Chapter 104: The Yellow Sand Condenses Into…
"Do I… really have to do this?"
Gaara hesitated.
If this were the Gaara of the past, once the daimyō went mad like this, he might truly have ignored all ninja rules and slaughtered the entire family without a second thought.
But the current Gaara, after experiencing Uzumaki Naruto's talk-no-jutsu, had even begun to empathize with his own father, Rasa.
Even though Shiromo had told him that Rasa had also committed many mistakes in his official capacity.
Gaara still believed that those were merely the result of his father's limitations and misguided efforts. At his core, his father had still wanted to contribute to Sunagakure.
"Do you want to change the current state of Sunagakure?"
Shiromo asked.
"Does change necessarily require killing? Can't it be like me and Naruto, mutual understanding…"
Gaara looked at the ninja charging toward them in the distance. His hand hovered in midair, beginning to tremble.
"If you want to change Sunagakure, then you must clearly distinguish who is an enemy and who is a friend."
"Who is an irreconcilable enemy, and who is an enemy that can still be won over."
"When facing an irreconcilable enemy, if you retreat one step, they will press forward ten."
"What you sacrifice then is not just your personal interests or dignity, but the interests, and even the lives, of those standing behind you, those who believe in you."
"Didn't you just say that you're beginning to understand Rasa?"
"He could commit the filthy act of betraying heroes for the sake of the village. He could sacrifice his family and be hated, all for the village."
"So what about you?"
"If you lack even this bit of tolerance and decisiveness, then my suggestion is that you hand the position of Kazekage over to Temari, while you're at it, you can even form an all-female Kage bond."
"I'm not doing it!"
Temari was gripping her fan and staring into the distance when she heard Shiromo mention her. She immediately refused.
"You want me to stand on the opposite side of everyone, to become the center that bears all the hatred…"
Pressed by Shiromo's words, Gaara suddenly reached an epiphany.
Only, his wording left Shiromo somewhat speechless.
So that's how you understood it?
"Why would I want you to stand against everyone? Right now, it's the daimyō who's standing on the opposite side of the people."
Shiromo felt helpless.
In the ninja world, many people wanted to bring about change, figures like Hanzō of the Salamander, or Uchiha Sasuke in the final war.
They all wanted to change the status quo of the ninja world.
Their methods weren't necessarily wrong, but there was one thing they all overlooked.
If you want reform, you need a popular base.
The reform they envisioned, and the reform Gaara was now imagining, were both these inexplicable notions of "standing against everyone" and "bearing all the hatred."
Just as absurd as assigning the Uchiha to be the police force and then wondering why they became hated.
"I understand."
Gaara's gaze firmed up. He raised both hands, and a sandstorm surged violently.
Gaara's current strength, without using Shukaku's power, was at best around the level of an average jōnin.
Among the rogue ninja hired by the daimyō, their abilities varied widely, but there were indeed jōnin among them.
Faced with the incoming sandstorm, many of the ninja were able to dodge it.
This wasn't the Chūnin Exams anymore, where most opponents were genin, with only the occasional standout genius.
Temari was just about to swing her fan and coordinate an attack with Gaara when Shiromo placed a hand on her shoulder and pulled her behind him.
"What are you doing?"
Temari asked, confused.
"Leave it to me."
Shiromo patted her shoulder and walked to Gaara's side, placing one hand on his shoulder.
"Hm?"
Gaara instantly felt a vast, surging power flood into his body.
But he couldn't control this power at all.
In fact, after it entered him, he couldn't even manipulate his own sand anymore.
What was this?
This was the ability Shiromo had gained after Uchiha Hikari used Tsukuyomi on him.
It wasn't based on "Tsukuyomi" itself.
It was based on Hikari's true Mangekyō ability, "Yachihoko."
This time, however, Shiromo couldn't find a suitable corresponding name for it.
If he had to describe it, this ability turned him into a humanoid "Arrow" of the ninja world.
Just like Yachihoko could amplify dōjutsu and transfer chakra to others through marks, Shiromo had gained the ability to inject natural energy into others, producing a massive amplification.
Injecting natural energy into others was something Jūgo could also do.
In the original story, during the battle against Six Paths Obito, because only senjutsu could deal damage, Jūgo had attached his curse mark to Sasuke's Susanoo.
However, Jūgo's method of injecting natural energy provided almost no amplification to Sasuke at that time. It only added the "true damage" property of natural energy.
Shiromo was different.
From what he had learned from the White Snake Sage, his condition shared certain similarities with the Ten-Tails.
This also explained why Yakushi Kabuto, in the Boruto era, hadn't taught him the true method of cultivation.
Kabuto had seen the Ten-Tails. After undergoing personality correction, until he fully understood Shiromo's character, there was no way he would release a humanoid Ten-Tails from its cage.
So what should Shiromo do?
Simply wait for Nagato to recover, let the Gedo Statue strike him once, and gamble on the outcome?
Shiromo clearly had no intention of doing that.
Putting everything on such a gamble didn't fit his personality at all.
In his spare time, Shiromo had been thinking.
He thought of another existence, The Ōtsutsuki clan.
The Ōtsutsuki traveled from planet to planet, planting Divine Trees, harvesting their fruit, and refining pills.
At their core, they were converting a planet's natural energy into chakra that was easier for them to absorb, then consuming it.
This was highly similar to the concept of external alchemy in Shiromo's previous life's Daoist traditions.
So if there was external alchemy, what about internal alchemy?
Shiromo began experimenting with compressing natural energy.
At present, the degree of natural energy aggregation within Shiromo's body had already reached a terrifying level.
Combined with the ability he had just obtained, injecting this super-dense natural energy into others was, for ninja of this world, equivalent to temporarily activating a super Sage Mode.
The only drawback was that the power was far too immense, throughout the entire process, it could only be controlled by Shiromo himself.
That was why Gaara found himself unable to control his sand.
Shiromo had effectively logged into his account.
Shiromo wasn't amplifying Gaara's abilities right now just to test out his new power.
Up until now, aside from special abilities, Shiromo had only relied on physical combat.
So was there a way for him to grasp elemental techniques like wind, fire, lightning, and so on?
Sasuke's Kirin provided a source of inspiration.
Kirin's attack relied almost entirely on natural lightning.
Only a small amount of chakra was needed, merely to guide it.
Since Shiromo himself used natural energy, he could theoretically perform the same kind of operation.
By using natural energy to assist Gaara now, Shiromo could borrow Gaara's abilities to experience what it felt like to control natural elements.
Once he became sufficiently familiar with that sensation, directly controlling the elements of nature would only be a matter of time.
"Don't be afraid."
With his hand still on Gaara's shoulder, Shiromo stepped forward beside him.
Raging sand surged and gathered before them, rapidly condensing into a base, a platform…
"What is that thing?!"
The daimyō's hired ninja stared at the magnificent structure that had suddenly risen from the ground. They stopped in their tracks, fear creeping in.
A radiant, golden sun-disc altar floated above the desert.
Under the blazing sunlight, a scorching beam of fiery light suddenly shot out from the disc, slicing across the ground.
The hired ninja didn't even have time to scream before they were vaporized into fine sand.
"Hiss… huh?"
As Shiromo sensed the power of the natural elements, a thought suddenly struck him. He raised his head and looked up at the sun.
(End of this chapter)