Naruto: Rebuilding the Hidden Sand

The items he purchased fell into two categories.

The first was Senzu Beans. The second was something he had noticed in the system catalog before but had not yet acquired, an item capable of mass healing and restoration of injuries.

Healing Tears. Tears with restorative properties, sourced from the One Piece character Mansherry. Just a few drops could completely restore someone who had been defeated and rendered unconscious in battle.

The tears were contained in a small transparent bottle, making them extraordinarily precious. The price was calculated by dosage and was even higher than the Senzu Beans.

After assimilation into the system, the Senzu Beans were not quite as overwhelmingly powerful as in their original context, but restoring chakra and healing basic injuries was absolutely no problem.

He purchased several primarily to ensure that the senior military leaders could survive whatever Konoha threw at them. Regardless of the outcome of any individual engagement, the main army needed to maintain fighting capacity for a sustained period. This would buy time until he could return.

On a large-scale battlefield, once a commander suffered casualties beyond a certain threshold, the impact on the entire subsequent course of the war was enormous.

Anticipating this, Konoha’s coming offensive would almost certainly prioritize eliminating Shimizu as the primary target.

With the remaining experience points, he converted a portion into a sealed scroll containing a one-time release of a large-scale mass healing jutsu. It was a single-use item.

Given the exchange rate he was working with, this was the maximum he could produce with what he had. But it was better than depleting his experience reserves entirely on something else.

He was fortunate that the war buff had been active throughout this period. Although he had not been on the main battlefield continuously since the first engagement, he had still accumulated a considerable amount of experience through the sustained healing work with the wounded over the prolonged campaign.

That was everything he could do in the time available.

He returned to the camp where Shimizu and the others were stationed, handed over the Senzu Beans and the scroll, and explained the tactical value and application of each item clearly.

The Senzu Bean he had given Sasori earlier had already been used during the great battle. The results had spoken for themselves. That bean-shaped artifact clearly had remarkable properties.

"Large-scale mass healing?"

Shimizu gripped the scroll, his eyes widening with genuine surprise. What kind of healing jutsu could be stored and released from a scroll like this? First there had been the mass illusion technique. Now this.

Although surprised, Shimizu wisely refrained from asking where these items came from. The situation was critical, and in the current context, his position and status no longer required Yuji to be as guarded about these things as he had been before.

"Do not use it until a truly critical moment," Yuji continued. "Facing the Leaf Village’s next offensive, prioritize defensive strategies. Buy time and wait for my return."

He added one more point.

"Among the Leaf Village army, the one I am most concerned about is still Minato. After I leave, be extremely careful about your positions and defensive arrangements.

With his Flying Thunder God Technique, there is a real probability he could successfully execute a decapitation strike against you if given the right opening."

He gave a few more specific instructions before turning to leave.

Before departing, Yuji exchanged a meaningful look with Sasori.

"Sasori. I am leaving Namikaze Minato to you. Only you can handle him."

Sasori nodded with complete indifference.

Then Yuji set off, taking the transformed Uchiha members with him, leaving the front lines and heading toward the Land of Wind.

On the other side, within the borders of the Land of Wind, the Third Raikage was leading a squad of over ten Hidden Cloud Village members at full speed toward the Sand Village.

Originally, he had assigned this mission to his son, the future Fourth Raikage. However, given the unexpected developments in the battlefield between the Sand Village and Konoha, he had decided to take personal command for the sake of reliability.

The variable that concerned him was that the Sand Village had actually inflicted severe casualties on the Konoha army in direct engagement.

This contradicted what the Third Raikage had previously calculated. He had assumed that even with the Sand Village committing its forces against Konoha, a direct confrontation would result in the Sand Village being overwhelmed. The outcome had been the opposite.

On the surface, the Sand Village’s tactical maneuvering and pharmaceutical resources had produced astonishing results. But there was one person the Third Raikage could not overlook.

Blood Doctor Yuji.

Due to geography, the Hidden Cloud Village and the Hidden Sand Village had historically less direct interaction than other village pairings.

The Cloud Village possessed some intelligence on the Sand Village but their picture was incomplete. In the Third Raikage’s assessment, the Sand Village was currently without a Kazekage.

The Sand Village had always been at the bottom among the Five Great Villages in terms of military power and population, genuinely weak by most measures. If it had not been for the sudden emergence of the pharmaceutical industry, even their economy would have been at its lowest point.

And in preparation for the Great Ninja War, the Sand Village had deployed the majority of its forces to the border regions. The number of Sand Village guards remaining in the village itself was already quite low, numbering only a few hundred at most.

With the Sand Village’s defensive strength at this level, there was technically no need for him to go personally. He could simply let his son handle the mission.

As for the Sand Village’s top fighting force, from everything the Third Raikage knew, there was only Chiyo among the senior figures, and Rasa.

It appeared that during the last Great Ninja War, the Sand Village had been able to stand alongside the Hidden Stone Village largely because of Rasa’s individual strength. However, even if Rasa possessed a bloodline comparable to the great Kazekage lineage, the Three Raikage had never taken him particularly seriously.

He was still a junior who had not yet been properly tested against the highest level of opposition. Times changed constantly, and the rate at which new generations replaced old ones within each village was fast.

In just a few years, an entirely different group could be carrying a village’s combat power forward.

Who truly knew what the internal situation of the Sand Village looked like right now?

But the sudden emergence of Blood Doctor Yuji was something the Raikage could not set aside.

Before any major conflict, both the Hidden Cloud Village and the Hidden Sand Village had been on high alert with respect to each other.

The Cloud Village had conducted extensive intelligence gathering through informants monitoring the battlefields between the Sand Village and Konoha. He was not deeply familiar with the Sand Village’s internal workings, but he was familiar with Konoha.

And a young man who could hold his own against Sarutobi Hiruzen, who could prevent the Third Hokage from resolving the situation quickly and cleanly, spoke volumes about his actual capability regardless of age.

This was fundamentally different from someone like Rasa, whose achievements and strength the Third Raikage had never directly witnessed or tested.

Yuji had already shown his fangs on a real battlefield and proven himself against the highest standard available. This was not theoretical reputation. It was demonstrated performance.

Therefore the Third Raikage had ultimately decided to set out personally.

Furthermore, there was the matter of the Sand Village’s new medicine. It had spread widely across the ninja world and was being spoken of in terms that went well beyond ordinary pharmaceutical trade.

Even countries and villages that had no direct involvement in the current war had benefited from it. The name associated with it was spreading even further than the battlefield reputation.

Even though the Raikage was not a medical ninja and had no particular appreciation for pharmacology, he understood exactly how significant this rising figure within the Sand Village truly was.

Simply as a healer, the achievements already represented a top-tier position within that entire field. And the rate at which everything had developed suggested someone operating well beyond what their age would normally allow.

In terms of timing, even if Blood Doctor Yuji wanted to return and defend the Sand Village, he might not have time to arrive before the Cloud Village’s elite squad reached it. But after they succeeded and were making their way out of the Land of Wind, there was a high probability they would encounter Yuji on the route back.

"Move faster!"

The Third Raikage urged his squad forward, his body radiating visible lightning chakra.

The future Fourth Raikage beside him did the same. After he finished speaking, the entire group of Hidden Cloud Village ninja dramatically increased their pace, cutting across the desolate desert landscape at full speed.