Akihara Kagura really wanted to talk more.
After all, the wooden dragon beneath his feet was continuously and secretly drawing chakra from Shukaku's body, flowing into Akihara Kagura's body incessantly.
Akihara Kagura could feel that his Ten-Tails' shell had gained a significant amount of chakra. The chakra provided by one tail was truly abundant, easily surpassing the amount absorbed from Hatake Kakashi with just a casual absorption.
"Teacher Jiraiya."
Seeing Jiraiya, Akihara Kagura continued to question: "His son can kill at will, and you can forgive him, so why do you blame me when I want to kill?"
"That's because you, brat, want to kill too many people!"
Jiraiya angrily interrupted Akihara Kagura's question.
Akihara Kagura quickly shook his head, changing the topic decisively and stirring up an identity confrontation: "No, it's because I'm just a child from the orphanage, whereas that red-haired brat is the son of the Kazekage of the Sand Village, right?"
"The Kazekage's son can kill whoever he wants, while an orphan can't even kill those who harm them. That's the way of the world, right?"
"Hey, hey, hey!"
Jiraiya outright rejected such accusations, quickly retorting: "You brat, don't start learning the Kazekage's ability to frame others, placing such blame on me…"
"Will you pursue the matter with the Sand Village for this orphan?"
Akihara Kagura ignored Jiraiya's rebuttal, effectively silencing Jiraiya with a single statement.
"…"
Jiraiya fell silent.
This world is actually unfair.
Many underlying rules, inconvenient to articulate, have always existed, just as children from the Konoha Village's orphanage are inevitably different from those of the Konoha's prestigious clans.
However…
Jiraiya couldn't instill this concept into his disciple.
"This world also possesses fairness."
Jiraiya shook his head, his determination strengthening.
The world lacks absolute fairness…
Yet, there exists a certain balance that maintains this unfairness.
Those dark, unwritten rules of the ninja world, Jiraiya didn't want his disciple to be exposed to them yet, not wanting the child to touch these dark rules.
Because discrimination based on identity would undoubtedly make Akihara Kagura feel the world's unfairness, pushing him towards the dark side during a critical period of education.
"Lord Kazekage."
"I can't criticize your indulgence towards the child…"
"Perhaps he can kill whoever he wants within the Sand Village…"
Jiraiya raised his head to look at the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, and spoke with a serious tone: "However, attacking a Konoha ninja is something that cannot be easily forgiven. We can't just let it go because he is the son of Lord Kazekage and wants to harm Kagura…"
As Jiraiya spoke, he remembered Akihara Kagura's healing ability and added softly: "Even though your son couldn't even break a single hair of Kagura's when he wanted to attack…"
"Psychological harm counts too…"
Akihara Kagura quickly added in his teacher's ear.
"…"
The Fourth Kazekage Rasa's forehead twitches.
Initially, when he heard his son could kill anyone he wanted, the Fourth Kazekage Rasa felt today's issue might be troublesome…
But as Rasa listened further, he found it increasingly strange. My son couldn't even harm a hair on you, so what exactly are you complaining about!
Gaara's reckless killing was simply because he, too, had no other way to handle the child, as Gaara killed those who were sent to assassinate him…
However…
The gap between ninja villages is too wide.
Since Gaara was at fault first, as the Kazekage and father, Rasa had to apologize.
"This is a misunderstanding."
The Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, had no choice but to repeat the words Jiraiya had just said, speaking solemnly, "Gaara has become the host of the One-Tail, and his personality is far too extreme and dark…"
"Of course."
"A child with such an extreme personality should also be punished for his mistakes."
The Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, had never cherished his youngest son, Gaara, and naturally would not care about punishing the child.
"…"
Jiraiya was forced into silence.
At this moment, he was somewhat unable to discern whom Rasa was actually blaming.
If one were to delve into the details, aside from Shimura Danzo, the child with the most extreme personality in the entire ninja world was right beside him at this moment.
To be honest,
How many people could Gaara, that little guy, kill?
His own companion, Akihara Kagura, would aim at the entire ninja world at the drop of a hat!
However, things should not be judged as right or wrong so simply. According to Jiraiya's educational philosophy, whether someone kills an innocent person or eradicates everyone in the ninja world, both are mistakes.
Akihara Kagura shook his head, not quite agreeing with Rasa's intention to punish Gaara, and took the initiative to say, "As Teacher Jiraiya said, your son is still a child. We can't deal with a child; we can only find his parents…"
"…"
Jiraiya pondered whether he had ever said such a thing.
"What do you want?"
The Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, furrowed his brow, thinking Akihara Kagura was influenced by Jiraiya: "How do you want to pursue my faults as a father? Do you want to kill me here?"
"This was his own suggestion!"
Akihara Kagura quickly brought his hands together, and the Wood Dragon that had been restraining the One-Tail suddenly began to split apart, its body rapidly growing into another Wood Dragon!
The second Wood Dragon coiled up, watching the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa!
"Hey, hey, hey, calm down…"
Jiraiya had to stop his disciple.
"…"
The Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, was also taken aback by Akihara Kagura's words!
How could this Konoha Village brat be so extreme? A casual, mocking remark of his was taken seriously by the boy, who even intended to take direct action?
Sands of gold gathered around Rasa, as he watched the Wood Dragon beside him, feeling a pressuring sense from the Wood Release ninja...
Such a Wood Dragon…
Effortlessly suppressed the One-Tail!
The Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, had thought dealing with a rampaging One-Tail would require some effort, but a Konoha Village brat managed to handle the One-Tail...
The depth of the Konoha Village was indeed terrifying.
"Kid, don't be rash…"
Jiraiya held Akihara Kagura's arm, whispering, "You absolutely cannot kill the Fourth Kazekage here; it would provoke a war between two villages…"
Akihara Kagura glanced at Jiraiya, continuing, "Teacher Jiraiya, we've come to the Land of Wind, we should bring back some specialty, right? I'm in a critical moment competing with Uchiha Itachi for the future leader of the Root. Itachi has always been by Lord Danzo's side in the Konoha Village, while I have been training with you. I definitely can't compete with him when we return; I must achieve some merits. Don't worry, I have experience…"
"How can you still be concerned about such matters!"
Jiraiya really wanted to knock some sense into his disciple's head: "You know what kind of person Shimura Danzo is. You should be clear about the things we've encountered along the way; stay away from him!"
You, this brat…
You might very well become the Hokage in the future!
"I know."
Akihara Kagura's eyes lowered, he said softly, "Lord Danzo has made many mistakes, and it's precisely because of this, I want to change the Root of the Konoha in the future, to change the means by which the Root protects the Konoha in the shadows, to make amends and correct the mistakes he once made…"
"…"
Jiraiya sighed deeply.
The tall man with white hair stretched out his palm and patted Akihara Kagura on the shoulder, whispering, "I understand what you mean, but the Sand Village is an ally of the Konoha, and there's no need for action. Just an invitation from the elder would be enough for the Kazekage to rush over..."
Now, it was Akihara Kagura's turn to fall silent.
The alliance between the Konoha and the Sand Village remains, and the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, has always been mild in his external dealings, maintaining a good reputation in this respect.
Now…
What should I say to continue stalling?
"Let go… let me go…"
Just at this moment, the ground's Shukaku weakly called out before its body suddenly disappeared, leaving Gaara, who was asleep on the spot.
The Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, quickly landed beside Gaara and checked his body. It seemed that Shukaku had mysteriously returned inside Gaara.
In fact…
It was because Shukaku had exhausted its strength.
This Tailed Beast's chakra was indeed plentiful, but its chakra restoration speed was far slower than the absorption speed of the Wood Dragon.
Akihara Kagura took the opportunity to observe the Ten-Tails shell inside him and found that its chakra had increased a lot. At least it now had visible chakra, which might support it in battle a few times in the future…
Unfortunately, the Ten-Tails shell inside Akihara Kagura could only be revived through absorbing chakra via Wood Release for the time being.
Of course.
Akihara Kagura had no intention of using other methods, like directly absorbing the Tailed Beasts, as such methods might cause him to lose a useful subordinate in the future…
Playing with Shukaku like this was not bad.
As long as Shukaku's chakra was restored, taking advantage of Gaara's sleep could trigger a rampage, allowing him to absorb Shukaku's chakra with Wood Release. Perhaps after hundreds or thousands of times, the Ten-Tails shell inside could be fully revived…
The problem is…
Shukaku might hide to avoid getting beaten.
There are nine Tailed Beasts in the ninja world, and Shukaku, the One-Tail, is quite smart, even learning ninja abilities. Its combat power far exceeds its tails, not being the weakest Tailed Beast in the ninja world.
This might also be because the One-Tail's chakra is the least among the Tailed Beasts. To avoid being mocked by other Tailed Beasts, it tries hard to learn ninja techniques.
"Does the One-Tail often go on rampages?"
Akihara Kagura hid his fox tail.
The Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, nodded without denying the fact. It's something that can't be hidden; once Gaara sleeps too deeply, Shukaku would come out and rampage.
"Why not seal the One-Tail's chakra?"
Jiraiya asked this question and immediately knew he had said something wrong. Not every ninja village can use the power of the Tailed Beasts as sparingly as the Konoha.
The Nine-Tails is too powerful and too difficult to control.
Other villages' Tailed Beasts are not as powerful, and even if they go on a rampage, it's relatively easy to control them.
The Konoha's Nine-Tails only rampaged once but took the lives of the Fourth Hokage and his wife along with many excellent ninja, causing heavy losses and great damage to the Konoha.
Moreover…
Other villages do not have a complete sealing technique inheritance like the Konoha.
"There's no way."
The Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, looked at Gaara with a complex expression and softly said, "The Sand Village is not like the Konoha; we can only hope that the Jinchuriki can control the Tailed Beast…"
"Is there a way?"
Akihara Kagura looked at Jiraiya and tentatively proposed his idea: "Simply let the Jinchuriki release the Tailed Beast and beat it to a certain extent, like taming a beast, which should also make them obedient…"
"That's a naive idea…"
The Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, shook his head and said in a deep voice, "Even if I wanted to suppress Shukaku's rampage, it would take a lot of effort. Every time Shukaku goes on a rampage, if it's not suppressed in time, it would bring huge damage to the village…"
However…
The Jinchuriki are of great significance to the ninja villages.
Konoha would not dare to carelessly place an immature Jinchuriki outside; they can only be kept within the village for protection. This inevitably means having to endure the damage caused by the Tailed Beast's rampage.
"It's quite simple, isn't it?"
Akihara Kagura touched his nose and glanced at Jiraiya: "Teacher Jiraiya, should we stay in the Land of Wind for a while to prevent anyone from assassinating the Kazekage..."
Jiraiya nodded.
If Orochimaru's assassination attempt on the Fourth Kazekage remains unresolved, Jiraiya would indeed need to stay longer in the Land of Wind to investigate Orochimaru's whereabouts.
After speaking with his teacher, Akihara Kagura turned to the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa: "Teacher Jiraiya won't let me kill you, but your son's attempt on my life needs to be settled. How about I use him for an experiment first?"
"If Lord Kazekage thinks I want to take revenge on your son, you could simply release Shukaku and then kill your son to spare him further suffering..."
"Don't spout nonsense!"
Jiraiya tapped Akihara Kagura on the head.
"What you're suggesting isn't something a sane person would say! How could any village release a Tailed Beast and then kill its Jinchuriki!"
Especially since this Jinchuriki is the son of the Kazekage!
Akihara Kagura muttered dissatisfiedly, "We can't just let this go. The Kazekage's son can't just kill people willy-nilly. I'm merely seeking justice, perhaps taking advantage of him to accumulate experience in dealing with Tailed Beasts..."
When he said this, Akihara Kagura stared at the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa: "Lord Kazekage, you wouldn't be considering waging war against us, worried that the Konoha might gain an upper hand in dealing with the Sand's Tailed Beast?"
Rasa felt as if his thoughts had been exposed.
Indeed, recently, Rasa had contemplated this, thinking that starting a war was the only way to resolve the Sand's financial troubles, since relying solely on gold mining offered no real solution.
But...
How could he ever admit to such a thing!
The Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, clenched his teeth and coldly huffed, "I'm more worried about the Konoha wanting to attack the Sand, to annex the Land of Wind..."
Jiraiya was somewhat speechless.
Akihara Kagura glanced at Rasa and reminded, "The Land of Wind is all desert, its land is not as fertile as the Land of Fire. What would the Konoha gain from attacking the Sand... sell sand to other countries?"
This was utterly insulting!
Rasa trembled with anger!
If it weren't for the fact that this brat, by his own strength, had defeated the Mist and captured the Fourth Mizukage Yagura, Rasa would have really liked to have a ninja duel with this brat!
"Do you know about what happened in the Mist, Lord Kazekage?"
Akihara Kagura looked at the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa: "We can't just let it go, the fact that your son wanted to kill us. What if we symbolically attack the Sand Village, offer you a way out, and then capture this brat for my experiments?"
After finishing, Akihara Kagura looked at Jiraiya: "This way, after killing the Kazekage, we won't have to stay here worrying about him being assassinated..."
"Calm down!"
Jiraiya quickly grabbed Akihara Kagura.
"The Konoha and the Sand are allies..."
The Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, clenched his teeth, holding onto their alliance, "If Konoha ninjas attack an ally, it would cause other villages to distrust the Konoha's credibility."
"Your son attacked me first..."
"Let my son Gaara sleep for now."
The Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, glanced at his son and said helplessly, "Tomorrow, when he wakes up, I'll talk to him about this. But this must be kept absolutely secret; I must be present for every one of your experiments..."
"That's fine."
Akihara Kagura nodded in agreement.
That night.
Akihara Kagura and Jiraiya found an inn in the Sand Village.
The Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, sent someone to ask them again if they had seen the ninja who took Gaara away, because it was discovered that this ninja had gone missing.
Obviously.
Everyone thought that the ninja had fled in fear.
Nobody knew that after the ninja left amidst the chaos, he had secretly entered a household, reached up to pull off the human skin mask on his face, revealing Orochimaru's visage.
"Did the plan fail?"
Sasori of the Red Sand was waiting for him here.
This household had only one person, a ninja from the Sand Village, who was controlled by Sasori's Secret Red Sand Technique, and naturally would not betray any information about Sasori.
"It's not a failure."
Orochimaru shook his head, laughing softly as he continued: "Didn't Pain assign me to act as a decoy to attract Jiraiya's attention? Now that Kagura and Jiraiya have arrived at the Sand Village, my mission should be considered complete, right?"
"..."
Sasori really couldn't find any faults, nodded, and then continued: "But we'll have to ask Pain how long you're supposed to distract him here..."
"It can't be too long, right?"
Orochimaru narrowed his eyes, laughing lightly: "I still have many experiments to complete... Is the Akatsuki organization forcing me to stay here indefinitely?"
"Of course not."
Sasori quickly shook his head and continued: "But, have you really not considered killing the Kazekage? Your human skin mask is quite excellent, perhaps you could rely on the Face Copying Technique to disguise yourself as the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa..."
"The Sand Village is not a wealthy village."
Orochimaru shook his head, not interested in impersonating the leader of such a village. The risk was high enough, let alone the low reward, and more importantly, it might even result in a loss of money.
Yes.
Being the Kazekage of the Sand Village truly was a job that required subsidizing with personal funds.
The Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, diligently collected sand gold, all of which was used to supplement the finances of the Sand Village and to train the village's ninjas.
It must be said.
Rasa was indeed doing his best to be an excellent Kazekage.
In order to allow the Sand Village to survive for so long after the daimyo of the Land of Wind reduced the military forces, the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, had given almost everything, even his wife, on her deathbed, had instructed him to take good care of Gaara. Gaara, however, was turned into the village's jinchūriki.
The next day.
In the early morning.
The red-haired boy woke up.
Since his father had sealed Shukaku inside him, becoming a one-tailed jinchūriki, this was the first good night's sleep Gaara had had in many years.
Even...
Gaara had a dream.
In that long dream, Gaara dreamed he had grown up and met the guy he saw during the day, but no matter what, he couldn't defeat the guy, and could only call on Shukaku for help. Yet, Shukaku stubbornly refused to come out and fight.
Unfortunately...
That was just a dream…
In the harsh reality, I still hadn't matured; the Shukaku within me was clamoring to break free, eager to confront that guy and reclaim its pride.
"Gaara."
The Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, entered and commanded in a cold voice, "Starting today, you will collaborate with someone on an experiment. He will help you tame the tailed beast inside you..."
"Yes."
Gaara responded, his expression cold as he lowered his head.
"Let's go, I'll take you there."
Leading him out of the room, the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, said gravely, "Remember, do not offend that brat named Akihara Kagura, and don't cause any more trouble for the Sand Village!"
"Yes."
Gaara responded coldly.
That guy...
Could he really help him control the Shukaku?
It seemed like a joke, perhaps something that could only help in a dream!
Outside the Sand Village.
Akihara Kagura and Jiraiya were waiting for the father-son duo.
Jiraiya, looking at his disciple, seemed to understand his intentions and took the initiative to say, "You want to experiment with the One-Tail for that brat Naruto, don't you?"
Having seen Akihara Kagura take care of Naruto Uzumaki before, Jiraiya gently reminded, "This might be a futile effort. Your experimental method, even if it's taming, won't fool the tailed beasts. Their intelligence is not low, almost equal to humans..."
"The experiment with the One-Tail Jinchuriki cannot be applied to the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki..."
"The difference in strength between the One-Tail and Nine-Tails is vast..."
"It's like the gap between a Genin in the village and the First Hokage…"
~~~
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