Konoha Notes

Chapter 383 Watching
The busyness at the Joint Affairs Bureau building has a clear hierarchy.

The busiest place is the Konoha office.

As the host and system builder, the final link in the chain, from meeting procedures to security allocation, from material dispatch to emergency plans, all converges there.

The ones walking the fastest in the corridor, carrying the tallest stacks of documents, and with the deepest shadows under their eyes are mostly ninjas wearing leaf headbands.

The second one is not Kumogakure.

Although Kumogakure is the second most important entity in the entire system, its operations overlap with those of the Konoha office.
There aren't many things that Konoha can't handle that require Kumogakure to resolve.

Located between Konoha and Kumogakure, Yugakure and Shimogakure have always been considered relatively peaceful.

On the contrary, Sunagakure has many other matters to handle, including the projects in the Land of Wind and the Land of Rain that started a few months ago, the fleet investment plan between Sunagakure and Konoha and Kumogakure, and the training plan for Sunagakure's air force to the other four major ninja villages.

These all require Maki, as the representative of Sunagakure, to frequently travel to other villages.

It was only after the Seven-Tails was attacked and the Four-Tails went missing that the presence of Iwagakure, Kumogakure, and Kirigakure began to increase.

The line in front of the Sunagakure office had shortened.

Because those projects requiring Sunagakure's involvement—engineering, fleet operations, training—had progressed to a stage where they could operate independently. Documents continued to arrive, but these were mostly progress reports and routine confirmations, with no longer any clauses requiring overnight arguments.

As for the newly emerging claims about "Jinchūriki safety," "Tailed Beast protection," and "joint defense"...

In the present-day Sunagakure, there is nothing that others can look up to.

The only potential target, the One-Tailed Jinchuriki, is in Konoha. In this suddenly escalating power struggle, Sunagakure has both lost its bargaining chips and avoided the vortex.

Attacks, defenses, emergency responses... well, some people are just more anxious.

With Iwagakure losing the Four-Tails and Kumogakure and Kirigakure each having two tailed beasts to worry about, they will naturally push forward with their plans.

Sandman only needs to follow.

Maki stood at the entrance of the secret service building, and this realization brought him a strange sense of relief. The Sand Village, which had always been at the center of conflict and constantly dragged into war or used as a bargaining chip, had unknowingly found itself in a support role.

At least in the current situation, Konoha has indeed pulled Sunagakure away from the first possible attack.

Footsteps came from behind.

Maki turned his head and saw Shuji walk out of the building.

The dark-haired young man slowed his pace slightly and nodded when he saw Maki.
“Maki”.

"Mr. Shuji."

Maki bowed slightly and then followed behind Xiu Si.

"I want to go to the headquarters of Konoha Village."

As representatives of Sunagakure, advancing into Konoha headquarters used to be simple, and it's not complicated now either.
The reason I specifically mentioned this is because what he wanted to enter wasn't Konoha Village, but rather to see Gaara.

This matter wasn't troublesome before the incident. Even though Gaara was the Jinchuriki of the One-Tailed Beast from Sunagakure, and Baki was Sunagakure's representative in Konoha—it was only natural for a guardian to visit the one under their guardianship.
But it's different now.

He said, "The village asked me to check on Gaara's condition."

“Let’s go,” Shuuji said.

There were no follow-up questions, no doubts, and not even a request for him to submit a supplementary written application.

Maki paused for half a second before quickening his pace to catch up.

With Shuuji accompanying him, his process of entering Konoha became much simpler.
Even when heading towards the Ninja Academy, they wouldn't be intercepted by the Anbu.

As the walls of the Ninja Academy came into view at the edge of the horizon, the afternoon's combat training session was underway.

On the playground, the voices of teachers and children could already be heard.

Maki followed Xiu Si up the open-air staircase on the side of the teaching building and stopped at the end of the third-floor corridor. From this angle, the entire training ground could be clearly seen.

There were about twenty or thirty students practicing in the arena. Most were in pairs, but there were also a few three-person teams practicing their teamwork.

Maki's gaze locked onto the red-haired boy almost instantly.
Gaara is currently training in taijutsu with Naruto Uzumaki.

Neither of them used sand. Neither of them used ninjutsu; it was just basic fist and foot fighting.

What concerned Maki even more was the atmosphere between the two. Naruto missed his punch and staggered. Instead of taking the opportunity to pursue, Gaara took a half step back and waited for his opponent to regain his balance.

In the next round, Naruto successfully deflected Gaara's straight punch with his elbow and shouted something excitedly. Gaara nodded almost imperceptibly.

Sweat slid down their foreheads, glistening in the sunlight.

They were both covered in dust, Naruto's blond hair was sticking up in a mess, and Gaara's short hair was soaked with sweat and stuck to his cheeks.

But they are all alive. Not just "not dead," but truly alive, with muscles moving, blood flowing, and minds focused and engaged.

Maki looked at that image.

"Gaara... he actually found a friend."

The words were spoken softly, but Shuuji heard them. He didn't respond, but simply stood there quietly, his hand resting on the corridor railing, his gaze fixed on the training field.

Just then, Iruka, who was in charge of coaching from the sidelines, walked over and said something to Gaara.

The red-haired boy stopped what he was doing, made a gesture to Naruto, then turned and left the training ground, heading towards the school building.
-
On the other side of the playground, Sasuke had just finished a set of training exercises involving kicking wooden stakes.

He had lost interest in playing around with his classmates and instead used his time in practical training sessions to digest the lessons left over from the special training class.

Kai's physical training was very effective; he could feel his muscle memory forming and his way of generating force changing.

But he wasn't the only one who made progress.

Sasuke's gaze shifted to the direction where Naruto and Gaara were sparring. Then, he saw Gaara stop his movements and turn to walk towards the school building.

His gaze followed the red-haired boy's back as he climbed the stairs, finally stopping at the end of the third-floor corridor.

He spotted the two people standing there with his excellent eyesight.
One of them appeared to be a ninja from Sunagakure, and the other was none other than Shuji.

Gaara went to find them.

The conversation at the dinner table last night echoed in my ears. My father's calm narration, my brother's unfinished words of comfort.

He shouldn't have treated his brother like that.

However, if his physical abilities aren't solid enough, then what about Gaara, whose physical skills are even worse?

Sasuke took a step forward.

He wanted to ask himself why he wasn't good enough.

What's still not enough? Why is it that even though we've gained recognition, we find ourselves falling further behind without even realizing it?

He had only taken five steps when he suddenly stopped.

The person on the teaching building—Mr. Shuji—seemed to lower his gaze.

Sasuke's foot was rooted to the spot.

Mr. Shuji saw me.

If I rush up and confront them now, it would be like a child throwing a tantrum because they didn't get candy...

Will he, like his father, show that calm, unblaming disappointment?

Sasuke stared at the figure in the third-floor corridor, watching Gaara walk up to the two of them, and watching Shuuji raise his hand and gently pat the red-haired boy's shoulder.

He turned around and walked back to the edge of the training field. He faced the wooden stakes again and assumed a fighting stance.

boom!
He kicked the wooden stake right in the middle. The dull thud drew the attention of several students nearby, but he didn't care.

He simply threw punches and kicked repeatedly, venting all his emotions into this silent piece of wood.

Sweat quickly soaked his back. His breathing became heavy, and his muscles began to ache, but he didn't stop.

can't stop.

If you can't even handle this level of training, what right do you have to ask "Why not me?"

(End of this chapter)