The Land of Wind, by the boundless sea. A caravan of migrating desert tribespeople was moving along the coast, with large herds of sheep and horses and the like behind them.
In the vast migration procession, women were sewing clothes, men were driving carts, and children were protected in the very center of the slow-moving column. They were, after all, precious hopes.
Vultures circled in the sky, hyenas followed behind the column. As long as the creatures of the wilderness followed behind the procession, they could obtain a gluttonous feast from the fallen travelers that would sustain them for a long time.
"Mom, where are we going?" A young child, witnessing this primitive and bloody scene, had already understood what death meant.
A gleam of longing appeared in the mother's eyes. Embracing a beautiful hope for the future, she said, "Gaara-sama has already reached an agreement with our allies. We're going to the Land of Fire!"
"What kind of place is that?"
"It's a place where we can live anew, without danger."
The mother pulled the child closer. Similar conversations were taking place in countless households throughout the Land of Wind.
At the very front of the convoy, Temari, a faint scar on her face and her body wrapped in bandages, stepped down from the carriage and shook her head at Kankuro, who was walking toward her.
"After crossing the Land of Rivers, we will reach the Land of Fire. Gaara hasn't woken up. Who will be sent to discuss follow-up matters with Konoha when the time comes?" Having gotten the answer from Temari, Kankuro's mouth was full of bitterness.
A week ago, they had paid such a heavy price to encircle and suppress the Akatsuki's members, only to be defeated by a single person.
If Gaara had not resisted desperately at the critical moment, blocking the attack of the Chimera mutants, this group of theirs might have been completely wiped out.
But even so, he had been carelessly injured by a mutant during the battle, and after being contaminated by the virus, had also fallen into a state of unconsciousness.
Fortunately, he was a Kekkei Genkai Ninja. His genetic material had some resistance to the virus, which prevented him from mutating into a monster immediately.
But now, the Land of Wind, having lost its leader, had been almost pushed to the dead end of utter destitution, exhausted of provisions. Where were they to go from here?
"We can only place our hopes on Konoha. The two best Medical-Nins in the world are there. They will definitely have a way!" Temari gazed into the distance, repeatedly repeating this phrase that brought her strength.
After a long migration, the Land of Wind's column finally crossed the Land of Rivers within a week and arrived within the Land of Fire.
And the remnants of Sunagakure's defeated army had arrived at the center of the Land of Fire, Konoha, one step ahead of the migration procession.
When Temari and Kankuro arrived at the gates of Konoha with Gaara, whose body was wrapped in sealing runes, Sakura and the medical staff, who had been waiting there for a long time, took over the infected and unconscious Gaara.
"Haruno Sakura, Gaara he..."
Temari grabbed Sakura's hand before she could leave, her eyes full of worry.
"Don't worry. We've already developed a virus antibody!" Sakura patted Temari's hand. "The Fourth Raikage, who arrived here ahead of you, has already used the antibody. The treatment effect is pretty good!"
"Are people from Kumogakure also here?" Kankuro was stunned by this news. "Can't their own technology cure this virus?"
He hadn't expected that the Land of Lightning, with such powerful military and technology, would also fall to the point of having to send their village's Kage to Konoha for treatment.
However, this also confirmed how far-sighted Gaara's decision had been back then. It was indeed a correct decision to not hesitate to bear the crime of rebellion to bet on Konoha.
A mocking smile curled on Sakura's face at Kankuro's question. "Heh, those greedy dark-skinned folks got themselves killed this time!"
"What do you mean?"
Perplexed expressions appeared simultaneously on Temari and Kankuro's faces.
"Don't worry. You'll know the reason at the joint talks in a few days!"
Sakura played the role of a riddler for a moment, mysteriously winked at the two, then followed the medical staff ahead and left.
…
A few days later, at Konoha's Hokage Building.
A gloomy, depressive atmosphere enveloped the entire meeting room. The awakened Fourth Raikage and Gaara, wearing a patient's gown, waited there.
Beside each of them stood their village's confidants and close relatives: Temari, Kankuro, Samui, Darui… the four lined up, standing behind their respective Kage.
Before long, footsteps came from outside the meeting room. Tsunade and Sakura, carrying documents, walked into the meeting room.
Due to the million people migrating from the Land of Wind, the two old bastards from Konoha's Political Department had already been worked to the brink of death from exhaustion. So this meeting between the two Kage had to be handled by Tsunade herself.
Sakura, acting as the mascot and professional knowledge explainer, had been caught by Tsunade while slacking off at the research institute and brought along.
"Hokage..."
The Fourth Raikage, A, and Gaara stood up upon seeing Tsunade.
Having become dogs with broken backs, they naturally no longer had the standing and reserve to display their arrogance before the leader of Konoha, who effectively ruled a great nation.
"Sit." Tsunade raised her hand and pressed down in the air. "I won't waste words. The Akatsuki has declared war on Konoha. You two probably want revenge as well. If you want to participate in the war, simply report your situations to me."
The Raikage's eyebrows twitched. "Kumogakure... Only a thousand Ninjas escaped from that calamity: thirty-three Jonin, two hundred Chunin, and the rest are mostly Genin..."
"Wait, Raikage. What happened in the Land of Lightning while I was unconscious?" Gaara frowned and asked.
The Raikage kept his mouth shut. Finally, Darui behind him stepped forward, slightly bowing to Gaara. "Allow me to explain to Kazekage-sama!"
"The village, after the Land of Frost war ceased, collected a large amount of the Chimera Virus from the battlefield. Then, the village's leadership, blinded by greed, forcibly implemented a mass virus enhancement trial. The result was that Kumogakure became the first organized force to be destroyed in the entire Land of Lightning!"
Darui didn't say what happened next, but Gaara and the other two could basically infer it.
The only large-scale violent apparatus of the entire country had self-destructed. How could the Land of Lightning, having lost its Ninjas, resist monsters that had mutated using those very Ninjas as raw material?
So it went without saying that everyone present understood that the Land of Lightning had likely followed in the footsteps of the Land of Earth.
"Understood!" Gaara, who had a general understanding of the current situation, sighed and gestured for Temari beside him to report Sunagakure's situation.
Temari stepped forward, bowed to everyone, and said, "We attempted to encircle and suppress the Akatsuki's members, but we failed. Quite a few of our encirclement Ninjas were lost, but the village still retains about four thousand Ninjas: seventy-nine Jonin, approximately five hundred Chunin, and the rest are all Genin."
"Broken remnants... is it?" Propping up her chin with both hands, Tsunade's gaze swept across everyone present, and she let out a helpless sigh.
"Then, let's discuss the matter of the 'Ninja World' Allied Forces!"
Sakura hauled a cardboard box full of documents onto the conference table. It was time to let these idle folks residing in Konoha relive the horror of government affairs!
"Ninja World Allied Forces? Hasn't the Land of Water sent a representative?" Gaara coughed weakly a few times and raised his hand to Sakura.
"Oh, that seems not to have been notified to everyone!"
Sakura twirled her hair around her finger, tilted her head, and showed a compassionate expression. "The Land of Water is the Akatsuki's headquarters. According to the tracing of the virus samples collected from the battlefield, they were the culprits behind the virus outbreak in the Land of Frost!"
"What!"
The people from Kumogakure and Sunagakure inside the meeting room stood up in shock, knocking over the chairs behind them.
"So, the next battlefield will be at the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Water."
"Please be sure… to prepare yourselves!"