Naruto: Being a Shinobi with no System But...

"An academy exchange between us and Konoha?"

Because of her talent and maturity, Temari was the one Rasa favored most. It meant she'd understood the weight of the word "ninja" far earlier than her peers.

War. Death. Sacrifice.

She didn't have energy left over for hatred. The two younger brothers who had survived had already consumed everything she had to give.

So her confusion now wasn't anger. It was not understanding why it had to be them.

"Make some preparations, Temari."

Chiyo tried to soften her tone, but she didn't explain the true reason—she couldn't bring herself to say it.

"Baki is stationed at the Affairs Bureau outside Konoha. If anything happens, go to him."

"Time is short. You leave tomorrow."

All the while, Chiyo's gaze kept drifting to Gaara. He was absorbed in his own thoughts, not reacting to the news at all.

Kankurō, however, visibly flared. His face flushed red, fists clenching at his sides. But in front of the village's most senior elder—and its current Kazekage—he didn't dare let his anger out.

No explanations, only a deadline. Temari's anxiety finally broke the surface. "Grandmother Chiyo, this semester hasn't ended yet. And… in Konoha, Gaara…"

What if Gaara's condition worsened there? What if he hurt someone? Would Konoha let him go?

Those questions churned through her mind, but she only voiced half of them.

"That's why the three of you are going together," Chiyo said.

"Roshi from Konoha has already come to pick you up."

Temari's pupils trembled.

Only the three of us?

The man who killed our father is coming to take us away himself?

Is the village… abandoning us?

She didn't argue. A cold numbness rose from the soles of her feet, crawled up her spine, seeped into her limbs, and finally froze her throat.

Everything that followed became distant and muffled. She barely registered Chiyo's additional instructions, answering only with vague, obedient replies.

After Chiyo left, Kankurō shot to his feet, slamming his fist down on the table.

"Damn it! Why… why does it have to be us going to Konoha? And with that guy—"

Temari snapped back to herself. She glanced at Kankurō, then at Gaara.

Deep in Gaara's green eyes, something cold and solid was settling into place.

"I'm going to pack. We leave tomorrow, so get some rest early, Kankurō."

Instead of heading to her own room, she turned into the master bedroom.

She searched every corner for usable tools: kunai, shuriken, and… exploding tags.

She checked each one carefully, then stuffed them into her pack.

In her green eyes, only resolve remained.

That night, Temari tried to sleep. If she had to resist, she couldn't afford mistakes brought on by exhaustion.

But sleep wouldn't come.

Her thoughts spun like a revolving lantern, cycling through scenario after scenario: an ambush on the road, being put under house arrest in Konoha, being subdued the instant they were handed over…

In her most pessimistic moments, she still wondered: was she overthinking this? Maybe it really was just a normal exchange program. Maybe that Konoha ninja had no ill intentions.

But with the lives of her two younger brothers at stake, she had no right to be optimistic.

Outside the window, Sunagakure's night sky slowly shifted from deep black to dark blue.

Temari realized dawn was near. She forced herself out of bed, joints stiff, checked her pack again, confirmed exactly where the exploding tags were, and then went to wake Kankurō.

"Temari, you okay?"

Kankurō rubbed his eyes, blinking at the sight of his sister's pale face.

Temari shook her head. "Once we're on the road, if anything happens, you have to listen to me immediately. Understand? Kankurō."

"I know…" he muttered. "You're still nagging about that at a time like this."

Before they stepped out the door, she said it again. Kankurō agreed with a frustrated click of his tongue—then heard Temari turn and say the same thing to Gaara.

Gaara didn't answer. He didn't object, either.

The morning wind at Sunagakure's gate cut like a blade.

The three siblings waited there, accompanied by several Sand shinobi.

Then they saw him. Wearing Konoha's flak jacket, the man stood while the Sand-nin spoke to him with their heads bowed, their posture almost overly respectful.

When Rōshi's eyes slid over to them, Temari's hand moved on its own toward the tool pouch at her waist.

Her heart pounded against her ribs, but she forced her expression to stay calm.

Once the handover was complete, the Sunagakure shinobi departed.

Temari's guard shot to its highest level.

At that moment, Gaara stepped past her. Temari reached out on reflex to catch his shoulder, but with a night of no sleep behind her, she was too slow.

"Hello, Gaara." The black-haired man bent slightly at the waist and held out his hand.

"…Hello, Rōshi."

Gaara raised his own hand and took it.

The handshake lasted less than two seconds.

To Temari, it stretched on forever. She stared at her brother's face—once a child's, later twisted and feral, and in recent years blank and numb—now strangely… calm.

What was that man doing?

What had he done to Gaara?

Since when did Gaara shake hands with people? No… does Gaara already know him?

And this man…

"I didn't see you when I came last time. How have you been sleeping lately?" Rōshi straightened.

"The same," Gaara replied.

His voice was soft, but Temari heard every word.

"I see. Sounds like it's still hard getting along with Shukaku."

Gaara nodded.

"But that day, Shukaku didn't come out."

"Is that so? Then I guess we both gained something that day."

The morning wind rose, sweeping up sand and dust.

Temari's fingers still rested on the zipper of her backpack. The stack of exploding tags was just within reach.

Was this really happening? Had she fallen asleep after all and slipped into some strange dream?

She turned to Kankurō. His mouth hung open, eyes unfocused.

"Let's save the small talk for the road," Rōshi said. "We should get moving. Someone was kind enough to give us a bit of leeway, but if we stand around too long, the other side will start getting nervous."

Temari's fingers finally, slowly, moved away from the opening of her pack.

—

"Koyuki Kazahana, princess of the Land of Snow, has been kidnapped and is currently being held by Konoha. If she is not returned within one week, the Land of Snow will carry out equivalent retaliation against the Land of Fire."

With that, Doto Kazahana formally declared war.

The declaration was accompanied by another piece of news: an island nation that had entrusted its national defense to the Hidden Cloud Village had been wiped out in a single blast from the main cannon of the Ancor Vantian Flying Fortress.

Under these circumstances, dissent and anxiety in the Land of Fire were inevitable. Even so, because the fortress had not yet opened fire on their territory, and because Konoha's performance in recent years had been so outstanding, the village had not yet come under serious public pressure.

But everyone knew that was only temporary.

So when Roshi returned to Konoha with Gaara and the others, he didn't even get a chance to sit down before he was summoned straight to the Hokage's office.

"You're back?" Tsunade didn't turn around as she spoke.

"Yeah." Roshi stepped closer, his gaze sweeping over the map spread across the desk. The Land of Snow and the islands under its control were marked in glaring red. "Is the situation worse than we expected?"

"It's terrible." Tsunade finally turned, exhaustion written on her face. "We don't even know where they'll hit next."

"The key isn't the Land of Snow itself, it's that flying fortress," Roshi replied. "Sunagakure has already agreed to the proposal to help build an air defense system."

"The enemy probably has no intention of giving us that time," Tsunade said. "They gave us one week. Three days are already gone."

"Judging from what happened in the Land of Lightning, the early warning system can at least play some role," Roshi said.

"You mean we'll be able to tell when they're about to fire, right?" Tsunade rolled her eyes at him. "Their first target was the Hidden Cloud Village headquarters. It was only because the Eight-Tails' jinchuriki is perfect that they were able to block it."

"If they'd chosen the Fire Capital instead, by the time we detected their attack, it would already be too late."

"So, next, we send Genma's team to the Land of Earth, under the pretense of opening talks," Roshi said. "The person most capable of dealing with that fortress can't easily leave the Land of Earth right now. He has to stay and guard it."

Against a giant target like the Flying Fortress, once its position was confirmed, Onoki could erase it with a single Dust Release.

"Second," Roshi continued, "we let the one pulling the strings think everything is going according to his plan."

—

Uchiha Obito received the information he'd been waiting for: more than a dozen ships were brazenly sailing toward the Land of Snow.

"Still that guy… using the same trick again…"

No—he needed to confirm whether that guy was actually on board.

"Send Hiruko again. Have the Sky Ninja flight unit tail them and confirm if it's really him."

After giving the order, Obito waited patiently.

Several hours later, Zetsu brought back the battle report.

—Confirmed. Roshi himself had appeared. The battle had almost been a copy of the previous naval engagement: Hiruko bombarded from long range with Storm Release, Roshi responded with massive Water Release waves, then followed up with ship disintegration and Wood Release defenses.

Once it became clear he couldn't achieve a quick victory, Hiruko withdrew according to plan.

There was another piece of information: aside from Roshi, the Sky Ninja unit from Sunagakure had not appeared this time.

"No… there's no way it's just him."

"Is it that Sunagakure refused to send more air units because they need to defend their own borders…? No. He's not the type to act that recklessly."

"Using the same method… What is he trying to hide…"

"The missing air unit…" Obito's thoughts gradually fell into place. "So that's it. On the surface, he uses himself to draw our attention, while in secret he lets Sunagakure's warships sneak in, trying to launch a real attack from underwater or from the flanks while we're focused on the surface fleet… Nicely calculated."

Those warships were usually concealed beneath the water.

Which meant his true trump card right now should be hidden below the surface.

No—those ships probably hadn't even departed with Roshi. They would have set out much earlier.

By now, they should already be in the area, just waiting for a chance to land.

"In that case, it would be a shame not to grant your wish."

—

Roshi sat cross-legged on the deck of the only remaining wooden ship, eyes closed as he rested.

All around him, the other vessels he'd temporarily created with Wood Release—once a full fleet—had long since been reduced to splintered wreckage by the probing attack. The broken timbers bobbed on the waves, forming a silent graveyard encircling the main ship.

Suddenly, a strange vibration came from above.

The clouds overhead were violently torn apart.

The Ancor Vantian Flying Fortress emerged high in the sky without warning, the main cannon at its center gathering a heart-stopping golden light.

Roshi's figure vanished from the deck in an instant.

The spot where he'd been standing was swallowed completely by a colossal golden beam over ten meters thick. The wooden ship didn't even leave behind a single scrap; the beam punched into the sea, and instead of raising towering waves, it vaporized the water the moment it touched it.

The surrounding seawater crashed back in with a deafening roar, forming a huge, rapidly spinning whirlpool.

Roshi landed on the water's surface dozens of meters away, using chakra to cling to the waves as he barely managed to steady himself. The hem of his robe whipped violently in the lingering shockwave, carrying the acrid smell of scorched fabric.

He looked up.

After the strike, the fortress didn't linger. Its thrusters flared with even more intense blue flames, and the massive structure climbed higher, quickly vanishing back into the still-open rent in the clouds.

At that moment, another shadow slowly descended from a completely different direction.

It was a small, streamlined airship—sleeker and faster than a standard model.

The craft hovered at an angle above Roshi. The side hatch slid open without a sound.

A tall, thin man stood framed in the doorway.

"How does Roshi-kun like this welcoming ceremony?" the man called down. "Although seeing you again at this moment wasn't part of my original plan…"

"I still made sure to prepare something fitting for Roshi-kun."

"Though, Roshi-kun might not recognize this face."

He raised a hand and wiped it slowly from top to bottom, revealing his true visage beneath the disguise.

Pale skin. Golden, slit-pupiled eyes.

Orochimaru smiled. "Roshi-kun, it has been a long time. Your performance during this period has been quite a surprise to me."

"The rotten, cyclical shinobi world has begun to move forward again under your leadership."

Roshi frowned. "Orochimaru, are you planning to use the airship under your feet as an apology for blowing up my ship?"

"Hehehe… If Roshi-kun is willing, you're welcome to come aboard." Orochimaru stepped aside, leaving a clear path into the cabin.

"But before that, there's something Roshi-kun should remember."

"I once said that when we met again, if you wanted to refuse my cooperation, it wouldn't be so simple."

His snake-like pupils narrowed, his smile deepening and turning cold.

"I hope you haven't forgotten."

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