A Perfect Handoff and an Unsolvable Mystery on the Kazekage's Desk

The battered convoy, like a skeleton crawling out of a hellish sea of sand, slowly rolled into a heavily fortified underground stronghold in the last trace of darkness before dawn.

This was Sunagakure's final destination for the Sand Gourd.

There was no joy of victory in the air, only the dead silence of survivors and the bloody stench of sand and grit.

Every surviving ninja was wounded, silently carrying out the final handover procedures. The ANBU Inuzuka captain stood beside the convoy, his face dark enough to drip water. The wounds on his chest and arms had been hastily bandaged, but his tattered uniform still spoke of the brutality of the journey.

His gaze kept drifting, almost unconsciously, toward the fox-masked figure in the group.

Baishi ignored him.

He stood before a civilian Jonin responsible for receiving them, neither humble nor overbearing, his voice as steady as if he were checking a list in a logistics warehouse.

"Sunagakure Archives Division, Jonin Nakajima. I am Baishi, a technical consultant seconded from the Konoha Logistics Department. I was ordered to provide escort for the entire journey. The mission has now reached its destination, and I request that the handover procedures and departure documents be processed."

Nakajima, who was in charge of receiving them, frowned deeply. The preliminary casualty report in his hand stood in stark, bizarre contrast to the composure of this Konoha ninja before him.

"The handover can proceed, but the procedures must be completed." Nakajima's voice was stiff, carrying the detachment of official business. "Everyone involved must first submit a detailed mission report to the command headquarters."

That was only proper, but it was also an obstacle. The wording of any report could become grounds for accountability afterward.

The Inuzuka captain's Adam's apple bobbed as he prepared to speak.

But