Although Asuka and Kocho were Shikigami, from the moment Kikyo conjured them, their culinary skills had practically been maxed out.
Thus, they had prepared an incredibly sumptuous dinner for the two ladies, with an abundant array of various vegetables and dishes neatly arranged across the low table.
Kikyo remained as elegant and refined as ever. After taking a few quiet bites, a look of reflection surfaced on her face.
Noticing Kikyo's thoughtful gaze, Unohana Retsu couldn't help but let out a gentle smile: "Over the years, the environment of the Land of Wind has undergone immense improvements.
Because of that, the flavor of the vegetables has enhanced significantly compared to the past. Furthermore, the variety of agricultural crops has grown quite rich."
"Elevating the crop yield... is it because the stored provisions for war are insufficient?"
Before the troops march, provisions must go first. In Kikyo's worldview, these were all logistical preparations made by the Kazekage for the sake of war. However, Unohana Retsu shook her head.
"If it were purely for military provisions, Food Pills would suffice. Currently, the Kazekage exerts far more effort on civilian livelihoods than on military affairs."
To put it plainly, Shiraishi's strategy for unifying the shinobi world was a "farming-first" playstyle before pushing over the map in one decisive wave, prioritizing that the Land of Wind under his governance enjoyed favorable weather and abundant harvests.
Under Shiraishi's administration for over a decade, although the vast majority of the Land of Wind remained a sprawling desert, the peripheral regions surrounding the core urban centers had basically completed total greening modifications.
Massive volumes of fresh vegetables and crops were planted, successfully securing the daily lives of the Land of Wind's citizens.
Setting down her chopsticks, Kikyo remained thoroughly composed: "In a certain sense, at the very least, he has achieved the benchmark of a qualified ruler."
Kikyo's underlying prejudice still lingered, but Unohana Retsu merely maintained her gentle smile while enjoying the grand feast before her.
If the shrine maiden possessed no prejudice whatsoever and instantly lowered her guard around him, she wouldn't be someone the Kazekage valued so highly.
Through their interactions over the past few days, Unohana Retsu had also gained a solid grasp of Kikyo's capabilities. Shrine maidens of the Shindo-Onmyo lineage had historically existed on the shinobi continent, but due to various reasons, they had all vanished into the annals of history.
"In factual reality, Shiraishi still has a request he needs your assistance with."
"Oh?"
"It concerns the Land of Demons in the eastern sector of the shinobi world. Civil unrest has erupted there. An Onmyoji named Yomi is manipulating the Moryo in an attempt to subvert the Land of Demons.
Given that the Land of Demons is a traditional nation of Onmyoji, Lord Kazekage calculated that it would be best for you, Kikyo, to personally step forward and handle the matter."
As a once-lofty Onmyoji within the Land of Demons, Yomi's standing had begun to constrict alongside Sunagakure's expanding presence in the eastern territories of the shinobi world.
The high echelons of the Land of Demons weren't particularly resistant or hostile to Suna's involvement in the eastern continent, maintaining a steady alliance relationship with the Land of Wind over the years.
It was precisely due to this factor that Yomi had been unable to launch this rebellion against the Land of Demons as he originally had in history.
However, as the dark clouds of the Fourth Shinobi World War began to gather, the high echelons of Kumogakure—intending to dismantle Sunagakure's maritime strategic layout—dispatched a group of envoys to locate Yomi.
They backed his bid to become the ruler of the Land of Demons and lent him the Seven Star Sword, a ninja tool passed down from the Sage of Six Paths.
Due to the implications of the Impure World Reincarnation, Kumogakure feared that someone might take the opportunity to resurrect Kinkaku and Ginkaku. Consequently, they had sent personnel to exhume the graves of the two brothers. Four of the ninja tools belonging to the duo were currently sealed directly within Kumogakure Village.
The Seven Star Sword was precisely how it surfaced into the hands of the Cloud shinobi before being transferred over to Yomi.
Utilizing the power of the Seven Star Sword, Yomi mastered the energy of the Moryo, rapidly creating a unique undying army that was currently sweeping through the entirety of the Land of Demons.
Although the personal strength of the Moryo itself was entirely unworthy of mention, dealing with an undying army was exceptionally troublesome. Therefore, after weighing the options repeatedly, Shiraishi decided to have Kikyo set out to handle the Land of Demons problem.
"I understand."
Tasks like this were inherently the core duty of a shrine maiden. Once Kikyo grasped the general situation, she prepared to set off for the Land of Demons immediately.
Seeing Kikyo adopt this stance, Unohana Retsu similarly let out a soft smile.
Lord Kazekage, dissolving this shrine maiden's prejudice against you is absolutely not something that can be achieved in a single moment. However, her willingness to step forward and resolve the Land of Demons issue has nonetheless removed a major troublesome variable for you.
Kikyo Mountain.
This was the historical ground where Sunagakure and Konoha had engaged in a brutal, vicious clash during the Third Shinobi World War.
After more than a decade of transformations, the mountaintops that had once been blasted flat by countless paper bombs had now become a theater displaying the national power of the Land of Wind.
The entire Joint Chunin Exams were divided into a preliminary phase and a final phase. The preliminaries were set to unfold in the surrounding areas of Kikyo Mountain as a baseline scroll-scramble battle.
The model was highly similar to Konoha's Heaven and Earth Scrolls, though here, Shiraishi had divided them into three distinct types of scrolls.
Only the genin squads that gathered all three types of scrolls and reached the summit of Kikyo Mountain first would secure the qualification to advance to the next round of competition.
Apart from the Kazekage, the remaining four Kages were scheduled to make their official appearances only after the final phase reached the quarterfinal matches. Nevertheless, Sunagakure independently commenced its own opening ceremony.
"So this is Kikyo Mountain... It's completely different from what I imagined."
Within Konoha's textbooks, Kikyo Mountain was recorded as having been completely destroyed by Sunagakure through insidious and underhanded tactics, causing Konoha to suffer unimaginable, catastrophic losses and completely altering the entire trajectory of the Third Shinobi World War.
It was during this exact war that the newly inaugurated Fifth Kazekage shone with spectacular brilliance, using his singular power to keep Tsunade—one of Konoha's legendary Sannin at the time—thoroughly in check.
Therefore, in the minds of Konoha's students, this place was supposed to be a barren wasteland of ruins and dilapidated debris. Yet, looking at it today, although Kikyo Mountain under Suna's administration couldn't be described as booming with prosperity, it was at the very least far from stagnant.
A massive number of passing trade caravans frequently lingered in the vicinity, executing basic logistics operations. Concurrently, a fair number of small villages and towns dotted the surrounding area of Kikyo Mountain, offering no sense of desolation whatsoever.
The Seventh Squad, led by Kakashi, walked along the paths of Kikyo Mountain. It wasn't merely Haruno Sakura and the others who were filled with deep sighs; even Kakashi, an elite Jonin who had personally fought in the Battle of Kikyo Mountain, had to marvel at the sheer scale of the transformations here.
Especially the environmental modifications surrounding Kikyo Mountain—it was an entirely different concept from the desolate, arid mountain range anchored in his memories.
The summit of Kikyo Mountain currently featured a colossal, open-air arena pit, which would serve as the primary venue for the upcoming matches. Operating in his capacity as the host, Shiraishi—donning his Kazekage hat—gazed quietly across Kikyo Mountain, his thoughts deep and unreadable.
"Lord Kazekage, the Konoha Jonin Kakashi and the Seventh Squad under his leadership have arrived."
Serving as a guard, Arakawa Kashiwa materialized before Shiraishi with a Body Flicker to report the movements of the various villages.
To their unexpected surprise, Konoha had only deployed a single team—the Seventh Squad—for this event, whereas other villages like Kirigakure had sent a full contingent of three squads to participate.
Shiraishi was flanked by two guards: one was Arakawa Kashiwa, and the other was Shira. Due to the selection trials for the Naval Department's Admiral position, Shira had defeated Kashiwa to successfully claim the upper post.
However, because of the scale of the Joint Chunin Exams, the two were rarely cooperating once more as the Kazekage's guards.
Regarding the battle between Shira and Kashiwa, Shiraishi had heard Nagase Bizen describe it as an exceptionally fierce clash. Regrettably for Kashiwa, Shira—who had mastered the Fifth Activation state—had comprehensively suppressed him.
As expected of the original historical creator of the Seven Heavenly Breaths. He inherently shares an indissoluble bond of destiny with this supreme taijutsu.
Just as the members of the Seventh Squad stepped into the summit area of Kikyo Mountain, Shiraishi—acting as the host—was about to step forward to receive them when Uzumaki Naruto's loud voice rang out directly across the clearing.
"Whoa! So that's Sunagakure's Kazekage? Kakashi-sensei's arch-nemesis from when he was young?!"
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