In the Land of Wind, the Sand Village stood surrounded by endless yellow sand.
Whoosh. A figure carrying a large fan quickly passed over the rooftops, rapidly heading toward the village outskirts.
This person was Temari, daughter of the former Kazekage of the Sand Village.
During the previous Chunin Exams, because Orochimaru had been warned about the risks beforehand, he killed the Kazekage before the exam officially started to avoid uncontrollable situations.
The result was that the Konoha Crush Plan failed, Orochimaru escaped unharmed, and Konoha lost a jinchūriki but got rid of a conspirator. Overall, the losses weren't too significant for the Leaf Village.
In the end, only the Sand Village was hurt.
They had it the worst. Their Kazekage was killed, they still had to negotiate peace with Konoha afterward, and even their One-Tail jinchūriki became unstable after returning from the Chunin Exams.
With no Kazekage to manage the situation, the Sand Village's leadership faced a power vacuum. Currently, decisions were being made temporarily by the acting Kazekage Baki, along with the legendary siblings Chiyo and Ebizo.
But the leadership disagreed on how to handle Gaara.
The faction led by Chiyo felt that since Gaara was the former Kazekage's son, despite his frequent rampages for unknown reasons, they should still preserve his life. They favored strengthening the seals.
The faction led by Maki believed that since Gaara's current state was unstable, they should directly transport him to the Wind Country border battlefields to intimidate the Iwa ninja who were already getting restless.
But this proposal was immediately rejected.
Are you kidding? When the jinchūriki goes on a killing spree, what if he accidentally destroys their own battle lines too?
Moreover, the Tsuchikage wasn't without capable people. Just Ōnoki's strength alone was formidable. If they really let Gaara, who hadn't fully mastered the tailed beast's power yet, face Ōnoki's Dust Release, the One-Tail might end up being revived somewhere else entirely.
Then there was the conservative faction led by other village elders.
They felt that since Gaara's state was unstable, they should simply transfer the tailed beast to someone else.
But this proposal was firmly rejected by Chiyo, Maki, and others. Their minimum requirement was ensuring Gaara's personal safety. The risk of transferring a tailed beast was too high and would likely endanger Gaara's life.
After arguing for most of the day, all parties finally reached a conclusion: temporarily imprison Gaara in the Shukaku Shrine with strengthened seals, and only release him after his mental state has recovered.
This was also a compromise by those elders. After all, in this village, whether in prestige or actual power, they couldn't compare to Chiyo and Baki's side.
Whoosh!
Another sound of cutting wind. A figure quickly approached Temari.
But Temari didn't turn back and just continued jumping and running silently.
"Temari, are you going to see Gaara again?" Kankuro, with his distinctive face paint, looked at his sister and couldn't help but ask.
After all, Gaara's current state was too unstable. He could attack them at any moment. Even if Temari went to the shrine, she might not be able to see him.
"He is our brother." Temari didn't answer Kankuro directly, instead using this statement as her response.
Hearing this, Kankuro also fell silent.
This Chunin Exam trip had brought them too much change.
When their father was still alive, although Gaara wasn't well-liked, at least he had food, clothing, and basic freedom of movement within the village.
But after one trip, their father died and their brother fell into madness. They felt like the sky that had been supported for them suddenly fell on their shoulders.
They couldn't even speak up about how to handle Gaara.
If not for Chiyo and Baki supporting them, they might have been held accountable too.
As the eldest sister, Temari now clearly understood her responsibility. She had to protect her brothers.
Even if they might hurt her, it didn't matter. After all, her brothers were her last family in this world.
The two ninja moved quickly and soon left the village boundaries.
Don't let the fact that they still needed to take Konoha's Chunin Exam fool you. By Sand Village standards, they could have become chunin long ago.
Meanwhile, inside the Shukaku Shrine in the desert, Gaara was tightly bound by seals in a makeshift "prison cell."
Coincidentally, the previous One-Tail jinchūriki, the monk Bunpuku, had also been imprisoned in this same cell.
But unlike Gaara who was suppressed by external force, Bunpuku had willingly been imprisoned.
This old monk had possessed a clear mind and no hostility toward tailed beasts, treating them the same as everyone else.
He had once said to Shukaku: "As long as we can truly accept each other, there's no difference between humans and tailed beasts."
This had even made the irritable Shukaku give him the evaluation: "Your character is somewhat similar to the Sage of Six Paths."
Unfortunately, the old monk's ideals weren't understood by subsequent Kazekage. To avoid village disputes and put everyone's minds at ease, the old monk voluntarily entered the cage and died there.
It could only be said that the Sand Village didn't deserve such a good monk. They had almost achieved their own perfect jinchūriki, but they were useless even when given the chance.
"Ahhhhh!" Gaara felt the giant tanuki in his mind rampaging again. The intense hatred and destructive desire easily overwhelmed his personal will, forcing him to crawl on the ground and struggle like a wild beast.
Meanwhile, Shukaku inside him ignored the outside situation and the jinchūriki's condition, continuing to vent his displeasure.
Kurama! Kurama! Ah!
Shortly after returning to Sand Village, he suddenly felt his connection with Kurama forcibly severed. That was exactly when Naruto left the ninja world.
Actually, there had been a disconnection before, but it only lasted a day before recovering, so Shukaku, who was still sleeping at the time, hadn't noticed at all.
But this time, Kurama's connection was severed for many days. This made Shukaku's heart sink.
All nine tailed beasts were created by the Sage of Six Paths and shared some kind of mystical connection.
If a jinchūriki was forcibly extracted or killed, causing the tailed beast to die as well, they could all sense it.
Tailed beasts were beings of pure chakra. Even if killed, they could potentially be reborn elsewhere, so they usually didn't fear death.
But this time, Kurama's connection was completely severed, as if erased from this world entirely.
Among the nine tailed beasts, Shukaku had the most complex feelings toward Kurama.
When they were still good brothers, Kurama always bullied him, and he was defiant, always challenging the Nine-Tails to fights.
Though both seemed to dislike each other, the bond between these two tailed beasts was actually stronger than with their other siblings.
If Kurama had just been killed, Shukaku would probably applaud and even sleep more soundly.
But Kurama had disappeared completely. This drove Shukaku absolutely insane.
He couldn't believe it and wouldn't believe it.
The violent Shukaku repeatedly assaulted the seal, which caused Gaara's frequent rampages.
"Impossible!" Just as Shukaku was about to rampage again, suddenly that familiar connection returned.
"?" This made the big tanuki's emotions somewhat disjointed.
"Hey! Kurama! What was wrong with you before?!" Shukaku used the tailed beasts' special mental link to "call" Nine-Tails.
After a moment of silence, the other side suddenly chuckled softly.
"Hmph..." Then Nine-Tails arrogantly "hung up."
"??"
The next moment, Temari and Kankuro, who had just arrived at the Shukaku Shrine, heard even louder roaring from within the sealed chamber.