Chapter 255: Rasa Is Still Rasa
"Here, the One-Tail is yours. Go on, get started."
"Hm? Why aren't you moving? Still don't trust us? We can step back and keep our distance if that helps."
As [Temari] spoke, she began pushing the other four Kage, preparing to move away.
"W-Wait!"
Uchiha Hikari stopped them.
"What is it?"
"Release him."
Hikari turned her head aside with visible disgust.
Even if she could use Susanoo and avoid physical contact herself, she still had no desire to touch, even indirectly, someone whose body was only half exposed outside a mountain.
Besides, someone had just run off while pulling up his pants. Who knew what unspeakably vulgar things might have happened to the One-Tail jinchūriki?
"All right. I thought keeping Gaara pinned down would count as helping you restrain him."
Temari sounded slightly disappointed, but did not dwell on it. She simply assumed that whatever technique Uchiha Hikari used to eliminate Tailed Beasts required full-body contact with the jinchūriki.
"Tsuchikage-sama, could you lend a hand? I'd rather not go back into the village to fetch people."
Temari looked toward [Kurotsuchi].
"Leave it to me, Earth Release: Super Light-Weight Rock Technique! Earth Release: Earth Moving Core!"
[Kurotsuchi] unleashed two techniques in succession. First, she reduced the weight of the rocky hill pressing down on Gaara. Then, using Earth Moving Core, she directly lifted it, flipping it aside.
"Water Release: Water Shockwave."
[Terumi Mei] obligingly spat out a stream of water, washing away the surrounding sand and revealing Gaara's form.
"Hm? Why are there two of them?"
[Tsunade] stared at the two shapes emerging from beneath the scattered sand, clearly puzzled.
"So that's what it was. I was wondering, no matter how perverse Kankurō might be, surely he wouldn't lay a hand on his own brother."
Temari muttered to herself while observing the two "humanoid figures" on the ground.
"Huh?"
Uchiha Hikari froze.
He hadn't done anything?
Had she misunderstood?
Then why had [Kankurō] just run off pulling up his pants?
It couldn't possibly have been… bathroom-related, could it?
"Since that thing is still here, knowing Kankurō's personality, he can't have gone far…"
After a moment of rational analysis, Temari suddenly roared at the surroundings: "Kankurō, get your ass out here and take your junk with you!"
Almost immediately, the supposedly departed [Kankurō] awkwardly emerged from the sand.
"Sis, I'm leaving, I'm leaving."
He stepped forward, picked up the Gaara look-alike puppet, unmistakably carrying his own cellular signature and chakra traces, and prepared to retreat.
As it turned out, [Kankurō] truly had not touched his brother.
He only liked puppet dolls.
His presence here had been purely observational.
He had been studying Gaara's suffering for inspiration, intending to create new puppet dolls for his personal enjoyment.
That's right.
In this world, [Kankurō] was no longer a mere imitator.
He had finally learned to craft his own puppets.
As for why he had been seen with his pants half down earlier…
It had nothing to do with [Gaara].
He had simply just completed a Gaara-themed puppet and, unable to contain himself, immediately began "testing" his creation.
In the audience, Tsunade cursed under her breath, "What the hell, these freaks…", while furiously scribbling notes.
Now that her Limited Tsukuyomi counterpart had re-allied with Shiromo, there was no longer any need for intelligence gathering.
She could devote herself fully to writing.
"Kankurō, Temari, Mommy brought you cake."
Suddenly, a voice drifted from the village entrance.
Kankurō immediately froze mid-step, hastily pressing the puppet beneath his foot and kicking sand over it to conceal the evidence.
"Hm? Gaara's mother is still alive?"
Shiromo looked surprised.
('Mother' here was literal, not an expletive.)
"Of course she's alive. Don't tell me you remembered it wrong?"
[Tsunade] overheard him and smiled.
"That incident caused quite a stir in the Sunagakure Village. The dignified Fourth Kazekage, dying just like that."
"?"
Shiromo scratched his head.
Kazekage?
Rasa?
That did make sense.
Earlier, the Allied Forces had mentioned Orochimaru's 'Konoha Restoration Plan', which had accidentally resurrected Rasa, ultimately leading to Gaara's trauma.
Meaning Rasa had originally died long ago.
So in this world, Karura hadn't died in childbirth.
Rasa had died instead?
But how?
Surely it wasn't another bizarre transplantation accident…
"The person involved is right over there, so I can only whisper to you."
[Tsunade] leaned closer to Shiromo, as if to tell a secret.
"More than a decade ago, the Fourth Kazekage Rasa became obsessed with the One-Tail, Shukaku. The previous jinchūriki was already too old, Rasa quite literally rammed him to death."
"Fortunately, he sealed Shukaku into a tea kettle in time."
"After that…"
Tsunade's expression turned complicated.
"He spent his days using that tea kettle… well, you know. It's said to be the oldest tea kettle in the ninja world.
"His second son, Kankurō, inherited this trait, which explains his fondness for puppet dolls."
"Eventually, Rasa grew bored of the tea kettle and began longing once again for the Tailed Beast's magnificent form."
"Thus, he decided to produce a jinchūriki capable of housing Shukaku's power…"
"Rasa and Karura had Temari first, then Kankurō. Neither showed compatibility, so something went wrong with the third child?"
Shiromo rapidly filled in the blanks.
"The third child being an accident is correct. But the earlier part…"
[Tsunade] stared at him oddly.
"Where did you hear that version?"
"The truth is, Temari was a perfect match from the start. She could have become the ideal One-Tail jinchūriki."
"But Rasa feared pushing things too far and losing her."
"So he decided to produce backups."
"That's how Kankurō was born."
"And Kankurō was also a perfect match."
"Naturally, Rasa was overjoyed."
"Which led him to create a third."
Shiromo fell completely silent.
No matter the world, Rasa was still Rasa.
"So what happened with the third child? Don't tell me the compatibility dropped."
He glanced toward Gaara lying in the distance.
"No. The third child was even more compatible. He displayed extraordinary talent even in his mother's womb, but…"
Tsunade paused, her face filled with regret.
"Unfortunately, the child was simply too powerful."
"During one of Rasa's routine missions, Gaara used Sand Burial from inside the womb."
"Rasa's… dignity was crushed beyond repair."
"He lost consciousness immediately."
"Gaara did not stop."
"He controlled the sand and brutally killed Rasa."
Tsunade sighed heavily.
"As a medical ninja, I later identified the issue."
"Children do not possess inherent concepts of good or evil."
"At that time, Gaara most likely acted out of instinct."
"Rasa had a habit of striking Karura's abdomen. Gaara remembered Rasa's chakra signature as that of an enemy."
"And so…"
She shook her head.
"Sigh, it's tragic. Truly tragic."
(End of this chapter)