Chiyo did not express much about the low efficiency of the Sand Village upper echelons, but just said calmly: "The position of Kazekage is vacant, what are you going to do? Without a leader, it will be troublesome if the Land of Earth invades!"

"Konoha will protect us through this dangerous period!"

"Put your hopes on others? The Sand Ninja is truly depraved!"

Chiyo, who had witnessed the rise and fall of the Hidden Rock Village for decades, never believed in any covenant, which was a piece of empty paper that could be torn up at any time. Many Sand Ninjas, including Chiyo, never thought that there was anything wrong with betraying Konoha. Their mistake was to listen to Orochimaru's deception and fail to recognize the gap between the Hidden Sand Village and Konoha, which led to their defeat. They were annoyed by their own powerlessness and stupidity of being deceived, rather than the shame of betraying their allies.

Fuyi, who knew Chiyo's character well, was speechless in the face of his predecessor's accusations and could only use silence to hide his embarrassment.

"When people get old, they like to reminisce about the past and say some unnecessary words!" Chiyo put down the fishing rod in her hand, turned around and said to Fu Yi, "How strong are the children of the Sand Ninja? Are there any outstanding talents?"

"Unfortunately, although there are a few talented youngsters, they are still far from becoming Chunin. Among the Genin selected to participate in the Chunin Exam this time, only two teams have some special skills. If they are lucky, they may be able to enter the final selection. The rest are just mediocre people who make up the numbers. As for the others, they are even more useless. The gap between our reserve strength and Konoha is getting bigger and bigger."

"Compared to Konoha's foundation, the Sand Ninja is still far behind, but we seem to have neglected the improvement of the ninja education system. I heard that the village intends to learn from the example of Konoha Ninja School and reform the basic ninja education?"

"Yes, Master Chiyo, we are ready to execute it, but it will take two to three years to see the results!"

"Finally I heard something interesting. Those guys who just sit there doing nothing are not that incompetent!"

Chiyo said harsh words with a smile, not caring at all that Fu Yi in front of her was the idiot she was talking about.

After laughing, Chiyo continued, "When the beasts fight, their claws and teeth are weak and there is nothing they can do. It is better to lie on the ground and expose their soft belly to show their complete submission."

"Is this too weak? There is absolutely something we can do about it?"

"Then what do you want to do?" Chiyo looked at Fuyi who was trying to argue with a half-smile, "What's the point of doing more? Since you're counting on Konoha's protection, you should curb your arrogance. The Sand Village, which can't even choose the Kazekage, can't scare the enemy by showing off its might, but will only make Konoha unhappy. A wounded beast should lick its wounds honestly and stop making trouble."

"yes."

Originally, Maki was the best person in charge, but he mismanaged the Chunin Exam, and even the Jinchuriki was captured by Konoha. The Sand Village lost the last bargaining chip, and the Sand Village had to beg for peace. Not long after, in the operation to capture the Red Sand Scorpion, not only did they gain nothing, but they also lost two jonin, especially Juan, a rare talent in sealing techniques in the Sand Village, who died so worthlessly.

This second major setback was the main reason for Maki's plummeting reputation. Then Fushigi, who had different political views from Maki, was appointed as the leader of the Sand Village in this Chunin Exam.

The thought that the Sand Village would only go for a formality in the upcoming Chunin Exam made the proud Fushigi feel uncomfortable.

"What? Are you not willing to give up?" Chiyo turned around and picked up the fishing rod again, saying slowly.

"If you are not as strong as others, you should face the reality. Now we need Konoha's support."

"It's good to know, but don't forget your duty as a Sand Ninja. No matter how humble we are, we are only Konoha's allies, not its vassals!"

…

In Konoha Village, Mizuki was conducting his last training before the New Year. Except for a few extremely important posts that required ninjas to be on duty, most people had started their vacation.

In the training ground, a group of Mizuki's shadow clones held a light blue chakra ball in their hands, with sparks of electricity flashing from time to time.

"Why not use Chidori?" The clone was a little puzzled as to why the original body was so honestly practicing the basics of lightning chakra.

"That's not necessary. With my reaction ability and without the Sharingan, the Chidori is just a decoration. Not only is it difficult to hit the enemy, it's also very dangerous."

"Isn't Chidori Style very practical? It combines offense and defense!"

Shuimu shook his head and rejected it, "I don't need lightning attack, I just want its defensive ability. The defense of the Raikage's lightning armor is amazing, so I want to add lightning attribute to the chakra shield and turn it into a lightning shield. Add an earth shield, and it can basically defend against all attribute attacks without being restrained."

"You're really afraid of death. The first thing you think of is strengthening your defense."

Mizuki answered without any shame: "Is this wrong? There are too many monster-level strongmen in this world. If you don't take good care of yourself, how can you survive to seal Kaguya Otsutsuki?"

"The deviation caused by the butterfly effect is getting bigger and bigger. It's uncertain whether Kaguya Otsutsuki can be resurrected."

"As long as the Samsara Eye exists, someone will come to resurrect Uchiha Madara sooner or later. Before anyone is strong enough to kill him, the resurrection of Kaguya Otsutsuki is just a matter of time. We will have to face it sooner or later!"

"It's better to face it later than earlier." The clone looked at the shadow clone not far away and asked hesitantly, "Have you figured out how to deal with Nanao's matter?"

Shuimu thought about this problem for a long time, but couldn't find a foolproof solution.

"I still haven't figured out the significance of Kaguya Otsutsuki's resurrection. Especially, I'm not sure about the Six Paths Sage's position. As the creator of the original order, I need to think carefully about whether my actions will go against the Six Paths Sage's purpose!"

"Are we just going to let things take their own course? Then what's the point of pursuing power?"

"I will definitely not stand idly by. The first prerequisite is that Karin cannot die, otherwise wouldn't it be a joke for me to bring her to Konoha?"

How could Mizuki accept that Karin, who had nothing to do with the matter, was implicated and killed?

The clone also understood the original body's thoughts, and after a moment of silence, he said: "It is not necessarily certain that a Jinchūriki will die after being extracted from the tailed beast. Gaara and Uchiha Obito did not die. Chiyo's Jisei Reincarnation and Yang Release are important means."

Mizuki said: "You can give Haruno Sakura's method of resurrecting Uzumaki Naruto a try. You may need it in the future."

"Re-implant the tailed beast? Or even a part of it..."

Mizuki has Shukaku's clone in his hand, which might be able to save the Jinchūriki's life.