With the involvement of a tailed beast delivering powerful, wide-range attacks impossible to ignore, continuing the battle within Shukaku's sight had become practically impossible. This meaningless chaos only resulted from Mizuki's temporary countermeasures. However, dragging this out was only hurting Mizuki in the long run.
Kakuzu and Hidan had used their Immortal Bodies over and over to drag out losing fights, grinding even overwhelming foes down into despair. Mizuki absolutely didn't want to become their next victim.
The Air Bullets were getting more destructive with every blast. If earlier on, Mizuki could still endure one or two hits using his Chakra Shield, doing so now would be extremely dangerous.
['So Master Baki's side is basically ineffective? Well, Maki is already dead. There's no one here who understands Sealing Techniques anymore, except Aoba Yamashiro. Even then, there isn't anyone else capable of using Genjutsu over there—there's no way to awaken Gaara at all.']
In reality, without Mizuki drawing Shukaku's attention, the battlefield would have already been filled with heavy casualties.
Baki helplessly watched as his most promising disciple failed to resist Shukaku's mental invasion even after summoning an incomplete version of the beast, ultimately giving in and releasing the full power of Shukaku. When facing an uncontrollable tailed beast like this, Baki himself was the only one capable of stepping forward to stall it—even Akatsuchi from Iwagakure couldn't manage that kind of fight; his style simply wasn't suited for battling such massive beasts.
Still, whether stepping forward now to draw its attention was wise remained uncertain. If this enraged tailed beast chose these regular ninja as targets for venting its fury, very few among them could offer any meaningful resistance.
As Baki anxiously pondered for possible solutions, he suddenly realized someone beside him was missing.
"Temari, do you know where Kankuro went?" With one of his genin students unaccounted for, Baki grew visibly anxious.
"He said he wanted to check the battlefield and look for anything valuable left behind…"
"Valuable? You mean those destroyed puppets? That's just nonsense." Hearing this response, Baki found himself greatly frustrated. "What could he possibly be thinking leaving the team at a time like this?"
Just as Baki expressed his irritation, the missing Kankuro suddenly emerged from the shadows of a nearby grove.
"I'm back." Completely unaware others had just been talking about him, Kankuro had no idea how dangerous his actions had been.
Forcing back rising anger, Baki spoke firmly, "Good that you're back. Now's not the time for solo actions. Kankuro, did you find anything useful?"
"Beyond a few puppet scraps, everything else got charred to dust by some crazy Fire Release techniques. Total loss," Kankuro replied regretfully, shaking his head.
"I see..."
Baki gave a noncommittal nod before continuing, "Don't run around everywhere. Our top priority now is rescuing Gaara and keeping Shukaku safe..."
"As for this... when I came back just now, it seemed like Iwa was arguing over whether to send support to Jonin Mizuki. Eventually, they appeared to have dispatched that female kunoichi to assist alongside the Konoha group."
"Support?" Baki nodded thoughtfully before speaking again, "Strictly speaking, those two are our targets, but they might also be guarding Iwagakure prisoners—Konoha's involvement should have been minimal, especially regarding Deidara. So since Konoha is going to such great lengths, it would only be fitting for us to offer proper support. However..."
Baki spoke while shaking his head painfully. "If only Maki were still alive..."
On an S-ranked mission battlefield, abandoning ninja whose battle readiness fell below jonin level practically meant leaving them to their own fate. How Obito Uchiha 'died' and how Kakashi Hatake obtained the Sharingan? Because Minato Namikaze couldn't be everywhere at once, enemies found openings. With these precedents, even Iwagakure has become cautious enough to leave Akatsuchi behind for protection while sending Kurotsuchi into battle—as a sign of respect for Konoha's fierce determination.
But Sunagakure has been truly unfortunate this time—the loss of Baki combined with Yura's sudden death leaves the Suna forces without capable backup.
If Maki's death caused deep grief, then Yura's demise brought genuine horror. Despite having been warned by Mizuki in advance, Yura soon died unexpectedly. After thorough examination by Baki, abnormalities were discovered inside Yura's dead body. Judging from Yura's timing of death, it wasn't difficult to conclude he had become an unintended victim of Red Sand of the Desert's death.
"A high-ranking elite who had been compromised long ago as a sleeper agent—and it took an outsider to alert us! Has Sunagakure really reached such a dangerous state?"
"We really can't spare any support forces, and we also need people here guarding Shukaku. Jonin Mizuki will understand," Baki said helplessly. At times like this, having allies charging ahead while your side does nothing—even seeming counterproductive—was profoundly humiliating for Sunagakure, who always prided itself as one of the Five Great Ninja Villages.
Just as Baki was saying words that even embarrassed himself, Shukaku, who had been continuously firing [Wind Release: Air Bullet], began moving again. Since the Air Bullets kept missing Mizuki, Shukaku grew increasingly furious. Unable to tolerate that annoying thief and robber lingering in front of him any longer, Shukaku ceased its previous stance of launching Air Bullets. It dropped onto all fours, hunching low and arching its back—as if preparing to pounce forward aggressively.
Seeing Shukaku's sudden shift in stance, Baki stood frozen, disbelief clouding his face. He turned to Temari and asked, "You really don't know what exactly Mizuki did to Gaara? Why does Shukaku harbor such intense hatred?"
"I honestly don't know. We all completely lost consciousness back then. I've subtly questioned Konoha's genin—Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto Uzumaki, and Sakura Haruno—but they seem to genuinely know nothing about it either."
"This isn't something just anyone could pull off. Making Shukaku this resentful without leaving a trace—perfectly done, totally undetectable. If it hadn't been for Gaara raging out of control, I wouldn't have believed there was a real problem here..."
Baki added bitterly, "What's the use talking about this now anyway? Against a Sealing Technique Master of this caliber, we're practically helpless. We might even end up needing his help later to re-seal Shukaku and treat Gaara!"
...
Earlier, Hidan voiced the same concern.
<><><><><><><><>
Thank you for reading! Your support will keep me updating!
~ Every 50 Powerstones = **4 Bonus Chapters** this weekend!
<><><><><><><><>
~ 100+ Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon!
~ More *Free* Chapters and Books Available on Patreon!
patreon.com/Tansnovel
<><><><><><><><>