"Keep up, everyone in the back!"
Within the borders of the Land of Wind, the main force of the Village Hidden in the Silver River advanced as if through uncontested territory, meeting no resistance.
At the time agreed upon with Kaito, Ruri personally led a troop of several hundred Silver River shinobi into the Land of Wind, heading straight for the Village Hidden in the Sand.
It wasn't just shinobi; they were accompanied by many bizarre-looking ninja beasts.
The most numerous were giant canines with striking red stripes. They were called Arcanine, and with feet that seemed to command the wind, their speed was astonishing, and their stamina was excellent.
The most eye-catching sight was a giant lizard flying in the sky. Kushina and Kaori, who was holding Pikachu, sat on its back, traveling along with the group.
The view from up high was certainly spectacular, but it had its downsides.
"Ugh, ptew, ptew, ptew! There's so much sand in the Land of Wind!" Kushina spat out a mouthful of sand, but as soon as she opened her mouth, more sand was swept in by the wind, nearly making her gag.
"I told you to sit in the back, and you still didn't wear your mask properly." Kaori was both amused and concerned, quickly pulling Kushina into her arms.
Kushina turned around, her back to the wind, and sat facing Kaori, hiding her small head in Kaori's embrace.
Only after she had cleared all the sand from her mouth did she sit up again and carefully put on her mask.
"Hah, I'm saved at last..." Kushina hugged Kaori tightly, feeling the softness of her chest, and giggled. "Kaori-neechan, you're so well-developed. I'm jealous."
"What? It's nothing special."
"You call this nothing special? You haven't seen the way those men look at you, like a pack of wolves."
"You're exaggerating. I haven't noticed anything like that. At least, Kaito-niichan doesn't... you know."
"Mmm, maybe he likes them smaller. After all, Ruri-neechan's are about the same as mine..."
For some reason, Kushina's face turned a little red.
To hide it, she immediately started groping Kaori. "If I were a man, I'd definitely prefer someone like you, Kaori-neechan!"
"Hey, Kushina, stop it, that tickles!"
After a bit of playful roughhousing, they stopped, because the outline of the village was already visible ahead.
"We're finally at the Sand Village! Let's get ready, there might be a battle!"
However, to everyone's surprise, a crowd of Sand-nin were standing at the village entrance, clapping to welcome their arrival.
The main gate of the Sand Village was even decorated with lanterns and colored banners, making it look like a festival.
"Leader Ruri, something's not right about this. Could it be a trap?" someone warned.
Ruri, who had been full of suspicion, instantly relaxed when she saw the Ground Clone in the crowd. "Don't worry, let's go in. The Sand Village has already surrendered."
"Huh?!" Everyone who heard Ruri's words was stunned.
They thought they were in for a vicious battle, but this was it?
Were they dreaming?
But the scene unfolding before them proved they weren't dreaming. With the Sand-nin lining the streets to welcome them, they entered the village smoothly.
The more observant ones, like Kaori, noticed that the Sand-nin's emotions weren't quite right, as if they were being forced.
Moreover, contrary to what they had imagined, the Sand Village was covered in many patches of lawn, which was completely out of place for a village in the desert.
"Where's Kaito?" Ruri walked up to the Ground Clone, her mind full of questions.
"He's having a heart-to-heart with a rather cute little Sand-nin girl," the Ground Clone replied, pointing to the tallest building in the village.
"What?!" Ruri's eyes narrowed, and she stormed off in that direction, radiating a murderous aura.
"Hmph. Serves you right for slacking off and not sharing the fun." The Ground Clone, having successfully thrown his main body under the bus, hummed a little tune and left with a swagger.
Following the "kind person's" directions, Ruri proceeded unimpeded to the Kazekage's office, where she did indeed find Kaito alone with a cute young girl.
"Oh, you're here, Ruri-nee." Kaito greeted her with a smile, pulling her into the room as the little girl watched in surprise.
"Let me introduce you. This is Pakura. She possesses the Scorch Release Kekkei Genkai and is well worth cultivating!"
"Oh, is that so?" Ruri forced a smile and looked at the delicate little girl. She was indeed very cute, and quite well-developed, but her eyes were full of hostility.
Not just towards Ruri, but towards Kaito as well.
"Your name is Pakura, right? As long as you do your job properly and don't cause trouble, we won't treat you unfairly."
"Pah! I will never submit to you! Don't think I'm a spineless coward like those people outside!" Pakura retorted, showing no gratitude.
Ruri, however, felt relieved. "You'll be thanking us when you see the changes in the Sand Village."
"In your dreams!"
After sending the "stubborn" Pakura away, Ruri glanced at Kaito and asked, "You've completely taken over the Sand Village?"
"M-hm. Easy peasy."
Kaito said with a smile, "Currently, the Third Kazekage, this generation's leadership, and all the jonin are locked up, with someone (the Poison Clone) specifically guarding them. The Third Kazekage seems to have accepted his fate. Thanks to his orders, a portion of the Sand-nin have sided with us. Of course, there are bound to be some dissenters mixed in."
Besides the Third Kazekage's submission, Kaito's use of [Rain Dance] and [Grassy Terrain] had also produced many positive effects.
"Mm, I'll have our people accept those who are inclined to side with us as much as possible. Then we'll use their presence to dilute the hatred and dismantle the Sand Village's power structure step by step. Without the leadership of the jonin, they won't be able to cause much trouble," Ruri said thoughtfully.
"Not bad, not bad. That's my Ruri-nee for you."
"Who's yours?" Ruri rolled her eyes at him, then immediately switched into work mode, gathering the core members of the Silver River Village to assign them tasks.
The Sand Village, which had been at a standstill, began to stir with activity once more.
And Kaito, with nothing better to do, used his Grass-type abilities to add some more greenery to the Sand Village, bringing a splash of different color to its otherwise monotonous palette.
"Kaito-nii!" Seeing Kaito, Kushina happily ran over, only to get a light tap on the head.
"Call me Dr. Agasa."
"Oh, I forgot," Kushina said, sticking out her tongue.
"You're a noble jonin now. Shouldn't you be helping your sister?" Kaito said, stroking her hair.
"Aren't you slacking off here too?" Having spent a lot of time with Kaito, she had picked up a lot of new vocabulary.
"How can you compare me to you?" Kaito puffed out his chest. "I went through great hardship, risked my life, and conquered the great Sand Village. What's wrong with taking a little break?"
"Go on, hurry up and help Ruri-nee. If she finds you, I won't be able to save you."
"Oh." Remembering what Ruri looked like when she was angry, Kushina shrank back and quickly ran off to work.
"Sigh. Slacking off yourself while watching others work hard... it feels pretty good!"