"Main scroll number 6, secondary scroll number 4. Tsk, tsk. Looks like my luck wasn't very good today."
Beneath a sand dune, Izuna casually toyed with the two scrolls in his hands, his expression relaxed and at ease, as though what was underway was not a competition, but merely a game.
Uchiha Juri teased from the side, "Heh, I wonder who said before the competition that today was his lucky day?"
"Ahem, Enkō, what are you doing?" Izuna coughed awkwardly twice and stiffly changed the subject.
Enkō held a black disc as he walked, watching its reactions. From time to time, he stopped to confirm the direction.
"Since we rarely get to visit the Land of Wind, naturally we should bring back some local specialties, such as the placer gold buried beneath the sand."
"Whoa!" Izuna's eyes immediately lit up. "That could work! Konoha has Shadow Rock to commemorate each generation of Naruto. Why don't we use placer gold to sculpt statues of every Flame Shadow? They'd look mighty and imposing, all gleaming gold."
The image instantly formed in Enkō's mind. He shook his head with a smile. "Kakuzu would probably fight you to the death over that."
"Hiss... That's true."
Izuna had a rather easygoing personality. He particularly valued the village's talented people, and Kakuzu, as the Minister of Finance, had produced results over the past four years that everyone could see. Thus, Izuna usually treated Kakuzu with a measure of respect. He did not deliberately put on airs just because of his own great strength.
"Hmm? It's reacting." Seeing the disc in his hand suddenly vibrate, Enkō followed its guidance to an open area. He took a map from his robe, compared it with the surrounding terrain, then calmly marked the location on the map.
"Alright, let's look