Hiruzen persuaded me to die

Sunagakure — a dark alley.

Uchiha Obito and Zetsu had quietly infiltrated.

Even though the village was surrounded by rock and sand walls, for the two of them, entering unnoticed was a trivial task.

Obito had Kamui, allowing him to phase through matter and teleport anywhere effortlessly.

White Zetsu's Mayfly Technique was even more suited for infiltration.

Just now, White Zetsu had returned from scouting the depths of Sunagakure.

When using Mayfly Technique, he could completely suppress his chakra, becoming nearly indistinguishable from nature itself.

On top of that, White Zetsu possessed a Transformation Technique that could replicate not just physical appearance, but also chakra signature — making his disguises nearly flawless.

In the Akatsuki, Zetsu was primarily used for reconnaissance and intelligence-gathering.

"So? Did you find anything on Pakura and the One-Tail Jinchūriki?"Obito asked casually.

He had two goals for this trip.

The first was to help Shinnō capture the Scorch Release kunoichi, Pakura — a potential subject for the Chimera Technique experiments.

The second was to preemptively capture the One-Tail, Shukaku.

But frankly speaking, Obito didn't see either as difficult.

After all, a few years ago, he had successfully infiltrated Konoha and nearly captured the strongest Tailed Beast — Kurama, the Nine-Tails.

And compared to Konoha, Sunagakure was far weaker.

Shukaku wasn't even close to the Nine-Tails in strength.

Now with both Mangekyō Sharingan and access to Susano'o, Obito's confidence was at an all-time high.

"Pakura isn't in the village. She left on a mission to Kirigakure today,"White Zetsu reported, shaking his head in disappointment.

"Kirigakure?"Obito narrowed his eyes, then let out a cold chuckle."I doubt it's a simple mission."

Zetsu tilted his head in confusion, prompting Obito to explain:

"Back when I was controlling Yagura, I remember the peace talks between Mist and Sand were deadlocked. Kirigakure had one main condition — they demanded that Sunagakure hand over Pakura, the 'hero' of the Sand."

"Because during the Third Great War, Pakura killed many Mist shinobi. That grudge runs deep."

Black Zetsu's eyes widened in realization.

"So… sending her there now… it's basically a death sentence?"

"Exactly,"Obito sneered."The village leaders are often ruthless to their own. They're masters of betrayal."

"If Naraku finds out,"he added with a smirk,"he might even sympathize."

Pakura's situation mirrored Naraku's past.

Konoha's Third Hokage had once agreed to hand Naraku over to Cloud for the sake of political appeasement after a diplomatic incident.

Now, Sunagakure was doing the same to Pakura — offering her as a sacrificial pawn to buy peace.

Black Zetsu scoffed.

"Pakura's no Naraku though. He wiped out half of Kumo in retaliation. One monster like that is enough."

"So what now? She's not even here. Do we just go back?"White Zetsu asked.

"Doesn't matter,"Obito replied indifferently."Shinnō's list is long. If not Scorch Release, there's always Magnet Release — the Fourth Kazekage himself uses it."

"Kumogakure has Magnet Release, Storm Release, Lava Release…"

"Iwagakure has Explosion Release and others."

"Any of them would do."

Obito's tone was unconcerned, as if kidnapping a Kage-level target was just another errand.

"But we can still grab the One-Tail host,"he added with a grin.

"We've located his residence. This way,"Black Zetsu said and took the lead.

Elsewhere — on a rooftop above Gaara's home.

"It was the Kazekage who ordered me to kill you.""He probably hates you deep down. I tried to love you in my heart… but I couldn't.""My sister — your mother — never wanted to give birth to you.""The name 'Gaara'… she chose it for you.""It means 'a demon who only loves himself.'""Her hatred for the village still lingers… and she left that hatred to you.""You've never been loved by anyone!"

Yashamaru's words — bitter and heart-wrenching — were part of the mission given to him by the Kazekage, Rasa.

If Gaara could suppress the beast despite such emotional trauma, he would be deemed a "successful" Jinchūriki.

"AAAAAHHHHHHH!!!"

Red-haired, pale-skinned Gaara, already cursed with deep eye bags, let out a primal scream.

Tears streamed from his eyes, saliva dripped from his mouth, and his chakra began to twist uncontrollably.

"I'LL KILL YOU!!"

His right arm mutated, a massive, sand-cloaked claw emerging. Behind him, a tail of sand whipped in the air.

The rage and grief triggered a partial transformation — Gaara was losing control.

Just as Obito and Zetsu arrived at the rooftop—

"What the hell?"Zetsu blinked in shock.

The boy had been fine just minutes ago!

Now he was transforming into a monster right in front of them.

"DIE! YOU'RE ALL GOING TO DIE!"

Gaara screamed, driven by desperation.

With a wild motion, he flung sand like bullets across the area.

"Tch,"Obito clicked his tongue and activated his Mangekyō.

"Kamui."

Now that he had both eyes, he no longer needed physical contact to transport others to the Kamui dimension. He could do it at range.

"Once he's inside Kamui, he can't escape,"Obito muttered, locking onto Gaara.

Sensing danger, the sand around Gaara surged instinctively to protect him.

"Useless,"Obito smirked."It's just ninjutsu. He can't dodge Kamui."

Young Gaara's body stiffened in panic.

The tearing sensation of Kamui was incomprehensible to him.

And at that exact moment—!

Shukaku seized control, invading Gaara's mind to take over his body completely!

With a deafening explosion, the massive body of the One-Tail tore through buildings as it emerged.

"AHA! I'M FINALLY OUT!"

"YOU TWO BUGS! I'LL KILL YOU! KILL YOU!"

Shukaku roared, laughing maniacally as it locked eyes on Obito and Zetsu.

"Damn it!"Obito cursed.

"Sunagakure's seal is way too weak!"

"Shukaku broke free that easily?!"

He gritted his teeth.

"Also, who the hell did this ridiculous raccoon learn its theatrics from? Can't it be serious for once?!"

In the distance, the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, arrived with a squad of shinobi.

"Who are you?! Did you release the One-Tail?!"

Rasa shouted, eyes fixed on the strange duo — one wearing a swirling orange mask, the other with half-black, half-white plant-like appendages.

They didn't look like anyone trustworthy.