Sasori was a man of action. After discussing it with Yubi for a few days, he left the Village to perform missions just as he always had.
Currently, there wasn't much warfare in the Ninja World, so the Village's mission volume had naturally decreased significantly... many Sunagakure Ninja were enjoying a rare period of rest.
But Sasori had no intention of slowing down if he wanted to successfully join and hold a position in the Anbu a year later.
Entering the Anbu wasn't the problem for him; the problem was... being able to get 'closer' to the Third Kazekage.
Thus, Yubi and Sasori, who had been teammates for many years, finally began to fight their own battles and intentionally went their separate ways.
Sunagakure, Administrative Building.
In the room, Arai looked at the Third Kazekage sitting before him.
"Kazekage-sama... although Yubi has grown tremendously on the battlefield, he is now being noticed by the Ninja World and is even wanted by underground forces. Isn't it a bit too dangerous to let him lead a team alone? Once the news leaks, it's very likely to attract enemies to the area where he's leading his team for an assassination... especially from Iwagakure."
Arai spoke up.
"I just gave Yubi some pointers yesterday. His strength is already very high, especially his Blood Release, which has improved greatly compared to a year ago. You should know him best... don't underestimate him. Besides, he'll still be within the borders of our Land of Wind; it won't be that easy for enemies to penetrate deep into our country's heartland..." the Kazekage said indifferently.
"Since his abilities are outstanding enough, we must spare no effort to create challenges for him. Otherwise... we would be wasting his talent."
"..."
Arai fell silent.
"His initial missions and growth were under your protection. The battlefield with Iwagakure was to improve his practical combat skills and his ability to handle large-scale situations, as well as to give him some understanding and awareness of military affairs... Now, it's time for him to stand on his own. It's also an opportunity to train his leadership skills, so he can take on heavy responsibilities in the Village as soon as possible."
"If he is too 'fragile'... no matter how strong his talent is, he will ultimately be of no use."
The Kazekage added another sentence.
The meaning behind this last sentence was somewhat blatant.
Hearing this, Arai felt conflicted.
As a guard who had followed the Kazekage for many years, he knew very well what the Kazekage-sama's true thoughts were.
What the other party said was only one part of it.
The true intent was to squeeze Yubi's value and contribution in advance... he had begun to force his growth.
In the eyes of the Village's high-ranking officials, even though Yubi was still very young, he had reached the age where he should contribute to the Village and show absolute obedience to orders... This was an experimental test conducted on Yubi to ensure he was sufficiently obedient.
Otherwise, with the great war against Iwagakure just over, there were many combatants and veteran Ninja available in the Village; there was absolutely no need to have a young person like Yubi lead a team to the combat zone with the Hidden Mist.
There was another possibility... that they wanted to make the names of the Sunagakure Twin Stars, Sasori and Yubi, even more famous, using them to propagate the prestige of Sunagakure so that the other Villages wouldn't dare to look down on them.
Iwagakure had already seen the prowess of Sasori and Yubi, so they would let the Hidden Mist also come into contact with Sunagakure's 'Geniuses'.
In the future... the new generation of Sunagakure would similarly not be underestimated.
The Village would also gain prestige... prestige was one aspect, and furthermore... Village affairs were heavy. In the Kazekage's view, there was an urgent need for someone to share the pressure in this regard.
He also hoped that Sasori and Yubi could mature quickly, so the time to 'pick the fruit' could be earlier than expected.
On the surface, it seemed like the Village was focused on cultivation... but Arai felt it was too aggressive.
They were completely disregarding Yubi's personal safety... even though the little guy had already done enough and was sufficiently excellent.
He had also demonstrated his importance to the Village's medical development... at the very least, they should wait until the current turmoil had passed.
But Arai also knew the Kazekage-sama's style; he had always been radical and forceful.
As long as the latter determined that Yubi no longer needed protection... then the arrangements made for him would be even more unconstrained and more to his liking.
"Go and notify him. Pay attention to his reaction. If he shows any emotion, you know what to do."
The Kazekage crossed his hands and gave the cold instruction.
"..."
"Yes."
Arai's eyes flickered, and he could only accept the order... "You want me to take newcomers to the coastal area?"
A quarter of an hour later, at Yubi's home.
He and Arai sat opposite each other. When he heard the other party say that the Kazekage had personally assigned him to lead a team to deal with the Hidden Mist, Yubi was somewhat surprised.
He had just met with the Kazekage yesterday, and at that time... the other party hadn't mentioned this.
"You just returned to the Village from the front lines and haven't even rested for a few days before you have to set out again... I know you might be unhappy, but this is the Village's arrangement..." Arai thought he was somewhat resistant and immediately sighed, wanting to soothe him.
Because he knew very well that if Yubi developed any rebellious feelings because of this, once discovered by the Kazekage and other high-ranking officials, then... "When do we set out?"
However, before he could finish his sentence, Yubi suddenly smiled and said cheerfully.
"The sooner the better, within the next few days... you need to go to the school first to handle the handover." Seeing this, Arai once again marveled at Yubi's good temperament; anyone else might have shown displeasure.
But with Yubi's free-spirited nature, he really wouldn't care too much.
The important thing was that the Village had not taken any protective 'measures' for him.
It was equivalent to personally 'pushing' him out.
The same went for Sasori.
Logically speaking, recently, even if Sasori wanted to take on missions, the Village would try its best to prevent him from going out.
With Yubi's cleverness, he could probably guess some of the high-ranking officials' thoughts.
An obedience test.
"I didn't expect that one day I would actually become a team's instructor. At my age... I should be about the same age as those Genin who just graduated... Hahaha." Yubi rubbed his head and joked.
"You don't need to be too concerned about the team's mission; the main focus is on training the Genin and enriching their practical combat experience. What you really need to pay attention to is your own safety... being able to eliminate the Village's new forces has always been something the other great Ninja Villages love to do... You're not a newcomer anymore; some people should have heard of your name. If you clash with the Hidden Mist and are recognized, your intelligence will likely be leaked..."
"A long time ago, Konoha sent people to assassinate you... Iwagakure is also particularly concerned about you, plus the Hidden Mist..."
"The Ninja of each Village have their own characteristics. Our friction with the Hidden Mist is quite scattered in the coastal areas, almost all in the form of small-team collisions... there are no real large-scale battles, but the frequency of both sides killing each other is very high, and the Hidden Mist excels at assassination... your safety might not be higher than it was on the battlefield with Iwagakure."
"The completion of the mission is not the top priority for you... safety is."
Arai explained some things with concern.
"Rest assured, after this mission, such things shouldn't happen again... in the future, even if there are more arrangements, I think... they will seek your opinion first." Arai hesitated for a moment, giving a hint that carried more meaning.
As long as Yubi passed this test and put the high-ranking officials completely at ease, then he would have cleared this hurdle.
"I understand."
Yubi nodded.
Shouldn't?
Not necessarily... perhaps it was the long-term contact and interaction that made Arai have some special feelings toward him.
Just like a teacher and student.
There were some things he clearly didn't need to say.
Yubi could feel that Arai was also very dissatisfied with this approach by the high-ranking officials.
He felt a bit sorry for him.
But Yubi wasn't surprised by the Kazekage's mandatory assignment this time.
"Yubi... some things... Kazekage-sama has his own considerations."
After a few more exchanges, Arai got up to leave. When he reached the door, he suddenly stopped and looked back at Yubi.
He seemed afraid that he might have too many thoughts or ideas.
Yubi smiled... but didn't respond.
Then, he waved and watched Arai walk away.