A Business Deal

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The Land of Wind.

The gale lifted yellow sand across the sky like curtains, covering even the sun overhead and making the blazing noon light resemble the sunset of dusk.

Walking across the winding dunes, Sasori's handsome face beneath his cloak was dark with frustration.

He swept his gaze across the distance, his delicate brows tightening slightly. "Did I miss him again?"

Over the past ten days, he had searched the major towns of the Land of Wind, the black markets, and even several oases along the trade routes. He had found nothing. Naoki's trail seemed to have vanished into thin air.

Ever since Sasori had learned Naoki's identity, he had been planning revenge.

But Naoki was a Konoha ANBU directly under the Hokage. His movements were difficult to track. Either he did not leave the village, or when he did, it was surely for a classified mission. Because of that, Sasori had never been able to grasp his whereabouts.

This time, he had finally received intelligence from an informant in the black market and thought he could erase his previous humiliation. He had rushed all the way back from the Land of Water to the Land of Wind, only to come up empty-handed again.

"Lucky you."

After a low scoff, Sasori pulled his cloak tighter around himself and headed toward the Land of Rain.

Inside a forest in the Land of Fire.

Naoki dropped from the air, exited Tenseigan Chakra Mode, and leaned against a large tree as he gasped for breath.

Because he had to maintain the Third Kazekage Human Puppet far away in the Land of Wind, he had less than half of his chakra left in his body. Tenseigan Chakra Mode, which he could normally maintain for about ten minutes, could now barely last four or five.

Because of that, every time he activated Tenseigan Chakra Mode for a while, he had to stop and rest.

Fortunately, his flight speed in Tenseigan Chakra Mode was extremely fast. Otherwise, traveling in fits and starts like this might not even be faster than moving normally.

After chewing a soldier pill, Naoki spread his map across the ground and studied it carefully.

Two full days had passed since he slipped out of the village. According to his plan, he would need one more day to cross this forest and enter the Land of Rivers.

The reason it had taken so long was mainly that the route he had chosen was too remote.

The whole path consisted either of endless dense forest or continuous mountain ranges. One section even passed through cliffs, ravines, marshes, and river valleys.

Choosing such a remote route was not truly by choice.

Tenseigan Chakra Mode was simply too conspicuous. If he took another route, he would easily be discovered by sensory shinobi stationed at Konoha outposts throughout the Land of Fire.

Several days later, Naoki finally crossed the Land of Rivers and entered the sand-filled Land of Wind.

He did not hurry onward immediately. Instead, he sensed the location of the Third Kazekage Human Puppet from afar.

After a moment, he opened his eyes and frowned. "That far?"

Through his sensing, he discovered that the Third Kazekage Human Puppet, which was currently following the caravan of Roran's remaining people, was roughly two hundred kilometers from his current position.

He spread the map open again and marked a small dot on it with a pen.

That dot represented the location of the Roran caravan. Then his gaze circled the surrounding area on the map, using that dot as the center, until it finally landed on an oasis called Manto.

He drew a circle around the oasis and thought, 'This should be where they are heading.'

Manto Oasis was one of the larger oases in the Land of Wind. Judging from how Roran's remaining people moved in pursuit of oases and pasture, this place was very likely their next stop.

Because of that, Naoki did not need to chase the caravan itself. He could simply wait for them at Manto Oasis.

Once he made up his mind, he put the map away, entered Tenseigan Chakra Mode again, and flew rapidly toward Manto Oasis while staying close to the ground.

Two more days passed. Naoki finally reached Manto Oasis and successfully found the caravan of Roran's remaining people.

He did not rush to meet the Queen of Roran. First, he sealed the Third Kazekage Human Puppet back into its scroll, returning himself to full strength.

Then he changed into a black cloak, put on a demon-face mask he had bought in a town in the Land of Wind during his earlier travels, and quietly waited for night to fall.

A few hours later, the sun sank and the moon slowly rose.

At that moment, streams of cooking smoke rose from the caravan. The people of Roran sat in twos and threes, enjoying the rare quiet hours at the end of the day.

The Queen of Roran did not sit with the others to eat. She was alone in her tent, holding an infant and softly humming a lullaby.

Using the cover of night, Naoki slipped silently into the queen's tent and spoke in a low voice to the distracted woman. "What are you thinking about?"

The Queen of Roran was startled by the voice. She quickly hugged the child tighter and retreated into the corner, watching the black-robed Naoki warily. "Who are you?!"

Naoki said calmly, "There is no need to be so tense. I came to make a deal with you."

The Queen of Roran looked confused. "A deal?"

Aside from some livestock, the caravan had nothing of value. Because of that, the queen did not lower her guard because of Naoki's words.

At the same time, she did not shout for help. She knew very well that anyone who could enter her tent silently had to be a shinobi.

And if the enemy was a shinobi, the people of Roran outside could not help her. Her cries would not save her. They would only endanger everyone else.

Naoki nodded. "Yes. A deal."

The Queen of Roran was about to speak, but because of her fear and tension, she began coughing again and again. It took a long while before she barely managed to stop.

Seeing that she had coughed up blood, Naoki quietly activated his Byakugan and scanned her. To his surprise, he discovered that the flow inside her body was blocked, her circulation was poor, and she seemed to be suffering from a serious illness.

Naoki frowned. "You are very ill."

After panting lightly for a moment, the Queen of Roran said weakly, "I... I know."

Naoki looked around the queen's shabby tent and said, "If you do not receive treatment soon, you may not live many more years."

The Queen of Roran did not continue that topic. Instead, she asked with a grave expression, "Who exactly are you? What do you want?"

"I told you. I came to make a deal."

The queen shook her head. "I have nothing to sell."

"No. You have a priceless treasure." Naoki paused, then smiled. "Though for you and your people, it truly has no practical use anymore."

The Queen of Roran understood at once. She looked at Naoki's demon-face mask and asked, "You want the Dragon Vein?"

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