Naruto: From Extra to Savior

The six members of Sunagakure sat in a circle, the air thick with tension. The recent dispute with two other ninja villages had ended in Suna's retreat—a bitter defeat that only those who lived it could truly grasp. The three genin took it relatively well—they lacked experience and didn't really understand the gravity of the matter—but the three jonin felt deeply humiliated.

"Are we really going to take orders from that Konoha ninja?" Yura muttered, clearly trying to stir things up. "That guy's only a new jonin—we don't have to be afraid of him…"

"Enough," Baki cut in, his voice firm. "This isn't about fear. This time, I admit, I made a mistake in my judgment."

"But—" Yura started to argue, but Kunoichi Maki tugged at his sleeve and shook her head.

"Yura, thank you for your effort this time. Your suggestion was tempting, but Suna can't afford another stain on our reputation for betrayal. If we leave now, the entire ninja world will lose faith in us forever."

Personal reputations might survive some damage, but for one of the Five Great Ninja Villages—the cornerstone of the village's survival—being seen as untrustworthy would devastate its mission system, which relies entirely on that hard-earned prestige. After all, even mercenaries wouldn't pay good money for someone with a tainted name. And when that day came, Sunagakure—already barely holding onto its standing—would suffer an even greater downfall.

If Yura had only misled Baki in terms of small details or intelligence manipulation, he still wouldn't have been able to sway Baki under such overwhelming strategic pressure.

"What about Sasori? It's extremely inconvenient being grouped with shinobi from other villages," Yura tried again, though he suspected Sasori's mission had already failed. "What do we tell Elder Chiyo?"

"That's fine. There are advantages to staying together. Although our team is strong, we can't guarantee complete success. Our priority is to return Gaara safely to the village. As for Sasori, if necessary, abandon the mission. I'll explain everything to Elder Chiyo myself."

...

As Maki tugged the still-sullen Yura out of the room, Baki's face fell, his exhaustion finally showing through.

"Sensei, what should we do?" Temari, the eldest and most perceptive of Baki's students, asked naturally as their leader.

"This isn't your problem—you're staying out of it," Baki said firmly. "These issues end with us. We shouldn't burden the next generation with our grudges, especially not now, when relations between Sunagakure and Konoha—despite current problems—are clearly improving. Even if things went south now, the next generation could always start fresh without ruining everything."

"We understand, sensei," Temari nodded respectfully. "Still… were we really in that much danger this time?"

"Nope, this time we're not the priority," Baki answered. "Iwagakure is the biggest threat. All we need to do is keep Gaara safe; everything else doesn't matter. As for the rest..."

Baki paused briefly before continuing, "We won't help Iwagakure directly, but we'll coordinate with Konoha."

"Coordinate with Konoha?" Temari caught the implication in Baki's words. "So you're saying the relationship between Konoha and Iwagakure isn't as strong as it seems?"

"That's obvious. Those two villages never really got along anyway. Besides, Mizuki isn't stupid—he knows what needs to be done." Though he had been humiliated by Mizuki before, Baki still respected how the guy handled things. "Konoha ninjas only trust us. We stick with them, plain and simple—they're our allies. Iwagakure? They're just outsiders here."

As someone with significant authority in Sunagakure, Baki deeply understood that relations between ninja villages couldn't be determined by one or two operations, let alone personal grudges. At least for now, as long as Sunagakure didn't make any reckless moves, their alliance would remain solid.

"Jonin Yura still seems a bit unhappy..." Temari voiced her concern.

"Don't worry about that. Later, I'll talk to him privately. His intentions are good, but abandoning our allies at a moment like this—something dangerously close to betrayal—would lead to consequences we can't afford." At this point, Baki seemed to remember something. He turned toward Gaara and asked, "How's your seal doing? What did Jonin Maki say about it?"

"It's fine now. Jonin Maki checked it herself—no tampering at all."

"Are you absolutely sure? Konoha's sealing techniques are superior. Could there be something we missed?"

"Hard to say for certain," Kankuro cut in. "Still, unlike other jutsu, sabotage in sealing techniques is extremely unlikely. That was exactly Jonin Maki's exact wording."

"That's good to hear, but once we get back we'll still have to double-check everything, especially the seal and Shukaku's status. After all, according to intelligence reports, Jonin Mizuki is an elite expert in sealing techniques. From what you've said, there was quite a long period where no one knew what he might've done to Gaara..."

Sunagakure had also spent considerable time investigating the capture of several Genin during Konoha's destruction plan, but without eyewitnesses, details surrounding the incident remained unresolved.

"Oh—and that former Chūnin, though he's a Jonin now," Temari said, recalling their recent fight with Deidara and Red Sand of the Desert, "is extremely dangerous. The [World-shattering jutsu] we reported shouldn't even exist in this world."

"I already discussed that with Elder Ebizō. However, I was specifically instructed to avoid direct confrontation with Deidara if possible."

"Although Baki was reluctant to believe that a Konoha ninja with no prior reputation could possess such terrifying techniques, he cautiously went through every record available. Finding nothing in his initial search, he even consulted Chiyo and Ebizō, the most knowledgeable figures in the village, but neither had much to offer. Only Ebizō seemed to have some thoughts, yet he remained tight-lipped, merely instructing subordinates to proceed carefully.

'We understand.'

'I think this is only prudent. Leaf has held the majority of resources in the ninja world for years; nobody knows exactly how deep its hidden strengths run or what terrifying secrets it harbors. Our enemy isn't them—we're allies now. As long as we keep that straight, everything else comes second.'

...

Like Mizuki himself said, he didn't care about the details of how Yura tricked Baki. As long as the outcome was acceptable, Mizuki didn't want to get involved. As long as Suna continued to respect Konoha as an ally, everything would be manageable.

After resolving this crisis, Mizuki had no intention of stirring up more trouble. It had already been a while, and enemies could appear at any moment. Moreover, Mizuki had some idea about how ambitious Akatsuki truly was and how much effort they might invest in this matter. However, regardless of their intentions, as long as Pain with his Rinnegan didn't show up, there were still maneuverable options against others. Compared to someone like Red Sand of the Desert, who had already lost Hiruko and most of his puppets, the real concern lay in The Third Kazekage's [Iron Sand Body]. Yet if Suna dared to attempt capturing Red Sand after gathering so much intelligence on him, they must have had considerable confidence in dealing with him.

Another one relatively easier to handle was Hidan. With sufficient intelligence and caution toward his [Death under Pledge], defeating him wouldn't be extremely difficult. If Shikamaru Nara, despite being at an overwhelming disadvantage, managed to kill Hidan once he identified his weakness, then logically speaking, Mizuki—who was far stronger than Shikamaru—should succeed using Shikamaru's experience as a reference. If he did fail, it simply meant Mizuki had reached his limit.

Besides these two individuals, facing Zetsu wouldn't be too bad either since Mizuki wasn't afraid of overwhelming through sheer numbers. As for other opponents, things could get more challenging.

However, this time around, Mizuki had several hidden cards remaining, making him significantly better prepared than last time. When encountering the Akatsuki organization again, he wouldn't end up in such a helpless situation.

...

Thus, the three ninja villages carried on as if nothing had ever happened, continuing their routine as usual. As time passed, everyone began sensing an approaching storm, and the air grew thick with impending tension. Eventually, only Temari and Maki from Suna occasionally visited Mizuki and the two genin, exchanging bits of information and conducting brief conversations.

As for Yura, the one Mizuki had specifically asked to watch, his freedom of movement had been severely restricted under the surveillance of Neji Hyuga's Byakugan, Shino Aburame's insects, and Aoba Yamashiro's Summoned Beast: Corpse Crow. Yura also seemed to have noticed something and stayed quiet over the past couple of days, showing no suspicious behavior."

However, Mizuki still hadn't canceled the surveillance order.

It was around noon on the third day when the team briefly stopped to rest in the sweltering heat.

Suddenly, Shino's expression tightened. "Someone's coming."

"Huh?" Hearing this, Mizuki also felt surprised. "How many people are there?"

"I can't tell," Shino shook his head. "I haven't sensed many approaching yet. The insects I placed on watch were killed immediately."

"I see." Mizuki couldn't be sure whether Akatsuki even had members capable of detecting his surveillance bugs that were everywhere. "Neji, take a look..."

Mizuki could've laid some detection traps too, but since they'd just arrived and this was only a short stop, he hadn't prepared anything serious. He hadn't thought enemies would track them down this quickly.

Neji Hyuga activated his Byakugan as instructed and scanned the area, then answered after a pause, "There are two of them. But it seems they aren't heading directly toward us; their sights are set completely on Sunagakure's squad."

"Huh? Why are they targeting *them*?" Obviously, their real target must be Gaara, the One-Tail Jinchuriki. Yet why prioritize Gaara at this moment? They didn't seem concerned about the secret behind Mizuki's Rinnegan, or maybe they knew nothing about any of this. And they hadn't even tried to rescue Deidara—clearly, they weren't particularly close.

"One of them is carrying a strange, giant sickle-shaped weapon," Neji reported after careful observation. "The other looks relatively ordinary, but their internal chakra flow feels really off."

"I understand now—you can stop looking." With enough information, Mizuki figured out exactly who these two individuals must be.

[Could it be Kakuzu and Hidan? A tail-beast acquisition mission, because Deidara got captured, and Red Sand of the Desert's current condition isn't good, so they changed partners temporarily?]

"This time, don't get directly involved in the battle. If you make contact with the enemy, retreat immediately—no head-on fights. And if you take any injuries, report it right away."

"Should we offer support, Mizuki?" Aoba Yamashiro spoke up. "Although Sunagakure has three Jonin and even a jinchuriki, their overall fighting strength might not be good enough."

"I'm aware of that, naturally. However, we shouldn't act rashly yet—the enemy might have more allies out there. We need to stay especially vigilant ourselves."

Since things had already begun, Mizuki no longer hesitated. "Send the signal—get Sunagakure and Iwagakure to go on high alert now."

"First wave's Kakuzu and Hidan, huh? Could be worse… Well, Hidan's easy enough, but Kakuzu's definitely going to be trouble."

With five hearts controlling five chakra natures—fire, wind, lightning, earth, and water—each heart wielding its own deadly technique. Even Kakashi Hatake found facing Kakuzu head-on extremely tough. Baki, whose strength was close to Kakashi's, had formidable overall capabilities, especially skilled in Wind Release techniques—he'd be able to fight Kakuzu evenly for hundreds of rounds. Though the outcome would remain uncertain, at least the battle strength wouldn't be completely overpowered.

As for Hidan, Mizuki decided to hold off for now. Even though [Death Under Pledge] was already in play, Hidan's twisted faith in Jashin made him savor the pain instead of killing his enemies quickly. So there was still time to pull off a rescue. Besides, Sunagakure had a skilled sealing jutsu user who might be just what we need to take down Hidan. The [Cloth Binding Technique] was excellent at restricting enemy movements. As long as Yura doesn't turn on us, we've got the numbers—two against one—and a solid shot at winning.

Mizuki was still thinking about their next move when Shino Aburame's voice cut in suddenly.

"Captain Mizuki, another person is coming. He's coming fast—straight for us."

"Neji…" Mizuki snapped back into focus. "Send someone to scout ahead."

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