The Wood Dragon's enormous wooden body shuddered violently amid the swirling sand.
Savage winds blasted into their faces, making everyone's clothes snap and flap.
"Let's go! Gaara, just wait till I come rescue you!"
Naruto's shout had barely left his mouth before the fierce wind forced it right back down his throat.
"Cough... ptoo! Ptoo! Why does this sand keep pouring into my mouth?!"
Naruto grimaced, spitting out sand while rubbing his sore eyes.
"You idiot! Opening your mouth in wind like this-had your fill yet?"
Sakura clung desperately to the Wood Dragon's black wooden scales, each thicker than a water vat, and shouted.
Her short pink hair had been blown into disarray, and fine grains of sand covered her face.
"Big bro, this giant worm's way too fast! I can barely stay on my feet!"
Naruto hunched over, wrapping both arms around the enormous wooden horn on the dragon's head.
"Don't call it a giant worm. It's a Wood Dragon, you clueless hick."
Sen sat on a relatively flat wooden scale, both hands casually tucked into his pockets.
Whenever the windblown sand reached him, a faint wisp of green chakra deflected it.
"Well, Kakashi-sensei, you're holding on so tight your leather gloves are wearing white."
Sen glanced sideways at the white-haired Elite Jonin sprawled across the dragon's neck and grinned.
Kakashi pressed himself tightly against the bark, his loose sleeves ballooning in the fierce wind.
"Sen... this Wood Dragon of yours... its speed is downright unreasonable."
Kakashi struggled to open his dead-fish eyes, his voice dry and feeble.
"My mask's about to blow off. Can't you slow down?"
"Slow down? When we were taking the road earlier, you kept complaining about the quicksand swallowing your feet."
Sen rolled his eyes and shrugged shamelessly.
"Now it's too fast? Fine, how