Chapter 239 The Kazekage of Sunagakure, Ishii Nishigake.
Naruto, Temari, and Kankuro stayed by the campfire in the desert for a long time at night. At dawn, a small white snake slowly crawled out of the desert.
"It's here," Naruto, who was idly adding firewood to the campfire, immediately perked up upon seeing it.
After the communication snake from Ryuchi Cave came to his side, Naruto squatted down and let the communication snake crawl onto his arm.
"Naruto." The communication snake wrapped around Naruto's arm spoke in human language, and the voice was that of Uchiha Touko.
"Sensei?" Naruto was also stunned when he heard Uchiha Touko's voice. He thought that after sending a message back, his teacher would only send Neji or Sasuke, but he did not expect that it would be Uchiha Touko himself who came to provide assistance.
"Sasuke and Neji have other missions right now," the communication snake said in Uchiha Touko's voice. "So, I used a sealing technique to seal a portion of my chakra within the communication snake, allowing it to maintain real-time contact with my main body."
"Alright, with you here, Sensei, Temari's coup will be even more foolproof," Naruto nodded.
"Alright, let's get down to business." The communication snake on Naruto's wrist turned its head to Temari beside him. "Princess of Sunagakure, nice to meet you."
"Uh, if I may ask, who are you?" Temari looked at the snake speaking to her and asked hesitantly.
"Uchiha Touko," the communication snake replied slowly.
"The Fifth Hokage?" Temari's expression changed upon hearing this. The name Uchiha Touko startled her. She glanced at Naruto blankly, thinking:
[Aren't you a rogue ninja? What rogue ninja can just call their Kage when they encounter trouble outside?!] "
Greetings, Fifth Hokage." Kankuro hurriedly said. Although the relationship between the Land of Wind and the Land of Fire hadn't been so harmonious since the last trade war, as the son of the former Kazekage, he couldn't neglect proper etiquette. Moreover, Uchiha Tokō had solidified his position as the strongest ninja in the opposing ninja world after that battle. Therefore, even though it was just a small snake imbued with Uchiha Tokō's chakra, Kankuro didn't dare to be disrespectful.
Temari, having calmed herself down a bit, also reacted and bowed to the communication snake in Naruto's hand, saying, "Greetings, Hokage. I dare not address you as princess before you."
"No, no, no, remember this well. From now on, no matter who you face, you must consider yourself the princess of Sunagakure, understand?" Uchiha Tokō's smiling voice came from the communication snake.
"If you want to become the Fifth Kazekage, then you must ensure that everyone in your village never forgets the kindness of your father, who single-handedly supported the village's economy and provided them with a good life," Uchiha Touko patiently guided her.
"I understand," Temari nodded, realizing that this legendary ninja was beginning to instruct her on a coup. "So, besides that, what else should I do?"
"Wait," Uchiha Touko said calmly. "The situation within your village is still unclear. Before your and your brother's identities are officially confirmed by your village, you need to gather information about your village and then wait patiently. I think you should have a way to contact the ninjas in your village who support you."
"Yes," Temari nodded. "I have a way to contact our uncle."
"Uncle? That's perfect." Uchiha Touko nodded, his assessment of Temari's chances of a coup increasing. Since ancient times, uncles have always been the best accomplices in coups and power grabs, especially since the uncle of these three siblings held a high position in Sunagakure.
"Then, what you need to do now is to extricate yourself from this matter," Uchiha Touko said. "Until you become Kazekage, your Jinchuriki brother can only remain a rogue ninja for a while. Furthermore, if you can return to the village, you must demonstrate enthusiasm for capturing Gaara, who is a rogue ninja."
"In other words, you have to temporarily sever ties with Gaara, since what Gaara did in your village is an undeniable fact," Uchiha Touko continued.
"But if that's the case…" Temari hesitated upon hearing this.
"You're worried that if you do this, even if you become Kazekage, you won't be able to clear your brother's name, right?" Uchiha Touko countered.
Temari didn't speak, only nodded.
"It seems you have no concept of just how much power a Kage truly wields," Uchiha Touko chuckled. "Once you become Kazekage and completely control Sunagakure, whether Gaara is a rogue ninja or not will be entirely up to you." "Just
like him?" Temari then looked at Naruto.
"Uh, his situation is a bit complicated, but your thinking isn't wrong," Uchiha Touko said, and Naruto, who had been mentioned, scratched his head, revealing an awkward smile.
"But, our village isn't just ruled by the Kazekage..." Temari said, "Even when my father was alive, sometimes we had to listen to the elders of the village."
"When you expressed your desire to become the Fifth Kazekage, what was the attitude of the elders of your village?" Uchiha Touko countered.
"They...aren't very supportive," Temari sighed. "Even though my strength after training is already among the top in the village, they rejected me because I'm too young. However, they're probably still observing, otherwise they wouldn't have been delaying the election for the Fifth Kazekage. Also, Elder Ebizo's attitude towards Gaara during this pursuit suggests he won't support me anymore."
"Isn't that obvious?" Uchiha Touko laughed. "You're going to seize power through a coup. In your process of becoming the Fifth Kazekage, they are all obstacles that must be eliminated. Once you succeed, do you think anyone will stand up to obstruct you if you want to pardon your brother?"
After hearing what Uchiha Touko said, Temari's pupils contracted first, then she suddenly understood.
"Yes, she's planning a coup. The two elders will definitely oppose her, and purging and eliminating their influence in the village is a necessary part of the coup. So, once she succeeds, she might become the most powerful Kazekage in Sunagakure since the First Kazekage. At that time, pardoning Gaara would be a piece of cake for her.
" "I understand." Temari took a deep breath and voiced her final concern. "But, if I abandon Gaara now, what will happen to him alone?" At this
moment, Naruto smiled and said, "If you trust me, I'll take care of him. With Kurama there, the One-Tailed Beast inside him won't dare to cause trouble. Besides, I can try to teach him how to control his emotions."
Temari turned to look at Naruto and fell silent.
Although reason told Temari that the other party was a rogue Jinchuriki, even if his defection had other hidden reasons, he was still someone from another force. If he and Konoha had designs on the One-Tailed Beast, entrusting Gaara to him would undoubtedly be like sending a lamb to the slaughter. However, when she connected her chakra with Naruto using the secret techniques of Ninjutsu, Temari only felt the warmth of the sun in Naruto's chakra. This boy before her seemed to have no malice towards the world.
[If only my Gaara could be like him...] Thinking of this, Temari looked at Naruto somewhat absentmindedly.
"Letting Naruto take care of your brother is indeed a good choice. At least I think Naruto can somewhat correct the somewhat twisted personality of your brother, who was raised as a weapon since childhood." At this moment, Uchiha Touko said.
"Okay, I believe you." After taking a deep breath, Temari said solemnly to Naruto, "Gaara is in your care."
"Sister?" Kankuro looked at Temari in disbelief.
"Don't worry, I will take good care of him." Naruto nodded with a smile.
"Then, my communication snake will stay with you until your coup is complete," Uchiha Touko said.
"Okay." Temari nodded, reaching out to let the communication snake on Naruto's wrist crawl onto her own.
"Alright," Uchiha Touko said, "Naruto, you take this child and go. Then, Princess Temari, you can try contacting your uncle. Find out the situation inside Sunagakure as soon as possible; it will be beneficial for our next steps."
…
At dawn, Naruto, carrying the sleeping Gaara, slowly left Temari and her brother's sight. After watching them leave, Temari also began to contact Yashamaru using the communication method she had agreed upon with him.
"You two, make some cuts on yourselves, otherwise it will be difficult to explain later," Uchiha Touko reminded her.
"Okay." Temari was also decisive, grabbing a handful of sand and rubbing it vigorously on her face to create some abrasions. Then, without changing her expression, she took out a kunai and cut several wounds on her body. Kankuro did the same.
Watching this scene through the communication snake's gaze, Uchiha Touko nodded secretly. These two siblings were really going all out for their younger brother.
Two hours later, Yashamaru's figure appeared on the horizon, rushing towards the siblings.
"Temari, Kankuro, are you two alright?" Yashamaru checked on the siblings after arriving, and only breathed a sigh of relief after seeing they had only suffered minor injuries.
"Where's Gaara?" After confirming the safety of his two nephews, Yashamaru noticed his youngest nephew was missing and hurriedly asked.
"I don't know." Temari shook her head through gritted teeth, replying according to the script Uchiha Touko had taught her beforehand. "After that person kidnapped us, we passed out during high-speed flight, and our chakra was depleted. When we woke up, he and Gaara were nowhere to be found."
Yashamaru's pupils constricted upon hearing this. If Naruto had taken Gaara, it meant that Sunagakure's tailed beasts were also lost. This was unacceptable for Sunagakure, which was currently severely lacking in high-level combat power. However, Yashamaru managed to conceal his emotions slightly and said to the two, "It's good that you two are alright. The village will slowly search for Gaara's whereabouts."
"Uncle, what's the situation in the village now?" Temari asked hurriedly.
"Uh..." Hearing Temari's question, Yashamaru hesitated, seemingly wanting to speak but then stopping himself.
"Uncle!"
"Alright, there's no harm in telling you." Yashamaru sighed and said, "After you all went missing, Elder Chiyo and Elder Ebizo declared a state of emergency in the village because of the missing Jinchuriki. They directly appointed the village's elite Jonin, Ishiichi Seigaku, as the acting Kazekage to take charge."
"Ishiichi Seigaku?" Temari frowned upon hearing this. "Although he is slightly stronger than me, he doesn't have many people in the village who support him."
"This was the decision of the two elders," Yashamaru said. "Last night, that guy held a temporary succession ceremony, put on the Kazekage hat, and the first thing he did after taking office was to designate you two as rogue ninjas based on your previous rescue of Gaara. However, with the opposition of us former subordinates of the Fourth Hokage, his proposal was not approved."
"That guy, he's only an acting Kazekage, and he's already so eager to eliminate dissidents?" Kankuro also chimed in with a curse.
"Don't worry, with your uncle here, you two won't suffer any injustice," Yashamaru comforted Kankuro. "However, Gaara's status as a rogue ninja has been confirmed, so it might be a good thing that person took Gaara away. Otherwise, Gaara would only face the fate of having his tailed beast forcibly removed."
"Damn it!" Temari gritted her teeth.
"Since you're both alright, let's go back to the village first," Yashamaru said. "The longer you linger outside, the more legitimately that guy can label you rogue ninjas."
"Okay," Temari nodded, then followed Yashamaru on the road back to the village.
...
Temari and Kankuro had just returned to the gate of Sunagakure with Yashamaru when they were stopped by the guards responsible for guarding the village gate.
A short while later, a man wearing a green Kazekage hat and a long robe emerged. Upon seeing Yashamaru and the Temari siblings behind him, he immediately said,
"Jonin Yashamaru, well done! Men, seize these two suspected rogue ninjas and interrogate them thoroughly about the Jinchuriki's whereabouts!"
Yashamaru, seeing this, immediately blocked the siblings' path, frowning, "Acting Kazekage, even the two elders haven't decided on Temari and Kankuro's identities yet. Isn't it somewhat against the rules to label them rogue ninjas now?"
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(End of Chapter)