"Do I... really have to do this?" Gaara hesitated.
If it were the previous Gaara, encountering a Daimyō acting crazy, he truly might not care about any shinobi regulations and would wipe out the person's entire family.
But the current Gaara, having experienced Uzumaki Naruto's talk-no-jutsu, could even begin to empathize with his father, Rasa.
Even though Bai Mo had told him that Rasa had made many mistakes in public affairs.
Gaara, however, believed that it was merely due to his father's lack of ability and misdirected effort, and that his father still genuinely wanted to contribute to Sunagakure.
"Do you want to change the current situation of Sunagakure?" Bai Mo asked.
"Does change necessarily require killing? Can't we achieve mutual understanding, like Naruto and I did..."
Gaara looked at the shinobi charging toward them in the distance, his hand trembling where it hovered.
"If you want to change Sunagakure, you must distinguish who is an enemy and who is a friend. Who is an irreconcilable enemy, and who is an enemy that can be won over.
When facing an irreconcilable enemy, if you retreat one step, they will press forward ten steps.
What you sacrifice is not just your personal interests and dignity, but the interests, and even the lives, of the people standing behind you who believe in you.
Didn't you just say you were starting to understand Rasa?
He was able to commit the dirty act of betraying a hero for the sake of the Village, and sacrifice his family and face hatred for the sake of the Village.
What about you?
If you don't have the capacity and decisiveness, my suggestion is to hand the Kazekage position over to Temari, and complete the all-female Kage bond while you're at it."
"I absolutely won't take it!" Temari, who was gripping her fan and staring into the distance, quickly refused when she heard Bai Mo mention her.
"You don't want me to stand against everyone, becoming the center that bears all the hatred..."
Pressed by Bai Mo's words, Gaara suddenly had an epiphany.
Only his interpretation left Bai Mo speechless.
So that's how you understood it?
"Why would I want you to stand against everyone? Right now, it's the Daimyō who stands against the common people." Bai Mo was speechless.
There are many people in the Shinobi World who want to start a revolution, such as Hanzo and Uchiha Sasuke during the final war.
They all wanted to change the status quo of the Shinobi World.
Their methods weren't necessarily wrong, but they overlooked one thing.
If you want a revolution, you need a mass base.
The revolution they understood, and the revolution Gaara currently understood, were both based on the inexplicable concepts of "standing against everyone" and "bearing hatred."
It was as abstract as making the Uchiha the Police Force, which led to them being hated.
"I understand." Gaara's eyes became resolute. He raised both hands, and a sandstorm began to surge forth.
Gaara's current strength, without utilizing Shukaku's power, was at most the level of a regular Jōnin.
The rogue ninja hired by the Daimyō had varied strength, but there were indeed Jōnin among them.
Facing the approaching sandstorm, quite a few shinobi were able to dodge it.
This was not the Chūnin Exams; the opponents were not just Genin with the occasional outstanding genius mixed in.
Temari was about to swing her fan to coordinate an attack with Gaara, but Bai Mo placed a hand on her shoulder and pulled her behind him.
"What are you doing?" Temari asked, puzzled.
"Just leave it to me." Bai Mo patted Temari, walked up beside Gaara, and placed one hand on his shoulder.
"Hmm?" Gaara instantly felt a surge of immense power flowing into his body.
However, he could not control this power.
In fact, after this power surged into his body, he couldn't even control his own sand anymore.
What is this?
This was the ability Bai Mo gained after Uchiha Hikari used Tsukuyomi on him.
It was not based on "Tsukuyomi."
Instead, it was based on Hikari's true Mangekyō ability, "Yachihoko."
It was just that this time, Bai Mo couldn't find a corresponding name to label it.
If he had to name it, this ability turned him into a humanoid "Bug Arrow" of the Shinobi World.
Similar to how Yachihoko amplified ocular techniques and granted amplification to others by injecting chakra through a mark, Bai Mo mastered the ability to inject Natural Energy into others' bodies, thereby generating amplification.
Injecting Natural Energy into others was something Jūgo could also do.
In the original work, when fighting Six Paths Obito, because only Sage Techniques could inflict damage, Jūgo attached his Cursed Seal to Sasuke's Susano'o.
Jūgo's injection of Natural Energy had almost no amplification effect on Sasuke at that time; it merely provided the "True Damage" attribute of Natural Energy.
Bai Mo, however, was different.
He learned from the White Snake Sage that his situation was partially similar to the Ten-Tails.
This also explained why Yakushi Kabuto during the Boruto era did not teach him the true method of cultivation.
Yakushi Kabuto had witnessed the Ten-Tails, and having undergone personality correction, it was impossible for him to let a humanoid Ten-Tails out of its cage before fully understanding Bai Mo's character.
So, what exactly should Bai Mo do?
Should he simply wait for Nagato to recover, let the Gedō Statue attack him, and take a gamble?
Bai Mo clearly had no such intention.
Relying everything on that was completely inconsistent with his personality.
Bai Mo began to ponder during his free time.
Bai Mo thought of another existence.
— The Ōtsutsuki Clan.
The Ōtsutsuki Clan traveled to various planets to plant trees, bear fruit, and refine elixirs.
Essentially, this was transforming the planet's Natural Energy into chakra that was easier for them to absorb, and then consuming it.
This highly matched the external elixir method (Waidan) from Daoism in Bai Mo's previous life.
So, if there was an external elixir method, what about the internal elixir method (Neidan)?
Bai Mo then began attempting to compress Natural Energy.
The aggregation level of Natural Energy within Bai Mo's body had now reached a terrifying degree.
Coupled with the ability he just gained, injecting this super Natural Energy into another person's body was equivalent to temporarily activating a Super Sage Mode for people in the Shinobi World.
The only drawback was that this power was too immense, and the entire process had to be controlled solely by Bai Mo.
This was why Gaara found that he couldn't control the sand.
— Bai Mo had taken over his account.
Bai Mo amplifying Gaara's abilities now was not just to test the effect of his new power.
Bai Mo had always relied only on taijutsu attacks, aside from his special abilities.
So, was there any way he could master elemental ninjutsu like wind, fire, and lightning?
Sasuke's Kirin was a source of inspiration.
The Kirin attack relied almost entirely on natural lightning.
Only a small amount of chakra was needed for guidance.
Since Bai Mo himself used Natural Energy, he could perfectly execute this kind of operation.
Now, Bai Mo was using Natural Energy to assist Gaara, which allowed him to borrow Gaara's ability to experience the feeling of controlling natural elements.
After becoming more familiar with this feeling, he would eventually be able to directly control the elements of the natural world.
"Don't be afraid." Bai Mo pressed Gaara's shoulder and stood beside him.
The wild sand surged forward, gathering in front of them, quickly condensing into a base, a high platform...
"What is that thing?!" The shinobi hired by the Daimyō stopped in their tracks, looking at the magnificent structure that suddenly rose from the ground, feeling somewhat afraid.
A solar disc altar, shining with golden light, floated in the middle of the desert.
Under the fierce sun, a beam of intense, blazing light suddenly shot out from the disc, carving open the ground.
The hired shinobi squad was evaporated into dust before they could even scream.
"Hiss, huh?" As Bai Mo was sensing the power of the natural elements, he suddenly thought of something, raised his head, and looked toward the sun.
....
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