Chapter 180: Chiyo: Where Did These Cloud Ninja Come From?
"Still no good?"
"Too forced. His qualities are even worse than the previous three who died."
"Are there truly no other candidates?"
The one asking was a young man with short brown hair wearing black ninja combat attire, appearing quite unremarkable. But in fact, this plain-looking man was Sunagakure's Fourth Kazekage, Rasa—one of five people standing at the shinobi world's pinnacle of power.
At this moment—
Rasa's face carried obvious worry and vexation. He stood by the office window, gazing outward at this village with monotonous, dreary colors—nothing but endless gray-yellow tones stretching to the horizon.
Behind him in this Kazekage office sat an elderly woman with obvious wrinkles at her eye corners, somewhat graying hair, exceptionally small stature, appearing approximately fifty or sixty years old.
Her name was Chiyo. She was Sunagakure's strongest puppet master, one of Sunagakure's pillars, currently serving as advisor elder with prestige in the village even surpassing Rasa, this Fourth Kazekage.
Fortunately, Chiyo held no interest in the Kage's throne, wholeheartedly supporting the incumbent Kazekage—whether the previous Third or the current Fourth, she generously contributed her talents.
Today's visit to the Fourth's office also concerned matters involving the village's safety.
Hearing Rasa's inquiry, Chiyo set down her teacup and sighed. "How easy do you think finding a jinchuriki capable of bearing the One-Tail's power is? Among civilian ninja, almost no suitable candidates can be selected. Only family members inheriting Kekkei Genkai and secret techniques have any possibility of safely containing the One-Tail."
"Moreover, they must be outstanding members among these families. Ordinary talents forcibly containing the One-Tail have nine chances in ten of losing control and rampaging like the previous three, ultimately requiring the One-Tail's extraction anyway."
By the end, she sighed heavily again.
Their discussion centered on the disposal of the Tailed Beast the One-Tail that Sunagakure possessed. This matter had troubled them for over half a year, and they still hadn't found a suitable jinchuriki candidate.
As she'd said, civilian ninja could be directly excluded from consideration. They only needed to consider among numerous families inheriting Kekkei Genkai and secret techniques. The problem was their Sand ninja had suffered severe losses in the previous war, with many elites perishing at Konoha ninja hands.
Consequently, each family now closely guarded their few promising seedlings, unwilling to let excellent clan juniors become jinchuriki. As the village's ruling class, they clearly understood that becoming a jinchuriki in Sunagakure was absolutely no good thing.
Setting aside failure meaning death, even success required long-term resistance against Tailed Beast erosion. Moreover, treatment offered no benefits—only strict village surveillance and possibly periodic experimental cooperation.
Originally, the Second Kazekage had researched the One-Tail, combining Magnetic Release Kekkei Genkai to develop Sunagakure's unique Sand technique.
Hearing Chiyo's answer, vexation deepened on Rasa's face. He said heavily, "Elder Chiyo, truly no suitable candidates remain in the village?"
Jinchuriki were important village pillars—indispensable strategic weapons for opposing Konoha and Iwa ninja. Without a controlled jinchuriki in hand, his heart could never settle.
Though war fires had currently subsided, how long shinobi world peace could last was completely uncertain. Perhaps war would reignite at any moment. So before then, their Sunagakure must recover vitality and prepare as much as possible.
Chiyo pondered a moment, then slowly answered, "It's not completely absent."
"Hmm?"
Rasa turned around, looking at Advisor Elder Chiyo seated on the sofa, frowning as he asked, "Elder Chiyo, what does 'not completely absent' mean? Is there one or not? Is this still uncertain?"
Chiyo's mouth moved. She answered composedly, "Because what Kazekage-sama wants is a jinchuriki who can rapidly form combat capability. But honestly, with the village's current condition, we cannot fulfill this requirement."
Rasa's expression stiffened, his mood displeased.
But recalling three consecutive previous failures, the displeasure in his heart immediately dispersed. He sighed silently and asked, "Elder Chiyo, your meaning is if I don't insist the jinchuriki quickly form qualified combat capability, there's a suitable candidate, correct?"
"Correct."
"Who?"
Chiyo picked up her teacup, drank a mouthful of slightly cool tea, and slowly spoke a name. "Gaara."
"Gaara?"
Rasa's expression changed. He stared wide-eyed at Chiyo, while Chiyo didn't evade, raising her eyes to meet the Kazekage's sharp gaze.
The two locked eyes for a moment. Rasa asked, "Chiyo, are you certain Gaara possesses jinchuriki qualifications? He's barely three months old. How can he bear the One-Tail's massive power?"
Gaara was an infant less than three months old—Rasa's third son.
Chiyo set down her cup and said seriously, "Kazekage-sama, based on my personal research, a qualified jinchuriki should possess two conditions. First is possessing sufficiently massive chakra quantity—massive enough to contend with Tailed Beasts to a certain degree. Second is possessing sufficiently resilient and powerful mental willpower to long-term withstand Tailed Beast chakra's erosion on the jinchuriki's spirit."
After finishing, she paused two seconds. Watching Rasa fall into contemplation, she continued, "Though Gaara is only three months old, he perfectly inherited the excellent bloodlines of Kazekage-sama and Karura. After extracting chakra in the future, he's guaranteed to possess massive chakra not inferior to—even surpassing—Kazekage-sama's."
"Second is mental willpower. Precisely because Gaara is still only an infant, we can specially temper Gaara's mental willpower from childhood. After growing up, he'll naturally possess mental strength sufficient to withstand Tailed Beast chakra erosion."
Rasa's brow furrowed tightly.
He thought and pondered, finding no flaws in Chiyo's theory. His heart immediately wavered. If they could cultivate Gaara into a qualified jinchuriki, then Sunagakure wouldn't need to worry about jinchuriki matters for a very long time in the future.
The only problem was if they truly chose Gaara to become the new One-Tail jinchuriki, then before Gaara grew up—at minimum the next decade—they'd temporarily be unable to deploy the jinchuriki strategic weapon. If new shinobi world war erupted during this period, their Sunagakure would become very passive.
"I must think! I must think!"
Rasa's mental conviction wavered. However, he still hadn't decided to follow Chiyo's suggestion—he still needed to seriously consider the pros and cons of doing this.
He looked at Chiyo. "Elder Chiyo, I've received your suggestion. Exactly what to do, please allow me to consider."
Hearing this, Chiyo stood, answering expressionlessly, "Kazekage-sama, consider carefully. Once you've decided, send someone to notify me. If you truly plan to seal the One-Tail into Gaara's body, then we must operate jointly, making the seal as stable as possible."
After finishing, Chiyo prepared to take her leave.
However—
BOOM!!!
An explosion suddenly erupted. Window glass shattered everywhere. Both Rasa and Chiyo clearly felt tremors transmitted underfoot, as if the entire Kazekage Building was shaking.
Rasa's expression changed drastically. He looked toward where dust clouds rose outside the window.
He blurted out, "That's the ANBU base."
Then he cursed again, "Damn it! The One-Tail should be properly sealed within the Shukaku pot! How could it rampage out of control?"
Since the third jinchuriki creation attempt failed and the One-Tail lost control, after Rasa expended tremendous effort suppressing it, he'd sealed it into the ninja tool Shukaku pot, reportedly inherited from the Sage of Six Paths. To ensure the pot's safety, he'd stored it at the ANBU base.
He hadn't placed it in his own office, considering that if the One-Tail escaped from the pot and rampaged, it would immediately cause massive casualties. No matter how formidable he was, he couldn't instantly suppress the One-Tail. Compared to the Kazekage Building located at the village center with dense personnel, the ANBU base—situated remotely with virtually no one nearby while maintaining sufficient strict security—was more suitable for storing the pot.
"The One-Tail is rampaging?!"
Chiyo's expression was equally grave.
However, neither panicked much. Over the past half year, the One-Tail jinchuriki had changed three times, with control losses approaching ten instances. The first few times they'd panicked to the point of mistakes, but later they'd become accustomed.
Several seconds later—
Chiyo's expression suddenly changed drastically. "No, that's wrong! I don't see the One-Tail!"
According to past experience, the rampaging One-Tail would quickly appear in their field of vision. After all, Tailed Beasts' bodies were massive, like small mountain peaks. Sunagakure contained no buildings taller than the One-Tail, so they could easily spot its presence every time.
But this time, the One-Tail remained unseen.
Rasa said nothing, charging out through the window. Sand mixed with specks of gold light gathered, forming a sand cloud that caught beneath his feet, lifting him toward the ANBU base direction.
Chiyo also didn't hesitate, similarly leaping out. But she hadn't mastered flight abilities, so she rapidly ran and jumped between building rooftops.
She didn't worry that with both her and the Kazekage leaving the Kazekage Building, no one would control the overall situation. Her younger brother, also serving as advisor elder and possessing the nickname "Strategist"—Ebizo—would control the village's situation well.
Though the ANBU base was remote, it wasn't distant. It actually wasn't far from the Kazekage Building—otherwise, the Kazekage Building's glass wouldn't have shattered from that tremendous commotion. This area had simply been deliberately maintained undeveloped by village leadership, making the surroundings sparsely populated.
At this moment, Rasa and Chiyo arrived at the ANBU base almost simultaneously.
Then they saw the three-story building had collapsed and crumbled. Billowing dust clouds shot skyward. Masked ANBU were fighting... Cloud ninja?
"Where did Cloud ninja come from?!"
Chiyo was dumbfounded.
During the extremely brief time rushing here, she'd already considered multiple possibilities. She'd indeed thought enemies might be invading—these enemies could be Konoha, could be Iwa ninja, could even be Rain ninja or Mist ninja.
Because all these had once been their Sunagakure's enemies.
But Cloud ninja alone fell outside her consideration.
Because their Sunagakure dominated the southwest desert of the shinobi world, while Hidden Cloud Village was entrenched in the northeast's continuous mountain ranges. Both sides were extremely distant. Moreover, unlike Sand ninja and Mist ninja who'd fought chaotically multiple times in the First Shinobi World War—even causing the Second Tsuchikage and Second Mizukage to perish together.
Sand ninja and Cloud ninja truly had never erupted into any large-scale conflicts.
Therefore—
She truly couldn't understand why Cloud ninja would travel ten thousand miles to cause trouble in their Sunagakure. Moreover, if she remembered correctly, Cloud ninja were currently confronting Konoha at the Land of Frost and Land of Hot Water border, right?
Sunagakure's intelligence work was precisely managed by her, this advisor elder. She maintained detailed understanding of the shinobi world's situation constantly. But precisely because she understood sufficiently, she was increasingly confused.
However, Rasa, this Fourth Kazekage, didn't deliberate like Chiyo. He cleanly chose to attack. Without even forming seals, simply waving his palm, gold dust mixed with granular gold sand lunged toward the Cloud ninja like water-barrel-thick pythons.
The Cloud ninja currently fighting Sunagakure's ANBU experts couldn't spare hands to defend against Rasa's attack. In the blink of an eye, over ten Cloud ninja were easily captured by Rasa, each tightly wrapped in gold dust, immobilized like cocoons.
Only then did Rasa descend from midair, looking toward the ANBU members. "Tell me, what exactly happened?"
Immediately, an ANBU squad leader wearing a white coat answered, "Kazekage-sama, we also don't understand the specific situation. These Cloud ninja very suddenly appeared in our base..."
But before this ANBU could complete his report, a huge diamond-shaped shuriken whistled forth. Rasa raised an eyebrow, lightly hooking his finger. The gold dust beneath his feet rose and flew, forming a solid gold dust barrier.
The diamond shuriken struck, scattering sparks, then bounced back.
Rasa looked toward where the diamond shuriken had come from in the dust clouds, slightly frowning. "Are there more invaders?"
As his words fell, the gold dust once again formed pythons, rushing toward where dust rose. Amid clanging collision sounds, a Cloud ninja bearing multiple huge diamond-shaped shuriken burst forth, leaping up and down like a monkey, evading the pursuing gold dust.
However—
At this moment, Chiyo stared at that Cloud ninja bearing multiple huge diamond shuriken, her expression showing shock as if she'd seen a ghost.
She flashed to Rasa's side, saying urgently, "Kazekage-sama, be careful! These invaders have problems!"
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