Windblown sand swept in like a rough hand rubbing ceaselessly against the surrounding sandstone walls, wearing them beyond recognition.
Life seemed to have been shut out by this impassable wall. As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but emptiness, and the sandstone's jagged edges and rough surfaces seemed ready to swallow everything.
A lifeless stretch of land.
It was also a sight found everywhere in the Land of Wind.
The Land of Wind was a nation built amid the vast desert of Yellow Sand, and of the Five Great Nations, it had the fewest resources to sustain its people.
At that moment, several Sand Shinobi were making their way through the swirling Yellow Sand.
Their expressions were wary. Travelers had been disappearing in this area for years, so they dared not let their guard down while investigating.
"The sandstorm wasn't this bad a moment ago. This damn weather—even I can barely see what's around us."
"Captain, we've been searching for days, but we haven't seen anything unusual along the way. Could there have been a mistake?"
The questions and complaints from his teammates made the Sand Shinobi captain leading them frown.
"The surrounding villages have occasionally posted requests to find missing people over the past few years. How could so many people all be mistaken? Besides, I remember this place used to be a stretch of Ruins..."
"Kishida, have you sensed anything?"
The Sand Shinobi captain turned to ask the sensory-type Ninja on her team.
Yet when he looked back, there was no one behind him.
The companions who had just been complaining to him, the subordinates who had been following behind him... they were all gone.
It was as though, in a single instant, he had become the only person in the entire sea of Yellow