Deidara was starting to run out of breath.

  He hadn't even reached the river crossi.

  On the way here, this one kilometer felt like nothing. His legs had been strong. But now? It was killing him. Each step felt heavier tha, and the weight on his back seemed to grow with every passing moment.

  "Deidara-nii, just put me down! I walk!"

  Kurotsuchi could feel his struggle and set at her own helplessness.

  But Deidara's temper fred the moment he heard that.

  Why am I out of breath? Ba the vilge during training, this distance was nothing.

  It is because of you! You are too heavy!

  "You eat… a lot, huh," Deidara sighed but still stopped to catch his breath.

  At this pace, running made no differe all.

  Setting Kurotsuchi down, Deidara plopped onto the ground.

  He o recover his strength quickly.

  The enemy was likely a sensory-type ninja; otherwise, they wouldn't have been able to unch a wind attack from so far away.

  He refused to believe it was a blind shot.

  He began to formute a pn.

  At first, he had instinctively retraced his steps to run back the way he came, but now that he thought about it, it didn't seem reliable.

  That monstrous teique—only his teacher might have been able to deal with it.

  He could no longer feel vibrations in the ground. There were two possibilities: either the oppo's chakra had run out and they stopped the jutsu, or the enemy had already wiped out all resistance.

  The first option would be fine.

  The sed? A disaster.

  Gari robably dead by now.

  After this battle, the Explosion Corps wouldn't be able to fun properly for the rest of the war. The survivors would probably freeze up at the mere thought of that terrifying jutsu.

  Thinking about this, Deidara felt like he was bearing the kind of pressure no child should have to endure.

  He was o! Why was he being forced to think about suplicated things?! He was just a kid who loved explosions!

  Besides… this was supposed to be his first mission outside the vilge. How did it end up like this?

  They'd said he was just ing to the Explosion Corps for some training. Was this what the jonin in the vilge dealt with every day?

  "Deidara-nii…"

  He turo look. Kurotsuchi was staring at him with a face full of uears threatening to spill. Her small hands clutched at her swollen ankle.

  Sigh… Only a year younger, yet so immature. He tried to keep his expression stern.

  Twisting her ankle while running was bad enough, but showing such a weak expression otlefield? pletely uable.

  "N," Deidara said. "Or no dango for you."

  "Okay!" Kurotsuodded vigorously, wiping her eyes with her sleeve.

  Being captured was ohing, but being denied dango? That was uable.

  "Don't worry. We'll definitely escape," Deidara reassured her. "I've already thought of a pn." At least, I hope it's a good one.

  "Amazing! I knew you'd e up with something, Deidara-nii!"

  "Of course." Deidara lifted his head proudly.

  This girl—though a bit dim and overly fond of food—was obedient, at least.

  "We're heading north to Kusa," Deidara said.

  "Huh? But… Grandpa said the people there are bad…"

  No kidding. A fool like you—anyone you meet outside the vilge would seem like a bad person. Deidara fought the urge to roll his eyes.

  "It's precisely because they're bad that we use them," he expined impatiently. "If they were good, what would we go there for?"

  Kurotsuchi suddenly uood. She nodded cheerfully, plete faith in her Deidara-nii's pn shining in her eyes.

  "Let's go." Deidara felt his strength had mostly returned. He stood up and carried Kurotsuchi on his back again, heading north.

  ---

  After a while, Keita and his ninja dog arrived at the spot where they had stopped.

  "This is the pce," Keita said, patting his partner on the head. The bck-furred dog she ground ily, firming the fresh sts.

  Behind him, Masashi and Yumi emerged from the shadows of the trees.

  "Captain, are we just going to keep following them like this?" Yumi asked. She didn't uand why they weren't moving to capture their targets immediately.

  "That little guy's pretty sharp. You could learn a thing or two from him," Masashi replied, his eyes sing the dire the children had taken.

  "Captain, isn't he afraid of being caught by the Kusa ninjas? My dad said they capture lone shinobi from other vilges during wars." Yumi's brow furrowed with .

  "Your dad's being polite," Masashi said calmly. "Kusa ninjas don't just target lone shinobi from other vilges during wars. They're infamous for eliminating all traces of their as. Many of their teiques were stolen from Iwa, Suna, and even Konoha. Iime, they profit from selling intelligeo all sides."

  "Why doesn't anyone go after them for that?" Yumi's hand unsciously tightened around her kunai.

  "The official reason is 'ck of evidence.'" Masashi flicked Yumi's forehead. "Don't be so brash—always wanting to pick fights."

  "Captain, so we're just going to keep following them?" Keita scratched his head, gng between his dog and his leader.

  "Yes, we follow," Masashi said, nodding. "No rush. The real fun is yet to e. The Explosion Corps won't abandon those two kids; they'll regroup in Kusa."

  "And thehe Kusa ninjas catch them and hand them over to us?"

  "What are you thinking?" Masashi gave Keita a pitying look. "Besides fighting, you o think more and assume the worst in people."

  "Oh…" Keita started trying to brainstorm.

  But no matter how hard he thought, he couldn't imagine how the Kusa ninjas could be any worse.

  Masashi could only smile. Ah, to be young. The innoce of youth was both endearing and dangerous in their line of work.

  "Keita."

  "Yes, Captain?"

  "How many sides are involved in this situation?"

  "Us and the Iwa ninjas? And then the Ame ninjas and the Kusa ninjas?"

  "Correct. Don't fet to t the Kusa ninjas. Now, who's the worst?"

  "That's defihe Kusa ninjas."

  Hearing this, Yumi cast a disdainful g Keita. How he be so slow? She had already grasped Masashi's meaning.

  Why was her childhood friend so clueless, even though he was strong? Other people's childhood friends were both handsome and smart.

  "Let's go see just how bad the Kusa ninjas be," Masashi said simply, issuing his order. "Stay close and don't lose them."

  "Yes, Captain," the two responded in unison.

  The three of them tio trail far behind Deidara and Kurotsuchi, moving like shadows through the forest.

  As they moved further north, they approached the border of Kusa.

  And like Masashi had predicted, the scattered remnants of the Explosion Corps began troup.

  The Iwa ninjas found Deidara and Kurotsuchi.

  The regrouped Iwa ninja now numbered less than half of what they inally had. This matched Masashi's estimate of the survivors.

  In a ninja army, strict discipline and flexibility in regrouping after being scattered were basic survival skills.

  The remnants of the Explosion Corps seemed to all be here.

  Under Masashi's chakra sensing, the reassembled unit paused briefly before tinuing north.

  The Kusa ninjas didn't have a good reputation among small nations. Their opportunistiature made them despised by be and small vilges alike.

  But they weren't just pdogs—they had more to them thahe eye.

  Masashi hoped they still had the same boldhey had in the past.

  ---

  A group of ninjas raced across a vast green pin.

  The tries in the shinobi world were named with a blunt simplicity. Kusa ears name due to its extensive grassnds and diverse ecosystems.

  The most distinctive feature here was the t and lush grassnds, which appeared strikingly magnifit.

  Even for Deidara and Kurotsuchi, the tall grassnds almost swallowed them whole. For the other members of the Explosive Corps, even their adult bodies were submerged halfway into the grassy sea.

  The boundless grassnds spread like an endless green carpet, stretg to the horizon. When the wind blew, waves of grass rippled outward in mesmerizing patterns.

  This was a sight the Land of Earth could not offer, but the Iwa ninjas had no i in appreciating it.

  The grassy sea cealed not only their figures but other dangers as well.

  The Explosive Corps ninjas were well aware of the nature of their neighbors. Their forces had been halved, and most of the survivors carried injuries. It was uaiher the Kusa ninjas would remain submissive or reveal their fangs.

  Additionally, the White Ghost might not hesitate to pursue them into Kusa. For a high-caliber ninja like him, crossing small tries or killing their ninjas out of mere annoyance was a trivial matter.

  Small vilges could only silently endure.

  Because of their typical meekness, when such vilges did bare their fangs, they could be more ferocious than ever.

  The group pressed forward quickly.

  Fortunately, the Third Great Ninja War was still a ret memory. Having fought against Konoha's forces in this region, the Explosive Corps was retively familiar with this terrain.

  "Captain Deidara, do you o rest?" an Iwa ninja asked, notig the growing fatigue on his face.

  No matter how much of a prodigy Deidara was, the reality was that, at o years old, his stamina was no match for that of the seasoned veterans.

  From the perspective of the Explosive Corps members, he had already performed admirably. None of them could have pared to him at his age.

  With no intelligence reports to guide him, he had made the right calls when faced with a terrifying adversary like the White Ghost and even mao ensure Kurotsuchi's survival.

  He had proven his worth and potential. As elite Iwa ninjas and members of the Explosive Corps, they were willing to protect him.

  "I'm fine. I keep going," he shook his head.

  After reuniting with his rades, everyone had unanimously agreed with his decision to take a detour through Kusa to return home.

  It was clear from their as—they wouldn't have successfully regrouped within Kusa otherwise.

  "Alright, Captain, but serve your strength. Our situation is dire right now."

  "I know. How long until Kurotsuchi recovers?"

  "She'll be fine. We'll take turns carrying her. Her injuries aren't severe, so she'll recover quickly."

  Hearing this, Deidara nodded and focused on moving forward without further ent. The surrounding Iwa ninjas also remained silent, fully focused on the journey.

  Despite his youth, they had e to accept him as their leader.

  Special units like the Explosive Corps required their members to e from "proper" ninja families and instilled strong collective values. As a result, when they regrouped, they didn't feel the o choose a emporary leader. Deidara's role as captain was uioned.

  The Explosive Corps moved with impressive efficy, wasting no time. Yet they were still spotted by the Kusa ninjas.

  In truth, the Kusa ninjas had never let their guard down.

  From the moment the Iwa's army ehe Land of Rain, Kusa had been on high alert. They even stationed operatives in the Land of Rain to keep a stant wat the battle between Iwa and Konoha.

  The Third Great Ninja War had left Kusa in ruins. Although they harbored rese, Kusa dared not voice their pints. Even though Iwa's current target wasn't Kusa, the Kusa ninjas felt anything but safe.

  The Five Great Vilges never sulted smaller nations when expanding their wars. "Allies" was merely a polite term.

  Moreover, Kusa ninjas coveted the advanced jutsu of the great vilges and hoped for opportuo sge useful teiques in the chaos.

  But they hadn't expected to stumble upon such a major "prize."

  The White Ghost, who had retly risen to fame in the ninja world, had appeared in the northern reaches of the Land of Rain. He had intercepted and annihited Iwa's Explosive Corps, leaving only scraps of their elite force alive.

  Kusa knew of this because the White Ghost's terrifying jutsu had such a massive attack rahat even some of their nearby spies were caught in the devastation.

  Thankfully, not all had perished, and the survivors had mao rey the information back.

  Now, the shattered remnants of the Explosive Corps had crossed the border into Kusa.

  This sparked a fierce debate within Kusa.

  "This is our ce," the hawk leader decred in the emergency cil. "The White Ghost has done half our work already."

  "And what if he turns his attention to us?" a dove representative tered, fingers drumming nervously oable.

  "That's exactly why we must aow," the hawk leader said. "We'll never have a better opportunity."

  Unsurprisingly, Kusa had its own "hawk" fa—though their approach was somewhat unique.

  For example, the hawk leader in the neighb Land of Rain was Hanzō, who advocated quering smaller tries and f the great nations to aowledge them through warfare.

  The hawks in Kusa, oher hand, focused on "how to act like subservient dogs while stealing the meat."

  The hawks quickly proposed to "elimihe invading Explosive Corps remnants, arguing that this portunity too juicy to ighey reasohat they could pin the bme on the White Ghost.

  The dovish fa opposed this, g the high risks.

  While Kusa was skilled at erasing traces, the remnants of the Explosive Corps were still formidable oppos. Furthermore, there was no guarahey could shift the bme onto the White Ghost.

  After all, the White Ghost was currently in Kusa as well. If he grew displeased, what if he brought a Konoha army to retaliate?

  Konoha's current Hokage Advisor was from the Uchiha . Kusa had no deep iions with the Fourth Hokage and didn't want to take unnecessary risks. Based on these factors, the doves strongly opposed reckless a.

  Sihe two sides were evenly matched, the matter was settled in Kusa tradition: each fa sent out a representative to duel.

  The hawks won.

  With the matter decided, the doves quickly fell in line. A thousand Kusa ninjas, fully equipped and ready for battle, mobilized from Kusa like wolves on the prairie.

  While the Kusa ninjas sharpeheir fangs in preparation for a windfall, Masashi and his two subordinates leisurely trailed behind the remnants of the Explosive Corps.

  To train his two subordinates, he had been deliberately taking it easy, delegating all trag work to them.

  They performed admirably, much to his satisfa.

  In particur, Keita excelled in utilizing the surrounding enviroo maximize the sensory capabilities of the Inuzuka , ensuring that the trio maintained an optimal distance from their quarry.

  To achieve this level of precision, his skill was impressive. The Inuzuka was not to be uimated.

  However, when Masashi began sensing numerous chakra signatures ahead, he halted the trag efforts.

  "The Kusa ninjas have already made their move. o tinue," he said.

  "Captain, should we intervene?" Keita asked, his ninja dog's ears perking up at the distant sounds.

  "No," Masashi said. "Let's see how this pys out. Start rec your chakra."

  "Yes, Captain," they replied, aced to Masashi's sudden ands and exeg them without hesitation.

  Masashi slowed their pace, proceeding at a casual walking speed.

  But their dire veered away from Deidara's group.

  If the Kusa ninjas 't handle what's left of the Explosive Corps, Masashi thought, they might as well disband and forfeit their "privilege" of servitude in the ninja world.