The legend of the Night-Singing Sand Sea tells of a time when it was once a vast freshwater ke, rivaling the size of an o. Over time, however, enviroal ges transformed the nd, turning what was once a boundless expanse of water into a small oasis amidst an endless desert. When the northern winds howl at night, the remnants of a shells and fossils scattered across the sa eerie, hollow wails, giving the Night-Singing Sand Sea its name.

  The Night-Singing Sand Sea is the closest oasis to the Land of Rain. As far back as the era of the First Kazekage, Sunagakure had been stationing shinobi there. During the reign of the Sed Kazekage, Shamon, the site was further fortified, with stockpiles of grain and the digging of wells. Over time, it was transformed into the rgest military fortress in the northern Wind try. A g the map reveals its strategic importa serves as a forward base for any assault on the Land of Rain.

  Today, it has bee the frontline where the armies of Konoha and Sunagakure are locked in a standoff. With the advantage of fighting on home turf, the Sunagakure forces found themselves more at ease. After receiving a portion of military supplies, their morale surged, and they mao hold their ground against the Konoha forces, which were twice their number. Under Chiyo's leadership, the Sunagakure troops stabilized their position, while Danzo Shimura showed nency to press the attack. The situation gradually evolved into a stalemate.

  However, this slow-burning strategy recisely what worried Chiyo the most. She knew full well that the current surge in morale was nothing but a fragile bubble. Their limited supplies would eventually run out, and when that happened, Sunagakure would faplete colpse. Staring at the map, Chiyo frowned deeply.

  "Lady Chiyo, the Third Kazekage has arrived!" a messenger announced.

  "Summon all unit ao the main camp for a meeting immediately!" Chiyo ordered.

  Jinghang removed his sand goggles and veil, exhaling a long, weary breath. After traveling bad forth across thousands of kilometers and sprinting nonstop for three days and nights, even his massive chakra reserves were nearly depleted. As he wiped his face with a towel and shook the sand off his cloak, he mentally refihe pn he had been formuting during his journey.

  "Everyone is gathered in the main camp, awaiting your instrus, Lord Kazekage," a messenger informed him.

  "Lead the way. And find me a new cloak ter—a white one," Jinghang replied, casually discarding his sand-covered cloak.

  "This is the current state of the battlefield," Karura reported, her toinged with nervousness as she g the neoihird Kazekage. She wasn’t sure what kind of temperament this new leader possessed.

  Jinghang rested his on his hand, silently studying the map, which dispyed the positions of the red and blue forces. The other Sunagakure anders and Chiyo waited quietly for his orders.

  "How many troops do we have left?" Jinghang finally broke the silence.

  "5,874," Karura answered immediately.

  "And the enemy?"

  "Approximately 10,000."

  "How long our supplies st?"

  "At most, twenty-five days."

  "Are the supplies being transported from Lake Tsuki?"

  "Yes."

  "How long does it take for a supply voy to travel from Lake Tsuki to here?"

  "Fifteen days."

  Jinghang fell into thought once more.

  "I have an idea," he said, pig up a red pencil and drawing a circle on the map. "Let’s ge the location of the decisive battle to here." He poio the circle he had just drawn. The anders’ gazes followed his fio the map. The circle enclosed an area beled "Lake Tsuki."

  "What about the Night-Singing Sand Sea? Are we just going to abandon it and hand it over to Konoha for nothing?" Chiyo asked, clearly puzzled. The room erupted into murmurs of fusion; it was evident that many did not uand Jinghang’s reasoning.

  "Heh, o get so worked up, Granny Chiyo. Everyone, calm down," Jinghang said with a smile, gently pressing Chiyo bato her chair.

  "‘If we save the people, we save the nd; if we lose the people, we lose both the nd and the people.’ Today, we retreat boldly so that we may advance boldly tomorrow!" His words, delivered with a resounding vi, left the room in stunned silence.

  "There’s a kind of victory called retreat, and a kind of defeat called occupation. If Konoha wants this pce so badly, let them have it!" Jinghang decred grandly, gesturing dramatically to the room.

  "By the way, where’s the army’s trine?" he added casually.

  "This is definitely not the work of that old hag Chiyo," Danzo Shimura muttered to himself.

  Standing amidst the smoking ruins of the Sunagakure camp, even Danzo’s usually stoic face couldn’t hide a slight twitch. The destru was thh—painstakingly so.

  "Send orders to the pursuit units led by Orochimaru and Jiraiya. Tell them to hound the retreating Sunagakure forces like hyenas. Don’t let them retreat in peace. If they enter heavy resistahey are to fall back," Danzo anded decisively.

  The young Jiraiya and an equally young Orochimaru led over a hundred Konoha shinobi as they sprihrough the desert.

  "Orochimaru, let’s see who catches up to the Sunagakure forces first! Cough, cough," Jiraiya shouted boastfully, only to immediately choke on the sand blown into his mouth by the wind.

  "Idiot," Orochimaru muttered, distang himself from Jiraiya in disdain.

  Suddenly, a lone figure appeared on the horizon. With long blue hair, a white veil, and a white cloak, the figure stood proudly atop a sand dune.

  "Iron Sand: Drizzle." Without a word, Jinghang unched his attack.

  tless grains of iron sand, propelled by magic force, rained down like a storm upon the Konoha shinobi. Orochimaru, ever cautious, dodged the barrage with a series of backflips, while Jiraiya activated Ninja Art: Needle Jizō, ing himself tightly in his silver hair. The unfortunate Konoha shinobi trailing behind them, however, didn’t rea time and were instantly riddled with holes.

  "The Blue Tempest of Sunagakure. You must be Jinghang," Jiraiya said through a cra his protective silver hair.

  "Ah, so you’ve heard of me," Jinghang replied with a smile.

  "Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!" Orochimaru, having evaded the "iron rain," immediately unched a terattack.

  "Demonic Shield!" A massive bck iron shield materialized, blog the ining snakes. However, the serpents slithered around the shield and tiheir assault on Jinghang.

  Impressive. Just as Jinghang prepared to deal with the snakes, Jiraiya made his move.

  "Wild Lion’s Maeique!" tless strands of hardened silver hair shot forward, pierg Jinghang’s body.

  "Boom!" The impaled Jinghang vanished in a puff of white smoke.

  A Shadow e! How does he know the Sed Hokage’s forbidden teique? Orochimaru wondered. (Though he probably didn’t sider that anyone who’s read hundreds of chapters of Naruto manga could figure out such a simple hand sign.)

  The real Jinghang emerged from behind a sand dune, g his hands in mock appuse.

  "Not bad, not bad. No wonder Samander Hanzo called you the Three Legendary Ninja. By the way, where’s Tsunade? I hear she’s a beauty. Care to introduce us?"

  "Fire Release: Great Fireball Teique!" "Wind Release: Wind Bde!" The other Konoha shinobi finally reacted, ung their attacks.

  "Iron Sand: Iron Wall Teique." Behind the protective iron wall, Jinghang silently maniputed the flow of iron sah the desert.

  The Konoha shinobi’s relentless attacks tinued, heating the iron wall until it glowed red. Orochimaru and Jiraiya exged a gnce, both sensing immi danger.

  "Iron Sand: Steel Garden Teique!"

  Suddenly, the desert beh their feet began to quake. tless bck iron vied from the ground, twisting and writhing. In an instant, the desert ainted with the blood of Konoha shinobi, blooming like tragic flowers amidst the sands.

  Annou

  Advanced chapters have been updated to Chapter 60. Thank you for supp my work! Wishing everyone a wonderful day!

  patreon./DarkGolds