Land of Water, Kirigakure.
In her office, Mei Terumi instructed, "Remember, if the Three-Tails revives and the Akatsuki attacks while I'm away at the Five Kage Summit, and you truly can't hold them off, you have my permission to retreat and let the Akatsuki take the Three-Tails."
"But remember, Utakata absolutely must not fall into enemy hands!"
"Understood?"
"Yes!"
"Yuki, Ao, Chōjūrō, get ready to leave."
Mei Terumi walked out of her office and said goodbye to Genji and the others waiting outside. Then she put on her hat and, escorted by Yuki Yuki, Ao, and Chōjūrō, boarded the ship that had already been prepared.
Land of Wind.
In the desert, which radiated scorching heat at every moment, four figures flickered in and out of view through the shimmering air.
As they drew closer, the face of the person leading them became clear. It was none other than Gaara!
The three Ninja guards following him were Temari, Ebizo, and Shira!
Temari and Ebizo were relatively well-known Ninja in the Shinobi World, and people were fairly familiar with them. But as for the guard Gaara had selected-Shira-even many Sand shinobi had no idea who he was.
In fact, however, Shira was a very powerful Taijutsu Ninja. The secret Taijutsu art he had created, the Seven Heavens Breathing Method, could even rival the Eight Gates Formation.
He was even Gaara's Taijutsu instructor, a fact that alone showed how formidable his Taijutsu skills were.
However, he had previously served in Sunagakure's Border Forces. Naturally, his appointment as the Kazekage's guard this time had been specifically arranged by Gaara.
"We're almost at the border."
Gaara lifted his Kazekage hat and gazed into the distance.
Just then, a nearby sand dune churned, and an enormous scorpion burrowed out of it, waving its pincers as