— So what could this be? — Uchiha asked in confusion, also observing the elemental fury through the barrier with his Sharingan.
— Given the dissimilarity of the chakra traces in the sand to human ones and the scale of the storm, there's only one option left — a Bijuu or Jinchuriki, — Hizashi shrugged.
— A peculiar way to express hostility towards representatives from other villages? — he speculated, thoughtfully scratching his chin. — Such a storm can only kill those without Doton abilities, but it can seriously inconvenience almost anyone, and it provides a way to take out some of the delegations without leaving any room for accusations.
— Quite possible, — the Byakugan user nodded, — the amount of foreign chakra in the sand is so minimal that even I have difficulty detecting it without intense concentration. Even good sensors might miss it if they haven't encountered a similar Bijuu chakra before.
Oh, so the Captain has faced Shukaku or its host… Unexpected, since I hadn't heard that Sunagakure was keen on using Ichibi even in the war, let alone in such a manner. After all, their Kazekage, with his Iron Sand, managed to replace the One-Tail effectively in the desert without the associated madness, and Sunagakure never had many practitioners of Fuinjutsu.
Most of their sealing knowledge was related to techniques used by puppet masters in creating their puppets, meaning slightly modified sealing techniques for storage and material enhancement.
— Since continuing the journey is impossible, we'll rest until the heat subsides, — Hatake ordered.
However, fitting a group of shinobi into a five-by-five meter square for rest was somewhat problematic, not to mention setting up tents. I wasn't willing to stretch the already chakra-draining barrier to a larger size, so my companions had to squeeze together, sitting. Nevertheless, shinobi are used to hardship, so no one complained, focusing on their rations.
I regretted not having the futon, which was sealed along with the tent instead of being in a separate scroll, which many of the Genin had used to cushion their seats. However, the folded cloak did the job, so after saturating the barrier's four paper seals to their limit, I munched on my ration, leaned against the wall, and almost instantly fell asleep.
***
It wasn't exactly a peaceful night — I had to get up a few times and literally crawl over heads to replenish the chakra-draining barrier until it was completely exhausted — but I managed to get a decent amount of sleep even under those conditions. Fortunately, the sandstorm that had picked up subsided a few hours after dawn, leaving us with a desert that wasn't as hot as on the first day and the sun beginning to heat up again by noon.
Admiring the surrounding sand, which had piled up to almost the top of the barrier and left only the top open, I was pleased to realize that I was now skilled enough in Fuinjutsu to open the free side without much trouble, allowing all the shinobi and kunoichi to jump out without risking being buried in sand up to their ears when removing the seals.
However, I had to sacrifice the seals since I had no desire to dig through tons of sand that had collapsed into the newly freed space, not to mention potential damage to the paper. Unlike moisture, these versions of protection did not account for physical damage.
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