Because of what had just happened, Hinata fainted the moment she saw Naruto.
Naruto panicked as well, flustered at the sight of her collapsing. Kiyosuke then told Neji to take Hinata home, while Naruto and Jiraiya headed to Tsunade to report.
"Hey, Kiyosuke-san, when's Sasuke coming back?"
Naruto had always been concerned about Sasuke training under Orochimaru. He was against it to begin with—after all, Orochimaru had his eyes on Sasuke's body. If something happened, it would be a real disaster.
Kiyosuke said, "Don't worry. Sasuke isn't so easy to kill. Orochimaru does have his schemes, but he won't make a move just yet. It's just… bringing him back now would be troublesome. Hm, in a few days, we'll go pick him up."
"Alright."
Naruto nodded, agreeing with the plan.
Tsunade thought for a moment before saying,
"That works. Kiyosuke, you and Kakashi will head to Orochimaru and bring Uchiha Sasuke back to Konoha."
It was about time anyway. Better to settle it quickly before anything unexpected happened. Orochimaru was never one to hand over something he considered important.
"Yes."
Kiyosuke nodded. At that moment, Kakashi leapt in through the window, nodding as he said,
"Understood."
Just then, Shizune rushed in holding a sealed message and handed it to Tsunade.
Tsunade opened it, and her brows furrowed tightly.
"The mission to bring Sasuke back will have to wait. A serious problem has come up—Sunagakure is asking for aid. Their Sixth Kazekage, Gaara, has been captured by the Akatsuki. The Fifth Kazekage is gravely injured. Sunagakure requests immediate assistance."
Huh?
So soon?
They had expected some time before Akatsuki acted. But it seemed Deidara and Sasori had already invaded Sunagakure and taken Gaara.
"What?!"
The moment Naruto heard that his friend had been captured, he lost his composure.
"Then what are we waiting for? Granny Tsunade, let's go right now!"
"Don't be rash!" Tsunade snapped.
"The enemy is Akatsuki—they've been targeting the Tailed Beasts. You have a Tailed Beast inside you as well. That makes you one of their primary targets. Kiyosuke, Kakashi, you two will lead the team."
"But… Sasuke's not here…" Sakura said softly.
"Then we'll fill the team for now. Call Karin over!"
Tsunade clapped her hands, making the decision to have Karin temporarily take Sasuke's place.
Neither Naruto nor Sakura objected. Better to bring someone they knew than a stranger.
Karin had grown up alongside Naruto and, like Sakura, was Tsunade's disciple. She had mastered the Strength of a Hundred Seal, Creation Rebirth, and that terrifying monstrous strength.
As a descendant of the Uzumaki clan, Karin's immense chakra reserves had granted her frightening power—she had even surpassed Sakura. She had already completed the Strength of a Hundred Seal.
That jutsu's core requirement was stockpiling chakra. For Sakura, a civilian-born shinobi, that took a tremendous amount of time. But Karin's massive reserves let her skip years of effort, propelling her strength forward at a staggering pace.
The seal was hidden beneath her forehead protector.
When she wasn't wearing it at the hospital, the seal was visible. Kiyosuke, too, had one hidden beneath his protector. Ever since obtaining the Yin Seal, he had been storing chakra—so much that the amount now was terrifying.
To put it in perspective, if he were to release all that chakra in a massive bomb, he could wipe out the entire Land of Water—its destructive power even greater than a Tailed Beast Bomb.
Kiyosuke called Karin from her duties at the hospital, then gathered the rest of his team. Six people assembled at Konoha's gates.
"This mission is unlike any other," Kiyosuke said.
"The enemy is Akatsuki. They're extremely dangerous. Your first priority is your own survival."
"Yes!"
"Let's go all out!"
"Woof!"
"Understood."
Kakashi, meanwhile, was holding one of Jiraiya's new books that he'd gotten from Naruto. He flipped through it with quiet interest, offering little advice, only murmuring,
"Stay safe."
And then he gave a few odd chuckles.
Everyone else: "…"
"Hey, Kiyosuke-sama," Karin whispered. "Is this Kakashi-sensei really reliable?"
She had never been on a mission with him and was skeptical.
"More or less."
"…" Kakashi.
With everyone's eyes now on him, Kakashi coughed lightly and said,
"Alright, let's move. The most important thing is to reach Sunagakure quickly and assess the situation."
"Let's go!"
The six of them set out.
This wasn't the Chūnin Exams—they were on a rescue mission. Speed was crucial. They crossed the Land of Fire, passed through the Land of Rivers, and entered the Land of Wind.
But just as they stepped into Wind Country, a massive sandstorm struck.
The storm blotted out the sky, visibility reduced to nothing. The wind and sand whipped painfully against their faces, and within a meter's distance you couldn't even tell humans from animals.
It was that terrifying.
They had no choice but to take cover and wait it out.
Beneath the sand, protected by the tools Kiyosuke had prepared in advance, they avoided being shredded by the storm.
"Good thing I had the foresight to bring this," Kiyosuke said quietly.
"Otherwise, we'd be at a huge disadvantage in this desert."
"Damn it!"
Naruto slammed his hand against the sand, his voice tight with frustration.
"We're losing so much time! Gaara's life will be in danger!"
Kiyosuke replied, "Getting impatient won't help. Judging by the timing… Gaara may already be beyond saving."
If Sunagakure had sent a message immediately after Gaara was taken down…
A hawk carrying the message would have taken nearly half a night to reach Konoha. Then, it took another day to assemble their team and depart. Traveling from the Land of Fire to the Land of Wind cost another day and a half. Add to that this half-day already wasted in the sandstorm—three full days had passed.
The Nine Phantom Dragons took about three days to extract Shukaku from Gaara. By now, the process had already begun.
Even once the storm cleared, they would still need time to reach Sunagakure and track Deidara and Sasori.
Which meant Gaara couldn't be saved.
It would take Chiyo-baasama's forbidden jutsu to bring him back.
"Then we can't waste another second!"
Naruto tried to stand, but Kiyosuke grabbed his shoulder and forced him down.
"You fool. Don't be reckless. Stay calm. Even if you rush to Sunagakure right now, there's nothing you can do. We still need to learn Gaara's exact location from them. You'll still be delayed."
In short—getting anxious was pointless.