Chapter 341: Execution

Chapter 341: Chapter 341: Execution

Inside a dim cell within Sunagakure’s heavily guarded prison, a small figure sat crouched in a corner, arms wrapped around his knees, his face buried deeply between his legs.

The child was none other than the Fourth Kazekage’s son—the One-Tail’s jinchūriki, Gaara.

After experiencing an assassination attempt by the uncle who had always cared for him, Gaara’s heart had completely fallen into darkness.

In the original timeline, from that moment onward, Gaara began to regard life with complete indifference. He used killing as a way to prove the value of his own existence, becoming a bloodthirsty, vicious, and violent monster—one whom even his elder sister Temari and elder brother Kankurō feared deeply.

During the Chūnin Exams in Konoha, he had practically made his entrance like a full-fledged final boss, overwhelmingly crushing nearly everyone of his generation.

Killing seemed to have become his only reason to continue living!

But in this timeline, things were different.

First, he had been effortlessly injured by Hyuga Kagami. Then, after losing control, he had been subdued by Shisui in an instant.

Suffering one setback after another had deprived him of even the qualification to become a monster.

And so, the young Gaara had now fallen into utter despair.

To him, nothing mattered anymore.

Even death held nothing worth fearing.

Because he had already lost every emotional pillar he had once relied upon—

and with them, he had lost his reason to keep living.

Just then, the cell door opened, and the Fourth Kazekage walked in.

Gaara did not raise his head. He remained crouched in the corner, clutching his head.

The Fourth Kazekage stared at Gaara, who crouched in the corner almost completely merged with the darkness. His expression shifted constantly—at times, a resolute killing intent flashed across his face, while at others, hesitation and uncertainty surfaced.

There was no doubt that his identity as the Kazekage and his identity as a father were fiercely clashing within his heart.

Gaara’s performance tonight had undoubtedly disappointed him.

That disappointment was not merely because Gaara had lost control, but also because Gaara had been defeated so easily by Konoha’s envoys.

For their village’s secret weapon to be so utterly helpless had left Sunagakure’s entire leadership in an awkward position.

At the same time, a new opinion had begun spreading among Sunagakure’s higher-ups:

Was there really any need to continue maintaining Gaara as their jinchūriki when he was both prone to losing control and nowhere near as powerful as they had imagined?

As the Kazekage, Rasa knew very well that Sunagakure could no longer afford to let Gaara continue like this.

Every time Gaara went berserk, Sunagakure suffered severe financial losses and casualties. And now, the one remaining reason Rasa had for protecting Gaara—his combat strength—had also been effortlessly crushed by Konoha’s envoys.

"Let’s put an end to all of this."

After silently making his decision, Rasa’s expression gradually turned cold.

He looked at Gaara and asked, "Is there anything you still want to say to me?"

Gaara seemed not to have heard his father’s words at all.

He gave no response whatsoever.

Rasa said nothing more and simply left the prison.

Not long after his departure, a squad of Sunagakure ANBU arrived at the cell and took away the completely silent Gaara.

Following the squad of Sunagakure ANBU, Gaara left the village and arrived at a stretch of desert outside its walls.

On a distant cliff stood the Fourth Kazekage Rasa, Sunagakure elders Chiyo and Ebizō, ANBU Captain Pakura, and several other members of Sunagakure’s leadership, all gazing toward the distant desert.

That was where Gaara was about to be executed.

Ordinarily, even if Sunagakure had decided to abandon Gaara as a failed jinchūriki, they would not have been in such a hurry to execute him.

However, the Fourth Kazekage had already accepted the Third Hokage’s invitation and would soon be leading Sunagakure’s elite forces away from the village. Because of this, Sunagakure had no choice but to hastily carry out Gaara’s execution.

After escorting Gaara to the designated location, the Sunagakure ANBU immediately withdrew.

Sunagakure’s method of executing a failed jinchūriki was simple.

They would place a massive number of explosive tags around the execution site and detonate them all at once, allowing the failed jinchūriki to be swallowed by the explosion in an instant and depart this world without suffering too much pain.

Standing all alone in the middle of the desert, Gaara seemed to realize what was happening.

But he did not care.

His face remained utterly indifferent.

Hiss... hiss...

At that moment, the sound of explosive tags igniting rang out simultaneously from every direction.

The hissing came thick and fast, overlapping layer upon layer. From the sound alone, any experienced ninja could easily determine that there were hundreds—if not thousands—of explosive tags being detonated around him.

The One-Tail, Shukaku, within Gaara sensed the threat and desperately tried to seize Gaara’s body and wrest control away from him.

Yet at that very moment, Gaara resisted Shukaku’s mental assault.

There was nothing left in this cold world that he wished to hold on to.

To him, death was not an ending.

It was release.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

A series of violent explosions illuminated the night sky above the desert!

Immediately afterward, the shockwave generated by the explosions surged outward in every direction, carrying clouds of yellow sand with it like a raging sandstorm, making it nearly impossible to keep one’s eyes open.

Only after a long while did the storm finally subside, and silence returned to the surroundings.

The Fourth Kazekage ordered the Sunagakure ANBU beside him, "Go check."

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Accompanied by the sound of rushing wind, a group of Sunagakure ANBU used the Body Flicker Technique and arrived at the execution site to investigate.

The center of the area had been completely scorched black.

At the very heart of the explosion, even some of the sand had melted from the intense heat. There was no trace of a human body to be found, let alone any remnants of clothing.

A short while later, one of the Sunagakure ANBU returned to the cliff and reported to the assembled Sunagakure higher-ups, including the Kazekage, "The jinchūriki has been completely obliterated by the explosion."

Upon hearing the ANBU’s report, complicated expressions appeared on the faces of some among Sunagakure’s leadership, while others secretly breathed sighs of relief.

The Fourth Kazekage stared deeply in the direction of the execution site for a moment before instructing the ANBU, "Have the reconnaissance unit keep watch for the One-Tail Shukaku’s chakra. The moment the One-Tail revives, immediately organize a capture operation!"

A Tailed Beast could never truly die.

Even if it perished together with its jinchūriki, it would eventually revive several years later.

With the matter of Gaara finally dealt with, the Fourth Kazekage felt an unprecedented wave of exhaustion wash over him.

He turned to Chiyo and Pakura and said, "Make your preparations. In a few days, you’ll come with me to meet the Hokage."

Chiyo and Pakura exchanged a glance before both nodding.

The Fourth Kazekage had already briefly mentioned his upcoming meeting with the Hokage to them, so they knew that this operation required absolute secrecy. Thus, both women remained silent and did not ask any further questions in front of everyone else.

......

Inside a small cave far away from Sunagakure.

Hyuga Kagami snapped several dry branches and tossed them into the campfire.

The difference between daytime and nighttime temperatures in the desert was enormous. Without a campfire, an ordinary person would have no chance of making it through an entire night outdoors.

Seeing that the flames had grown considerably stronger, Hyuga Kagami clapped his hands together, brushing the grains of sand from them, before glancing across the campfire at Gaara, who lay unconscious on the ground.

"Ugh..."

Perhaps awakened by the sound of Hyuga Kagami clapping his hands, Gaara shook his head slightly and gradually regained consciousness.

Illuminated by the flickering light of the campfire, he finally made out the figure sitting across from him.

Gaara froze for a moment before asking,

"Wasn’t I already dead?"