After Shindai awoke, he found himself tightly bound and slung over someone's shoulder, being carried toward some unknown location.
Shindai didn't dare to speak now.
Every time he woke up and said anything these past few days, he was knocked out cold with another chakra-enhanced strike.
Shindai could feel the base of his neck was already swollen.
He couldn't make sense of what had happened—why the Third Kazekage had personally ordered him silenced, why no one explained anything, why he had been forcefully taken away from Sunagakure without any explanation.
Now he could tell—this wasn't the Land of Wind anymore. The terrain beneath him was nothing like Suna's endless sands; instead, there were rivers and dense forests all around.
During previous awakenings, Shindai's first question had always been asking where he was and where they were taking him.
But those two ninja never gave him a single answer. Every question he asked earned him nothing but another brutal strike to the neck.
This time after waking up, Shindai didn't utter a single word. He stayed silent, analyzing what reason there could possibly be for treating him like this.
But no matter how much he recalled, he couldn't understand what wrong he had committed.
He had been staying at home all day long—he hadn't even had the opportunity to do anything wrong!
Shindai examined the ropes binding him. They were tied extremely tightly, completely immobilizing him.
Overwhelmed by helplessness, Shindai almost cried. If he had known earlier, he would've learned the Escape Binding Technique.
[Escape Binding Technique] was an essential survival skill every ninja was expected to perfect.
This technique required rotating the wrists and fingers in a specific sequence to slip free from bindings or dislocate joints. Though very complicated, it didn't require chakra.
Because it involved dislocating body joints and caused pain, Shindai had avoided learning it.
When it came to studying jutsu, Shindai had always been allowed to pick and choose which techniques to study—nobody ever pushed him to learn anything he didn't want to.
Techniques like the Escape Binding Technique—which were both agonizing and seen as basic training—Shindai had completely ignored.
Now, when he needed it most, he realized he simply couldn't perform it.
Suddenly, Shindai noticed something—the number of Sunagakure ninja wasn't just two anymore; three more had joined the group.
He also caught snippets of their conversation.
"Rock ninja have already arrived in the Land of Rivers. We'll head there for the transaction now."
"Did you get the message through properly?"
"Yes. The alliance scroll between Iwagakure and Sunagakure has already fallen into their hands. They've dispatched a large force to the northern region of the Land of Rivers—they're clearly trying to hunt down the Iwagakure ninja."
"Good. Once we get the military supplies, we'll retreat immediately."
Shindai, having lost his memories, felt completely confused by their words.
They were in the Land of Rivers?
Iwagakure and Sunagakure had formed an alliance?
What kind of transaction? Military supplies?
The alliance scroll had ended up in their hands? Who were "they"?
And why did they bring him along?
Right now, Shindai felt like his brain had turned to mush. No matter how hard he tried, none of it made any sense at all.
After traveling a distance, five Sand ninja suddenly halted in a forest with Shindai.
One of the Sand ninja barked, "Show yourself!"
Five Rock ninja emerged slowly from beneath the ground, standing before them.
The Sand ninja asked, "This one possesses the Magnet Release kekkei genkai—the one we agreed to hand over. Now where's what we requested?"
A Rock ninja unfurled six scrolls and summoned six large crates through a summoning technique.
"Two crates of kunai, three of shuriken, and one of explosive tags—this is the military supply we promised you."
Upon hearing this, Shindai felt as if he had plunged into icy depths, trembling involuntarily.
Was this really a transaction?
The Rock ninja were exchanging six crates of supplies for him?
Could it be that the Third Kazekage considered him useless and decided to make use of him by forming an alliance with Iwa, trading him for supplies?
No matter how hard Shindai tried to think otherwise, this seemed like the only possibility.
Shindai was suddenly overwhelmed with despair and grief.
He never wanted to fight, so he faked weakness, staying home every day immersed in studying ninjutsu and puppets—all just to live a quiet, peaceful life.
Yet even then, he couldn't escape—he was still treated as a sacrifice.
Burning with fury, Shindai silently vowed that once he arrived in Iwa, he would undergo a complete transformation. He'd prove his true value there, showing the Third Kazekage just how powerful he really was—an irreplaceable talent they had recklessly cast aside.
The five Sand ninja inspected the six crates one by one. After confirming the contents were correct, they resealed the crates and stored them within scrolls.
The Sand ninja placed Shindai on the ground, signaling for the Rock ninja to take him away.
As the exchange took place between the Sand and Rock ninja, four eyes were watching them from the surrounding area.
Those four eyes belonged to Minato Namikaze's team.
Minato signaled silently to Kakashi, Obito, and Rin.
Kakashi, Obito, and Rin nodded simultaneously before scattering into position.
Rin, as a medical ninja, had very weak combat abilities and wouldn't directly participate in battle.
Kakashi had already reached his designated location.
However, while heading toward the spot Minato indicated, Obito suddenly stepped on a rock and face-planted dramatically.
The noise caused by Obito falling immediately drew the attention of both the Sand and Rock ninja.
"Who's there?!"
Two Sand ninja and two Rock ninja rushed directly toward the source of the sound.
Minato, Kakashi, and Rin simultaneously covered their foreheads, clearly unimpressed.
"What an idiot!"
Kakashi flashed into action with the [Shifting Body Technique], appearing behind one of the Sand ninja in an instant. His short blade drove deep into the ninja's back, spraying blood across Kakashi's face.
Another Sand ninja immediately pulled out a Shuriken and hurled it toward Kakashi.
Kakashi drew his short blade, leapt backward, and dodged the Kunai.
Meanwhile, the two Rock ninja had already charged toward Obito again.
Facing the battle, Obito was so nervous and frightened that his hands trembled while forming Hand Seals. He barely finished the seals before the Rock ninja reached him.
[Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!]
Obito gathered chakra in his throat and then exhaled a massive fireball from his mouth toward the Rock ninja.
[Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!]
One of the Rock ninja completed the hand seals and pressed both hands onto the ground, creating an earthen wall that rose up in front of them and blocked Obito's flames.
After the flames were blocked, one of the Rock ninja continued rushing toward Obito, who now pulled out a Kunai to defend himself.
Rin Nohara, who had been hiding, shouted loudly at Obito, "Obito! Watch your back!"
Suddenly, a Rock ninja emerged from beneath the ground behind Obito and stabbed toward him with a Kunai.
This ambushing ninja was one of the two who had charged at Obito earlier.
While one Rock ninja raised an earth wall to block Obito's flames, the other used Earth Release: Subterranean Voyage, channeling chakra into flowing currents that turned soil into fine particles like sand, allowing him to dig underground like an earthworm and quietly approach Obito from below.
The sudden appearance of the enemy from behind left Obito frozen in fear, staring wide-eyed as the Kunai moved toward his neck.
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