"Lord Kazekage, just ahead lies the border between the Land of Wind and the Land of Rivers."
"Are we... going across?"
The Sand Shinobi forces had assembled and advanced to the border of the Land of Rivers.
Beyond it lay the Land of Fire and Konoha.
Rasa had secured his position as Kazekage. He had promoted Baki, who would one day teach Gaara and the others, to become his right-hand man.
His expression did not change. "Not yet. Let's see how Konoha responds."
The Third Shinobi World War had cost the Sand Shinobi dearly. They had fought Konoha from the outset, and Kazan had killed their greatest weapon, Grandma Chiyo.
None of their other fronts had yielded the results they wanted. Konoha had driven them back, defeating them in the Land of Rivers. Then their invasion of the Land of Lightning had dragged on without success.
Throughout the war, the Sand Shinobi had fought Konoha, the Cloud Shinobi, and the Mist Ninja. Their people kept dying, yet they had not taken a single piece of land.
Rasa had even sent Pakura to her death.
Though the Sand Shinobi had replenished some of their strength at the expense of smaller Shinobi Villages, it was a drop in the bucket.
The real problem was the Land of Wind behind them.
Its foolish daimyo planned to cut support for Sunagakure.
They could not let that begin. Once it did, there would be no stopping it.
If things went on like this, the Sand Shinobi might even fall out of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, lacking the forces to stand against Konoha and the others.
He had spent the past few days negotiating with the daimyo.
The Land of Wind could not reduce its support for Sunagakure. It needed to invest more.
Otherwise, how