The wind and sand did not stop, and the skinny figures of the three village chiefs were stretched extremely long outside the temple, as if they would be swallowed by this desperate land at any time.
They did not dare to raise their heads and could only stare at the wind-eroded rocks at their feet, waiting for the judgment that would determine the fate of the entire village.
In the palace, Xuan was silent as he read the letter. His fingertips tapped lightly on the cold armrest of the throne, making a regular and dull sound.
Every sound seemed to step on the fragile heartstrings of the three people outside the hall.
In the crystal core projection in front of him, the data flow called out by Chiyo refreshed like a waterfall, accurate to the population increase and decrease curves of every oasis in the south of Land of Wind, as well as the reserve deduction model of underground mineral veins in the past fifty years.
The light and shadow changed, reflecting on Chiyo's always calm face, but at this moment there was a hint of coldness.
She whispered, "They are not here to surrender, they are here to sacrifice their lives." In the joint letter, the words "double Scarlet Eye Tax" were shocking, which was a price that almost drained the last drop of blood from the village.
The corner of Xuan's mouth curled up in an imperceptible arc, which was the indifference of a hunter when he sees his prey actively stepping into the trap.
He nodded, and his voice was so calm that there was no trace of warmth. "Then let them trade their resources for a living." He paused, his eyes moved away from the data model, and fell on the three humble silhouettes outside the hall, "But one person from each household must be left as a pledge in 'Academy'."
Academy, New Hall is an institution set up to "train" the next generation, but in the eyes of all insiders, its real name is "Hostage Camp".
With a single command, New Hall's war machine will operate efficiently.
Baba personally led a team of Scarlet Eye Guard to escort the first batch of water purification devices to the border.
What is under their crotches is no longer a flesh-and-blood war horse, but a four-legged puppet "Sandwalker" driven by chakra, which is silent but far faster than a galloping horse.
Each Scarlet Eye Guard wears special goggles, with a faint red light flashing in the lenses. This is the embodiment of the New Hall's core technology, which can see into the abnormal chakra flow under the sand layer.
When the team reached a long and narrow valley called "Ghostcry Gorge", Sandwalker, who was sitting under Baba, suddenly stopped and made a low metallic friction sound.
Almost at the same time, dozens of figures emerged from the cliffs on both sides of the canyon like ghosts!
They were wearing worn-out Hidden Sand Village standard protective gear, but the nameplate representing the village on their chests had long been erased.
A sharp sound of breaking through the air suddenly sounded, and dozens of high-speed rotating air bombs intertwined into a web of death, coming overwhelmingly!
"Wind Release·Vacuum Sphere bursts!" Someone in Scarlet Eye Guard shouted. This is a ninjutsu that Sunagakure has long since eliminated. It is powerful, but extremely consumes chakra, and has long been replaced by more efficient techniques.
Faced with this sudden fatal blow, Baba showed no trace of panic on his face. Instead, he showed a cold sneer, "This is the 'Wind-Erosion Squad' who defected ten years ago. A group of rats hiding in the gutter. Do you think that if you change your body and skin, I will not recognize your moldy bones?"
He did not order to face the enemy head-on, but instead pulled the reins suddenly, and the abdominal armor of Sandwalker under his seat instantly opened, and a strange-looking puppet poked out, aiming at the ground and releasing a low-frequency shock wave invisible to the naked eye!
Buzz--!
The earth groaned in pain.
Hundreds of "Ground-Rumbling Stakes" that had been planted along the way were instantly activated!
Amidst the loud rumblings, several bottomless cracks burst out on the canyon floor, like the mouth of a giant beast, accurately dividing and surrounding the ambushers.
A smooth metal barrier rose from the edge of the crack, completely cutting off their escape route.
What was originally an ambush battle turned into a hunt for a turtle in a jar in just a few breaths.
Baba waved his hand, with a hint of boredom in his voice. "Keep him alive, the palace master will still need you."
There were no screams in the New Hall's interrogation room, only the prisoners' unexplained gasps due to mental breakdown.
In less than half an hour, the results were presented to Chiyo.
The person behind the scenes was actually the intelligence officer directly under Kazekage Gaara, a hardliner who had been lurking at the top of Hidden Sand Village for many years.
This person has long been dissatisfied with Gaara's tolerant policy, and views the rise of the New Hall as an erosion of Hidden Sand Village's sovereignty.
He secretly funded these defecting old troops to create chaos, with the purpose of forcing the Godaime to send troops to intervene and completely strangle New Hall in the cradle.
Chiyo frowned. "If this matter is exposed directly, Hidden Sand Village's top management will surely fall into fierce internal fighting. At that time, no matter whether Gaara is clearing out or covering up, it will cause turmoil and disrupt the rhythm of our penetration control."
Xuan Duan sat on the throne and was not surprised by this result.
With a tap of his fingertips, the crystal core projection in front of him instantly switched, and the precise layout of the Kazekage mansion emerged clearly. Even the defense change time of each hidden sentry was clearly marked.
"If you don't expose him, you won't take action." Xuan's voice was playful and cold, "Let him continue to give orders... But from now on, all his orders must be reviewed by me."
The order was quickly conveyed to the transformation laboratory at the bottom of the New Hall.
Chiyo personally supervised and sent the three weakest prisoners to the operating table.
Precision instruments probed into their brains and implanted three micro chakra resonators smaller than grains of rice.
This thing will not damage their sanity, it will only turn them into "living communication relays".
Since then, a "shadow chain of command" controlled by the New Hall behind the scenes has quietly taken shape.
Every time the intelligence officer far away in Sunagakure issues a secret order through secret channels, the content will be presented verbatim on the light screen in the secret room of the New Hall a stick of incense in advance.
What's even more frightening is that New Hall's system will automatically analyze its language pattern, chuck frequency and authority level, and when forging a reply, it will simulate the exact same tone and style, making it impossible for the subordinates receiving the instructions to distinguish the authenticity and mistakenly believe that the order has been successfully executed.
Seven days later, new instructions came.
"Night Hawk Operation: Assemble a hundred elites, raid New Hall's No. 7 granary on the border at Zishi, and burn it to the ground."
Baba looked at the orders on the light screen with a bloodthirsty smile on his lips.
In accordance with Xuan's plan, he deliberately opened up several weakly defended checkpoints, allowing some of the hundred-man team to successfully enter the country, luring them deep into the preset battlefield - Death Gorge.
Here, hundreds of specially made puppets disguised as rocks have been set up.
There are no complicated mechanisms inside these puppets. They are only filled with highly compressed and purified Tailed Beast Chakra gel. Each one is comparable to a powerful Explosive Tag.
When the enemy's hundred-man squad completely entered the hinterland of the canyon, feeling complacent about sneaking in without anyone noticing, Xuan, who was on the high platform, slowly closed his eyes.
Thousands of runes circulated in his profound Scarlet Eye, instantly activating New Hall's highest authority pupil technique.
[Myriad Phenomena Return to the Eye·Mimicry]!
In an instant, Xuan's mental fluctuations reached synchronized resonance with the chakra gel inside hundreds of puppets!
He doesn't need any detonation instructions, his will is the switch to detonate!
"Boom--!"
After a loud noise that seemed to tear the sky apart, the entire valley turned into a churning sea of crimson fire!
The high-pressure Tailed Beast Chakra was released instantly, and the terrifying energy storm evaporated the rocks, sand, and the flesh and blood of the ninjas.
No one survived.
The next day, a "good news" was sent back to the Kazekage government through the shadow chain of command.
The intelligence officer looked at the forged battle report "Night Hawk Operation successfully eliminated the New Hall hidden danger, and our personnel successfully evacuated with zero casualties", and actually issued a commendation order in person, praising this "brave" team, completely unaware that he had personally sent hundreds of colleagues who were loyal to him to hell.
Late at night, the cold wind howled.
Xuan stood alone on the highest observation deck of the New Hall, overlooking the canyon that was still burning dark red in the distance. Kakkō was beating in his eyes, but it could not light up the abyss-like indifference.
Chiyo appeared quietly behind him and asked in a low voice, "Master Xuan, can we show off our cards to Kazekage now? This evidence is enough to put his confidant beyond redemption."
"There is no rush." Xuan shook his head, still looking at Kakkō in the distance, his voice as ethereal as smoke, "Killing people is heart-breaking. When he finds out that the people he trusts most have been loyally cleaning up the door for the enemy and eradicating dissidents... That kind of collapse from the foundation is called true despair."
A scroll slipped silently from his broad sleeve robe.
On it, there is a "handwritten secret letter" imitating the handwriting of Kazekage Gaara. The content is to express New Hall's preliminary intention to "trade with each other and seek common development."
Tomorrow, this forged secret letter will "accidentally" appear in the hands of Fire Country border spies, igniting a wildfire called suspicion among Five Great Nations.
Xuan's layout has long gone beyond the scope of Land of Wind.
At this moment, Chiyo took a step forward again, breaking the silence of this victory night.
She was holding a new information chip in her hand, but her expression was not as calm as usual, with a hint of indescribable complexity.
"Master Xuan," she spoke in a very low voice, "When my subordinates were sorting out the pledged resource list of 'Academy', they discovered some... unexpected directions."