The morning sun peeked over the horizon.
Team Konoha was ready to leave.
Usually, when sending a diplomatic team, you keep the numbers small.
Like Pakura's visit to Konoha - she came alone.
If a team is necessary, it's usually just three or four people. Sarutobi Ryo's team was the same size.
The whole group consisted of Sarutobi Ryo, Hatake Sakumo, Namikaze Minato, and... Aburame Torune.
"Aburame Torune?"
Sarutobi Ryo was surprised to see Aburame Torune join the team. He couldn't shake a feeling of suspicion.
Knowing Danzo, he 's probably sending Torune to snoop around and steal secrets from Sunagakure.
The Aburame Clan ninjas, with their parasitic insects, were perfect for this kind of job.
It made perfect sense.
"Let's go," Pakura said, her voice strong and confident. The Sunagakure beauty turned and started walking.
"..."
Namikaze Minato and Aburame Torune exchanged a quick glance, understanding each other without a word.
---
Leaving Konoha behind, they traveled through the Land of Fire.
They journeyed under the stars and the moon, pushing onward.
They crossed plains and climbed hills, went past the border of the Land of Fire, then traveled through the northern part of the Land of Rivers, and finally reached the vast Great Sand Sea.
They traveled through the desert, a place where you could easily get lost. They faced scorching days and freezing nights.
Finally, they crossed this deadly land and arrived at the heart of the Land of Wind: Sunagakure.
"We're here..."
Pakura stopped, gazing at the huge mountains in front of her.
A narrow opening in the mountains was called "Sunagakure's One-Line Sky."
This was the only way in or out of Sunagakure.
The village was nestled inside, surrounded by mountains in a basin.
For Pakura, this was a homecoming. But for Sarutobi Ryo and the others, it was stepping into a foreign land.
They moved forward.
Because Pakura was with them, they weren't stopped.
Sunagakure ninjas stared at them with unfriendly eyes as they walked through the streets.
Hatred and different beliefs filled the air.
They arrived at the center of the village. There stood a castle-like building with a huge symbol for "Wind" painted on it.
This had to be the Kazekage Building.
Inside, Sarutobi Ryo saw a man standing by the window in the office.
He had choppy, cyan-blue hair.
He wore a white robe and looked powerful.
"Everyone from Konoha, thank you for coming so far..."
The man turned around, revealing a fair and handsome face.
This man with the slender eyes was the leader of Sunagakure: the Third Kazekage!
He was known as the "Strongest Kazekage."
"Konoha White Fang!"
Before the Third Kazekage could say anything else, a shout came from the hallway outside.
"Lord Chiyo!"
After more shouts and heavy footsteps, a middle-aged woman appeared.
She wore a thick robe, and her eyes were filled with anger and sadness.
"So, it was you, you bastard...!!!"
This was Chiyo, the Kazekage's advisor and the strongest puppet master.
"Prepare to die!"
Chiyo got ready to attack.
But then, a skinny man with long eyebrows jumped out from behind her.
"Older sister..."
Ebizo grabbed Chiyo from behind. Soon, Chiyo screamed and was pulled away.
Everyone was silent.
"I'm sorry you had to see that," the Third Kazekage said, trying to smooth things over.
This interruption didn't stop the meeting between the two groups.
Hatake Sakumo scratched his head, tactfully avoiding the subject of Chiyo.
He felt awkward, like he was at fault.
Pakura closed the door, making sure Chiyo couldn't come back in.
A young man with red hair sat next to the Third Kazekage.
This was Rasa, Gaara's father.
"Everyone..."
The Third Kazekage started with polite greetings.
Then, he got to the main point.
What did the future hold for Sunagakure and Konoha?
"..."
Hatake Sakumo scratched his head, looking at Sarutobi Ryo without thinking.
Politics weren't his thing. He was good at fighting.
Aburame Torune stayed silent.
Namikaze Minato's eyes flickered, as he pondered what to do.
The Third Kazekage had noticed Konoha White Fang looking at Sarutobi Ryo. He also knew who the Hokage's son was as soon as he walked in.
"You look a lot like your father when he was young..."
The Third Kazekage smiled, showing he liked the younger generation.
He looked closely at Sarutobi Ryo, wanting to hear what the young man, the one who even Konoha White Fang paid attention to, would say.
"Kazekage."
Sarutobi Ryo nodded and started to talk about the relationship between the two villages.
"The Land of Fire is large and has plenty of resources. Even though the leaders of Konoha are greedy, they probably won't attack the Land of Wind in the next war..."
Why?
Anyone knew that the Land of Wind was mostly desert.
Invading would be a waste of time and effort.
Konoha would likely focus on countries like the Land of Rain instead.
"Not bad."
The Third Kazekage was willing to listen to other people's opinions.
The simple decorations in the Kazekage Building showed how frugal the previous leaders had been.
Later, Rasa even used his Iron Sand to mine gold to help the village. Such a tragic Kazekage.
"For Sunagakure, the biggest problem is the growing population and the people wanting a better life. But we can't provide those things."
In short:
Sunagakure didn't have enough money or land.
But it had plenty of people.
During the Second Shinobi World War, Sunagakure took land from smaller countries.
But what happened after that?
War would still break out.
People would die from hunger. It was a simple truth.
"Konoha and its leaders probably won't agree to let Sunagakure have more fertile land..."
This wasn't just Konoha's idea, but other countries' too.
"Hmph!" Pakura scoffed.
She thought this young man would say something brilliant, but it was just the same old stuff.
The Third Kazekage waved his hand at her, telling her to be patient because Sarutobi Ryo wasn't finished.
"Even though the leaders of Konoha won't agree to let Sunagakure have more fertile land, there are other solutions..."
"Oh?"
The Third Kazekage was interested. This was what he wanted to hear.
If they could both benefit, then Sunagakure and Konoha could work together.
"To our north, we both have a common enemy..." Sarutobi Ryo looked at the military map on the wall.
The Ninja World was clearly shown on it.
To the north of the Land of Wind and the Land of Fire, the common enemy was "Iwagakure."
"If the Kazekage has good spies, he'll know that Iwagakure has at least 15,000 ninjas or more..."
Third Kazekage: "..."
Pakura, Rasa: "..."
Hatake Sakumo, Namikaze Minato, Aburame Torune: "..."
They didn't know that Iwagakure had built up their forces so much.
They had a huge army.
They had far more ninjas than Konoha and Sunagakure.
Onoki, the Third Tsuchikage, was clearly getting ready to defeat everyone in the next war.
"So, isn't the situation clear?"
Sarutobi Ryo smiled slightly.
"Kazekage, I think Konoha and Sunagakure need to join forces."
Wouldn't it be great if everyone could take a piece of Iwagakure?
*
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[T/N:
Latest Chapter translated on Patreon - Chapter Access up to Ch 200 (Vol 2 Ch 142)
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-> Naruto Paradise: An Evil Uchiha's Rise
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]