Desert Funeral

A few months later.

Appreciating the rising sun, I took a nice, deep breath. I was currently at my favorite spot to meditate, an oasis not to far off from the village.

It was on top of a hill-sized rock, and even had a tree and a small pond. The chakra was very dense here, so it was able to exist even in the desert.

The best part was that it was completely private, with no one here to bother me. Feeling content, I opened the status.

'Status.'

A robotic noise sounded in my head as the system's interface appeared in front of me.

『 //Status//

—Basic—

Name: Gaara

Age: 13

—Store—

Level: 11

EXP: 5000/6000

Points: 150

—Attributes—

Strength: 60(50) (Mid-Chuunin)

Agility: 40(35) (Mid-Genin)

Vitality: 50(40) (High-Genin)

Chakra: 75(70) (Low-Jōnin)

Control: 70(65) (Low-Jōnin)

(AN: The numbers between brackets are the ones from the last time he checked.)

—Affinities—

Wind (Primary)

Earth (Secondary)

—Kekkei Genkai—

Magnet Release

—Ninjutsu—

*Undefined: Shield of Sand(Passive), Sand Control[1], Metallic-sand, Third Eye, TB-chakra[2]

*D-Rank: Puppet Technique, Summoning technique, Wind Release: Great Breakthrough, Earth Release: Tearing Earth Turning Palm 』

(AN: I have removed the E-rank techniques from here, we will just assume he knows them. These are the clone Jutsu, substitution, etc. Also, I removed Gale palm, which is a weaker version of great-breakthrough and the finger-carving seal. Please just assume he has all of this, so that it doesn't get crammed.)

Alright, it seems like I have made some improvement. Gaara was a monster in the original series, but I should be stronger at the same age. Well, I guess I should be ready now. I hope everything goes as planned...

"Haaah... All or nothing! Dattebayo!"

Closing my eyes and steeling myself, I clapped both of my hands together and started guiding my chakra in a certain direction. Specifically towards my abdomen, where the seal was located.

By stimulating the seal in specific ways, chakra started to leak out of it slowly, merging with my chakra.

Although I wasn't sure if this was entirely safe, I still wanted to try it. Drawing from my past experiences with Shukaku's chakra, I believe that if I am able to tap into it indirectly, Shukaku won't be able to take over.

Kind of like what Jiraiya forced Naruto to do after pushing him to his death. After that, he was able to use the nine-tails chakra safely, he just needed to know where it was located, in order to tap into it.

Technically, I should be able to achieve this...

Slowly, Shukaku's chakra started flowing out of the seal, overtaking my own. In no time, my chakra pathway system became completely red, and I had an aura surrounding my body.

"It... It worked!"

I couldn't feel any side-effects at all. No murderous intent, no sense of being controlled... It was as if the chakra was fully under my control.

In fact, it was.

Calming myself down, I stopped circulating it so vigorously, getting rid of the aura. Taking a look at my hand, I was surprised at the feeling of overbearing power.

It felt like I could do anything.

With ease, I spread my chakra across all of the sand in a two-hundred-meter radius and got on one knee and placing both of my palms on the ground.

"Sabaku Taisou!" (Imperial Desert Funeral!)

A thunderous sound resounded across the desert; The whole area was bombarded with seismic shockwaves.

The sheer devastation of this technique was enough to make my hairs stand on end.

"Unbelievable..."

This was the technique Gaara used against Kimimaro, almost ending his life. A monstrous technique indeed.

"At this point, I am more than ready. It should be about time for... that."

Smiling, created a cloud of sand and hopped on it, flying at high speed towards the village.

After arriving, I headed straight to my room, making sure not to wake up the sleeping Yashamaru. I opened my closet, and took off my casual outfit.

I put on the same as always, with light Armour underneath my clothes. The only difference was that I didn't carry the two gourds my father gifted me, opting to seal them instead, for comfort.

After tying my headband, I silently left the house and headed straight to the village's gates. No one was awake yet, so the journey was very quiet.

Once there, I realized that I wasn't the first one to arrive. In front of me were my two teammates and sensei, accompanied by Temari and Kankuro. The last person was someone I didn't know, a guy whose face was covered from the nose down, and who had a massive sword strapped to his back.

Not thinking much of it, I greeted everyone silently, to which they nodded their heads. Now we just had to wait.

...

A few minutes later, I felt a disturbance in the air.

"They're here."

Hearing my words, everyone became alert. Suddenly, Rasa and Chiyo appeared out of thin air.

Seeing him, everyone had to get on one knee and lower their heads, apart from me of course.

Feeling animosity, I turned to look at the guy with the sword. WHen he realized I was looking, he quickly shifted his gaze.

"Weirdo..."

Not giving it too much attention, I turned to my Rasa, waiting for him to speak.

With a serious face, he checked to see if anyone was missing. Satisfied, he spoke up, drawing everyone's attention.

"I believe I don't need to tell you how important this mission is... do I?"

"No, Lord Kazekage!"

Everyone responded in unison.

"Good. I expect all of you to become Chunin, so do not disappoint me. You especially, Gaara. Don't let me down."

"Yes, father."

Smiling, Rasa shifted his gaze toward Baki.

"Baki, don't let anything happen to these children, I trust you."

"You flatter me too much, Kazekage-dono!"

Hearing the man he looked up to so much say that he trusted him, Baki almost shed a tear.

"Good. Now go! Show Konoha what the Sand is capable of!"

"Hai!"

With fiery spirits, we all scattered, leaving Rasa and Chiyo alone at the gates. Following Baki's lead, my excitement got the better of me, as my lips curved into a smile.

"Naruto, here I come!"