Uchiha orphan, so what if I'm ruthless?

Hearing this, Maki's expression stiffened for a moment. The smile remained on his face, but no matter how you looked at it, it seemed a bit forced.

After all, Uchiha Taiga's tone sounded incredibly strange, and saying such things about their Kage right to his face was quite awkward.

Maki's mouth twitched, but as a highly trained Sunagakure Jonin, he quickly adjusted his expression.

He spoke up, "Lord Kazekage gave me instructions before I left the village."

Uchiha Taiga raised an eyebrow, simply looking at him without replying. His gaze was so calm that it made Maki's hair stand on end.

Maki laughed awkwardly and continued, "Lord Kazekage said that if you are interested, you are welcome to visit Sunagakure as a guest."

His voice wasn't loud when he said this, but the Sunagakure shinobi behind him heard it loud and clear.

Several people in the crowd froze again.

*A guest?*

*Weren't we here to stop him? How did it turn into inviting him over as a guest?*

Uchiha Taiga looked at Maki, stayed silent for two seconds, and then smiled.

"Did he really say that?"

Maki nodded hastily. "Of course."

His expression was sincere and his tone certain, as if those were Rasa's exact words without a single syllable changed.

Uchiha Taiga's smile deepened as he nodded.

"Alright then, let's go."

With that, he stepped forward, completely decisive and without a hint of hesitation.

Maki's face instantly stiffened.

*Wait, you're not even going to ask? You're just agreeing like that?*

Maki opened his mouth to say something but didn't know what to say.

Uchiha Taiga walked forward at a steady pace, his posture completely relaxed.

As he walked past Maki, Maki didn't move, nor did he try to stop him.

He continued forward, heading straight toward the crowd of Sunagakure shinobi.

The ninja in front subconsciously parted to make way. Their movements were almost instinctual; the few standing at the very front had already stepped aside to clear a path.

They all stared at Uchiha Taiga with complex gazes.

Their eyes held wariness and curiosity, but mostly, they held awe and fear.

Some also cast their gazes toward Maki, the meaning in their eyes clear: *Sir, what on earth are you doing?*

The brief exchange just now left them feeling completely baffled.

Before coming here, every single one of them had mentally prepared themselves, even resolving to fight to the death.

After all, they were facing the man who had defeated Uchiha Madara. Against such an opponent, no one dared to claim they would make it back alive.

Yet they had still come. This was their duty as shinobi, an order from the village that they had to execute.

But the result?

Their leading Jonin, Maki, was acting like this.

It was completely different from what they had expected—drastically different.

*Weren't we supposed to lay down our lives to stop him?*

*Weren't we supposed to fight with everything we have to guard the borders of the Land of Wind?*

*How did it turn into inviting the enemy over as a guest?*

As the crowd snapped back to reality, their awkwardness was no less than Maki's.

Some lowered their heads, some shifted their gazes elsewhere, and others pretended to admire the distant rice fields.

It was a bizarre feeling, like gathering all your strength to throw a punch, only for the fist to land on soft cotton.

Uchiha Taiga walked through the crowd with steady steps and a placid expression, as if strolling through his own backyard.

The path was completely unobstructed.

Maki only froze for a second before hurriedly catching up. The smile returned to his face—friendly, natural, enthusiastic, and humble, lacking absolutely nothing. It was a perfectly calculated display of complex emotions.

"Since you wish to visit Sunagakure, my lord, we naturally welcome you."

He walked briskly to Uchiha Taiga's side, staying half a pace behind—a very delicate distance.

It wasn't so close as to be offensive, nor so far as to be impolite.

"I just wonder, my lord, what is your purpose in visiting Sunagakure?"

Maki directly addressed Uchiha Taiga as "my lord" without it seeming abrupt at all.

After all the groundwork he had laid, his attitude softening step by step, calling him "my lord" now actually felt entirely natural.

Yugito Nii glanced at Maki but said nothing, silently following on Uchiha Taiga's other side.

Uchiha Taiga walked at the very front, his pace unhurried. He didn't look at Maki; his gaze was fixed ahead, as if admiring the distant scenery.

"Sightseeing. Just walking around and taking a look."

Then he paused and added, "And while I'm at it, I'll take a look at the One-Tail Shukaku and get some of its chakra."

Hearing this, Maki's heart sank heavily.

His smile was still plastered on his face, but his eyes had changed.

In that instant, his pupils contracted slightly, and the muscles in his face betrayed a barely noticeable stiffness.

"Sunagakure will absolutely never—"

His voice was loud and urgent, instinctively blurting out his true thoughts, but he stopped himself at the critical moment.

Because Uchiha Taiga had turned his head to look at him.

That glance was incredibly calm. There was no killing intent, not even a change in expression; he simply turned his head and looked at him in a perfectly ordinary manner.

Uchiha Taiga looked at him with a hint of curiosity.

"Will absolutely never what?"

Maki's face stiffened once again.

His mouth hung open, still holding the posture from when he was speaking, but his voice was gone.

Then, his cheek twitched, the muscles in his face spasming slightly as if he were undergoing a fierce internal struggle.

The Sunagakure shinobi behind them also heard this exchange, and their expressions turned extremely ugly.

The One-Tail Shukaku?

That was Sunagakure's Tailed Beast, their strongest weapon, and one of the very foundations of the village's existence.

This man said he wanted to get some of Shukaku's chakra?

How was that any different from saying he was going to steal their Tailed Beast?

The air grew tense once more. Everyone's eyes fell on Maki, waiting for him to take a stance.

Maki fell silent.

The muscles in his cheeks twitched madly, fine beads of sweat seeped from his forehead, and the veins on his temples bulged slightly.

Then, he spoke.

"Sunagakure will absolutely never make things difficult for you, my lord."

His voice was a bit dry, as if it had caught in his throat before being squeezed out.

But after he said it, the smiling expression returned to his face, as if he had just unloaded a heavy psychological burden.

No one spoke, but everyone understood Maki's choice.

Uchiha Taiga looked at Maki, stayed silent for a second, and then smiled.

He reached out and patted Maki on the shoulder.

"You're not bad at all."

Uchiha Taiga's tone carried genuine approval.

Maki revealed a smile that was uglier than crying.

"You flatter me, my lord."

His voice was steady, but if one listened closely, they would detect a faint tremble hidden within. In the span of just those one or two sentences, his back had already been drenched in cold sweat.

But Maki's smile remained firmly plastered on his face because he knew he had no other choice.

Just like that, the group set off.

Uchiha Taiga walked at the very front. Yugito Nii followed slightly behind him on one side, while Maki walked on the other, also slightly behind.

Over thirty Sunagakure shinobi followed in the rear, spreading out along both flanks.

The procession was stretched out long, moving at a moderate pace.

The Sunagakure shinobi were plagued by complex emotions. Some occasionally stole glances at Uchiha Taiga, some walked with their heads bowed, and others exchanged looks with their companions before unanimously averting their eyes.

But no one dared to shatter the superficial harmony.

Because everyone understood one truth: some things could not be said.

Some matters could not be brought out into the open.

Once exposed, the superficial harmony would be broken, and once broken, no one dared to imagine what would happen next.

Now that their initial hot-blooded courage had faded, they didn't want to die a meaningless death.

If they could live, who would choose to die?

Maki took all of this in, his heart filled with mixed feelings.

He saw the confusion and unease in the eyes of his shinobi, and he saw the composure they were struggling to maintain.

But he couldn't explain, nor could he comfort them.

Because there were some things that even he wasn't sure about.

The only thing he was certain of was that Uchiha Taiga's stated goal was absolutely no small matter. He had to send this information back and let the village prepare in advance.

By evening, the group stopped in an open clearing.

The sun had already dipped near the horizon, dyeing the sky in a layer of tangerine red and softening the light.

Maki checked the sky, then turned to give a few instructions to the people behind him.

"We'll set up camp here for the night. Everyone, rest up."

He paused, then added, "Spread out and keep watch. Pay attention to our surroundings and don't let anyone get close."

The Sunagakure shinobi nodded and dispersed.

This was standard procedure for ninja—setting up a perimeter before making camp to prevent ambushes.

No one found it strange, and no one suspected a thing.

Maki arranged everything down to the finest detail, appearing incredibly cautious. He walked into a deserted, dense part of the forest, and after confirming there was no one else around, he stepped behind a large tree and crouched down.

He took a deep breath and bit his finger.

"Summoning Jutsu!"

A puff of white smoke rose, and a small ninja cat appeared before him.

Maki didn't waste any words, stating directly, "Send a message back to the village. Tell Lord Kazekage that Uchiha Taiga is coming to Sunagakure. His goal is to see the One-Tail Shukaku and obtain its chakra. Tell the village to prepare in advance."

The ninja cat nodded, let out a meow, and then vanished with a pop into a cloud of white smoke, ending the summon.

Maki remained crouched behind the tree, motionless for a long time. His face looked somewhat gloomy in the twilight.

The wind carried the sound of frogs croaking from the distant rice fields, one after another, loud and grating.

He stood up, brushed the dirt off his knees, and took a deep breath. He tucked away the gloominess on his face, replacing it with that friendly smile, and then walked back to the camp.

Uchiha Taiga was sitting by the campfire, holding that small jar in his hand and shaking it back and forth.

Yugito Nii sat beside him, taking rations out of her backpack.

Maki walked over and sat down on the other side of the campfire, asking with a smile, "My lord, would you like something to eat?"

Uchiha Taiga glanced at him, then looked down at the jar in his hand.

"Sure," he said, his tone very casual.

Maki's smile deepened, but a trace of imperceptible solemnity flashed in his eyes.

The message had been sent.

Now, it was up to Lord Kazekage to figure out how to handle this.