In the desert, every oasis was a treasure beyond value.
Yako led the Blossom Deer Squad into the vast sea of sand.
They had lost a comrade in the Land of Rivers. Only three remained now.
Each carried a large gourd on their back—inside, enough poison to destroy a small oasis.
Gourds were a common sight in the Land of Wind. For long journeys, one needed water.
Taking a long detour around the main battlefield, the team had already walked over twenty kilometers into the desert.
"Captain! There's a body over there!"
Two feet jutted out behind a dune.
Yako and the others circled around, and more corpses emerged. Behind the dune lay over twenty desiccated bodies.
They looked like three families—men, women, and children.
The elderly were in their seventies, with white beards.
The youngest were small children, their withered skin shriveled like newborns—only uglier.
Blossom Deer crouched to inspect a body and reported to Yako:
"Captain, these people are civilians from the Land of Wind. Seems like they tried to migrate with their entire families… but didn't bring enough water. They died of thirst out here."
The dry wind stirred the sand, slapping against their faces like tiny whips. Against the corpses, it made a faint rustling sound.
Leaf Monkey found a map on the old man's corpse.
A single oasis was marked on it. The word "Home" was written beside it.
Yako said, "Let's go check out that oasis."
Just as he turned around, a scrap of cloth flapped by.
He stopped, walking toward it.
The others followed the squad captain's lead with their eyes.
It was a piece of leather covering a woman's corpse—tough and well-preserved.
The hide flapped loudly in the dry wind—pa-pa-pa.
Yako ran a hand over it. It was highly wind-resistant.
An idea sparked in his mind.
"Blossom Deer," he said, "collect this leather. I want to make something—to help us escape if things go south."
Blossom Deer picked up the leather, puzzled. 'How would this help us escape?'
But Yako wasn't focused on the poison. Spiking the lake wasn't the hard part. Even if it meant death, they could throw the gourds in.
The real problem… was getting out alive.
This was Suna's territory. In the desert, no one outran Sand shinobi.
After gathering enough leather, Yako got to work. Drawing from memories of his previous life, he stitched the pieces together into something resembling a glider.
He gave it a test flight. The wind was strong—taking off was easy.
He then trained the squad in controlling the gliders.
As expected of shinobi, their coordination was exceptional. After just a few practice runs, the Blossom Deer team had mastered the art.
Flight was a rare ability in the shinobi world. If they could fly, Suna-nin wouldn't be able to give chase.
The squad pushed forward, heading toward the marked oasis.
A few days later…
Yako lay buried in sand, only a single-barreled collapsible scope sticking out as he observed a lake in the distance.
It was shaped like a crescent moon, glimmering beneath the moonlight.
A beautiful little lake.
At night, the lake sparkled like a gem—once enough to sustain a dozen households with fresh water.
But now… the area around the crescent lake was swarming with Suna-nin.
Yako estimated at least fifty. Many were wounded.
They must have retreated here after a front-line battle. And the lake's water? Not enough.
The Sand shinobi had driven the villagers out to secure the oasis. Those poor souls probably fled in a panic, without enough water, and were roasted into mummies by a sandstorm.
Yako had been in this world for a while now. His instincts told him—if he killed everyone here, he might be killing innocents.
But if he took out two out of every three?
Then there would be no mistakes.
Suna had double the manpower of Konoha, yet they were still struggling. And now, they were even kicking out farmers from oases?
After scouting the situation, Yako retreated to prepare for that night's operation.
Late into the night, Yako led the way. Leaf Monkey followed behind, gourd on his back.
They staggered through the sand, pretending to be exhausted desert travelers—weak, sunburnt, and dying of thirst.
A Sand shinobi spotted them and shouted from afar,
"Do not approach! This oasis is under the jurisdiction of Sunagakure!"
The warning had no effect.
All the shinobi saw were two half-dead men stumbling toward the lake, ignoring everything but the shimmer of water ahead.
They ran with arms flailing, eyes wide, lips cracked, skin peeling.
The Suna-nin cursed. 'Why'd it have to be dying civilians?'
He saw their bleeding lips, blistered faces.
'Still… they can't drink our water.'
The shinobi pulled out a kunai and hurled it at their feet.
Still, the two travelers didn't stop.
Now only a hundred meters from the lake.
He reached for a second kunai—this time, to kill.
They couldn't afford to alert the commander stationed here.
He moved in to intercept.
But just as he was ten meters away—a kunai whistled through the air and slammed into his throat.
Too fast!
'How does a dying man throw that hard—?'
As he collapsed, wide-eyed, he saw it clearly.
Masks.
And on those masks—Mist's four-wave insignia.
They were ANBU.
Poisoning the water might be dishonorable… but a little flair was still better than raw cruelty.
From nearby tents, Sand shinobi spilled out.
Yako shouted,
"Move!"
He formed a seal—Shadow Clone Technique!
Yako and his clone formed signs together, summoning twin walls of water—
Water Release: Water Formation Wall!
Two towering barriers of water surged up, shielding them from enemy attacks and forming a tunnel ahead of Leaf Monkey.
He seized the moment—gripped the gourd—and hurled it forward with all his strength.
Then quickly formed hand seals.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
A fierce wind exploded forward, pushing the gourd at incredible speed toward the crescent lake.
The Water Walls dropped.
And the Sand shinobi saw it—the gourd had landed beside the lake.
It burst open, spilling thick black poison into the waters.
"No! Someone poisoned the oasis!" they shouted in panic.
Yako and Leaf Monkey turned to flee.
Yako kept throwing up Water Walls, blocking kunai, explosive tags, puppets—everything.
"That Water Release is jonin-level at minimum—Must be elite from Kirigakure!"
Leaf Monkey looked up, eyes searching the skies.
There!
Two black dots rapidly descended—gliders heading toward them.
"Captain!"
After one last Water Wall, Yako dashed up a dune and leapt.
Blossom Deer, piloting the glider, caught him midair—legs locking around Yako's waist.
He dangled upside down, hands free—launching another Water Wall mid-flight.
Once again, enemy attacks were neutralized.
Blossom Deer grinned inwardly.
'Captain's ninjutsu defense is airtight.'
Below, the Suna commander howled:
"Stop using Wind Release, you fools!!"
Yako had chosen to strike during a windy night.
Suna's own Wind Release only made the gliders fly higher and faster.
As they soared through the sky, the Sand shinobi could only give futile chase.
Yako and Leaf Monkey cast Wind Release: Great Breakthrough from above, giving the gliders even more speed.
The desert wind howled.
But the Sand shinobi—after chasing them for hours—finally collapsed from exhaustion, helplessly watching the gliders vanish into the night.