The Land of Wind, in the Sunagakure amidst the endless yellow sand.
Whoosh!
A figure carrying a large fan quickly darted over the rooftops, heading swiftly towards the outskirts of the village.
This person was none other than the daughter of the former Kazekage of Sunagakure, Temari.
During the previous Chunin Exams, because Orochimaru had been warned of the risks in advance, he killed the Kazekage before the Chunin Exams officially began to avoid any uncontrollable situations.
The result was that the Konoha Crush Plan failed. Orochimaru escaped unscathed. Konoha lost a Jinchuriki but gained a dead conspirator. Overall, the losses weren't too great.
In the end, only Sunagakure was hurt. A perfect world where only they suffered was achieved.
They had it the worst: their Kazekage was killed, they still had to negotiate peace with Konoha, and even their One-Tail's Jinchuriki became unstable after returning from the Chunin Exams.
With no Kazekage to take charge, a power vacuum emerged among Sunagakure's leadership. Currently, decisions were being made temporarily by the Kazekage's assistant, Baki, along with Elder Chiyo and Ebizo.
But the upper-echelon were divided on how to handle Gaara.
The faction led by Elder Chiyo believed that since Gaara was the son of the previous Kazekage, and although he was frequently rampaging for unknown reasons, his life should still be preserved.
The focus should be on strengthening the seal.
The faction led by Baki believed that since Gaara's condition was unstable, he should be directly sent to the border battlefield of the Land of Wind to deter the already restless Iwagakure's Ninja from the Land of Earth.
But this proposal was immediately rejected.
After all, how can they let the Jinchuriki go on a killing spree? What if he accidentally destroys our own battle lines too?
Furthermore, the Tsuchikage wasn't without his own experts.
Just the strength of the old fox Onoki was not to be underestimated. If Gaara, who hadn't yet fully mastered the Tailed Beast's power at this time, were to face Onoki's Dust Release, the One-Tail might very well get a chance to be resurrected.
Then there were the conservatives, mainly other village's elders.
They felt that since Gaara's condition was unstable, they might as well transfer the Tailed Beast to another person.
However, this suggestion was firmly rejected by Elder Chiyo, Baki, and others.
Their minimum requirement was to ensure Gaara's personal safety. The risk of transferring the Tailed Beast was too high and would most likely endanger Gaara's life.
After arguing for most of the day, the various parties finally reached a conclusion: temporarily imprison Gaara in the Shukaku Temple to strengthen the seal. He could only be released after his mental state recovered.
This was also a compromise from those elders.
After all, in this village, whether in terms of prestige or actual power, they were no match for Elder Chiyo and Baki's faction.
Whoosh!
Another sound of cutting through the air. A figure quickly approached Temari.
But Temari didn't even turn her head, silently continuing to leap and run.
"Temari, are you going to see Gaara again?"
Kankuro, with paint on his face, looked at his sister and couldn't help but ask.
After all, Gaara's condition was too unstable now and he could attack them at any time. Even if Temari went to the temple, she might not be able to see him.
"He is our brother."
Temari didn't answer Kankuro directly, instead using this statement as a response.
Hearing this, Kankuro also fell silent.
This trip to the Chunin Exams had changed them too much.
When their father was still alive, although Gaara was still not very popular, at least he had food and clothing and basic freedom of movement within the village.
But after returning from this trip, their father was dead, and their brother had descended into madness. They felt like the sky that had been held up for them had suddenly fallen onto their own shoulders.
The two of them couldn't even get a word in regarding Gaara's situation.
If it weren't for Chiyo and Baki holding the line, they might both have been held accountable.
As the eldest sister, Temari now understood her responsibility more clearly.
She had to protect her brothers.
Even if the other might hurt her, it didn't matter.
After all, her brothers were her last family in this world.
The two Ninjas moved quickly and soon left the village's boundaries.
Don't be fooled by the fact that the two of them still had to take part in Konoha's Chūnin Exams. In truth, by the standards of Sunagakure, they'd already been qualified to become Chunin long ago.
Meanwhile, deep in the desert inside the Shukaku Temple-
Gaara was tightly bound by the seal, locked inside a 'cell'.
As fate would have it, the previous One-Tail's Jinchuriki, Bunpuku, had also once been confined to this very cell.
But unlike Gaara, who was suppressed by force, Bunpuku had willingly chosen to be imprisoned.
The old monk's heart was pure. He bore no resentment toward Tailed Beasts, treating them the same as any other being.
He had once told Shukaku: as long as humans and tailed beasts could truly accept one another, there was no real difference between them.
That even earned him a rare comment from the short-tempered Shukaku: "Your character is a little like that old man Six Paths."
Unfortunately, the Kazekage who succeeded him didn't share the monk's ideals. To avoid disputes within the village, and to calm everyone's fears, the old monk voluntarily entered confinement, where he eventually passed away.
In the end, Sunagakure hadn't deserved such a good man.
They'd been a hair's breadth away from having their own Perfect Jinchuriki… yet they wasted the chance.
"Ahhhhhh!"
Gaara felt the giant tanuki inside his head rampaging again. The powerful hatred and urge for destruction easily drowned out his own will, forcing him down onto all fours, struggling like a wild beast.
Inside him, Shukaku ignored both Gaara's state and the outside world, venting his frustration.
"Kurama!"
"Kurama!"
"Aaah!"
Shortly after Gaara returned to the village, Shukaku suddenly felt his link to Kurama forcibly severed.
That exact moment had coincided with Naruto leaving the Ninja World.
Actually, the link had been cut off once before, but since it had only lasted a day before reconnecting, Shukaku had slept through it without even noticing.
But this time, Kurama's connection had been gone for several days.
Shukaku's heart sank at this.
All the Nine Tailed Beasts had been created by the Sage of Six Paths, and so there was a bond between them.
If a Jinchuriki had their Tailed Beast forcibly extracted, or if the host was killed, dragging the Tailed Beast down with them, the others could sense it.
But Tailed Beasts were immortal. Even if killed, they would eventually reform somewhere else. That was why none of them had ever truly worried.
But this time, Kurama's connection had been severed completely, as if he had been erased from existence itself.
Among the Nine Tailed Beasts, Shukaku's feelings toward Kurama were the most complicated.
Back when they were still close siblings, Kurama always bullied him, and he always fought back, provoking Kurama in return.
They both claimed to dislike each other, but in truth, their bond had been even deeper than the rest of their siblings'.
If Kurama had merely been killed, Shukaku probably would've clapped his hands in joy, maybe even slept better because of it.
But Kurama had vanished.
That drove Shukaku into complete madness.
He refused to believe it. He wouldn't believe it.
Over and over again, the rampaging Shukaku crashed against the seal, which was why Gaara had been losing control so frequently.
"Impossible!"
Just as Shukaku was about to lash out again, that familiar bond suddenly returned.
"...?"
The great tanuki's emotions stuttered, confused.
"Oi! Kurama! What the hell happened earlier!?"
Through the special mental link that only Tailed Beasts could use, Shukaku 'dialed up' the Nine-Tails.
On the other side, after a moment of silence, came a low chuckle.
"Heh~"
Then Kurama, with his tsundere personality, promptly 'hung up'.
"??"
The very next moment, as Temari and Kankuro arrived at the Shukaku Temple, they were greeted by an even louder roar than before.