Ten miles west of Kusagakure.
In a simple encampment, shinobi wearing forehead protectors marked with the symbol of "Iwa" stood guard over the surroundings.
Inside the central command tent.
The future Fourth Tsuchikage, Kurotsuchi, was sizing up the trio from Sunagakure that had arrived.
Temari, Kankuro, and Gaara.
"Sunagakure certainly have a lot of nerve, sending their jinchūriki here at a time like this. Aren't you afraid you'll end up buried here?" In Kurotsuchi's eyes, Temari and Kankuro were nothing special. The only one who caught her attention was Gaara.
Faced with Kurotsuchi's overbearing attitude, a flash of anger appeared on both Temari's and Kankuro's faces, but their gazes ultimately fell on Gaara.
Because the leader of this mission was him.
"If your side feels our strength is insufficient and we're not worthy of coming, then Sunagakure will have no choice but to withdraw from this operation." Gaara responded calmly to Kurotsuchi's provocation, as if her words hadn't been directed at him at all.
This move, in turn, put Kurotsuchi on the defensive.
"You're already here. Leaving now wouldn't look good either."
"Please, have a seat."
Kurotsuchi gestured for Kankuro and Temari to take a seat, then handed the intelligence report to Gaara. "Since you're here, you must have gathered similar information. What are your thoughts?"
Overbearing!
Kurotsuchi's current demeanor made it seem as though the three Suna shinobi before her were her subordinates.
Temari and Kankuro naturally resented her attitude, but since Gaara, their leader, said nothing, they could only listen in silence.
Gaara glanced over the intelligence from Kurotsuchi, thought for a moment, and spoke. "This intelligence was provided by Kusagakure. There's definitely deception involved. Currently, Kumo has the widest circulation of the Six Paths Ninja Tools. Yet, even possessing them, they haven't unified the shinobi world. Therefore, I am skeptical about the claimed power of the Six Paths Ninja Tool said to have appeared in Hōzuki Castle."
Kurotsuchi looked at Gaara in slight surprise. In that moment, she genuinely began to take him seriously.
Gaara was right. If the Six Paths ninja tools truly had the power to unify the shinobi world, there would be no need for anyone to train—they'd all just fight to seize the tools.
But the intelligence from Kusagakure couldn't be ignored.
Even if these tools possessed just one percent of their legendary power, they had to be destroyed rather than allowed to fall into the hands of another village.
"Now that both our Iwa shinobi and your Suna shinobi have arrived here, I believe Konoha will be here soon as well. Should we send someone to probe the situation?" Hōzuki Castle was a prison for the shinobi world's criminals, naturally heavily guarded. Kurotsuchi didn't want Iwagakure to bear the risk alone, which was why she had waited here for the Suna shinobi to arrive.
Unfortunately, only three from Suna had come, throwing off her calculations.
Now that the two villages were together, if scouts were to be sent, both sides would surely have to contribute personnel.
Gaara had only brought Temari and Kankuro, so his options for scouts were limited to those two.
In comparison, Iwagakure had far more shinobi. They could casually send a few, and even if they were lost, it wouldn't hurt much.
"For probing, it's best not to send anyone with low strength. How about just you and me?" Gaara proposed.
Hearing this, Kurotsuchi smiled.
"So you're saying these two have low strength!"
"Don't try to sow discord," Gaara replied calmly. "When facing something out of legend, no amount of caution is excessive. Or are you afraid?"
"Fine, let's go!"
"Let's go!"
Kurotsuchi would never admit to being weak, and Gaara didn't want to put Temari and Kankuro in danger. After exchanging words, the two set off immediately—decisive and swift.
By the time Temari and Kankuro reacted, the tent was already empty.
"This..." Temari didn't know what to say. Gaara's temper was no longer violent, but this attitude of just up and leaving—wasn't it a bit much?
They were still in the Iwa shinobi camp. If Kurotsuchi didn't return, these people would surely use the two of them as leverage.
Indeed, this was also part of Kurotsuchi's calculation.
Kurotsuchi had learned about the relationship between Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro through intelligence reports. By going to investigate with just Gaara, leaving the other two as hostages, she wasn't worried about Gaara failing to protect her.
Though confident in her own strength, Gaara was still the jinchūriki of the One-Tail. She couldn't guarantee she could take on Shukaku alone right now.
Kurotsuchi and Gaara hurried along the road, passing through dense jungle, drawing ever closer to Hōzuki Castle.
"Stop!"
Gaara whispered, then hid behind a large tree. Kurotsuchi beside him immediately halted as well.
"What's wrong?"
Kurotsuchi scanned the surroundings but noticed nothing unusual.
Gaara pointed toward the sky. "Don't you think the sky looks... abnormal?"
Kurotsuchi looked up, thought for a moment, then her eyes widened.
He was right!
How did the sky get so dark?
Back at the camp, it had only been a little past three in the afternoon. There was no sign of rain or storm today. Yet after running for just a short while, the sky had turned to dusk.
Clearly abnormal.
"Wait a moment!"
Gaara said, then covered his right eye with his hand. Grains of sand emerged on his palm, forming an eyeball that flew off into the distance.
Kurotsuchi watched Gaara's technique with curiosity before warily scanning their surroundings.
"Run!"
Suddenly, Gaara let out a low roar and began retreating into the distance.
Kurotsuchi didn't know why, but seeing Gaara move, she followed.
"Hey, what happened?"
"Don't ask so many questions—just run!"
Gaara's voice was hoarse. Only then did Kurotsuchi notice his right hand was covered in blood.
"What the—?"
Kurotsuchi was confused.
At that moment, she sensed a strange fluctuation behind her and instinctively turned around.
A pitch-black, enormous monster with two wings appeared before her eyes. The moment she saw it, the monster spotted her as well.
"This is..."
A primal fear rooted her to the spot. She could only watch as the monster lunged toward her.
"Women are such a pain!"
A surge of sand rushed in, wrapping around Kurotsuchi and carrying her far away in flight.
Strangely, the black monster simply watched as Gaara and Kurotsuchi escaped.
After fleeing a great distance, Gaara finally found a cave and set Kurotsuchi down.
"Ptooey, ptooey! What the hell was that thing? How could it be so terrifying?" Kurotsuchi would never admit she had been scared.
"I don't know what it was either, but I think it's bound by something and can't stray too far from Hōzuki Castle. Also, its speed is incredible—ordinary ninjutsu attacks have no effect on it."
Ninjutsu was ineffective, and taijutsu wasn't Gaara's strong suit.
"Damn it! If only I knew Dust Release. One blast of Dust Release, and I'd turn that monster into dust!"
This time, Gaara didn't hold back. "With your courage, even if you knew Dust Release, you wouldn't be able to use it. The moment you saw it, you froze like you'd seen pure terror. I didn't even dare look back!"