The people of Sunagakure had really spared no expense. Everything they had hauled out overnight was piled up like a small mountain.
Sen Senju stood before the stack of large crates and nudged one wooden box with his toe, listening to the clattering inside.
"Baki, old pal, did you empty out your village's entire fortune? Dumping all this junk on me-are you trying to crush me to death with it?"
Baki stood beside him with an ingratiating smile, sweat covering his forehead. He hurriedly waved for someone to hand over the inventory.
"Lord Sen, surely you jest. These are all Sunagakure's finest specialties."
"This is lightning bloodstone mined from deep in the desert. Nothing beats it for sharpening ninja tools."
"And those barrels over there contain medicinal herbs Granny Chiyo treasured for years. They're all yours now."
Naruto crouched beside a crate, half a melon he had just swiped clenched between his teeth, and mumbled:
"Big Brother Sen, we've hit the jackpot this time. All this good stuff could get us loads of ramen vouchers back home."
Kakashi walked over, adjusted his mask, and sighed helplessly.
"Sen, there's certainly plenty here, but how are the few of us supposed to haul it all back?"
"Are you going to summon the Wood Dragon again? Flying through the sky with all these crates hanging off it might make it fall apart."
Sen Senju rolled his eyes and tossed the long gift inventory over his shoulder, hitting Naruto squarely on the forehead.
"Summon the Wood Dragon? Kakashi-sensei, do you really think I'm an ox that pulls carts?"
"Flying around in the dead of night dragging a load of cargo, like some airborne delivery service? I'm not embarrassing myself like that."
As he spoke, he strolled over to a relatively level patch of open