Hiruzen persuaded me to die

Hyuga Naraku didn't know the full strength of Karura.

But!

Even if you overestimate it—

The strength of the Five Kage?

Never had he heard of anyone who could accomplish something like this.

Clearly, she had been dead for years, and yet she had still left behind an absolute defense for her child.

And more!

The speed of this sand defense was at least Chūnin level!

In the original series, Rock Lee during the Chūnin Exams already had Chūnin-level strength.

And he specialized in Taijutsu!

Even so, after removing his weights, Lee could just barely surpass Gaara's sand's automatic defense.

"Karura..."

Gaara looked at the floating sand in front of him, dazed.

He had heard that name from Yashamaru's mouth before.

It was his mother's name.

But!

"She..."

Gaara bit his lip tightly.

"Didn't she curse me when she gave birth to me?"

"That's what Yashamaru told me!"

Hyuga Naraku glanced at the Fourth Kazekage and said:

"He lied to you."

"How could Shukaku protect you?"

"It wanted you to get hurt, so it could break free when your emotions went wild."

"The sand that protected you was your mother's will."

"She stayed by your side like this, always."

Drip—

The sound of water hitting the ground echoed faintly.

Tears flowed uncontrollably from the corners of Gaara's eyes.

A child who had endured too much pain—

Was finally able to cry.

"Why... why did Yashamaru lie to me?"

Gaara choked, his voice trembling.

Not only had he tried to kill him!

He also said that Gaara's mother, Karura, had given birth to him under a curse!

Back then—

When he heard those words!

Gaara's mind had been filled with despair!

"Obviously, it's because of your wonderful father."

Hyuga Naraku's voice was laced with sarcasm.

"Probably, he wanted to test you."

"To see if you could control Shukaku under extreme emotional distress."

This sort of tactic...

What could he even say?

It was more outrageous than Danzo!

If Danzo had been the Kazekage, he'd at least have brainwashed Gaara from childhood—

Turned him into an emotionless tool for missions.

In that case, this kind of emotional shock might've worked.

For someone without feelings, emotional tests are meaningless!

But!

Gaara had feelings!

He wasn't like the emotionless members of Root, hollowed out by brainwashing!

And yet, the Fourth Kazekage still used this method!

He had Yashamaru, the person Gaara trusted the most, try to assassinate him. And when that failed, Yashamaru told him: no one ever loved you.

Who wouldn't fall into despair at that point?

Hyuga Naraku really wanted to pry open the Kazekage's skull—

To see what was inside that tiny brain of his!

Pakura stared at the Fourth Kazekage with a cold sneer.

"Using a dead mother to test your own child?"

"How the hell did you come up with that?!"

From Gaara's words, Pakura had also pieced together what the Kazekage had done.

He sent Gaara's uncle, Yashamaru, to assassinate him.

After the failed attempt, Yashamaru told Gaara his mother gave birth to him in hatred.

This...

Pakura couldn't help but feel, compared to her own betrayal, Gaara's pain ran even deeper.

Could a father really do something so cruel?!

The Fourth Kazekage stared blankly at the sand—and then at Gaara.

But...

All he saw in Gaara's eyes was hatred!

The Fourth Kazekage fell silent.

Hyuga Naraku shook his head.

"You, as Kazekage, your whole life has been full of wrong decisions."

The hero of Sunagakure, Pakura—

Betrayed and sent to die.

The Jinchūriki of the village—his own son, Gaara—

Regarded as nothing more than a weapon of war.

Now, even Gaara had no sympathy for him.

"Got any last words?"

Pakura raised her hand, summoning a barrage of Scorch Style fireballs.

The crimson glow lit up her face.

Her killing intent was unrestrained!

The Kazekage opened his mouth, but in the end, only sighed:

"I truly was an incompetent Kazekage...

"And an even worse father."

With that, he closed his eyes.

A Scorch Style fireball pierced straight through his body!

Sizzle—

The sound of water evaporating filled the air.

In moments, Rasa, the Fourth Kazekage, collapsed—dead.

"Ugh..."

Chiyo, the elder, sighed quietly.

"Lord Hokage, now that Rasa is dead, could you undo your Wood Style?"

The branches had covered nearly all of Sunagakure.

Trapping the Sand shinobi outside the battlefield.

Hyuga Naraku nodded indifferently and released the seal.

The rapidly growing trees came to a halt.

Whoosh—!

The Sand Shinobi trapped in the sea of trees finally breathed in relief.

Crack—crack—

The sound of branches being cut echoed throughout the battlefield.

Sand shinobi not restrained by the Wood Style moved quickly.

Freeing their comrades trapped by the trees.

Whoosh, whoosh—

Soon!

A large number of Sand Shinobi gathered in the center of the battlefield.

The Fourth Kazekage lay dead.

Pakura stood over him, expressionless.

Chiyo had just been released from puppet bindings.

Gaara was still sobbing, unable to calm down.

And then, there was Hyuga Naraku—

The Sand shinobi looked around uneasily.

None dared to attack him.

Hyuga Naraku chuckled and ignored them.

Countless notifications from the system flashed across his vision.

This time, defeating a large number of Sand Shinobi earned him a total of 8,000 points!

Adding the rest from before—

Naraku now had a total of 15,400 Chakra points.

Earlier, he had only used Deep Forest Emergence to trap the Sand Shinobi.

He hadn't fought seriously.

Many of the shinobi not fully restrained weren't counted as defeated.

Those stopped outside the tree barrier weren't registered either.

"Lord Hokage, now that you've taken Shukaku, do you intend to offer any explanation?"

Chiyo stepped forward with a heavy tone.

With Rasa dead—

There was no one else to lead Sunagakure.

Aside from her, only Pakura held any true influence.

"It counts as payment for the tailed beast money your First Kazekage took from Hashirama back in the day."

Hyuga Naraku replied casually.

Sunagakure hadn't done anything, yet took a portion of the tailed beast from the First Hokage.

How bold!

"Also, during the Third Ninja War, the treaty signed between Hiruzen Sarutobi and Sunagakure was a joke."

"Sunagakure never paid for its aggression!"

Come to think of it, Sunagakure's moves had always been questionable.

After the Third Kazekage disappeared, they didn't immediately appoint a successor.

As a result, they were attacked by Kumogakure, suffering heavy losses.

The Third Great Ninja War began from there.

To redirect domestic unrest, Sunagakure launched a war abroad—

And naturally aimed at the richest nation: the Land of Fire!

Konoha, surrounded on all sides, sought to resolve at least one front.

The weakest—Sunagakure—was the most obvious choice.

But when Konoha retaliated, Sunagakure was completely overwhelmed!

Even then, Hiruzen signed peace terms without demanding compensation.

Konoha won the war, but gained nothing!

"Ugh..."

Chiyo sighed.

She had been part of the decision to export internal conflict outward.

It ended disastrously.

Sunagakure became the biggest loser of the Five Great Nations during the wars.

After their crushing defeat, even the Daimyō reduced their funding.

From then on, the village spiraled deeper into poverty.

"Sunagakure really has no money left."

Chiyo said helplessly.

Hyuga Naraku nodded slightly.

He believed it.

Not only were they broke, they had no talent left.

Despite having so many shinobi—

Not a single one had broken through the sea of trees to help the Kazekage!

"If Sunagakure has no money, you must have something else."

"For instance, your ninjutsu and puppet techniques."

"Or that Forbidden Jutsu you're working on—Reanimation through One's Own Life, right?"

Hyuga Naraku smiled slightly.

Chiyo's face changed drastically!

How did he know about Self-Reincarnation?!

"What, does Elder Chiyo have any objections?"

Naraku's eyes swept over the Sand shinobi, his voice calm.

The shinobi trembled under his gaze.

Their hearts were filled with anger—but they didn't dare act!

The man before them could crush them all with a single technique!

They had no strength to resist.

"Sunagakure... has no objections."

Chiyo said, voice full of exhaustion.

She had foreseen this the moment they lost to Konoha.

It was only delayed a few years.

Hyuga Naraku nodded.

"I'll send someone to draft a new peace treaty with Sunagakure."

"Um..."

Gaara spoke up suddenly.

As if summoning all his courage.

"Thank you for protecting me earlier."

"And..."

"In the future, if I can fully understand my mother's will—"

"I want to share it with you."

Hyuga Naraku smiled and squatted down, looking at Gaara.

"I'll always be glad to hear it."

P.S. Honestly, it feels a bit weird.

The protagonist just helped Pakura kill Gaara's father—

Yet Gaara is now kind of treating him like family...

------------------------------

To be continued...