Naruto: The Strongest Sage.

Temari and Kankuro are eating at a barbecue restaurant. Yes, although they are captives, they are free in Konoha now.

They can even eat outside freely, but they are always accompanied by the Zhu Lu Die team.

Shikamaru was helpless about this. He didn't understand why the higher-ups were so lenient with these two guys. He originally thought that these two guys would be sent to the torture room and tortured.

Although Temari and Kankuro seemed calm at this moment, they were actually very panicked inside.

These days, the two of them discussed privately many times. What exactly does Konoha mean by this?

Kankuro always felt that they were ready to send the two of them off at any time. Temari thought a little more. She felt that Konoha was showing them its strength.

"To be exact, they are showing off. Look around you. It has only been a few days since the war, and Konoha has already resumed its normal economic operation. If it were us in Sunagakure, we would never be able to do that."

Kankuro was very unconvinced, but he had to admit that Konoha's foundation was really strong. Sand Village and Sound Ninja joined forces and even killed the opponent's Hokage. But the war was still a complete failure.

The most important thing is that, as the attacked party, Konoha has now begun to return to normal.

What about Sand Village? Although the two did not go back, they grew up in Sand Village and are very familiar with it. The current Sand Village is probably still arguing about who is responsible.

Kankuro was speechless and could only eat the barbecue with big mouthfuls, as if he could eat Konoha out of money.

But at this moment, he suddenly noticed that Temari's expression was not right.

"what happened?"

"Behind." Temari responded simply. Kankuro looked back and saw Gaara.

Wait, why do I see Gaara? It's understandable that the two of them have a certain amount of freedom. Because Konoha is full of masters, the two of them can't cause any trouble. But Gaara, he is a Jinchūriki. How can Konoha let him move freely?

But no matter how you look at it, the person in front of you is Gaara.

The most outrageous thing was that Gaara actually walked up to the table and sat next to the two of them.

"Give me a serving dish, please."

It wasn't just Temari and Kankuro. Shikamaru and the others were also stunned. Although the three of them didn't fight with Gaara.

But they saw Gaara turn into a monster with their own eyes on the day of the battle. As descendants of a great family, they knew Gaara's identity. How could such an important prisoner be allowed to move freely?

Seeing Gaara eating the barbecue without paying attention to others, the other five people at the table kept silent.

Temari and Kankuro looked incredulous. Gaara was eating barbecue with them? Were we under a genjutsu?

And Gaara's expression was not right. How should I put it? It seemed that he no longer had the coldness from before. Although he was still expressionless, he looked much softer.

"Gaara you..." After a long time, Temari spoke tentatively.

"Don't worry." Gaara responded while eating. He was actually very complicated. Aoba and Shukaku didn't avoid him during their conversation. But Gaara didn't understand most of it.

But there was one thing he knew very well. There were very terrible enemies in the Ninja World. And Konoha, or rather Kamikawa Aoba, was now secretly preparing to fight against them.

Revealing this information to me was nothing more than wanting me to join. Gaara didn't know whether it was true or not. But judging from Shukaku's attitude, it was probably true. In this way, the situation became a little complicated.

Shikamaru half-lay on the chair, revealing a thoughtful expression. He now roughly understood what the village meant.

The three most important captives were given freedom. There was only one possibility, that was that Konoha was going to form an alliance with Sunagakure. No, it was not really an alliance.

According to the current strength of Sand Village, to be exact, it is time to recruit Sand Village as a younger brother.

From a big picture perspective, this was indeed the right choice. After the war, both Konoha and Sand Village suffered heavy losses. Under this situation, Kumogakure and Iwagakure were ready to make a move.

An alliance between the two sides is the best option to fight against the other two.

The only thing that puzzled Shikamaru was that according to the information he received, Kamikawa Aoba had defeated the Raikage head-on a few days ago, and was feared by the entire ninja world. At this time, Konoha should not need this little brother.

At this time, in Konoha's office building, the Sand Village envoys were waiting anxiously.

The leader of the team was Maki. He was one of the few high-ranking members of Sand Village who escaped from Konoha unscathed. However, it was not because of his ability, but because Aoba let him go.

He even brought back a group of Sand Village ninjas to increase their presence.

The purpose of letting Maki go was today. Because Aoba knew one thing very well, that is, there was really no one left in Sunagakure.

Maki is one of the few backbone forces who can hold the main beam. Although in the original plot, as an elite jonin of Sand Village, he tied with the special jonin of Shiranui Genma.

However, he is still very popular and has a high status in Sunagakure. He is also the teacher of the Sunagakure trio. He is the most suitable person to lead this delegation.

If Maki can't go back, Sunagakure will have to let the two old guys come forward. But how to say it? Due to the grudges in the Third World War, the old generation of Sunagakure is coming, and the negotiations are likely to be bad.

But after Maki came, he was left alone by Konoha. Every day he made excuses and refused to meet her.

Maki's thinking was more mature, and he vaguely guessed Konoha's plan.

"If nothing unexpected happens, they should wait for the new Hokage to take office before having formal negotiations with us."

"Why must it be so troublesome?"

"This is not a matter of whether it is troublesome or not. It is a more mature political consideration. Konoha is really full of talented people, and we in Sunagakure are far behind."

What Maki called mature political considerations was actually just a simple political trick in Aoba's mind.

Leave the important matter of negotiation to the newly appointed Hokage. Anyway, the battle has been won. What remains is to gain benefits for Konoha.

As long as he is not the fool who won the battle and paid the compensation like the Third Hokage. This is a merit of winning without doing anything. As soon as the Hokage took office, he made a great achievement and gained a lot of benefits for Konoha.

This will not only quickly stabilize the new Hokage's position, but also improve the morale of the village, the people's self-confidence, etc. It can be said that it kills two birds with one stone.

The other members of the delegation didn't understand, and Maki didn't want to explain. He was more worried about the safety of his three disciples. He didn't know how much torture they had suffered in Konoha.

But there was no other way. This was the price of defeat. Although they told the village that they were retreating, in reality, all the ninjas who participated in the battle knew that they had been defeated.

At that time, Konoha had even begun a counterattack. If they did not retreat, the Sand Village would be completely wiped out.

The Sand Village is in a dilemma, and Jiraiya is also in a dilemma now.