Temari let go of Shikadai, then looked at Boruto. Only after confirming he was unharmed did she turn to Shinki, Yeto, and Child Emperor and thank them solemnly.
"Shinki, Yeto, Child Emperor, we couldn't have done this without you. Thank you."
Shinki and Yeto nodded in acknowledgment. Child Emperor grinned. "No need to thank us, Aunt Temari. It's what we should do."
Temari nodded, her usual brisk composure returning. "Gaara is waiting for you in the Kazekage's Office," she told Boruto and Shikadai. "Go see him first."
"Oh, right!" Boruto replied. Then, remembering something, he turned to Jackie Chan in the driver's seat. "Uncle Jackie Chan, sorry for the trouble, but could you take her to the hospital for a checkup?"
"We'll go see Lord Kazekage first, then come right over!"
Jackie Chan gave him an "OK" sign and said steadily, "Leave it to me. I'll make sure she's taken care of."
With that, he drove the off-road vehicle into Sunagakure, carrying the still-sleeping Uchiha girl toward the hospital.
Boruto and Shikadai followed Temari on foot, entering the steel city in the desert alongside Shinki and the others.
The moment Boruto stepped into Sunagakure, he sensed an atmosphere entirely different from Konoha's.
Konoha was lush with greenery, its buildings largely in harmony with nature and full of everyday life.
In Sunagakure, the first things he saw were straight, broad roads paved with sturdy stone slabs and some kind of hardened material. Uniform buildings lined both sides, most of them rectangular, in dust- and sun-resistant shades of gray, white, and ocher.
But the residential neighborhoods and shopping streets occupied only part of his view.
Far more striking were the sprawling clusters of tall factory buildings in the distance.
Thick metal pipes wound between the factories like giant dragons, while tall chimneys