The next morning, Chiyo, who hadn't slept all night, called Ebizō up early and dragged him out the door.
Their destination was the Kazekage Building.
Chiyo felt she had to sit down with Teizawa and talk properly. That brat was hiding far too many secrets.
"Come on, sis, do we really need to be this rushed?" Ebizō grumbled. "It's not like the kid's going to run away."
But half an hour later, the moment they saw Temari inside the Kazekage's office, both Chiyo and Ebizō froze like they'd been struck by lightning.
"H-He… left?" Ebizō blurted, stunned.
Don't tell me I actually called it.
Temari, her face worn with exhaustion, nodded. "At dawn. He led the shinobi army out."
"The shinobi army?" Chiyo cried. "Wasn't he going to the daimyo to apologize? What's he doing bringing an army?"
Only then did she notice the plaza outside. The giant mech was gone.
Still unwilling to believe it, she pressed on. "How many did he take?"
Temari's expression turned strange. "Not many. Just three thousand."
"Hiss…"
Chiyo and Ebizō both sucked in a sharp breath.
Three thousand shinobi was enough to fight a nation-ending war.
Was Teizawa really going to "apologize"?
Temari looked helpless, but she couldn't stop herself from speaking up.
"Lady Chiyo… do you really think he's the type to behave and admit he was wrong?"
As she spoke, admiration filled her eyes. "He said a feudal-trash daimyo belongs in a trash bin, and if he won't stay there, then Teizawa doesn't mind replacing him."
"…What?"
Chiyo and Ebizō stared, horrified.
A daimyo was the symbol of the nation, its head.
And now someone was calling the daimyo garbage?
It hit their long-held beliefs like a hammer.
"How long ago did they depart?" Ebizō asked.
"About an hour," Temari answered.
"Sis, if we dispatch ANBU now, we can still catch up," Ebizō urged.
Chiyo's face shifted between light and dark. After a long while, she let out a heavy sigh.
"…No. Even if we send people, that boy won't necessarily listen to me."
She sounded especially weary as she added, "The Sand Village isn't the Sand Village it used to be."
Temari smiled brightly at the side.
After Teizawa had claimed her in body and spirit, she'd already made him her entire world.
Of course she'd follow wherever he went.
"Freshly 'broken in' and you're already running around. What are you doing?" Chiyo's voice suddenly sounded right beside her ear.
Temari went rigid, her face instantly flaming red.
She wanted to say something, but no words came out.
How did this old woman figure it out?
Was she really that obvious?
It was all Teizawa's fault for not knowing restraint. The Sand Village had been hit by "storms" seven times already…
"Hmph. That brat really does calculate everything," Chiyo snorted, her gaze sweeping over the fatigue between Temari's brows and eyes. "But you young people should still learn some control. Too often is bad for the body…"
Then she sighed again. "Still… it's a good thing, you two ending up together."
"Have a child soon. A child is the Sand Village's future."
"A child…" Temari murmured.
Her hand drifted to her lower belly without thinking.
Last night, not a single drop had been wasted. She should get pregnant, right?
She understood what Chiyo meant.
She was the daughter of the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, and the older sister of the Fifth Kazekage, Gaara.
A child between her and Teizawa…
Once born, there was no question. That would be the purest heir the Sand Village could possibly have.
The one target both the conservative faction and the revolutionary faction would unite around and pledge loyalty to.
That was why Chiyo said Teizawa had "calculated everything."
But…
Temari knew the truth.
There was no grand calculation.
That man was just plain lustful.
He'd eat anything, anywhere, and didn't even care if it was dirty[1]…
Some images flashed through her head and she spat to the side, flustered.
…
Three days later, Teizawa and his party halted atop a sand dune.
Hot wind carried grit that scraped across his forehead protector, but he didn't seem to feel it.
He only stared at the dense green spread out below, reaching all the way to the horizon.
After a long moment, Teizawa quietly exhaled. "The Land of Wind… the daimyo's estate. We're finally here."
Kankurō stepped forward at his side.
He narrowed his eyes at the green that clashed violently against the surrounding sea of yellow sand, and he couldn't help his awed sigh.
"It's… a huge oasis. I only came once when I was little, with the Fourth."
"This place is basically paradise in the Land of Wind's sand ocean."
"Paradise?" Teizawa's mouth curled into a sneer. "They occupy the biggest, richest oasis in the whole country, drink up the most fertile land and water, and sit on generations of accumulated wealth…"
"For them, of course it's a carefree paradise."
His gaze swept the orderly farmland at the oasis's edge, the thick orchards, and the luxurious manor in the distance, surrounded by high walls.
Finally, his eyes fixed on the most imposing cluster of structures at the center of the oasis.
That was the symbol of power in the Land of Wind.
And the endpoint of this trip…
The daimyo's estate.
"Someone!" Teizawa's voice snapped sharp, cutting through the stillness.
"Kazekage-sama!"
An ANBU in Sand uniform appeared in a Body Flicker, dropped to one knee, and bowed his head to receive orders.
Teizawa didn't turn around. His eyes stayed locked on the oasis.
"Pass the order. The three thousand-man shinobi army will spread out immediately. Seal every exit, pass, and hidden route in and out of the oasis."
"Once the encirclement is formed, nobody leaves."
"Without a travel permit personally signed by my hand…" He paused, then said coldly, "Anyone who forces their way through gets killed on sight."
"Yes!" The ANBU answered, and vanished in a flash.
Gulp.
Kankurō couldn't help swallowing.
Teizawa had said he was bringing him along to "make money."
Kankurō had assumed it meant returning to their old specialty: kidnapping and extortion.
He'd felt uneasy about it. It didn't sit right.
But…
Looking at this, Teizawa wasn't "making money."
He was straight-up taking it.
When Kankurō was small, he'd seen his father, the Fourth Kazekage, bow and scrape before the daimyo.
Even back then, it had made his blood boil.
Wasn't the Kazekage supposed to be the strongest?
So why was he kneeling to the daimyo?
But now…
Watching Teizawa give orders without the slightest restraint…
As if he could already see what was about to happen…
Kankurō suddenly felt a rush of exhilaration.
The next instant, the massive force that had been waiting behind the dune surged into motion.
Three thousand Sand shinobi, like a gray tide, split to both sides with speed and discipline.
They flowed along the oasis's perimeter, spreading in silence.
They were well-trained. As they moved, there was almost no sound beyond cloth snapping in the wind and the faintest footfalls on sand.
In the blink of an eye, that green boundary of life and prosperity was clamped tight by a shinobi line bristling with killing intent.
The dune fell silent again, leaving only the wind and the whisper of shifting sand.
"Let's go." Teizawa walked down the dune at an unhurried pace, heading toward the heart of the oasis. "Let's pay a visit to this noble daimyo, living comfortably in 'paradise.'"
Kankurō exchanged a look with Baki, who had followed in silence the entire time.
Both saw the same tightness in the other's eyes.
No matter what, that was the daimyo.
And this was the first time anyone had ever dared challenge the daimyo's authority.
Neither of them dared say another word.
They led their ANBU and followed behind Teizawa as the group advanced toward the white estate that squatted in the Land of Wind's heart.
(End of Chapter)
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[1] I call that... a man of culture!