Tailed Beasts—just the mention of them was enough to strike fear into the hearts of most shinobi. To many, they were synonymous with utter destruction.
The older generation of Sunagakure ninja still vividly remembered the chaos and devastation caused by Shukaku, back before it had ever been sealed into Bunpuku.
Even with the sudden appearance of the Nine-Tails and Three-Tails, along with a whole host of massive, battlefield-dominating summoned beasts...
Even if they knew the Nine-Tails far outclassed Shukaku, and those summoned creatures were terrifying beyond reason...
They could still summon the courage to stand and fight.
But now, it wasn't just them.
Floating above the battlefield was a being even more enormous and terrifying than any tailed beast—a giant humanoid chakra construct.
It was the Thousand-Armed Wooden Buddha, a Wood Style colossus towering a thousand meters tall, looming just outside the village like it could annihilate Sunagakure in an instant.
How could a mere human possibly stand against something like that?
Chiyo stumbled back, vision swimming with darkness.
It was only now, as she saw the towering Thousand-Armed Buddha for herself, that she finally understood the fear Fukui must have felt upon returning from the front lines.
Pakura caught her just in time, supporting her as she nearly collapsed. Her expression was grim.
"Lady Chiyo, Sunagakure still needs you. You can't fall now!"
"..."
Dragged back from the edge of unconsciousness, Chiyo felt nothing but a bottomless sorrow well up in her chest.
Need her?
What for?
To sign a surrender treaty? To agree to Konoha's terms of merger?
"Sister, please hang in there. With the Kazekage gone, you're the only pillar left holding this village together."
Ebizō took her other arm, his old face etched with bitterness and pain.
He knew full well—if Konoha had brought such overwhelming force to bear, then unless they got the answer they wanted, this could very well be the end of Sunagakure.
"I... I understand."
Chiyo's eyes swept over the faces of the high-ranking officials of Sunagakure. All of them were watching her.
Uneasy. Worried. Panicked. Afraid. Resentful. Regretful...
Every kind of emotion was reflected in those eyes, all focused on her.
Of course.
She was the one who had blocked the selection of the Fourth Kazekage. She had seized control of the village's leadership.
She had overruled the council to lead the peace talks with Kirigakure and push for an alliance with Iwagakure to attack Konoha.
Everything Sunagakure now faced...
Might all be her fault.
How could she justify collapsing now and leaving this burden to someone else?
Sunagakure...
Chiyo's clouded eyes reddened as she straightened up with effort.
Facing those mixed expressions, she pulled free from Pakura and Ebizō's support and walked alone to the edge of the Kazekage building. Her gaze reached out across the swirling sandstorms, as if speaking both to herself and to all who listened.
"Lord Reto founded Sunagakure, giving us a place to survive in the harsh deserts of the Land of Wind. Lord Shamon led us through the great sandstorms, strengthened our forces, and brought us into the ranks of the Five Great Shinobi Villages...
We are the people born from wind and sand! On this barren land, we've always fought—to survive against nature, against the odds, against our enemies. Because if we didn't fight, we would've perished long ago!
Show the spine of a Sunagakure shinobi! We were born with the courage and will to stand against anything!"
Chiyo stood tall and proud, as if she had mustered every last bit of strength.
She suddenly turned, eyes bloodshot, and barked out a command to the crowd.
"Send out the order—cancel the alarm! Every shinobi in the village is to enter full battle readiness!"
"If Konoha truly comes in peace, we're willing to build peace together. But if they come to enslave us, they'll have to step over our corpses first!"
"All Sunagakure shinobi—prepare to fight Konoha to the death if necessary!"
"Yes, ma'am!"
Perhaps it was Chiyo's words that stirred something in them, or perhaps it was simply the answer they'd been waiting for all along.
The hesitant and conflicted officials sprang into action.
The blaring sirens suddenly went silent.
And the panicked, terrified shinobi across the village began to snap into formation as orders were shouted and barked, preparing themselves for whatever was to come.
"Pakura..."
Chiyo looked toward him, her expression unreadable.
"Lady Chiyo?"
He turned, confused at why she'd called out to him now.
"Go to the ninja academy. Take the kids to the deepest part of the emergency shelter. That's where most of Sunagakure's legacy is stored. If war breaks out... take them and run. Protect the last seeds of this village."
"Lady Chiyo..."
"Go on, child. I was wrong about you before. I misjudged you."
Chiyo smiled kindly as she gave the stunned Pakura a gentle push.
Without another word, she leapt from the Kazekage building and sped off toward the ninja academy. As she glanced back, her eyes were filled with sorrow and resolve—but inwardly, she couldn't stop sneering.
That old hag Chiyo, even now, was still trying to test her?
"If war breaks out, take the children and flee?"
As if Pakura couldn't read between the lines of Chiyo's earlier speech—"If Konoha truly comes in peace"—as if she didn't know exactly what it meant?
Fukui had already relayed Konoha's ultimate goal clearly when he returned from the front lines.
And the Sunagakure leadership had discussed it many times.
Why else had they moved into action so quickly just now?
This was nothing more than Sunagakure putting up a strong front to avoid being crushed under harsh negotiation terms.
She was almost certain—once the talks were over, it would be her time to ascend as Kazekage.
...
But what if... she didn't want to be Kazekage anymore?
"Seriously... couldn't you have just used the Mind Body Transmission Technique for once?"
Pakura looked toward the Thousand-Armed Buddha standing to the south of the village. From this distance, the tiny dot perched on top of its head was barely the size of a grain of rice to her eyes.
A familiar connection formed—Mind Body Transmission.
And in the next instant, Yamanaka Shinno's voice echoed in her mind.
"You called?"
"...If I don't become Kazekage, what job are you planning to give me instead?"
"Foot rubs and back massages?"
"..."
"Maybe fire up the bathhouse boiler? You've got Scorch Release—perfect for the job."
"Asshole! I'm not joking here!"
"Jeez, where's your sense of humor? What do you mean, you don't want to be Kazekage?"
"...It's just... pointless."
Pakura paused before answering, her voice filled with exhaustion and quiet despair.
She was torn.
On one hand, she loved this village where she'd grown up.
On the other... she hated the prejudice and injustice from the higher-ups.
Merging with Konoha couldn't happen without Chiyo's support.
Even if the merger succeeded, keeping the Sunagakure shinobi compliant and cooperative would also need Chiyo's presence.
Konoha wouldn't kill Chiyo. And as for Pakura..
She wasn't sure she could go through with it either.
Was this just weakness?
Maybe.
But if she couldn't follow through, then even if she did become Kazekage, she'd be nothing more than Chiyo's puppet, stuck on the frontlines of a political storm.
What would be the point of that?
"Just be the Kazekage already. Chiyo's made her choice. She... well, I'd say she's one of the few elders in Sunagakure with real backbone."
Shinno's voice came softly into her mind, tinged with something like admiration.
Pakura wasn't stupid.
She only hesitated for a second before the meaning behind his words struck her like a bolt of lightning. She stopped dead in her tracks and looked back toward the Kazekage building.
Chiyo was still standing there, watching over the entire village from above.
Even from a distance...
Pakura could still feel the warmth and love radiating from that frail, unbending figure.
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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