Chapter 258 There’s a long way to go
The ensuing war was smooth sailing.

After the death of Garuru, the Fourth Kazekage, and Sasori and others, the remaining Sand Village remnants were still resisting, but they had missed too many lessons. Even most of the soldiers were temporarily recruited and had not had time to undergo a long period of training. There were many elderly and children among them.

Under the command of Konoha's army, the scattered troops in the vast desert were simply unable to gather and resist.

In just one month, several large armies of Konoha invaded the Sand Village.

It's just that war is the continuation of politics.

Although Konoha destroyed the Sand Village with great force in such a short time, what happens next will determine whether they can stay in this vast sea of ​​sand for a long time.

"laugh!"

The sharp kunai scratched his neck, and blood spurted out. The Konoha ninja tied with ropes knelt forward weakly, making a dull sound.

The dead man's face showed an extremely distorted expression, with gnashing of teeth, and it was unclear whether it was unwillingness or anger, or perhaps regret that the war was obviously over but he died in a foreign land.

The only difference from the previous war was that the man standing behind him and taking action was also wearing a Konoha vest.

But it's different from ordinary clothes.

On his shoulders, there was an armband with the word "Supervisory" in red on it.

At this moment, these Konoha ninjas wearing the same style of armbands stood in a row, with fallen corpses in front of them. In the square in front of them were the villagers of Sand Village who were driven out. Looking at this scene, most of them were cowering in fear, but there were a few who were happy and excited but dared not say much.

Konan had the same armband tied to her shoulders as everyone else. She faced the villagers in front of her and raised her voice as high as she could. Her voice was a little hoarse:

"Yesterday, there were 21 people who committed robbery, murder, arson and riot in the Sand Village. The executions have now been completed."

"Three others were found guilty of minor crimes such as theft and threats. They have already paid compensation according to the price. I hope everyone in the Sand Village will bear witness to this."

"Eleven days ago, Lord Sawara Kiri made three rules with you at the Kazekage Building."

"Whether it's Konoha or Sunagakure, all of them have committed the same crime."

The atmosphere in the square was still silent. The villagers of Sand Village just looked at them quietly. Most of their faces had complicated and silent expressions. Their straight gazes made people feel cold in their hearts.

However, Xiaonan and the others seemed to have already gotten used to these people's gazes.

After reading these words as usual, he turned around and led the team away.

After a long time, the villagers standing in the square dispersed, and a few people came forward to collect the bodies of their friends or family members.

After the Konoha War Monitoring Department led by Konan walked away, a few chattering discussions and sighs were heard from the dispersed crowd, but the tone was not as intense as when Konoha first entered the village. One could even hear a few small voices of praise, saying that these Konoha bastards were quite decent in their work.

Xiaonan looked back and seemed to inadvertently breathe a sigh of relief.

Eleven days ago, the scene they faced was not like this.

After entering the Sand Village, although Sawara Kiri smashed the entire Sand Village's protective barrier with the force of a hammer beating a drum, the two legions stationed outside the Sand Village encountered dozens of attacks of varying sizes just after they set up camp outside the city.

Some disguised themselves as caravans and approached with large amounts of explosives; some assassinated patrol members and then sneaked into the camp disguised as them; some poisoned the water and food; and some even disguised themselves as prostitutes and tried to approach the main camp.

Ninja is not a profession suitable for large-scale combat on the battlefield. On the contrary, assassination and infiltration are their main business.

At the beginning, the group was extremely annoyed. The assassins they killed every day could even cover half of the square.

However, once the War Supervision Department began to work, the frequency of similar cases began to gradually decrease.

Until last night, there had even been only one case of an attempted sneak attack on a patrol member.

After all, it’s people’s desire for peace of mind.

In addition, the actions of Sunagakure in recent years have made the villagers of Sunagakure very tired and unwilling to fight anymore.

In recent years, the Sand Village lost the support of the Wind Country Daimyo, which led to a sharp decline in economic level. A large number of middle-aged ninjas had to be forcibly retired. Then the living standards began to fall continuously under the financial and trade blows of Konoha. Finally, when the war was about to begin, a large number of former ninjas who had gradually begun to live a stable life were suddenly recruited.
Although this series of actions did give them a certain level of combat power before the war began, it was not certain what the Sand Village villagers would think.

Before Konan entered Sunagakure, he had already heard Sawara Kiri's explanation. Now that he saw the results of the action, he naturally felt a sense of accomplishment.

"Everyone has worked hard today, so let's go to work tonight."

As she was speaking, she turned her head subconsciously.

Then, he met a pair of cold eyes.

Xiaonan was startled, but then he reacted immediately. His slightly raised tone gradually subsided and turned into the usual indifference:
"Just follow the normal shifts. I hope you guys won't slack off."

"Yes."

The members of the War Supervision Department behind him all responded, but they didn't even have the mood to say another word, and they all dispersed in groups.

After everyone had gone far away, Xiaonan slowly exhaled and rubbed his eyebrows.

Although she felt that what she did was not wrong, and this was the task assigned to her by Sawara Kiri, she was not sure what the Konoha ninjas behind her would think.

No one likes this kind of offensive work.

What's more, their mission is to kill their colleagues with their own hands.

However, it is also because of this that Xiaonan becomes more aware of the importance of people like Sawara Kiri.

'Even after you have great power, you can still treat others equally.'

'Is that guy really fulfilling his promise step by step?'

"I didn't lie."

Thinking of this, even Xiaonan himself couldn't help but feel complicated.

Although he was clearly an enemy, he gradually realized his ideal with his help.

If she were alone, she wouldn't be able to do anything.

Can't do anything?!

Somehow, Xiaonan suddenly felt a little annoyed.

She was clearly kidnapped here by that bastard, and when she first arrived, he touched her every day, even in front of Nagato. Now she has to help him do these dirty and tiring jobs, which allows that bastard Sahara Kiri to have some free time!
Is this still her fault?

Thinking of this, Xiaonan suddenly felt his back straightened.

"Dong dong."

Suddenly there was a gentle knock on the office door.

"Master Konan, Master Sawara has summoned you to a meeting."

Inexplicably, when Xiaonan heard the name Sahara Kiri, her heart suddenly felt empty, but she quickly stood up again.
"I'll go over now."

When Xiaonan walked out of the conference room, he heard a noise coming from the room. It seemed that many people were talking at the same time, and their tone was very intense.

However, when she pushed open the door and walked in, the conference room suddenly became quiet again.

Xiaonan's eyes swept over the group of people present.

Sawara Kiri was sitting at the main seat at the conference table, with a group of middle and high-level military officer rank jonin sitting on both sides.

At this moment, these people were staring at her with cold and vicious eyes.

Sahara Kiri seemed not to notice their reactions, and her tone remained gentle: "Now that Xiao Nanbu has grown up, please tell us what happened just now."

Just as he finished speaking, a jonin on his left stood up and said loudly: "Lord Sawara, I also know the importance of maintaining post-war discipline, but no matter what, the rules set this time are too harsh!"

"The fourth-rank jonin under my command is only nineteen years old and has a bright future ahead of him." "He committed the crime only because his brother died on the battlefield and he found the name of the family that killed his brother in the roster. He was unable to control his emotions and committed the crime."

"If he is sentenced to life hard labor, I will not dare to say a word, but the sentence of death penalty is immediate execution."

Sahara Kiri, who was sitting in the main seat, just smiled gently, listened to his speech quietly, and then turned to the next person:
"What about you, Kimura?"

"I think so too." The jonin called Kimura lowered his voice and tried his best to control his emotions. "Although the ninja in our team did kill someone, he was on patrol and there was a loud noise in the other party's house. He broke into the house out of suspicion. Although it was a misjudgment, he should not be sentenced like this."

"Lord Sawara, I believe the War Supervisory Department's decision is unfair."

"Lord Sahara."

"Lord Sahara!"

It was obvious that everyone present came to ask Sawara Kiri for an explanation, and they all pointed their fingers at the War Supervision Department.

The goal is also very clear.

The winner should enjoy the rights that the winner deserves and trample on the loser harshly.

It’s just killing a few people, what’s the big deal?
Most of them were over forty years old, having grown up during the First and Second Ninja World Wars. They had seen too many scenes and had long since regarded blood as a part of life.

But in contrast, they received too little education. Apart from the six years in the Ninja School, they had basically nothing else, and there was almost nothing related to moral character.

As Xiaonan listened to these words one after another, the confusion she had just felt in the office was instantly swept away. She turned and looked in the direction of Sawara Kiri with a frown.

She knew most of the people present. They were all veteran ninjas in Konoha Village who had made outstanding contributions in the war and had a series of small groups behind them to support them. This was how they were able to secure the position of grassroots commander in the legion, and they were tough enough even when speaking to Sawara Kiri.

Compared to her, an outsider, they are not on the same level at all.

However, Sawara Kiri just quietly picked up the teacup and took a sip, then asked:
"Finished?"

"."

The noisy chatter in the conference room suddenly stopped.

Sawara Kiri continued, "If you have any objections, why didn't you raise them before entering Sunagakure and making three rules? I should have held a discussion meeting at that time, and everyone voted at that time."

"Do you think we will continue to do what we did before, fighting wars, sweeping other countries and then leaving?"

"Or"

His deep blue eyes narrowed slightly as he scanned the people in front of him who were gradually becoming as silent as quails, and he spoke word by word:
"You take my words as fart?!"

"Boom."

The teacup slammed heavily on the table, causing the papers on the table to fly up in surprise.

Everyone at the table became increasingly silent, not even daring to breathe.

Sawara Kiri just looked at them quietly without saying a word for a long time.

A thin layer of cold sweat slowly slid down the surface of everyone's forehead.

It was not until this moment that they suddenly remembered that the reason why this war ended so quickly was not because they fought to the death, nor because the Konoha Army was invincible.

The only truly invincible person is the one in front of them.

Suddenly, they seemed to wake up from the illusion of victory.

"but."

After a long while, Sawara Kiri's tone suddenly changed, returning to his usual gentle tone: "After all, you have all worked hard and made great contributions. Konoha still needs your support to remain stable."

"Although the discipline of this battle is strict, I will increase the distribution ratio of military merit and spoils to the Sand Village Army by three points accordingly, which can be regarded as an explanation to everyone."

"call"

Almost at the moment when his soothing voice fell, a faint sound of exhalation rose in the conference room.

This promise finally made them feel relieved.

After all, if Sawara Kiri really didn't give some compensation, they would lose their prestige in front of the people below.

"Thank you, Master Sahara."

"I hope you take care of yourself, sir."

“I’ve been really busy these days.”

For a moment, the conference room, which had just been filled with intense noise, was immediately filled with flattery and praise.

Don't think that ninjas don't have social skills. On the contrary, they are very knowledgeable.

Hatake Kakashi always stood beside Sawara Kiri as a guard. He never expressed his opinion and just watched the people present quietly.

Inexplicably, it seemed as if my inherent impression of the profession of "Ninja" was overturned, but it also seemed as if it wasn't.

He just turned his head and looked at Teacher Wu, with a hint of sigh in his eyes.

really.

Even if you are invincible in the ninja world, there are times when you have to compromise with your own people.

Kakashi wasn't the only one with that look.

When the meeting was over, Xiaonan did not have the opportunity to speak. He just listened quietly as a participant in the meeting.

But after everyone around her left, she did not move and turned to look in the direction of Sawara Kiri.

As soon as the others left, this guy immediately lost his usual demeanor and leaned back on the sofa, as if he wanted to squeeze himself into the backrest and lie down on the spot.

Even with his eyes closed, he could see that Xiaonan had walked behind him and said casually:
"You must be very busy these days, right?"

"Being watched by so many people like an enemy, I have to do useless things."

"Isn't that your fault?"

Xiaonan spoke in a matter-of-fact tone, as if he was still angry, but his hands naturally rested on both sides of his temples.

Sawara Kiri opened her eyes in surprise.

Xiaonan lowered his head and rubbed the sides of his forehead silently.

Although her face still had that cold and world-weary expression, her movements were so gentle that they seemed to be soothing. She propped the heavy ball on top of his head, and her fingers were gentle and delicate.

Sahara Kiri looked at her with a strange expression, which made Xiaonan blush slightly. She scolded in a low voice:

"Close your eyes."

"Yes Yes"

When I closed my eyes, I heard her mumbling something under her breath, but it was not clear.

A smile appeared on Sawara Kiri's face.

In the quiet meeting room, only little Kakashi was standing not far from the door pretending to be a stone man, with a blank expression and stiff movements.

How to do?
Should I slip away quickly at this time?
(End of this chapter)