Chapter 88: Miss Shukaku, Itachi don

Inside the Hokage’s office.

Rojie slumped in a reclining chair, gripping a letter from the Hidden Sand Village, his expression gradually darkening.

This letter came officially from the Hidden Sand Village, its tone earnestly inquiring about Konoha.

How is the front-line situation?

The letter also mentioned they had begun preparing support measures, but were financially strained.

They only needed another half-month before the Hidden Sand Village could officially mobilize its ninja to assist their ally, Konoha.

After reading the letter, Rojie’s expression turned furious.

“Useless Hidden Sand Village, so passive and lazy!”

“The Hidden Stone Village has already surrendered, yet they haven’t even begun mobilizing their ninja.”

"Do they really think Konoha runs a charity, specifically rescuing them?"

Rojie turned to Nailianglujiu standing beside him and ordered: “Kakashi, send an immediate rebuke letter to the Hidden Sand Village—demand to know what they’re playing at.”

“And make it clear: from now on, Konoha will station its ninja in the Hidden Sand Village to ensure close cooperation between allies.”

“If the Hidden Sand Village can’t rely on its own ninja, let ours do the work!”

Saying this, Rojie narrowed his eyes, propped his legs on the desk, and leaned back strategically.

“By the way, Kakashi, has the Hidden Sand Village chosen a new Kazekage?”

Nailianglujiu bowed respectfully and replied: “Not yet, Hokage-sama.”

“The Lord of the Land of Wind recently died in an accident; according to Anbu intelligence, this was likely the work of the Hidden Sand’s own Anbu.”

“The new Lord has not yet been selected, so the new Kazekage remains undecided.”

Upon hearing this, Rojie fell into brief thought.

Moments later, he sat up sharply and said: “No need for all this trouble—just annex the Land of Wind directly into the Land of Fire.”

“As for the Fifth Kazekage, I think that little brat who came to Konoha for the Chunin Exams would be perfect.”

“I recall he’s the son of the previous Kazekage—him, then.”

Nailianglujiu blinked in surprise, cautiously asking: “Hokage-sama, are Itachi referring to the One-Tail jinchuriki, Gaara?”

“Appointing a jinchuriki as Kazekage may provoke strong opposition within the Hidden Sand Village.”

Rojie waved his hand dismissively: “Not that fox brat— the other puppet brat, Karui.”

Upon hearing that name, Nailianglujiu ’s eyes flickered with surprise.

That guy with less presence than a puppet?

“Understood, Hokage-sama. I’ll notify the Hidden Sand Village at once.”

As Nailianglujiu was about to leave the office, Rojie suddenly remembered something and added:

“By the way, give them a full report of our war situation.”

“They’re smart enough—they’ll know exactly what to do next.”

Nailianglujiu paused, turned back with a nod, then stepped out of the office.

…

Hidden Sand Village.

The sand here is thick enough to serve as a free exfoliating facial, cacti wear dust goggles—arguably the harshest environment of any ninja village.

According to rumors, in the distant Kaguya era, this was once the center of the ninja world, where the God Tree descended.

The dragon vein buried beneath the Land of Wind’s desert is said to be connected to the God Tree.

Now it’s buried under sand—perhaps the God Tree sucked it dry, stripping the earth bare.

Inside the Kazekage’s office, the atmosphere was suffocating.

Since the previous Kazekage, Gold Miner, was accidentally killed by a snake, the village lost its gold revenue and slipped into “eating dirt” mode.

Literally.

After all, the Land of Wind’s specialty is sand.

Chiyo and Ebizō, the Hidden Sand’s reclusive sibling duo, had no real talent—only played with figurines—and couldn’t solve the financial deficit.

So they forced Ma Ji and Itachi Liang, two one-eyed men, into the village’s interim leadership.

They were appointed as Kazekage Advisors, burdened with handling daily village affairs.

They were easy to tell apart—one showed his right eye, the other his left eye, together making no full pair.

At this moment, Itachi Liang hurried into the office.

He walked straight to Ma Ji and handed him the letter.

“Ma Ji, a letter from Konoha.”

Ma Ji took the letter and scanned it quickly.

His face turned ashen, veins bulging on his forehead.

After reading it, Ma Ji slammed the letter onto the desk and roared:

“Konoha wants to station ninja here, appoint the Fifth Kazekage, annex the Land of Wind, and demand jinchuriki and Shukaku’s daughter as hostages?”

“This is utterly absurd!”

“What’s the difference between this and a treasonous treaty?”

“Konoha is pushing us too far!”

He paced back and forth in the office, his rage burning like wildfire, threatening to consume him.

Of the five demands, only the one asking for Shukaku’s daughter to be taken as a hostage might be barely tolerable.

But if they sent her, that beautiful blossom of the Hidden Sand would become the Fifth Hokage’s plaything.

Ma Ji even imagined the future Hokage’s office scene:

Rojie gripping Shukaku’s daughter’s chin: “Miss Shukaku, Itachi don’t want the Hidden Sand Village to suffer, do Itachi?”

Then comes the hentai plot!

Ma Ji’s mental drama couldn’t play on.

How could this be allowed?

If he agreed, how could he ever honor the previous Kazekage’s trust?

Itachi Liang watched Ma Ji vent his fury in silence, his expression calm—as if he’d expected nothing less.

When Ma Ji calmed slightly, Itachi Liang slowly pulled another document from his robe and handed it to him: “Don’t rush—look at this.”

Ma Ji took the document, unfolded it, and froze.

The five large characters on the paper—“Hidden Stone Village Surrenders”—blinded his single eye.

“This… this is the front-line report from Konoha?”

“The Hidden Stone Village has surrendered?”

Ma Ji’s voice trembled with shock.

“Correct. Everything Konoha demands of us has already been done to the Hidden Stone Village.”

Itachi Liang nodded heavily and continued:

“The Land of Earth has been annexed by the Land of Fire. Konoha has stationed ninja in the Hidden Stone Village and appointed the Fourth Tsuchikage as a puppet.”

“The Fourth Tsuchikage’s daughter, Kurotsuchi—granddaughter of the Third Tsuchikage—has been sent to Konoha as a hostage.”

“The Five-Tails jinchuriki has been taken and imprisoned by Konoha.”

“Even the Third Tsuchikage, Oonoki, has been brought to Konoha.”

Hearing this, Ma Ji shuddered, his face filled with disbelief.

“How is this possible?”

“Forget how badly the Hidden Stone Village lost to accept such humiliation.”

“How could Konoha defeat them so fast?”

“It’s only been a few days since the war began—barely enough time for Konoha’s ninja to reach the Hidden Stone Village.”

“Did the Hidden Stone Village just surrender on sight?”

Ma Ji couldn’t believe this was real.

To him, it sounded like Konoha’s bureaucrats had drunk fake wine and written it.

A paper full of nonsense!

Even if they’d taken two extra doses of cefalexin, they wouldn’t have written such a surreal masterpiece.

(End of chapter)