The Moon Lake, or more accurately, the oasis surrounding it, was located approximately 400 kilometers from Sunagakure. The ke itself wasn’t particurly rge, c just over 20 acres, but it was already the rgest innd freshwater ke in the Land of Wind. A ring of low shrubs encircled the ke, clearly pnted iionally to prevent soil erosion. Beyond the ke, tric circles ht-resista vegetatioended outward for over a hundred kilometers, f a massive oasis. At the outermost edge of this oasis stood a rudimentary man-made windbreak and several military fortifications, structed during the era of the First Kazekage, Rettō.

  “What a beautiful pce. I think this enviro is eveer than Sunagakure. It's almost as rge as our vilge too. How rare it is to find such a vast body of water in the desert. If we were to build a city around the ke and pn it well, I could triple its size within five years. Granny Chiyo, why didn’t Lord Rettō build Sunagakure here in the first pce?”

  Jinghang shielded his eyes from the sun with his hand, gazing in admiration at the shimmering, azure waters of the ke. The thought lingered in his mind, prompting his question.

  “It wasn’t that he didn’t sider it. The decision not to build the vilge here rimarily strategic.” Chiyo gnced around cautiously to ensure no one was nearby before tinuing.

  “Wheō was establishing Sunagakure and scouting for a location, this was his first choice. However, beiiculous, he sent Ebizō to iigate the water souroon Lake. The iigation sted aire year, and they discovered that Moon Lake wasn’t a self-sustaining water source. Instead, it was fed by underground seepage from the Shule River, f a rich aquifer atop an impermeable yer. If the upstream flow were ever disrupted, this pce would gradually dry up and bee a barren wastend. Oh, ahis to yourself. I’m only telling you because you’re the Kazekage now. If Danzo got wind of this, he’d definitely cut off your water supply upstream, ha!” Chiyo teased.

  “No wohe First and Sed Kazekages were always eyeing the Land of Rain. I used to think—”

  “Think what? That they were fond of that perpetually wet, rainy hellhole? Don’t uimate the strategic fht of your predecessors. Ha!” Chiyo csped her hands behind her bad tinued walking.

  “Then we should turn this pto a logistics base—set up farms, relocate people here to grow crops, vegetables, fruits, medial herbs, and raise livestock. That would signifitly improve Sunagakure’s eic situation!”

  “And how would you transport everything back? There’s 400 kilometers of desert iween.”

  “Build a road.”

  “A road through the desert? Half of it would get buried in sand before you even finish!” Chiyo chuckled, thinking Jinghang was joking. She then shifted the topic.

  “Speaking of that old turtle Danzo, he’s quite the cautious one. After suffering a minor setback, he retreated to the Night-Singing Sao patch up his defenses and filter his dirty water. What do you think he’s plotting now?”

  “What else? Figuring out ways to deal with me, of course,” Jinghang replied with a grin.

  Chiyo suddenly stopped iracks.

  “You’re the one who o be dealt with. You’re the Third Kazekage now, not just ae jonin. Leave the front-line fighting to your subordinates. Stop putting yourself in harm’s way. Do you think your life belongs to you alone?”

  “Ah, it’s not like I want to. But we’re short on talent. There are so few truly capable people I rely on. I just ’t trust anyone else with certain tasks,” Jinghang sighed helplessly.

  “After this war, I pn to travel uhe guise of diplomatic missions. In turbulent times like these, hidden talents often emerge in the wilderness. We o stir things up iagnant waters of our vilge. It’s only been a few geions, and we’ve barely produced aeworthy.”

  Indeed, pared to Konoha’s inclusivity and Kumogakure’s militaristic extremism, Sunagakure’s talent cultivation system was undeniably g. There was no effective meism to discover or protedividuals with unique kekkei genkai. Over the years, the vilge had only produced oable figure with a kekkei genkai: Pakura of the Scorch Release. And even she had beehed by Jinghang based on his memories. In the inal storyline, Sunagakure’s ter years only boasted two promi figures: Gaara and Sasori of the Red Sand. Just two, and one of them was a rogue ninja. The likes of Temari and Kankurō hardly ted. Veterans like Chiyo and Ebizō, who would have been museum reli Konoha, were still fighting tooth and nail by the Fifth Hokage’s time. It was a cssic case of “When Shu cked generals, Liao Hua became the vanguard.” This situation had to ge. It was disgraceful for the leader to personally handle everything.

  “ge is iable. You’ve always been ambitious, even as a child. The tree isn’t even pnted yet, and you’re already imagining what the fruit will taste like. But first, we o finish this war, don’t we?”

  “Do you think we’ve missed anything, Shikachō?” Danzo asked, his gaze fixed on the middle-aged ninja before him.

  “We still ck suffit intelligehis Jinghang, despite his youth, is an exceptionally ing ninja. From the time he began his career until now, he has rarely left any survivors in his missions. All we know is that he trol iron sand and use Shadow es. Beyond that, we know nothing. The current pn is merely a rough draft, with only a 60% ce of success at best,” replied Shikaara, shaking his head. As the head of the Nara , renowned for their strategic brilliance, even he found it challenging to devise a fwless pn with such st information.

  “Try to refi further. Whatever resources or personnel you need, just let me know,” Danzo said, his tone as calm as ever.

  “Capturing him could very well end this war. Do your best, Shikachō.” Danzo gave a polite bow, which Shikachō hurriedly returned.

  Suspicious, cautious, ruthless, and inflexible, Danzo was a man who couldn’t tolerate even the slightest ht. He insisted on doing things his way to feel secure. He often preached about the self-sacrifice of a ninja, yet when it came to himself, he could never follow through. These traits, emblematic of the older Danzo in the manga, were already evident in his prime.

  By intervening in the flict between Sunagakure and Amegakure, sacrifig the Sannin to deal with the legendary “Demi-God” Hanzo of the Samander, and leveraging overwhelming military strength to force Hanzo into signing a humiliating treaty, Danzo had sistently demonstrated his willio sacrifice others for his own gain.

  Simirly, when dealing with the Sed Kazekage, Shamon, he had used Kagami Uchiha as bait to lure the enemy, only to strike from the shadows and secure victory. Danzo had perfected the art of sacrifig others to achieve his ambitions.

  Everything was unfolding as he had anticipated. Now, only the remnants of Sunagakure at Moon Lake stood in his way. Removing this obstacle—whether by annihition or f them into submission like Amegakure—would solidify Danzo’s achievements. This, in turn, would elevate his standing among Konoha’s leadership, bringing him closer to the Hokage’s seat.

  But who would have expected a blue-haired boy to suddenly disrupt his pns? With a brilliareat, Jinghang had decisively abahe Night-Singing Sand Sea, leaving behind nothing but ruins and a few wells filled with excrement. It was like being force-fed a bowl of hot pe—her swallowable nor spit-outable.

  Pursue them to Moon Lake with his army? That would stretch the supply lienfold, leaving them vulnerable to stant harassment and potential annihition. But if he didn’t pursue, Sunagakure could exploit its proximity to its own supply lio recruit more troops, stockpile supplies, recover its strength, and even seek external allies. Failure to act decisively would give Sarutobi Hiruzen and the other Konoha leaders plenty to criticize, especially with reports suggesting that the northern Iwagakure forces were already poised to make a move.

  “Summon Jiraiya and Orochimaru,” Danzo ordered, a fsh of killing i flickering in his eyes.

  Annou

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