In an oasis, a man lay languidly on a rocking bed. Someone massaged his back, someone kneaded his legs, and dedicated attendants relaxed his hands. Someone even held a straw to his lips to give him water.
Yet the man enjoying this almost imperial treatment showed not the slightest joy. His face was full of worry instead, with conspicuous dark circles beneath his eyes and the look of someone who had long been malnourished. At first glance, he looked utterly feeble.
This was Yamato, the Peace Envoy who had arrived in Sunagakure two and a half years earlier.
He wore an expression of utter hopelessness, crying endless tears inside. When would this damned mission ever end?
When he first arrived in Sunagakure, he had been rather overwhelmed by the honor of being received by the Kazekage and every senior official in the village. It was an exceptionally grand welcoming party.
After that, he had been plunged into an endless stretch of work on the Oasis Plan proposed by the Kazekage, with himself at its core.
For two and a half full years, he had barely rested at all. Of course, in return, he received treatment unrivaled in Sunagakure. Almost any request he made was granted, except returning to Konoha.
It was not as though Yamato had never privately tried to find a way out. He had attempted to discuss it with the Kazekage, but the look in the Kazekage's eyes beneath his mask filled him with an inexplicable fear. He had not dared say anything and slunk away instead. Afterward, he tried sending letters to Konoha, asking whether someone else could replace him as envoy, but every letter vanished without a trace. He never received a single reply.
By chance, he overheard the Sand Ninja around him discussing the Chunin