Hey guys, here is the new chapter hope you will liked and read thru everything.
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The desert wind blew with its usual relentless force, lifting dense curtains of golden dust that clashed with a sibilant rustle against the high, curved stone walls of Sunagakure. The afternoon sun fell like a mantle of incandescent lead upon the earth, causing the air to vibrate on the horizon due to the extreme heat.
However, for the elite team that had just crossed the heavy main gates of the village, that suffocating and dry heat was a welcome relief, almost a celestial blessing, after having spent an entire week enduring the cold, freezing humidity, and treacherous blizzards of the northern seas.
Having finally stripped away their heavy thermal fur coats and their merchant disguises, Pakura, Sasori, and Karinna wore their common day-to-day clothes once again, feeling the familiar weight of their weapons and the freedom of not having to hide their identities from international spies.
Walking with a firm and steady pace, the three shinobi guided the newcomer through the bustling streets of the central market, weaving through stalls of spices, linen fabrics, and supply carts, heading directly toward the imposing silhouette of the Kazekage Tower.
Yler, however, did not walk at the quick pace of his companions. The engineer moved forward with his eyes wide open, turning his head in every possible direction with an insatiable, almost magnetic curiosity that completely erased any trace of the fatigue accumulated from the long journey by boat and walking, or being carried by a puppet.
His brown eyes, which for decades had been accustomed to the monotonous, grayish, and depressing whiteness of the Land of Snow, as well as the black, industrial smoke from the coal chimneys of his homeland, tried desperately to take in the chromatic vastness of the desert.
Everything in this place captured his attention overwhelmingly: the changing golden hue of the dunes that could be seen beyond the fortifications, the way the sunlight refracted over the hot air creating floating mirages, and, above all, the unique and organic architecture of the village, whose houses and passageways were excavated and molded directly into the sandstone.
Every few steps, Yler would stop for a second to run his calloused, old-grease-stained hand over the surface of the public structures. His fingers traced the roughness of the limestone, marveling at the temperature of the material. Despite the sweat that continued to run down his forehead and soak the collar of his shirt, his face reflected no complaint; on the contrary, it glowed with the pure fascination of a child in a giant toy store or an explorer stepping onto an unexplored planet.
"The passive thermal heat in this place is simply fascinating," Yler commented with a voice full of genuine wonder, adjusting the straps of the heavy canvas sack he carried on his back, which contained every single one of his modified blueprints and essential notes.
"In the north, we spend our entire lives designing complex systems just to fight the environment, trying to retain heat within the walls before the ice destroys everything. But here... here the stone seems to breathe the solar heat, storing it like a giant natural battery. Furthermore, the almost total absence of ambient humidity completely changes the oxidation rates of iron and copper. It is a magnificent and absolutely perfect environment for a constructor! The laws of physics feel so clean in this dry air."
"Save some of that breath for the tower stairs, Yler," interrupted Pakura with a sidelong smile, subtly amused by the engineer's overflowing enthusiasm. She adjusted the position of her tactical vest and nodded for him to quicken his pace.
"I appreciate your enthusiasm for our walls, but I assure you that you haven't seen the best part of the project yet."
Sasori walked a step ahead of them, keeping his hands hidden inside the sleeves of his robe. Although his face remained impassive and his voice maintained its usual serious monotony, his black eyes never stopped observing Yler's movements, analyzing the engineer's capacity for observation.
For her part, Karinna walked alongside the redhead, a small and constant smile on her lips; seeing Yler's excitement before the new reminded her of when she first arrived and was received by Daigo as a special guest, and although at first she hated the heat, little by little she began to like it.
The group finally entered the central tower of Sunagakure, crossing the corridors where the guards of the security division immediately stood at attention upon recognizing Pakura and Sasori. They climbed the wide spiral staircases until they reached the highest floor, stopping before the large wooden doors that led to the office of the village leader.
Pakura knocked twice before pushing the doors open, allowing the group to enter the administrative heart of the Arena.
Upon entering the main office, Daigo was waiting for them, standing by his massive oak desk, his characteristic and striking pink eyes immediately fixing on the silhouette of the newcomers.
The Kazekage wore the normal clothes of his position, though his hat was on the desk so as not to be a bother. Next to Daigo was Rasa, whose ANBU uniform made him look more imposing, although sitting in a chair, it seemed like they were having a conversation more normal than one about war details.
"Mission accomplished, Kazekage," Pakura announced, taking a generous step forward and allowing herself to relax her posture after being on alert for a week.
"The journey was long and the borders of the Land of Earth were heavily guarded, but we brought the exact man you needed for your project."
Daigo locked his gaze on Yler, evaluating the engineer's posture, hands, and gaze in absolute silence for a few prolonged and intense seconds.
Yler, far from being intimidated or lowering his head before the imposing, dense, and dangerous presence of the military and political leader of one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, took a step forward with a spark of vivid curiosity shining in his pupils.
With a quick and excited movement, he took the heavy canvas sack off his shoulders and placed it on the large wooden office table, untying the leather cords with agile and precise fingers that betrayed his urgency to start working.
"So you are the Kazekage," Yler said, looking Daigo directly in the eyes, without a shred of the coldness or fear that most civilians showed before ninja. His tone was full of an evident respect, not toward the military rank, but toward the brain of the person who had conceived such a plan.
"The man who looked at this desert hell of sand and had the tremendous ambition to change things forever."
From his position, Rasa looked at the guest with curiosity, especially his attitude, and internally shook his head because he knew this madman would surely get along famously with Daigo. So, with a slightly curious look, he glanced at Daigo.
For his part, Daigo simply nodded with a slight smile, showing a pleased expression and a gleam of genuine satisfaction at seeing the engineer's character, energy, and overflowing passion.
"And you must be the man whose ideas were too advanced, grand, and brilliant to be understood by the narrow minds of the north," Daigo replied, walking around his desk with slow, steady steps until he stood in front of the map table, extending his right hand toward the newcomer.
"Welcome to Sunagakure, Yler. In this village, we do not measure a man's worth by the titles he is granted, but by his technical capacity and his courage to make real what everyone else considers impossible. I hope you find in our desert the ultimate challenge your brain was looking for."
The engineer shook the Kazekage's hand with a firm, rough, and resolute grip, sealing a silent pact of immediate mutual respect between both visionaries. Without wasting another second on unnecessary formalities that only served to waste time, Yler enthusiastically deployed his sketches and spreadsheets across the table, completely covering all the paperwork that was already there.
Rasa immediately leaned forward, observing the detailed plans alongside the ideas the engineer had.
"Let's get straight to the point, because time never stops," Karinna intervened, taking a seat in one of the side chairs while resting her hands on the edge of the table.
"During the return journey on the boat, we explained to Yler the estimated volume of the underground water you discovered in the subsoil. He understands perfectly that our greatest obstacle is not drilling the stone; the real danger lies in the tremendous and massive pressure of the quicksand directly above us. If the village's support structure gives way even a single millimeter during the process, all of Sunagakure will collapse."
Daigo rested his elbows on the desk, intertwining his fingers as his gaze became deep, loaded with a vision that went far beyond the walls of his office.
"Karinna is right, but the scale of this project is even greater than what I told you before you left for the north," Daigo began, fixing his pink eyes on Yler.
"My ultimate plan is not just to extract water so the village stops rationing it. What I seek is to change the geography of this area. I want to use the flow of that underground ocean to nourish the sand from its roots, channel it through conduits and, in the not-too-distant future, create a massive oasis in the heart of the desert. I want Sunagakure to be a new village, a hub of commerce and industry where natural water flows freely and vegetation can thrive for the first time in centuries. Sunagakure will cease to be a hidden fortress in a pit to become the epicenter of a fertile and tourist-friendly territory."
Daigo's words resonated within the walls of the office with a magnetic force. The scope of his ambition was so colossal that for a moment silence took over the room. Karinna looked at him with eyes bright with admiration, while Rasa remained leaning back in his chair, processing the magnitude of what his friend had just proposed.
Yler, who had been listening with absolute attention, felt a shiver of pure excitement run down his spine. The scale of the project was everything he had ever dreamed of; it was a challenge to the very gods of nature. However, as Daigo's proposal settled in his constructor's mind, his expression shifted from fascination to a strictly professional seriousness.
He began to examine the topographical maps with a furrowed brow, tracing invisible lines with the back of his pencil.
"It is a beautiful vision, Kazekage... truly grand," Yler said, breaking the silence with a firm voice loaded with technical honesty.
"And technically, with the proper mechanisms, it is possible to build the channels. But there is a fundamental problem in the physics of your plan, one that ambition cannot ignore. If you extract all that water from the subsoil to bring it to the surface all at once, you will destroy your own dream before it even begins."
Daigo nodded, looking at him. "Continue."
"The heat of this desert is relentless and devouring," Yler explained, pointing his finger at the dunes drawn on the exterior map.
"If you bring that immense amount of water to the surface to create an oasis without strict control, the sun and the surrounding dry sands will wipe out everything in a matter of months. Evaporation would be massive, and the thirsty sand would absorb the water so quickly that the ground would become unstable. But the real danger is below. That ocean of ice has acted as the support pillar for the crust for a long time. My professional recommendation is that we must not extract all the water under any circumstances. We must build a regulated extraction system, a complex of underground floodgates and boilers that extracts only the necessary flow and leaves the rest down there, keeping the hydraulic pressure constant so the earth does not give way."
Rasa, who until that moment had remained on the sidelines observing the exchange, straightened up in his seat. His ANBU uniform rustled slightly as he nodded, backing the engineer's words.
"Yler is entirely right, Daigo," Rasa intervened, his tone mature and military.
"The desert has been dry for so long that the stability of the entire region depends on that balance. If we extract water indiscriminately and empty the lower cavities, the surface sand will lose its base of support. All the surrounding terrain, including the tunnels that are active all the time, would go straight into the void."
Sasori, who remained standing at the side of the table, observed the plans and let out a slight sound of approval.
"The physics of fluids do not lie. Keeping the core of the frozen ocean as a structural pressure pillar is the only way to ensure that the pipes we design do not deform under the weight of all the sand above."
Daigo knew it; he was not foolish. He listened with absolute attention to Yler's arguments and Rasa's backing, analyzing the long-term implications. Instead of being upset about seeing his original idea modified, a smile of deep satisfaction spread across his face.
"Excellent," Daigo said, nodding firmly toward both men.
"That is precisely why I wanted you both at this table. I don't need subordinates who say yes to everything; I need minds that protect the future of the Arena. If the water must mostly remain below to sustain the earth, then we will design the most efficient network of closed conduits."
Daigo stood up, indicating the end of the session. He looked at Yler, noticing the dark circles and the subtle physical exhaustion that the engineer tried to hide behind his inexhaustible scientific enthusiasm.
"Yler, you've had a very long and exhausting journey from the north, whether walking or enduring Sasori's transports," the Kazekage said with a hospitable and respectful tone.
"I want you to go and rest right now. We have assigned you a private residence near the workshop sector, a quiet place where you can settle in. Take all the time you need to adapt to the climate, review the technical specifications of the subsoil, and begin tracing your definitive plans for the regulated boiler system."
Yler smiled, putting away his pencils and carefully gathering his scrolls inside the canvas sack.
"I appreciate the hospitality, Kazekage. But I doubt I'll be able to sleep much with so many ideas spinning in my head."
"While you rest and put your designs in order, I will handle the political side," Daigo continued, exchanging a look of complicity with Rasa.
"Tonight, I will speak with the village council and the clan leaders to formalize the start of operations in the maintenance tunnels. I don't want you to worry about the cost of materials, alloys, or tools you will need for your inventions. Sunagakure will cover absolutely all expenses for this project; you have my full financial backing."
Yler nodded with a gleam of pride in his eyes, adjusting the sack onto his back. For the first time in his life, his ideas were not treated as expensive madness, but as a nation's most valuable treasure.
With a respectful but firm bow, the engineer left the office accompanied by Karinna, who offered to guide him to his new residence. Sasori retired silently toward his own laboratories to begin preparations for the casting molds, leaving Daigo and Rasa alone in the office.