"Hahaha! People without eyebrows have leadership qualities!"
Gengetsu Hōzuki, the Second Mizukage, tapped his head as he spoke. He had been pondering that thought earlier, but once Ōnoki praised Gaara, he couldn't help but find Gaara more likable. "Not bad, not bad!"
Mu, the Second Tsuchikage, glanced sideways at him and retorted, "Mizukage, if you want to praise yourself, just say it directly. No need to beat around the bush like that."
Gengetsu grit his teeth and glared. "You bastard! Even after being reincarnated, you're still insufferable! You'll die again because of that mouth of yours!"
Then he pointed and shouted, "Hey! If you're gonna start the fight, take out the bandaged guy first! That freak is the real pain—kill him first!"
The Third Raikage joined the conversation. "Fourth Kazekage, you raised a fine son. He's an exceptional shinobi, just like my own."
As he spoke, the Third Raikage silently wondered to himself: Ai, have you inherited the mantle of Raikage? Are you protecting the village now?
"Hey, Ōnoki," the Third Raikage called out, looking skyward, "Tell me—what's become of my son?"
Ōnoki snorted, "That electric brute? Third Raikage, your son has become a powerhouse. He's now the Fourth Raikage, and he's the Commander of the Allied Shinobi Forces."
Upon hearing that his son had inherited the title and was leading the united forces, the Third Raikage laughed heartily. "Good! Very good! My son, Ai—he truly lives up to the name of Raikage! I wasn't wrong after all! Hahaha!"
While the Third Raikage laughed proudly, the Fourth Kazekage looked up at Gaara floating in the air. Compared to the Third Raikage's pride in his son, Gaara's childhood had been filled with pain.
He had been born weak, and on the day of his birth, his mother Karura had died.
Back then, Sunagakure had been plagued by internal and external crises. As Kazekage, he had no choice but to follow Chiyo-sama's suggestion: to make Gaara a Jinchūriki. From then on, he continuously tested Gaara's limits, subjecting him to unbearable psychological stress.
At his command, Gaara's uncle Yashamaru told him one night that Karura had died hating Gaara. When Gaara broke down, the result was clear: in the Fourth Kazekage's eyes, Gaara was a failed Jinchūriki.
Snapping back from the memory, the Fourth Kazekage looked at his son and declared, "Gaara, let me test your value again."
Gaara's brow furrowed at the word value.
Value?
Heh… it was still such a cold word—a word without emotion.
In his father's eyes, he had always been something to measure, not someone to love.
Mu shouted, "Ōnoki! You know that with my Dust Release, sheer numbers won't stop me! You're the only one who can counter me!"
Ōnoki grit his teeth. "Of course I understand!"
Gengetsu sighed. "This is the first time I've ever fought someone while openly declaring both strengths and weaknesses. What a bizarre battle…"
The Third Raikage added, "Everyone, try to restrain me quickly. But be warned—once I move, I'll be fast. Very fast. Catching me won't be easy."
As soon as those words were said, Gaara's sand surged, while the Fourth Kazekage's gold dust erupted in tandem. The same techniques clashed against each other in the air!
Ōnoki roared, "All forces—attack!"
"Ahhhhhhh!!"
With battle cries, the Allied Shinobi charged. Temari took the lead, determined to support Gaara and help stop their father.
Gaara concentrated, manipulating a massive sand hand that shattered the gold dust attacking him.
Then, he raised his hand—and a sandstorm erupted from above! Sand poured down like rain. The Fourth Kazekage reacted quickly, raising a barrier of gold dust to block it.
But the moment he did, the sand beneath his feet came alive, entangling him!
He was trapped.
It was a feint! The storm above had been a distraction, drawing his attention so Gaara could bind him from below.
Gaara extended his arm—and suddenly, the Fourth Kazekage, the Third Raikage, and Gengetsu were all sealed within clay figures!
Struggling, the Fourth Kazekage managed to free one hand and attempted to counter. From above, a wave of gold dust gathered to strike Gaara.
"Gaara, look out!" Temari cried.
But Gaara's passive activated—his absolute defense! Another clay figure surged forth and shielded him completely.
The Fourth Kazekage's eyes widened.
This clay… this chakra… could it be?
Karura… are you still within our child?!
Temari rushed to Gaara's side. "Father!"
The Fourth Kazekage looked at her with recognition. "Ah… Temari. Yes…"
Then his gaze turned back to Gaara in the sky.
"You both have grown up so well."
Temari teared up, and Gaara's face softened.
Something within the Fourth Kazekage seemed to shift.
"I see now… being a parent means believing in your children. That is true value. You… you weren't wrong after all, Karura."
Gaara frowned. "What are you saying?"
The Fourth Kazekage looked up at his son. "Gaara… you always believed your power came from Shukaku, didn't you?
But it wasn't. It was from your mother. From Karura. She loved you deeply."
Gaara's pupils shook. "Mother… loved me? No… that's not true. Yashamaru told me… he said—!"
"That was my order!" the Fourth Kazekage interrupted. "I told him to say that! I wanted to deceive you, to push you into emotional collapse and see if you'd lose control!"
Temari gasped. "How could you…?"
The Fourth Kazekage looked regretful. "If anyone should hate me, it's Yashamaru. I sealed Shukaku inside his sister—your mother—while she was pregnant. Then I forced her son to become a Jinchūriki, robbing him of a childhood.
I took his sister. I took his nephew. But he did it all… because he was a shinobi. My right-hand man. An Anbu of Sunagakure."
He hung his head. "Everything I did… failed. Only your mother never stopped believing in you. And yet, she's the one who was painted as cruel, the one you believed didn't love you…"
Suddenly, memories flooded Gaara's mind.
He remembered what Yashamaru had once told him as a child:
"Although the sand protects you now, I think it's filled with a mother's love. The sand is your mother's will. Even after her death, she wanted to keep protecting you, Gaara-sama."
So that was it… that was it!
Gaara's eyes filled with tears.
There was no absolute defense. There was only a mother's love.
Even without Shukaku, Gaara could still create that barrier. Because it wasn't a tailed beast's power—it was his mother's!
In that moment, something unlocked within him.
He had grown up believing he had no family's love.
A father who tried to kill him. An uncle who turned on him. A mother who, he thought, had hated him.
But now, everything had changed.
He had Naruto.
He had Temari.
He had Kankurō.
And now, he understood…
He had always had his mother.
Just outside the battlefield, atop a mound of sand, Naruto's shadow clone, now in Sage Mode, stood wiping tears from his eyes.
He exhaled and rose to his feet. "Alright… it's time for us to show up!"
This is the moment Naruto had been waiting for.
Now that Gaara's heart had been made whole—filled with love—he was ready.
From this moment on, Gaara was complete.
Not just with the bonds of friendship…
…but with the power of a mother's love.
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