Whenever the desert is ntioned, the first associations that co to people's minds are desolation, scorching sun, and a land where not a blade of grass grows.
Especially for those trapped within the desert—tornt from thirst and heat, despair brought by shifting sands and venomous scorpions.
The longer one survives here, the more keenly one understands their own insignificance.
Revere the desert. Fear the desert.
And so, under the influence of humanity's vast collective negative emotions, Saibote was born—what Sunagakure called the "Sand Spirit."
Humanity's fear and awe of the desert gave rise to this special Special-Grade Cursed Spirit.
Moreover, from the very mont of his birth, Saibote's intelligence far surpassed that of ordinary cursed spirits. In an extrely short span of ti, he learned human language and ways of thinking.
During this process, he witnessed many humans being brutally killed by cursed spirits, and likewise saw countless "low-level brethren" captured and exterminated by humans.
All cursed spirits are born because of humans—yet in reality, humans have no need for them.
And cursed spirits born from intense negative emotions are, by instinct, infinitely close to evil, instinctively creating slaughter and feeding upon humans as nourishnt!
Once he understood this, Saibote realized that the ultimate fate between humans and cursed spirits would inevitably be one dominating the other, forming a twisted symbiotic relationship.
The only difference lay in which side held the dominant position.
After all, cursed spirits can never be completely eradicated. As long as humans continue to harbor despair, fear, hatred, and countless other negative emotions, cursed spirits will continue to be born.
By the sa logic, if humanity were to go extinct—
Cursed spirits would naturally cease to exist as well.
Thus, after observing for a period of ti, Saibote decided to first gather a group of cursed spirits under his command.
Then, using that as a foundation, gradually expand the power of cursed spirits.
Because at this stage, humanity clearly held an absolute advantage. Whether individually or collectively, those humans known as ninja embodied overwhelming strength.
By himself alone, he could not change this situation.
So he needed helpers. He needed companions.
He hoped that one day, cursed spirits would replace humans and take control of the symbiotic relationship.
Thus, he began attempting to use force to rescue cursed spirits captured by humans.
He succeeded several tis—but as a result, he also drew the attention of powerful figures on the human side.
In order to prevent the hard-earned forces he had gathered from collapsing overnight, he had no choice but to lead these "burdens" into constant hiding.
But now, the yellow sand beneath his feet was telling him—
The humans had found him, and they were closing in.
As for leaving the desert—
That thought had never crossed his mind for the ti being. Because only within the desert was he most comfortable—and at his strongest!
"Cal Yoko, continue forward from here. There's a village ahead with many low-level humans. Take them there, and wait for to regroup."
Saibote suddenly stopped and spoke to a woman whose body was covered in brown fur, with a cal's hump growing from her back.
"Have powerful humans caught up to us? Lord Saibote, let stay behind and fight alongside you."
As the second most intelligent mber of the group, Cal Yoko imdiately declared her loyalty.
Several other cursed spirits with so degree of intelligence also expressed their willingness to stay behind and fight the humans to the death.
Saibote's tone remained completely calm.
"No need. You're too weak."
This wasn't mockery—it was a statent of fact.
The cursed spirits had no way to refute it. After all, most of them had originally been rescued by Saibote from human hands.
"Before you leave, leave that human captive with . The fact that they caught up so quickly suggests there may be sothing wrong with him."
"I'll kill him!"
"Follow my orders."
"…Yes."
"Go. Grow stronger. Only by becoming stronger can you truly help ."
"We won't disappoint you."
In the desert, Cal Yoko imdiately led all the cursed spirits onward.
Saibote alone remained behind as rearguard.
As long as he remained within the desert, he feared no one.
It didn't take long.
More than twenty Sunagakure ninja erged from all directions, surrounding him at the center.
"Sand Spirit!"
"Brother Reki!"
Juan spotted Reki lying on the ground with his eyes tightly shut and couldn't help but cry out.
"So it's you. Why don't you cherish your life—why co back to die?"
"Is it because of this man?"
"Or do you think these people are stronger than … strong enough to kill ?"
Saibote first lowered his gaze to look at Reki , then swept his eyes across Maki and the others.
Finally, his gaze locked onto the woman who had previously escaped from him—or rather, the one he hadn't even bothered paying attention to.
At this mont, Maki and the others were all visibly shocked!
Although they knew these suddenly appearing beings possessed a certain degree of intelligence, this was the first ti they had encountered a target that spoke so clearly and coherently.
This undoubtedly ant that the other party might possess potential no less than that of humans.
That was terrifying!
Maki's heart sank. He didn't rush to attack, instead trying to probe for information—gauging the level of the opponent's intelligence and whether it knew anything they wanted to know.
"What are you? Or rather, what exactly are you? Why did you suddenly appear on such a large scale without any warning?"
Saibote seed to want to buy ti for the other cursed spirits, so he didn't refuse to answer.
"Although you call the Sand Spirit—which doesn't sound too bad—my true na is Saibote."
"As for what I am… what we are…"
"I prefer the term Cursed Spirits."
"All things have spirits. We are the spirits of curses."
Saibote!
Cursed Spirits!
Spirits of curses!
Maki's confusion only deepened, but the value of this information was imasurable.
Moreover, the Saibote before them was likely the first cursed spirit capable of normal communication—at least the first they had encountered.
Perhaps cursed spirits were divided into many ranks.
So could communicate, while others were like wild beasts, knowing only how to attack humans.
"Sa… Saibote. Hand the man over to us. Perhaps we can reach a ceasefire between our two sides—on the condition that you restrain your kind and co back with us to et the Kazekage."
Maki was blatantly bluffing. He knew very well that the Kazekage would never give up such a golden opportunity—he would definitely continue capturing and researching so-called cursed spirits.
He was simply worried that they wouldn't be able to keep Saibote here.
However, Saibote—already well-versed in human behavioral patterns—didn't fall for it.
"Kazekage… Soone bearing the title 'Kage' should be the strongest among you humans, right? Although I would like to test myself against him, the timing isn't right yet. I won't risk my life."
Maki's heart sank even further.
This level of intelligence was already completely on par with humans.
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