Just as Kurotsuchi finished speaking, the expressions of her two teammates beside her suddenly changed. Their gazes turned wary as they looked toward the entrance of the tower.
Sensing the change in them, Kurotsuchi narrowed her eyes slightly and turned her head to glance in that direction.
Near another stone pillar, the dark-skinned, expressionless Cloud Ninja team also slowly turned their heads, their eyes cold as they watched the tower entrance.
Under their watchful gazes, three figures slowly appeared there.
The leader had his arms crossed over his chest, short red hair, and an indifferent expression on his pale, youthful face. A large gourd was strapped to his back.
The instant Kurotsuchi saw him, her gaze sharpened slightly as she murmured softly.
"Gaara of the Desert Waterfall..."
The third team to arrive at the tower was Gaara's Sand Ninja team. Temari and Kankuro followed closely behind him, their expressions somewhat relaxed.
Apparently, Gaara had not displayed that terrible state again during the rest of their journey.
As they slowly stepped into the tower, Kankuro and Temari sized up the teams that had already arrived.
"Oh, the Cloud Ninja and Rock Ninja got here before us..."
Temari glanced at them and spoke softly.
Hearing her, Kankuro curled his lips slightly and muttered.
"It's only because we weren't in a hurry. We had to take Gaara's condition into consideration. Otherwise, we would have been here long ago..."
Temari glared at him slightly for his mild complaint, while Gaara at the front remained indifferent, utterly unconcerned.
It was as though he had seen no one at all. He simply continued walking forward, ignoring all the Rock Ninja and Cloud Ninja.
Seeing his cold attitude, the Cloud Ninja group remained expressionless and said nothing, maintaining a grave silence.
However, the two members of Kurotsuchi's