The trio quickened their pace.
As the sun dipped below the horizon in the late afternoon desert sky, Yagura finally arrived at the outer perimeter of Sunagakure.
The Land of Wind's geography was flat, open desert—completely defenseless terrain with no natural barriers.
During their respective tenures, previous Kazekage had built defense projects aimed toward major potential enemy routes. One of them was this—Thread of Heaven.
The towering sand wall, over twenty meters tall, served to block out the wind and sand during times of peace. In times of war, it was meant to provide defense.
Sunagakure's shinobi could climb the stepped wall to rain down attacks on approaching enemies from above.
But… during the Iwagakure raid a few years ago, the Thread of Heaven lasted only three hours before it fell.
At that time, most of Sunagakure's forces had been dispatched to Konohagakure to search for the missing Third Kazekage, leaving only a skeleton force to defend the village. They were simply overwhelmed by Iwagakure's superior numbers and strength.
It was the first time in history the Thread of Heaven had ever been used for its intended military purpose—and Sunagakure had utterly failed.
Afterward, the village barely held out a few days before being forced to sign a humiliating ceasefire with Ōnoki.
Yagura studied the towering wall before him with amused curiosity.
On Sunagakure's side, word had already arrived via courier posts from earlier relay stations. According to the estimates, Fourth Kazekage Rasa had arrived ahead of time to personally receive the guests from Kirigakure.
It was as if the minor scuffle earlier on the road had never happened. Yagura smiled cordially.
"Kazekage, a pleasure to meet you."
Seeing the Mizukage in person—someone he'd exchanged messages with over the years—Rasa couldn't help but think of all the awkward compromises they'd made in past diplomatic dealings.
Still, he kept his expression neutral and said,
"Mizukage, you've come a long way. It's an honor to have you join us in observing the Chūnin Exams."
Yagura returned the politeness.
"You're too kind. Thank you for your gracious invitation. I'm glad I'll get the chance to witness the younger generation of Sunagakure and Konohagakure. It's unfortunate that we just held our own Chūnin Exams in Kirigakure, so we didn't have any qualified genin available to participate."
By bringing this up first and offering an apology, he preemptively blocked any snide remarks Rasa might've prepared about Kirigakure's absence from the exams.
Not that it wasn't an excuse. Both men knew the real reason perfectly well.
They were both several years into their terms as Fourth Kage—no longer the inexperienced rookies they once were. Time and pressure had matured them both.
"That is a shame," Rasa said.
Yagura nodded. "Perhaps next time, if there's another opportunity."
A joint exam between Kirigakure and Sunagakure wasn't out of the question.
The condition, of course, was excluding Konohagakure from the arrangement.
Right now, Kirigakure held the number-three spot among the Five Great Villages. Their diplomatic strategy, as the third-ranked, was to ally with number two—Kumogakure—to weaken number one—Konohagakure—until it was dragged down.
Whether they held joint exams afterward didn't really matter much to Yagura.
He had no concern that Kirigakure's genin would embarrass the village on that stage.
Rasa pushed aside his private calculations and invited the trio to pass through the Thread of Heaven's fortifications.
Following Rasa and a few Sunagakure shinobi, the three from Kirigakure walked into the narrow corridor between two towering sand walls.
Yagura casually made conversation.
"Quite the impressive feat of engineering."
"Thank you," Rasa replied.
His answer made Yagura feel slightly awkward. After all, he'd just been internally mocking the wall as a desert version of the Maginot Line.
(T/N: The Maginot Line is a line of concrete fortifications, obstacles and weapon installations built by France in the 1930s to deter invasion by Nazi Germany and force them to move around the fortifications.)
But the narrow, oppressive corridor had a chilling visual impact. It earned the praise, in a way.
"It would be difficult to breach this wall from the front. Any elite shinobi trying to enter through this passage would likely find themselves isolated and vulnerable to ambush," Yagura observed.
Rasa responded with the pride of someone whose national monument had just been praised by a foreign guest.
"Exactly. During wartime, our shinobi rig this entire corridor with traps and barriers. Slipping through unnoticed isn't so easy."
"Haha, well, let's hope there's never a day when Sunagakure has to use it again."
Yagura always believed that war was merely an extension of politics—a last resort with a steep cost.
Just look at Konohagakure and Sunagakure. They'd sacrificed their lifeblood in the Third Great Ninja War. Now, both were crippled and desperate to recover.
Even if war did break out again, the ideal outcome was always to fight it beyond one's own borders.
If enemy forces ever reached the Thread of Heaven, rather than being stopped at the border—or in a third-party battleground like the Land of Rain—it would mean the Land of Wind had already fallen to an unimaginable degree.
But Rasa read a different implication from Yagura's words and smiled.
"With relations between Sunagakure and Kirigakure as they are now, and the two of us here, I doubt we'll ever see that wall in action again."
He misunderstood, but it wasn't a problem.
Yagura had indeed come to Sunagakure to ensure they'd become an obedient and reliable ally.
He blinked once, smiled, and gave a casual, noncommittal nod.
"Of course~"
...
By the time they emerged from the corridor, the last sliver of sunlight had disappeared.
The sky had darkened to a dusky gray, the lingering heat of the day replaced by a cool breeze.
Rasa asked, "How are you finding the climate in the Land of Wind?"
"Honestly? A bit too dry. It's very different from the humid Land of Water. First time visiting, so I'm still adjusting."
"Haha, then you'll have to come visit more often."
"If you don't mind me freeloading on your food and drink, I'd be delighted."
"Not at all. The Mizukage and Kirigakure are always welcome."
Of course, as long as the debt remained unpaid, there was no real 'friendship.'
At least, not from Kirigakure's perspective.
Everyone knew that no real political negotiation would take place on the very first day of a diplomatic visit.
Later that evening, Yagura dined with Rasa, sharing a meal filled with local Land of Wind specialties.
The dinner was nothing but a polite exchange of compliments and political pleasantries, full of mutual flattery and practiced humility.
After Rasa left, Yagura and his group settled into the top-floor suite of the guest quarters.
"Well, that was exhausting," Zabuza grumbled as he collapsed onto the soft couch, feeling more drained from dinner conversation than any battle.
Yagura rummaged through his bag and tossed some jerky to Zabuza and Kisame.
"Didn't eat enough, did you?"
Zabuza caught the snack. "Thanks. Didn't have much of an appetite."
"He knew about the ambush," Kisame said bluntly. "There's no way the Kazekage wasn't aware of what those Sunagakure shinobi were up to."
Any Kage who couldn't detect irregular troop movements within their own village wasn't fit to sleep soundly at night. They'd be assassinated in their sleep before they even noticed.
Better to resign than lead under those conditions.
Kisame scowled. "Getting ambushed for no reason and not being able to retaliate… it's infuriating."
They knew all too well that those subtle dinner power plays weren't in their wheelhouse.
No killing power, all insult.
Yagura chuckled and soothed them.
"Come on now. We all know he knows. And he knows we know."
"If he'd really ordered the hit himself, we could accuse Sunagakure of attempting to assassinate the Mizukage. But it wasn't a real attempt—if he'd wanted me dead, he would've made his move back at the Thread of Heaven."
"At most, he gave it tacit approval. Since none of us were injured, the worst we can do is accuse him of negligence. It's meaningless. We see through it, but we won't call it out."
Zabuza and Kisame weren't fools. They could figure out most of the underlying game on their own.
But Yagura still spelled it out, just to make sure they understood: there was nothing they could do that would meaningfully shift the situation.
"Rasa's definitely trying to provoke us," Zabuza muttered.
"Don't worry. We won't let him get too comfortable."
Sunagakure had invited them here with the clear intent of dodging its debts.
Dodging debts… what audacity.
Yagura always believed in repaying respect with overwhelming force.
While he distracted Rasa and the Hokage on this end, agents from the Water Daimyō's court were already making direct contact with the Wind Daimyō's government behind Sunagakure's back.
He pulled out a change of clothes. The dusty grime from the journey was getting to him.
Isobu: Let me out. I want in.
Yagura: ...Why?
Isobu: That stinking Shukaku's chakra is unbearable. I need a wash to get rid of that tanuki stink.
Yagura: You really think your fishy stench is any better—
(Isobu flares his tail)Fine, fine. I'll let you out.
A tiny mud turtle popped out onto Yagura's shoulder, ready for bath-time.
Slipping his change of clothes over his other shoulder, Yagura waved a hand.
"You guys rest up. I'm gonna take a shower."
...
Click—thud.
The door closed behind him.
"Lord Kazekage."
Yashamaru, Anbu and personal aide to the Kazekage, stepped up beside Rasa with a quiet report.
"Confirmed. All of them are dead. No survivors."
Rasa showed no hint of sorrow for the loss of his shinobi.
With Yashamaru, there was no need to pretend to be a benevolent leader. He replied coolly,
"Good."
They were all brainless nobodies. Their deaths didn't matter.
Post-war Sunagakure didn't need so many shinobi.
The Wind Daimyō, disillusioned by the village's poor performance in the war, had cut military funding. Only the Lightning Daimyō still aligned closely with their Kage.
The recent sting of Kirigakure's schemes had made things even worse for Sunagakure's finances.
Let the useless shinobi clear themselves out. If they managed to intimidate the Mizukage on their way out, even better.
And if any of them had survived, they might've brought back intelligence on Yagura.
Rasa had already led the village through the mysterious disappearance of the previous Kazekage, the Iwagakure ambush, and four years of war.
He was now a seasoned leader. He knew how to leverage useful deaths.
Grief was a luxury. What Sunagakure really needed now… was a way forward.
He turned to Yashamaru. "Where is the Third Hokage?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen had announced his resignation and named his successor, but the formal handover hadn't yet occurred. For now, he remained both the nominal and acting Hokage.
Yashamaru replied, "He's crossed into the Land of Wind. He'll arrive before tomorrow's exams begin."
Rasa nodded, relieved. "Good. Excellent."
Once bitter enemies in the Third Great War, Konoha and Sunagakure could now be allies in the face of Kirigakure's underhanded maneuvers.
They would pressure the Mizukage—together.
----------------
Pls Drop some Power Stones
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