Chapter 103

Because there were a good number of captives, many members of the sealing squad were needed to prevent any accidents along the way. Therefore, many disciples of the Hyuga clan also came along.

On the journey, due to their relationship with Lady Hinata, they were exceptionally attentive to Kusuo, treating him with the utmost respect. Their reverence for him was even greater than that of the other Konoha ninja. After all, this number one ruthless man of Konoha was the future son-in-law of their Hyuga clan.

Kusuo, for his part, enjoyed the extra care with a clear conscience. His relationship with Hinata was already out of the ordinary and had spread throughout the Hyuga clan; there was nothing to be shy about. Besides, he didn't plan on traveling with the main group anyway. Instead, he prepared to break away and scout ahead alone.

The secret mission Tsunade had given him was that if the Sand ninja showed any sign of making a move, his attitude was to immediately become unyielding. As long as he could find an opportunity to strike, he was to show no mercy and directly teach them a lesson. Let the Sand ninja know what "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth" meant.

Therefore, when the group approached a post station to rest midway, Kusuo took his sword and left alone. As he walked leisurely, he encountered many ninja from the Rain Village on the road. Sometimes, Kusuo would get curious and follow behind them to see if he could discover anything. But as luck would have it, most of them were just small fry, with no intelligence worth noting.

Continuing forward, he reached the territory of the Land of Wind.

As far as the eye could see, the land was covered in yellow earth, with a large number of dried cracks crisscrossing the entire landscape. It looked desolate and barren. Unlike the Land of Fire, which was mostly forests and grasslands with rich resources, this place was mostly desert. The only arable land was all gathered in oases, which were occupied by large towns. This also led to a severe lack of resources in the entire Land of Wind.

Whether it was resources for war or for daily life, they were at the bottom among the five great nations. If it weren't for their territory and history, they would even be behind some of the smaller countries.

Because of this, the Land of Wind had a hand in many of the successive great wars. It couldn't be helped. Two words: they were poor. If they didn't fight, they had no resources, and development was difficult. In the long run, they couldn't cultivate powerful ninja. Without powerful ninja to hold the fort, the Land of Wind would be eyed covetously by other countries.

At the same time, fighting would consume a lot of their population and ninja. In this vicious cycle, every generation of Kazekage had toiled with painstaking effort just to maintain a fragile balance until now.

So, the Sand ninja could suffer losses, but only within a certain range. According to the original story, the Konoha Crush plan orchestrated by Orochimaru was actually a net gain for the Sand Village. After all, with the Sound Village charging at the front, they only needed to reap the fruits of victory from behind.

Who would have thought that Kusuo, this unexpected factor, would appear halfway? His combat power was comparable to a Tailed Beast. Not only did he annihilate the Sound ninja, but he also slaughtered all of the Sand's genin-level ninja. Most of the chunin were also captured by Konoha.

Even more fatally, the Fourth Kazekage, who was supposed to be the strongest combat power in the village, had died at Orochimaru's hands. The Sand Village was on the verge of collapse. Faced with Konoha's sky-high reparations, they had no choice but to agree, yet they absolutely couldn't afford to pay.

That's why Tsunade dared to be certain that they would definitely go back on their word, and even resort to some crazy actions.

Looking at the endless desert and the arid land, Kusuo's mind was filled with these intermittent thoughts. Suddenly, his mind flashed. He understood why Tsunade insisted that he personally come forward to guard against the Sand Village's tricks. In the end, all the scheming and fighting... wasn't it all for resources?

If the Sand really made a move, and Konoha struck back, they would hold the initiative. They would also have a justifiable reason, leaving no room for others to gossip. This was taking advantage of your illness to take your life. If they could, they might even directly erase the Land of Wind from the map of the ninja world. At that time, the Land of Fire would be the one to reap the fruits of victory.

As expected, the hearts of those who play politics are all black. Tsunade might look heroic and magnanimous, but as the Fifth Hokage, for the sake of the village and its people, she also possessed the mindset of a politician.

"Heh, to think I've become a thug this time," thinking this, Kusuo laughed at himself, tightened his grip on his sword, and continued on his way. Politics or not, what did it have to do with him? Slaying numerous strong enemies to increase his role-play percentage was also just a part of his plan. Everything was just a matter of getting what each side needed.

Finally, after a long journey, he entered the first small town within the borders of the Land of Wind. He randomly found a tavern, ordered a few local specialty dishes, and a pot of wine. He ate peanuts and drank. In any case, the alcohol content here was generally low; it wouldn't affect him even if he drank.

At the next table were a few burly men, big and tall. One look and you could tell they were locals. Their faces were full of weariness and wrinkles. Hard-working laborers.

"Did you hear?"

"We have to pay a lot of money to the Land of Fire and Konoha this time! It's almost not enough even if we empty the entire national treasury."

"Sigh, who doesn't know about this? It's all that damn Orochimaru's fault! That despicable guy not only deceived us and caused such great losses, but he also assassinated Lord Kazekage!"

"You're not wrong! I really wish that Asura from Konoha could have just killed Orochimaru with one slash and avenged us!"

"Yeah! Kill that son of a bitch! He's made our lives so miserable!"

These laborers chatted amongst themselves, and as they spoke, they all started cursing Orochimaru together. The commoners, who hadn't received much education, were basically like this, spouting profanities with every other word. They were simple to the point of being foolish. They hadn't thought that if the Sand Village hadn't been greedy in the first place, there wouldn't have been so much mess to clean up. Most importantly, cooperating with Orochimaru was tantamount to seeking a tiger for its skin.

After the Nine-Tails incident, Tsunade had explained the whole story to him. At that time, she was still complaining that if she had kept a better eye on Naruto, perhaps none of this would have happened. Or, if Kusuo had arrived a little later, she could have stabilized Orochimaru and rescued Naruto beforehand.

Kusuo had just smiled at her words. Because of the Third Hokage, no one in the village really liked Naruto. If you wanted to protect him, you would need a powerhouse on the level of Kakashi or Jiraiya to watch over him day and night. Otherwise, ensuring his safety was extremely difficult. As for the timing of his own arrival... given that guy Orochimaru's disposition, the final result, whether Tsunade treated him or not, whether he arrived early or late, the Nine-Tails' rampage was a foregone conclusion.

Never try to guess the thoughts of a madman. This was a principle Kusuo had known for a long time. Let alone the thoughts of a mad scientist.

As he was thinking, he heard the sound of hushed conversation from the other side. "Do you guys know? Something big has happened in the Land of Demons!" This one sentence immediately attracted the attention of many people, including Kusuo.

"What's the story?"

"Hah! I only heard a couple of things from relatives who travel far. Something about monsters, evil spirits, and seals. I didn't really understand."

"But the situation seems to be very tense!"

"I suspect you're hinting at our village, and I have evidence."

"..."

"I'm not! You're talking nonsense! I don't know anything!" A classic three-part denial. The people here were quite amusing. Kusuo was entertained. He recalled what he knew about the Land of Demons. If his memory served him right, there was a priestess who had ruled that country for generations, right? It seemed the priestess was very beautiful.

Whatever. If I have the chance to go there, I must meet the priestess.

...

He left the small town that very night. Kusuo not only needed to get to the Sand Village, but he also needed to arrive before the envoy team did. The reason was simple. A problem that a newly appointed Hokage like Tsunade could think of... was it possible that the higher-ups in the Sand Village, those elders on the level of Koharu and Homura, wouldn't have thought of it?

There... they must have already made complete preparations, just waiting for the Konoha envoy to walk into their trap. It was impossible for them to openly intercept them. He currently couldn't guess what specific methods they would use. Therefore, he had to go in first to see if he could find anything.

As he was walking, Kusuo suddenly stopped and said coldly to the space behind him, "Come out."

The moment his voice fell, two ninja with Land of Wind headbands immediately drilled out from behind him. They looked at each other, and instantly recognized the Konoha headband on Kusuo. Without a second word, they began to form hand seals.

"Wind Style! Great Breakthrough!" They cooperated, spitting out an extremely fierce wind from their mouths, which suddenly blew towards Kusuo.

The latter lightly flicked his finger. Draw the sword, sheath the sword. The movements were a single, fluid motion. This ordinary C-rank ninjutsu was cut open by one slash. The sword aura continued to race forward.

Schlick!

Schlick!

The legs of the two Sand Village ninja were neatly severed, and blood sprayed out. Such consummate swordsmanship... it instantly stunned the two ninja. They were dumbfounded. They never thought they would hit a steel plate.

Forcing themselves to endure the pain coming from their bodies, they opened their mouths wide and said in terror, "You're that Asura from Konoha!"

Kusuo smiled lightly. "So you recognize me."

"Tell me, why were you following me, and why did you attack me on sight?" He had deliberately not cut the necks of these two Sand ninja, leaving them alive in the hopes of getting some information out of them.

Unfortunately, "Haha! In your dreams! You Konoha scum are trying to destroy our foundation, to take advantage of us while we're down! Give up that thought completely!"

"Our elders have already arranged everything, just waiting for you to walk into our trap!" one of them laughed wildly. The other also laughed with disdain.

Seeing this, Kusuo didn't waste any more words. He swung his sword again and sent them to see the Third Kazekage.

The situation really is a bit similar to what I guessed. Stroking his chin, Kusuo was lost in thought. The attitude of those two guys just now had said it all. The Sand Village had definitely made preparations in secret, just waiting for Konoha's people to walk into their trap. Otherwise, the two of them wouldn't have used ninjutsu to attack him the moment they saw him. They must have received an order: kill any Konoha spies on sight.

The One-Tail? Unlikely. That guy seemed to have taken five or six hits from his Crimson Blade. Even if a Tailed Beast's recovery ability was strong and its soul had already healed, the deep-seated memory of pain and fear must still exist. And it wasn't a perfect Jinchuriki; the One-Tail wouldn't help.

Gaara? Even more ridiculous.

Shaking his head, Kusuo really couldn't think of what means the Sand Village had to deal with Konoha. Whether it was high-end combat power or mid-to-low-level ninja, they were not on the same level. The only thing they had to show for themselves was an uncontrollable Tailed Beast.

It seemed that only by arriving in person could he find out what kind of medicine the Sand Village's higher-ups were selling in their gourds.

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