"I misjudged you!"
At this point, Chiyo let out a long, weary sigh.
"You have Magnet Release, and yet you only revealed it now. Looks like you've already made your preparations."
"Yeah," Teizawa said. He stretched lazily and stood, his tone flat. "Elder Chiyo, I'll give you two paths."
"Support me, or play blind and stay neutral. Otherwise…"
Teizawa suddenly split into a wide grin, chuckling as he spoke.
"I don't mind killing you right now!"
Before Chiyo could respond, Teizawa continued as if he hadn't even noticed.
"There's always blood on the road of revolution. But as long as we win in the end, it's all worth it."
"Even if we have to smash Sunagakure apart and rebuild it, that's still better than leaving behind a bunch of ugly parasites."
"Sunagakure will remember your sacrifice…"
As he spoke, Teizawa lifted a hand.
Ink-black iron sand began to churn again beneath their feet.
Even the shinobi behind Chiyo stared at her with bright, fevered eyes, every last one of them looking like they'd been injected with adrenaline.
Chiyo's mouth twitched. She bared her teeth and snapped, "Didn't you say I get to choose? I haven't even spoken yet."
"If you're not talking, isn't that basically agreement?" Teizawa asked, genuinely surprised.
Chiyo: "…"
"One last question," she ground out. "What are you doing with Gaara?"
Seeing Chiyo finally give ground, Teizawa clicked his tongue in disappointment and withdrew the iron sand.
"A jinchūriki. The perfect weapon of war. He'll live."
"Fine. The future belongs to you young people."
Chiyo shook her head and turned to leave.
"For the next three days, I'll stay behind closed doors. I hope you… keep Sunagakure first."
"Is that so!"
Then she paused mid-step, eyes narrowing.
"Why do I feel like you're disappointed? Like you really wanted to kill me?"
"How could I?" Teizawa waved a hand. "You're my respected elder."
Chiyo left.
And with that, she made her stance clear—neutral.
For an old-guard conservative like her, Teizawa had expected this outcome from the start.
The moment he exposed Magnet Release, it meant he now possessed Kage-tier strength.
And once he promised not to kill Gaara—
Chiyo no longer had any other choice.
Because for Sunagakure as it stood, the Kazekage wasn't actually the most important thing.
What it lacked—what it desperately needed—was a Kage-tier powerhouse who could hold the line.
Chiyo and Ebizō were already old, old enough to be nearing the end.
So Chiyo, who truly put Sunagakure above herself, chose to yield.
Teizawa's gaze swept over the dozen-plus core supporters before him. His voice dropped, heavy and cold.
"Then follow the plan. For Sunagakure's tomorrow!"
Everyone dropped to their knees at once and shouted in unison:
"We will die for Kazekage-sama!"
…
At the same time, in the inn where the Wind Country daimyo's envoy was staying, the envoy sat at the table, looking at the young brother and sister trio across from him, arrogance written all over his face.
"Kazekage. I trust you already know the purpose of my visit!"
Behind Gaara, Temari and Kankurō wore openly sour expressions.
No matter how young Gaara was, he was still the Kazekage.
A mere envoy should at least say "Kazekage-sama."
The envoy ignored their displeasure.
He took a slow sip of tea, then got straight to the point.
"That's right. I am here under the daimyo's orders—regarding the matter of Teizawa."
"This investigation and trial against Teizawa was not forced upon you by the daimyo's court. After all, the daimyo's court has no authority to interfere with Sunagakure's internal decisions."
"But in the end, we all serve Wind Country. We all fall under the daimyo's rule."
"For Teizawa to commit such acts is to challenge the daimyo's authority. It is intolerable!"
As he spoke, the envoy pulled a document from his robes and placed it before Gaara.
"This is the daimyo's latest order."
Huh?
Behind Gaara, Temari's pupils tightened slightly.
She stared unblinking at the document in front of them.
She could understand why the daimyo's court was so forcefully inserting itself into the investigation of Teizawa.
After all, what Teizawa had done was beyond outrageous.
Of all people to kidnap—why kidnap the daimyo's concubine?
What, was he some kind of horny creep?
Saw a pretty woman and couldn't walk straight?
Was that concubine prettier than her?
Or was it just that the Wind Country daimyo had the most money—making him the best mark to fleece?
And fine—kidnapping was kidnapping…
But he was already a jōnin. The least he could do was keep it quiet.
Instead, he'd caused a public scandal.
The entire Wind Country knew about it. Where was the daimyo supposed to put his face?
So yes—of course the daimyo was furious.
What Temari couldn't understand was… why the daimyo wanted Teizawa dead.
What kind of hatred did it take?
Gaara's expression also gradually hardened.
He hadn't interacted much with Teizawa.
But he knew Teizawa hadn't reached jōnin simply because he had good personal connections with many shinobi in Sunagakure.
If the old, unstable jinchūriki Gaara had once brought Sunagakure nothing but fear, then Teizawa was the opposite extreme.
Almost every villager in Sunagakure, when Teizawa's name was mentioned… smiled from the heart.
Even people who had never once met Teizawa.
That made Gaara—who desperately wanted to be accepted—feel intensely envious.
As for Teizawa taking bribes and embezzling funds—
Gaara also believed that was wrong.
But… after learning from Elder Chiyo that Teizawa hadn't kept the stolen money for himself, and had instead distributed it to comrades who needed it more, Gaara found himself unable to understand this man at all.
Was taking bribes and embezzling right?
In Gaara's eyes, it was definitely wrong.
And yet…
Teizawa's illicit income hadn't been used to indulge in luxury.
He'd used it to do something even Gaara, the Kazekage, hadn't managed to do, to help the people in Sunagakure who truly needed help.
That was something even Gaara himself couldn't do.
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