Hiruzen persuaded me to die

"I'll give you the chance to take revenge," Hyūga Naraku said with a slight smirk as he turned to Pakura."But you'll have to kill the Fourth Kazekage yourself."

Pakura nodded, her eyes cold."That's exactly what I want."

She hesitated a moment."But… attacking the Kazekage in Sunagakure means facing every shinobi in the village. Can you handle that on your own?"

She knew this man had taken down Kumogakure's AB combo—and flattened the entire village afterward. But even so, could the Fifth Hokage truly overwhelm all of Sunagakure?

"You don't need to worry about that," Naraku said coolly as he started walking toward the village nestled in the desert cliffs.

After all, Rasa wasn't exactly a saint.

In the original timeline, he colluded with Orochimaru and attacked Konoha during the Chūnin Exams. Sunagakure had long since lost the right to call itself "honorable."

"What's the current structure of Sunagakure?" Naraku asked casually. "Do Chiyo and Ebizō still hold any power?"

Pakura shook her head."They've long since retired. The Fourth Kazekage controls everything now."

She wasn't sure why Naraku was asking. But she didn't care. He was helping her get revenge—and that was enough. She didn't hesitate to spill intelligence that Sunagakure had once forced her to guard with her life.

"After the war, Chiyo and Ebizō couldn't stay in seclusion any longer. But now it's just Rasa running the show."

Naraku nodded, then asked, "What about the Jinchūriki?"

Pakura's face grew grim."The current One-Tail Jinchūriki is Rasa's youngest son… Gaara. He's only five. The power of Shukaku has already gone berserk several times."

Naraku shook his head."Sunagakure really is weak. Besides Rasa and you, no one there can lead. And even then, they had the nerve to send you to be sacrificed to Kirigakure."

Pakura's chest tightened. Her hatred deepened.

Soon, they reached the towering stone walls surrounding Sunagakure. A narrow canyon formed the only passage in.

Pakura pointed."That's the main entrance. Guards are posted 24/7. If you enter through there, you'll definitely be spotted."

She glanced at Naraku's white cloak, emblazoned with the red kanji for "Fire."

This man is way too arrogant. He's wearing a Hokage cloak, just casually strolling into enemy territory?

Naraku reached out and rested a hand on her shoulder."Then let's fly in."

A wave of repulsive force erupted beneath their feet.

"Wha—!?"

Pakura was yanked into the sky without warning, carried high above the desert in a single breath.

Below, all of Sunagakure was exposed.

"I'm… flying?" she muttered in disbelief. She remembered now—when they first met, he moved like this. Like gravity meant nothing to him.

Inside the Kazekage Tower

Night had fallen.

Rasa, the Fourth Kazekage, stood staring silently out the window.

Nearby, Baki finally spoke."Lord Kazekage… we won't be able to retrieve Pakura now. If she knew the real mission, there's no way she'd forgive us."

Rasa didn't answer for a long time.Then he sighed.

"It's done. We proceed as planned."

"Starting tomorrow, prepare for war. Ōnoki isn't in Iwagakure—this is our chance to seize territory from the Land of Earth."

Baki nodded.With both the Third Tsuchikage Ōnoki and his son Kurotsuchi away on a mission in the Lightning Country, this was the best window for an assault.

"I had no choice," Rasa muttered defensively."The village is broke. After we lost the Third Shinobi War, the Daimyō cut our funding drastically."

"And after Konoha's Fifth Hokage flattened Kumogakure by himself, the Daimyō assumed we didn't need military spending anymore."

He clenched his fists."They think: 'Konoha will protect us, so why waste money on Sunagakure?'"

After the war, Rasa had used his Magnet Release to extract gold from the desert, just to keep the village alive. But after Naraku's victory, even that wasn't enough. Their finances were in shambles.

"We need a victory. And we need more land. If we capture territory, the Wind Council will collect taxes, and the Daimyō might actually respect us again."

"For that goal, we must seal an alliance with Kirigakure. And for that…" Rasa's voice trailed off."…it was worth sacrificing Pakura."

Baki said nothing. He couldn't justify it.

Even if it was "for the future of the village," throwing away a hero like Pakura was something he couldn't stomach.

He finally asked, "But… Gaara is just a child. Isn't it too soon to send him to the battlefield?"

Earlier, Rasa had told him that Gaara would participate in the upcoming invasion.

"He's only five!"

"This is the final test," Rasa said coldly."If he can't control Shukaku, we'll need to replace him as a Jinchūriki."

Baki narrowed his eyes."You're sending another assassin?"

Rasa nodded."Yashamaru."

Baki was stunned.

Yashamaru—Gaara's uncle. The only person Gaara trusted.

"Are you serious?! He's the last person that boy trusts! If you have Yashamaru try to kill him—"

Suddenly—

A monstrous shriek pierced the night.

"Kill you! Kill you! KILL YOU!!"

The air shook with gleeful bloodlust—like a wild beast finally unchained.

Rasa's expression darkened."That voice…"

He rushed to the window.

In the distance, he saw it: a massive figure with a twitching, curved tail and swirls of sand howling around it.

Shukaku the One-Tail had fully emerged.

"How—?!"

Even if Gaara couldn't fully control Shukaku, the seal shouldn't have broken so easily.

"What happened…?!"