooftop.
A sandstorm swept in.
But a fox's head, formed from the Nine-Tails, appeared in front of Naruto and shielded everyone.
Grandma Chiyo was terrified.
Nine-Tails Chakra!
The strongest Tailed Beast was already under Naruto's control, and he wielded it with such ease!
"Sand everywhere. What a pain!"
Bang!
Naruto clapped his hands together.
A giant tree immediately rose up, keeping the sand outside Sunagakure at bay.
"Much more peaceful."
Wood Style!
Grandma Chiyo felt as if she were back in the era ruled by Hashirama Senju.
She didn't dare say it aloud, but Konoha's strength really was beyond expectations. It was best not to antagonize them!
Who could have imagined that another being as terrifying as Hashirama Senju would appear within a hundred years?
[Ping!]
[The world line has changed. Akatsuki has launched its attack early. Deidara and Sasori of the Red Sands have come with the resolve to destroy Sunagakure and take the One-Tail.]
[Host, you must make Ao and Yu mend their ways and save Sunagakure, which is on the brink of destruction.]
[Complete this mission to receive 300 Goodwill Points.]
[Fail the mission and you will be severely punished with 3000 Punishment Points.]
"You're always thinking about making people turn over a new leaf."
"The Goodwill Points prize pool has ten thousand Kusanagi Swords, and the Punishment Points prize pool has the Sage of Six Paths' ninja tools!"
"System, don't try to bait me!"
Naruto punched open the system panel.
He turned to the guard who had brought Gaara the message earlier and said,
"Go back to Konoha and have them declare war on Amegakure."
"Tell them Amegakure attacked Sunagakure, a member of the Konoha Alliance, and we had no choice. We have to go to war immediately!"
Naruto didn't even blush as he spoke.
Grandma Chiyo was already old. He hadn't expected she would still come up with an excuse like this.
"Naruto, you really can't be guilt-tripped at all."
Temari was thoroughly impressed.
"That's the truth. Amegakure really is going to attack Sunagakure, and we have to support our ally!"
Naruto folded his arms. Beneath the golden Nine-Tails Chakra cloak—
His skin grew paler and paler. Wisps of Senjutsu Chakra drifted around him like mist, yet remained connected to his body.
Lightning crackled in one hand, while he formed a Rasengan with the other.
His entire body floated weightlessly in midair.
"My Sage Mode Double has reached its limit. I'll use this war against Akatsuki to break through to the true third stage!"
Whoosh!
A powerful wind rose.
A cheerful laugh rang out from the distant sky.
"Hahahaha! Sasori, I see them!"
The mechanical lens in Deidara's left eye whirred.
"I'll go down there and slaughter them myself. You handle the bombing!"
Sasori leaped down from the sky.
"Of course! It's time to show them what art is!"
A large amount of Explosive Clay poured from Deidara's palms.
The others sensed the enemy's presence and entered battle formation.
"Just in time."
The sandstorm blotted out the sky.
Yet Naruto could still clearly see Deidara and Sasori of the Red Sands approaching.
"Let the battle begin!"
Naruto stood atop the Nine-Tails in its Tailed Beast Transformation.
In an instant, countless plants sprang up in the barren land of Sunagakure.
"Wood Style: Deep Forest Bloom!"
Naruto always kept himself at peak condition.
Rather than switch forms depending on how strong an enemy was, it was better to start with his strongest power and defeat them outright.
Sasori of the Red Sands had just arrived in Sunagakure.
He had planned to use his familiarity with the village to swiftly take it over with more than a hundred puppets.
He hadn't expected to be attacked by Wood Style the moment he appeared.
The puppets were powerful, unleashing all kinds of Fire Release, poison, and blades.
But under Naruto's Wood Style assault, they were completely unfazed.
"The legendary Wood Style? How could there be someone from Konoha in Sunagakure!"
Sasori didn't believe anyone in this era could suddenly manifest Wood Style. Even if someone could, they shouldn't be capable of an attack on such a scale.
Then he looked up and saw the Nine-Tails passing through the forest.
"The Nine-Tails! So he really is from Konoha—the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki named Naruto Uzumaki!"
Sasori sensed something was wrong. Sunagakure might be a trap set to ambush them.
"Where do you think you're going?"
Gaara appeared from the flying sand.
Sasori, dodging the Wood Style attack, looked up.
Grandma Chiyo and numerous Sunagakure shinobi were surrounding him too.
Damn it!
Even that accursed Feudal Lord had come here to die!
The Wood Style alone was enough to keep Sasori of the Red Sands too busy to cope. And now all these people were attacking him too—talk about taking advantage of someone's weakness.
In the sky—
Deidara threw out a dozen or so animals made from Explosive Clay.
But every one of them was a dud!
Giant Bird, Owl, Double-Winged Bird, Doll, Centipede, Twin Snakes—all sank into the sea without a trace.
"That's weird. Why isn't my art exploding?"
Deidara looked down at Sunagakure, blanketed in sand.
As doubt crept into his mind—
A golden hand made of chakra reached up from the ground, grabbed the Explosive Clay Giant Bird beneath his feet, and crushed it in one blow.
"What the—?!"
Deidara saw that even the Giant Bird's explosion had done no good.
He realized something was wrong with the situation in Sunagakure.
"C2: Dragon!"
"C3: Number 18!"
Deidara mounted the Explosive Clay Dragon and tossed out an explosive doll powerful enough to level Sunagakure.
"Who's playing tricks? Show yourself, now!"
"Your old pal's about to show you what art explosions look like!"
As Deidara detonated the doll, he tried to use the mechanical device in his left eye to pick out the enemy in the sandstorm.
Boom!
A terrifying explosion rang out.
The shock wave tore through the sandstorm, revealing the sky above Sunagakure.
After taking the blast, the enormous Nine-Tails recovered at a speed beyond Deidara's comprehension.
Naruto hovered halfway in the air and pointed at Deidara.
"Art explosions? Have you heard of the Tailed Beast Bomb!"
Even Shukaku was envious of the Nine-Tails' Tailed Beast Bomb.
"Never heard of it!"
Deidara knew what a Tailed Beast Bomb was, of course, but he had to keep up appearances!
"Don't lie to yourself about death. The Death God has you in his sights!"
Naruto pointed a finger.
A Tailed Beast Bomb shot into the sky, like a blow that could destroy the world.
Just how terrifying was the Nine-Tails' Tailed Beast Bomb?
It hadn't even exploded yet, but its sheer size had already brought it right up to Deidara!
"Damn it! You've got to be kidding me!"
Deidara thought that even blowing himself up with a Starfish would be useless now!
"My explosions are just that simple and unadorned."
Naruto smiled.
The sky lit up, and the Land of Wind was cloudless for thousands of miles.