(T/N: There is now a p.atreon for this work, and any new work I add will be dropped there first. check it out for an early release of up to 30 chapters edited smoothly. https://www.p.atreon.com/INeedRest)
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After two days and one night of intense travel, the four finally saw the entrance to Sunagakure on the evening of the second day.
The guard at the gate spotted Temari and hurriedly ushered them in.
When she heard that Kankuro had pursued the enemy alone but was poisoned, her face turned even paler.
"Take us to the infirmary," Colt said, gesturing for someone to lead them directly to the medical room.
"Konoha's White Fang! I'm going to kill you!" As soon as they entered Kankuro's room, an old lady rushed at Kakashi like a mad woman.
Her words made no sense, however.
"Elder Chiyo, you've mistaken him for someone else. This is Kakashi, Konoha's famous copy ninja," Colt said, grabbing Chiyo to stop her from causing any trouble between their villages.
The last time he came to the Land of Wind, Colt had met this old lady who often pretended to be dead to frighten her younger brother.
Now, he didn't have time for such games because things were serious.
The elder lady stared at Kakashi for a while before she closed her eyes and slumped in her own place. Tiredness was written all over her face.
Colt turned his attention to Kankuro.
Poisoned by Sasori of the Akatsuki, Kankuro's face had turned ashen.
If it weren't for his weak breathing, he could have been judged dead.
Colt immediately performed a healing technique, and powerful vitality poured in from him, destroying the toxins in Kankuro's body one by one.
To a certain extent, Colt was the ultimate nemesis of puppet masters, as their poisons had no effect on him at all.
Seeing her younger brother's breathing gradually stabilize and his face color return to normal, Temari was relieved.
One of her brothers was saved.
It didn't take long for Kankuro to wake up and recount the situation. Though he couldn't stop them, he did manage to do one thing.
He handed over a piece of Sasori's robe that he had managed to tear off to Kakashi.
Kakashi summoned his ninja dogs to follow the scent, and Colt's interest was piqued when he saw this.
After confirming that there were two enemies in total, everyone discussed team allocations for the next day.
"I'll deal with one of them by myself, and leave the other to Kakashi-sensei and Naruto," Colt decided, making Baki look embarrassed.
It was shameful that their Sunagakure's Kazekage needed a rescue team from Konoha. And they were the main fighting team at that.
But there was no other choice; except for Chiyo, the veteran who was nearing the end of her life, there were no other strong shinobis in their village.
"I'll go with you," Temari stood up, her face determined.
"No, you have to go to the border of the Land of Wind to prevent Iwagakure from gathering any information at this current time," Baki immediately refused.
"I will go, then," Chiyo sighed, fully realizing the village's weakness.
To prevent Sunagakure from appearing too incompetent at this moment, she had to step up.
Not to mention, her grandson was among the enemies.
She wanted to personally ask Sasori what he was trying to accomplish.
"Temari will come with me. As for Elder Chiyo, you will stay and guard the village, Baki can go control the situation in the borders" Colt made the final decision.
With his healing technique to replenish vitality, Chiyo's reincarnation technique wouldn't be needed.
Seeing that, Colt decided to save her life.
In the end, Chiyo did not object.
The village needed her now more than ever.
That night, the sky was filled with bright stars.
Colt sat on the roof of Temari's house, enjoying the evening breeze.
"Naruto, why aren't you resting?" Colt asked, sensing the presence behind him.
Naruto sat beside him; confusion evident on his face.
"Colt, is this really the fate of a Jinchūriki? Gaara finally became Kazekage. He hasn't even realized his ideal yet, but he's being targeted by the Akatsuki."
"Why? Why do we suffer like this, just because there's a monster living inside of us?"
It could be seen that Naruto's emotions were in disarray.
That was proved shortly after when his eyes had transformed into the red vertical pupils of the Nine-Tails, and its chakra began to leak out.
Colt placed his hand on Naruto's body, and a vibrant chakra forcefully pushed the Nine-Tails' chakra back.
"It's not as bad as you think, Naruto, don't overthink things," he said calmly.
"Don't worry about Gaara, I will rescue him. He is my brother-in-law after all."
"As for you, get stronger, and then your fate will be in your own hands"
No impassioned words, no grand gestures.
But there was a convincing force in his simple statement.
That led to Naruto regaining his composure.
Naruto stared at Colt blankly before nodding vigorously.
"I'll have to work harder too."
His words were heavy.
"Good. Now hurry back to sleep. We have a long journey ahead of us tomorrow."
Colt stood up and disappeared like a wisp of breeze.
The next day, Kakashi received new information from his ninja dogs under the lead of Pakkun. Sasori and Deidara were currently in a cave in the Land of Rivers.
There was a strong seal there, and Pakkun didn't dare to go deeper.
After getting the news, the group set off quickly.
The Land of Rivers was located at the junction of the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind.
Under Pakkun's guidance, Colt and the others followed the fastest route.
When they reached the territory of the Land of Rivers, Colt suddenly stopped and smashed a [Rasengan] into a nearby tree.
*Boom*
The others were still confused until they saw a white humanoid monster being shaken out of the tree.
"Oops, I was found out..." it said before losing its life.
'White Zetsu...'
Colt was a bit surprised when he saw it.
After awakening the [Wood Style], his perception of nature was extremely sharp, and he had sensed the unusualness of this tree.
Otherwise, even [Kagura Shingan] wouldn't have been able to detect White Zetsu's presence.
As expected of a product of the Divine Tree, its abilities were strange indeed.
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In the Land of Rivers, at an Akatsuki stronghold, members of the organization were watching as the chakra was extracted from Gaara's body and injected into the Gedo Statue.
Except for Deidara and Sasori who were physically present, the others were operating remotely through the Gentōshin no Jutsu.
Not long after Colt killed the White Zetsu clone…
"Sunagakure and Konoha's squad are coming. One of my clones has been discovered," Zetsu reported.
Pain remained unmoved and continued to preside over the [Sealing Technique: Phantom Dragons Nine Consuming Seals].
"Who is in the pursuit squad?" he asked.
"The One-Tail Jinchūriki's older sister, Konoha's Copy Ninja Kakashi, the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki, and... Kamiyo Colt."
The names of the first few didn't faze the Akatsuki members.
Perhaps in the eyes of others, Kakashi was a master, but how would he measure up to these S-rank missing-nins?
But when they heard Colt's name, several of them narrowed their eyes.
"Kamiyo Colt? That guy who mastered the Sharingan?" Deidara said with great anger.
He had deep malice towards anyone who possessed the Sharingan.
Pain frowned slightly.
He hadn't expected Colt to come as well.
If his real body was here, it wouldn't take so long to seal the Tailed Beast. And perhaps they wouldn't meet at all.
But now, it would still take some time before the ceremony was completed.
"We can't let them arrive so easily. We need someone to buy us some time…"