The canal flowed, its waters surging towards the Land of Wind, prompting cheers from many former Sunagakure ninja on both banks.
Gaara and Temari were also very excited, but they didn't show it. One followed Sarutobi Asuma, while the other followed Yamato, with them positioned on opposite banks.
Sarutobi Asuma strolled along the embankment. Where he walked, sea buckthorn trees sprouted, forming three rows. Between these rows, and on the outermost perimeter, were the wind and sand-fixing grasses cultivated by Orochimaru.
Of course, this was just the beginning.
For now, planting trees along the canal banks was to prevent wind and sand erosion of the canal. This was the first step.
Only by allowing water from the Land of Rain and the Land of Rivers to enter the Land of Wind could the subsequent modification plan proceed.
Sarutobi Asuma could, of course, unleash a powerful technique like he did in the Land of Earth, using Wood Release to deeply embed tree roots into the Land of Wind's earth and draw upon underground water resources.
However, doing so would only address the symptoms, not the root cause, and would be akin to draining the pond to catch the fish.
The situation in the Land of Wind was entirely different and far more severe than that of the Land of Earth.
Even in the Land of Earth, Sarutobi Asuma first introduced moist air currents to increase precipitation before undertaking large-scale afforestation.
The Land of Wind required a step-by-step approach.
First, establish a water source, then expand from there.
Such a modification plan would inevitably be a long-term endeavor, spanning five, or even ten years.
Sarutobi Asuma planted trees at an incredibly fast pace, almost in sync with the flow of water in the canal.
On the other hand, Yamato's speed could not compare to Sarutobi Asuma's at all.
Even though he had made significant progress over the years, planting three rows of trees and some grass didn't require hand seals, his chakra reserves were still far from matching Sarutobi Asuma's.
Every so often, he had to have Haruno Sakura replenish his chakra.
Later, even Temari joined in to speed things up a bit.
But they were still far behind Sarutobi Asuma.
"As expected of Asuma!"
Yamato sighed helplessly as he stopped to rest, realizing he could no longer see Sarutobi Asuma and his group.
Haruno Sakura said, "Captain Yamato, there's no need to compare yourself to Lord Asuma."
Yamato gave a wry smile, "Currently in Konoha, among those who wield Wood Release, I am the weakest."
"Uh..."
Haruno Sakura didn't know what to say for a moment.
There weren't many people who wielded Wood Release, but they were truly one stronger than the next.
Even the youngest, Nawaki, who was still in the Ninja Academy, possessed terrifyingly powerful Wood Release, far surpassing Yamato's.
So, she could only offer an awkward smile to comfort him, "However, Captain Yamato, when you enter Sage Mode, your Wood Release is also very powerful."
"And I believe you can certainly master the Wood Release Kekkei Tōta."
Yamato smiled wryly, "Well, thank you for your encouragement. I'm very confident too, hahaha!"
The group continued forward, delving deeper into the Land of Wind.
"Not good!"
Suddenly, Temari's expression changed.
"What's wrong?"
Haruno Sakura asked curiously.
Temari didn't answer. Instead, she leaped onto a sand dune and looked towards the southeast, her expression turning grim.
A sandstorm was coming!
"Damn it, why now!"
Temari gritted her teeth and quickly returned to the embankment.
"A sandstorm is coming!"
"What?"
"At this time, damn it!"
Haruno Sakura also gritted her teeth upon hearing this. It couldn't have come at a worse time.
Temari said helplessly, "We've tried our best to choose routes where sandstorms occur less frequently, but even those most familiar with the Land of Wind cannot predict where storms won't happen."
"This is the first sandstorm we've encountered here since the canal was built!"
Uchiha Sasuke said, "Since the storm is coming, all we can do now is defend and prevent the sand from blocking the canal."
Yamato immediately ordered, "Sasuke, you're fast. Go notify the Earth Style ninja following us to come and defend against the sandstorm!"
Uchiha Sasuke nodded and disappeared like a bolt of lightning.
Yamato and the other two, along with the following Sand Ninja and three Earth Style ninja from Konoha and Iwagakure, moved onto the sand dune.
Dust billowed and moved continuously in the distance.
"We can't possibly fight against this kind of natural power. We can only intercept the sand within the storm as much as possible!"
Yamato said, his brow furrowed, "Combine Earth Style and Wood Release. First, we need to stop the nearby sand dunes from moving and submerging the canal."
Temari nodded in agreement but added with concern, "But the storm's coverage is too vast. Our numbers are simply not enough."
Yamato replied, "This is all we can do for now."
Haruno Sakura said, "Sasuke can sense Lord Asuma's chakra. We can use Space-Time Ninjutsu to notify Lord Asuma."
Just then, Uchiha Sasuke arrived with many ninjas. After hearing Haruno Sakura's words, he said, "You all set up the defenses first. I'll go notify Lord Asuma!"
With that, his Rinnegan appeared, and he opened a Space-Time Door and entered it.
After Uchiha Sasuke left, Yamato immediately began making arrangements.
He created walls using Earth Style, distributing them sporadically rather than forming a single line.
These walls trapped the sand dunes, while Yamato himself expended a large amount of chakra to plant trees on the dunes.
These weren't large, continuous stretches either, but small patches staggered from each other. The tree roots even combined with the earth walls created by Earth Style, strengthening the defenses.
Soon, the sandstorm was upon them.
"Retreat, retreat to the riverbank!"
Yamato ordered, and over twenty ninjas immediately fell back to the canal's edge.
"Everyone proficient in Water Style, later use Water Style to create a water curtain to block as much sand as possible from falling into the canal!"
Everyone nodded.
Unfortunately, there were only four or five people present who understood Water Style.
And those who could be said to have mastered it were only Yamato and Haruno Sakura.
At this moment, Haruno Sakura leaped into the canal, performed the Water Transformation Technique, and combined it with the canal's flow. She gathered a large amount of water, causing the wide canal to nearly cease flowing.
Although she hadn't fully mastered the Water Style Chakra Mode that Sarutobi Asuma had taught her, her Water Transformation Technique was already incredibly skilled.
"It's here!"
Temari shouted.
The rolling dust and sand swept towards them, turning the world a hazy gray.
This terrifying storm, laden with sand, caused the dunes to shift.
Yamato's strategy did indeed have some effect. Although the combined walls and Wood Release couldn't stop the storm and were quickly destroyed by it, they did intercept some of the sand carried by the storm and prevented the dunes near the embankment from being blown away.
Rumble!
Soon, Yamato and the others were engulfed by the sandstorm.
Those who didn't understand Water Style directly used Earth Style to create shelters to avoid being blown away by the storm.
As for Yamato and the others, they hid half their bodies in the canal, each performing Water Style to erect water walls.
However, the Water Style of the other few people was scattered by the storm, and they were directly blown into the canal.
In the end, only Yamato and Haruno Sakura remained, holding up a water curtain level with the embankment.
Since the embankment was sturdy enough, the sandstorm absolutely could not shake it.
With the water curtain level with the embankment, they could minimize the storm's force and block the sand carried by it.
In reality, however.
Sarutobi Asuma and Uchiha Sasuke had arrived when the storm swept over the canal.
But they appeared directly in the sky, above the sandstorm.
"Lord Asuma, shouldn't we go down to stop it?"
Uchiha Sasuke asked, seeing that Sarutobi Asuma had no intention of going down.
Sarutobi Asuma shook his head and said, "No need to go down."
As he spoke, his body descended into the sandstorm.
The next moment, to Uchiha Sasuke's shocked gaze, the sandstorm raging below began to rotate at high speed.
"He... he's directly controlling the sandstorm!"
"No... only a part of it!"
Uchiha Sasuke noticed that Sarutobi Asuma was only controlling a portion of the sandstorm. It was rotating at high speed, forming a tornado that cut off the front and back of the storm, splitting it in two.
Then, the storm behind collided with it. With a terrifying roar, the tornado only paused slightly before continuing to rotate, turning the subsequent incoming storm into its own power.
In this way, the advantage continuously accumulated.
The storm in front had already passed, and the storm behind was gradually being blocked and swallowed by the tornado controlled by Sarutobi Asuma.
Following that, Uchiha Sasuke saw the tornado moving in the direction from which the storm had come.
Below.
Listening to the howling outside fade away, Temari froze. Had the sandstorm passed so quickly?
She quickly stepped out of the semi-circular windbreak and was stunned.
A tornado was moving towards the sandstorm.
This...
She had grown up in the Land of Wind and experienced countless unpredictable and bizarre weather patterns, but she had never seen anything like this.
The sandstorm and the tornado were moving in opposite directions, and then the tornado won.
Rumble! Water mixed with sand fell on both sides of the embankment, and Haruno Sakura emerged from the water, shouting excitedly, "It's Sasuke!"
"It must be Lord Asuma!"
Everyone looked up and saw a giant Susanoo in the sky descending at that moment.
Uchiha Sasuke landed. Temari quickly asked, "Did Asuma-sama do that just now?"
"Yes."
Uchiha Sasuke nodded coolly, but with no intention of explaining.
Because he didn't understand how Sarutobi Asuma had done it either.
In his opinion, for a sandstorm like this, it was best to create obstacles and then use powerful Wind Style.
But he never expected Sarutobi Asuma to merge directly into the sandstorm and then control part of the storm to form a tornado.
At this moment, the tornado in the distance dispersed, and then Sarutobi Asuma appeared in front of everyone. He looked around and laughed, "The losses are not significant!"
"It's just that we'll need to clear the silt regularly from now on."
"Yes, Lord Asuma."
Temari immediately nodded, but couldn't help but ask, "Lord Asuma, how did you do that?"
Sarutobi Asuma chuckled upon hearing this, "When you become a Quasi-Six Paths level, you'll naturally know."
With that, he disappeared.
Temari was stunned: "Quasi... Quasi-Six Paths level, that's too difficult!"
She was only a Jonin now, and hadn't even received the title of Elite Jonin.
Above Elite Jonin was Kage, then Super Kage, and only then Quasi-Six Paths level.
Uchiha Sasuke couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth when he heard this.
He was currently Quasi-Six Paths level, but he didn't understand either...
Meanwhile.
Another canal also encountered a large-scale sandstorm.
However, there were three Wood Release powerhouses here.
Senju Hashirama, Tsunade, and Nawaki.
However, compared to Sarutobi Asuma's technically proficient solution, the methods of these three generations of grandparents and grandchildren were simple and crude.
Planting trees!
The three of them simultaneously used Wood Style: Deep Forest Emergence, creating an extremely large forest under the astonished gazes of many ninjas.
So, when the sandstorm reached the embankment, it had already turned into a strong wind, and the amount of sand it carried was negligible.
"Amazing!"
"As expected of the Ninja God!"
"Truly astonishing! As expected of Asuma-sama's descendant; to have mastered such a Wood Style secret technique at this age!"
"Speaking of which, isn't Nawaki-sama still in the Ninja Academy?"
"If my good-for-nothing son had half of Nawaki-sama's strength, I could die in peace."
...
Grandmother Chiyo looked at the exceptionally large forest and said to Baki beside her, "It would be too much of a waste if this forest were left unused."
"We should divert a branch of the river, bring some water there, and establish a village."
Baki nodded upon hearing this, "That would likely be the best option."
"For supplies, we can temporarily transport them via the canal."
"The Land of Fire seems to have boats powered by electricity; they can handle upstream currents without any problem and are very fast."
Grandmother Chiyo smiled upon hearing this, thinking to herself, "Perhaps before I die, I'll see the Land of Wind turn green."
"If that's the case, it seems I'll need to live a few more years..."
...
The old site of Rōran.
It had already been cleared, and Queen Sara had returned here with her people.
The people cheered as they watched the water from the canal flow into Lōran's waterways.
"Lord Asuma, thank you so much!" Queen Sara bowed deeply before Sarutobi Asuma to express her gratitude.
Sarutobi Asuma smiled and said, "You are also a member of the alliance. Govern this place well from now on!"
"In the future, this will become one of the core regions of the Land of Wind."
Queen Sara immediately nodded solemnly. "Rest assured, Lord Asuma, I won't disappoint you!"
Sarutobi Asuma nodded, then his figure flashed as he appeared atop the Sage Tree.
Choosing Lōran had indeed made things much simpler. For instance, Lōran already had a very complete waterway system; after just a bit of cleaning and repair, it could be used directly.
As the canal's water rushed into the waterways and a lake gradually formed within Lōran, Sarutobi Asuma willed it to happen and unleashed his ninjutsu.
Instantly, centered on the Sage Tree, a vast amount of flowers, plants, and trees rapidly grew outward, covering the entire original site of Lōran in the blink of an eye, and continuing to expand.
When the vegetation stopped growing, the verdant forest created by Sarutobi Asuma had already enveloped a circular area with a diameter of fifty miles.
And this had not actually consumed much of the Sage Tree's power.
It would be when the Land of Wind had more oases that the Sage Tree's power would truly erupt.
Most of this Sage Tree's power came from the previous Dragon Vein's energy.
Now, it was taken from the Land of Wind and used for the Land of Wind.
Meanwhile.
On the other side, in Sunagakure.
Before sunset, Tsunade and the others also arrived here following the canal's water. Then, they joined forces once more, using Wood Release to transform the entire Sunagakure into an oasis enveloped by a forest!
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