Chapter 339: Bloodshed

Chapter 339: Chapter 339: Bloodshed

Pakura, the captain of a Sunagakure ANBU squad who had just returned to the village after completing a mission, hurried toward the Kazekage Building.

But before she could even enter, she ran straight into the Fourth Kazekage, who was leading a group of shinobi out of the building.

Pakura frowned and anxiously asked, "Has Gaara lost control again?"

The Fourth Kazekage nodded, his expression grim.

As time passed, the violent-tempered One-Tail, Shukaku, was exerting an increasingly severe influence on the young Gaara’s mind.

As Sunagakure’s jinchūriki of the One-Tail, Gaara consequently remained on the verge of losing control for long periods of time. He would frequently fall into a berserk state, causing tremendous damage to Sunagakure.

That was precisely why the Fourth Kazekage had decided to test Gaara tonight.

Judging from the results so far, however, Gaara had clearly failed the test.

Because he had lost control yet again.

At that moment, Sunagakure’s elders, Chiyo and Ebizō, also rushed over.

Sensing the violent chakra of the One-Tail, Shukaku, permeating the air, Chiyo’s expression darkened as she said to the Fourth Kazekage, "We have to bring Shukaku under control as quickly as possible!"

Because of the nature of their fighting style, puppet masters had very few effective methods for dealing with Tailed Beasts.

Even a puppet master as powerful as Chiyo would have an extremely difficult time against the One-Tail. At best, she could protect herself; suppressing a rampaging Shukaku was beyond her capabilities.

The same was true for Pakura, who possessed the Scorch Release Kekkei Genkai. Even she had little chance of defeating the One-Tail.

In all of Sunagakure, there was only one person capable of suppressing the One-Tail, Shukaku—the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, wielder of the Magnet Release Kekkei Genkai.

That was also one of the reasons Rasa had been able to become the Fourth Kazekage.

Through his ’Third Eye,’ Rasa saw Gaara stagger into the guesthouse, and his expression grew even darker.

Noticing this, Pakura asked, "What happened?"

Rasa replied, "He entered the guesthouse."

"The guesthouse?" After a brief pause, Pakura asked, "There aren’t any important guests staying there, are there?"

One of the Sunagakure ANBU standing behind Rasa stepped forward and reported, "Two envoys from Konoha arrived in the village today. They happened to be assigned accommodations in the guesthouse."

"What?!"

Pakura was startled.

Although Gaara was only six years old, he was already a genuine monster in Sunagakure.

Yashamaru, who had died at his hands tonight, had been one of Sunagakure’s elite ANBU, yet Gaara had killed him with ease all the same.

It could be said that while Gaara was in a berserk state, an ordinary jōnin was simply no match for him.

Because of this, Pakura was extremely worried that the Konoha envoys might die at Gaara’s hands.

If that happened, Sunagakure would have an extremely difficult time explaining itself to Konoha. And with Sunagakure’s current situation, losing Konoha as an ally would only make things even more difficult.

The Fourth Kazekage knew this had been his mistake as well, so he wasted no time on words. With a grim expression, he sped toward the guesthouse.

Inside the guesthouse.

"Gaara, huh..."

Hyuga Kagami murmured inwardly.

He was genuinely curious as to why a little kid like Gaara had come wandering into the guesthouse in the middle of the night.

Keeping his guard up, Shisui said, "Senpai, something seems wrong with this child!"

Hyuga Kagami nodded.

Even an idiot could tell that something was wrong with Gaara.

At that moment, his face was twisted into a hideous expression, his features distorted, with saliva even dripping from the corner of his mouth. His expression and movements made him look like some malevolent ghost that had crawled straight out of the underworld.

Just looking at him was enough to send a chill down one’s spine.

Gaara staggered toward Hyuga Kagami and Shisui, muttering, "Die... You’re all going to die!"

As though responding to Gaara’s words, a mass of sand surged up beside him and, seemingly possessing a will of its own, rushed toward Hyuga Kagami and Shisui.

Boom...

Hyuga Kagami casually raised a hand, instantly repelling all the sand rushing toward them.

"Looks like he’s lost control..."

His gaze sharpened.

Suddenly, an idea flashed through his mind.

There was no doubt that Sunagakure suffered from a severe shortage of talented shinobi.

And as the jinchūriki of the One-Tail, Gaara was the key to Sunagakure maintaining its position among the Five Great Shinobi Villages in the future.

If something were to happen to Gaara, there would be no need to do anything else. In another ten years or so, Sunagakure would naturally decline to an unprecedented degree, perhaps even losing its status as one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages altogether.

At that point, Sunagakure would go from being Konoha’s ally to Konoha’s subordinate, and might eventually even become Konoha’s puppet.

Once the overall situation was settled, as long as things were handled properly, Konoha could annex Sunagakure without war or bloodshed, peacefully swallowing the entire village.

And right now was undoubtedly the perfect opportunity to scheme against Sunagakure.

As long as Sunagakure could be made to give up on Gaara, it would lose its future.

Under these circumstances, Hyuga Kagami did not even need to find an excuse to make a move. Even if he attacked Gaara, it would simply be legitimate self-defense, and no one would be able to find the slightest fault with him.

Having made up his mind, Hyuga Kagami’s gaze gradually turned cold.

He knew that the best way to provoke Gaara was to do exactly what Sasuke had done in the original timeline—

Make Gaara, who had never before been injured or shed blood, bleed for the first time!

Whoosh...

With a flicker, Hyuga Kagami appeared directly in front of Gaara.

Whoosh...

Without Gaara needing to consciously control it, sand surged upward and rushed at Hyuga Kagami from every direction.

Hyuga Kagami swept his hand outward.

Instantly, all the sand was violently repelled—including the layer of sand armor covering Gaara’s body!

Even though Gaara had lost control, he still retained consciousness, and a look of shock appeared on his twisted face.

This was the first time Gaara had ever seen someone deal with his sand so effortlessly.

Despite being consumed by killing intent, the sight startled him, and a trace of fear suddenly emerged in his heart.

Looking down at Gaara from above, Hyuga Kagami remained completely calm as he slowly reached into the ninja tool pouch at his waist and took out a kunai.

Staring at the cold gleam of the kunai, Gaara’s body began trembling instinctively.

Without his sand to protect him, he had once again become nothing more than a helpless six-year-old boy starved of love.

Hyuga Kagami did not hesitate.

With a flick of his hand, he drove the kunai into Gaara’s shoulder.

Gaara froze as he watched blood begin flowing from the wound, seemingly unable to comprehend what had just happened.

Gaara was no stranger to blood.

But blood flowing from his own body was something he had hardly ever seen. For a moment, he simply stared blankly, almost unable to believe it.

Hyuga Kagami pulled the kunai from Gaara’s shoulder, drawing out a spray of warm blood along with it.

"Ah..."

Only then did the young Gaara realize that he had truly been injured.

Shock, rage, fear, and countless other intense emotions surged through him all at once. With his mind already teetering on the verge of collapse, he finally went completely berserk.

In an instant, Gaara slowly closed his heavily ringed eyes and completely lost consciousness.

At the same time, the One-Tail, Shukaku, within Gaara took control of his body and rapidly completed its Tailed Beast Transformation.

Rumble—!

Amid a deafening series of crashes, the One-Tail Shukaku’s enormous, rapidly expanding body smashed through the roof of the guesthouse, revealing its true form within Sunagakure!