Anya followed Sasori into the Kazekage's Office. Unexpectedly, there was a monk inside. The monk stood quietly in the corner with his eyes closed, hugging a lute, creating an oddly contradictory scene.
Sasori took the initiative to introduce, "Big Brother Kurotsuchi, this is Hoichi. He's a disciple of Bunpuku, the very first Shukaku Jinchuriki. The artifact he holds can easily extract the Tailed Beast from the Jinchuriki's body. Once Fuu arrives…"
Anya interrupted, "Hold on."
Sasori cast a puzzled glance at Anya. "What's wrong?"
Smiling slightly, Anya said, "I'd like to speak with Master Hoichi alone."
"Alright." Without further words, Sasori turned and left the office.
The previously silent Hoichi watched this unfold in shock—who was this person that even the Kazekage would obey so readily? His previously indifferent gaze now shifted into a serious expression. This individual must be extremely formidable.
Calmly seating himself at the main position, Anya addressed Hoichi, "Master, please have a seat."
"No need," Hoichi walked toward Anya and replied, "Say whatever you want to say directly."
"In that case, I'd like to ask—after extracting the Tailed Beast using your artifact, what happens to the Jinchuriki?"
Hoichi hesitated momentarily, surprised someone didn't even know such basic knowledge.
"Without the Tailed Beast, the Jinchuriki will naturally die," Hoichi stated firmly.
"This is exactly why I wanted to talk with you," Anya said gravely. "What if I told you I want him to live?"
Hoichi shook his head repeatedly. "Impossible. Once the Tailed Beast's huge Chakra leaves the body, the Jinchuriki dies right away. There's no way they could survive."
Unfazed, Anya asked seriously, "Is there any possible solution?"
Hoichi fell silent, seemingly deep in thought. Anya waited patiently without pressuring him.
After quite a while, a flicker of realization passed over Hoichi's face, followed by a subtle shake of his head.
Encouraging him, Anya said, "It's okay. Whatever idea comes to mind, feel free to share."
"Well… although I don't understand why you hold such thoughts, I did think of a possibility," Hoichi offered wryly. "That is, during the extraction, the Tailed Beast willingly sacrifices part of itself to save the host, like cutting off a limb to save the body, permanently leaving behind some Chakra to sustain the Jinchuriki's life. But this possibility is too slim. At the end of the day, Tailed Beasts are merely beasts with enormous Chakra. Even among blood relatives, selfless sacrifice like this is rare—so imagine between a beast and a person."
A smile appeared on Anya's face. "I see. I understand now. Master, thank you very much."
Curious, Hoichi asked, "May I inquire why you're so determined to save the Jinchuriki? From what I know, Jinchuriki were often regarded as monsters due to being implanted with Tailed Beasts since childhood. People avoided them, resulting in most developing isolated personalities—at times even going berserk, like Gaara of Sunagakure Village. Their existence seems utterly meaningless to this world."
"Perhaps," Anya smiled lightly. "However, for me personally, some people deserve to live, regardless of what the world thinks."
"Very well." Hoichi bowed respectfully to Anya before turning to leave.
Outside, Sasori had just walked a short distance when he saw Mabui approaching head-on.
"Is that Anya who showed up? Why didn't you let me know?" Mabui's sensing ability was also strong. Combined with the fact that Anya hadn't intentionally hidden herself, she found out right away and came in high spirits.
Sasori replied coldly, "Oh, why should I tell you? Just keep her company; stop letting her run off again."
Mabui frowned, saying, "Samiu is a ninja from the Hidden Cloud Village. She hasn't joined the Organization nor Sunagakure Village. Samiu is supposed to be free. You're being too harsh keeping her here and not allowing her to leave the village."
Sasori sneered, "Big Brother Kurotsuchi was afraid you were lonely, so he specially brought her over from Konoha and left her by your side. But look at you—what you've done, you know it well yourself."
Mabui's face immediately turned grim: "You suspect me?"
"That's right. I'll clearly tell you this: in this world, besides Big Brother Kurotsuchi, I suspect everyone else," Sasori replied ruthlessly.
Mabui gave a bitter smile and said, "Fine. I foolishly thought we were all part of the same group before, but now it seems I've always been excluded from the very beginning—and nothing's changed after all these years."
Sasori felt a pang of emotion but remained silent.
After Mabui spoke, her demeanor turned cold as well. Turning around to leave, she took a couple of steps forward before looking back at Sasori and saying, "If I truly wanted to leak the Organization's intelligence report, a single Heavenly Transfer Technique would've sufficed."
Watching Mabui's distant figure disappear, Sasori silently sighed where he stood.
"What's wrong? Are you regretting what you just said?" Anya appeared beside Sasori.
Sasori nodded. "She's right. Perhaps I should give her more trust; then today's conflict wouldn't have happened."
"It's normal to have conflicts. Every family experiences them. Much more so for a loose organization. Later, I'll talk some sense into her. Now, let's get on with our main task."
"All right."
In the midst of swirling yellow sands, shinobi candidates in the Chunin Exams could barely keep their eyes open against the howling wind. Quicksand and ground collapses added to the chaos, with some participants already swallowed by sandstorms, nearly plunging into deep abysses below.
At that moment, a graceful female figure flapped wings while descending from above. With practiced ease, she formed hand seals and released a web-like jutsu, wrapping around three falling examinees just in time.
"Now stay still; don't struggle."
As she pulled them upward forcefully, suddenly the surrounding sandstorm calmed. Vertical walls of sand solidified into barriers blocking further progress, silencing the once-roaring winds entirely.
A lone figure descended from above, stepping lightly upon the grains of sand, landing before the woman who'd just completed the rescue mission.
"I'm a ninja from the Hidden Sand Village. My name is Gaara."
"I'm Fuu from the Hidden Waterfall Village."
Gaara asked curiously, "Why did you save them? Aren't you also a participant in the Chunin Exams?"
"Oh, about that," Fuu recalled, "Grandpa and my Village Headman told me something before: they said I must learn to make friends because someday I will make one hundred friends."
"Is that so?" Gaara replied.
"Friends can share both sorrows and happiness. If you could really have a hundred friends who shared both your sorrows and joys, that would probably be amazing."
"Hell yeah!"
Receiving sudden approval from someone nearly a stranger, Fuu burst into laughter. In a flash of movement [Shunshin], she reappeared right in front of Gaara. Taking his hand, she said, "Really? Then will you be the very first friend I make after leaving the Village? Please say yes!"
Caught off guard by Fuu's unexpected enthusiasm, Gaara instinctively took two steps back. He let out a quiet sigh and nodded. "Fine."
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