Chapter 240 – Stabilizing Shukaku

With both Konoha and Kumogakure suffering setbacks in their military offensives, their already weak diplomatic influence crumbled further.

Neither village retained the leverage to interfere in Sunagakure's internal affairs.

When Ōnoki received the intelligence that Konoha had withdrawn its troops, he wasted no time ordering a full retreat.

He quickly issued commands to pull back the demolition squad—particularly his prized student, Deidara, who had caused a spectacular amount of destruction during this operation.

After more than two days of bombing runs, Deidara had completely burned through the clay that Ōnoki had authorized for use. Any further bombing runs required him to rely on clay he'd made himself.

Once they dragged him back to Iwagakure, Ōnoki's first move was to confiscate that clay—just in case Deidara hadn't gotten the explosions out of his system and was thinking of trying something in his own village.

To be fair, Deidara was thinking exactly that.

But Ōnoki was an old fox, and he knew his student's temperament far too well. He seized the "tools of the crime" and kept the suspect under close watch, effectively grounding Deidara by keeping him right under his nose.

With that, Iwagakure fell silent.

...

News of this amusing little anecdote between master and apprentice made its way to Yagura.

He couldn't help but recall an old episode of Tom and Jerry—the one where Jerry tries to rein in his mischievous, bomb-loving nephew Tuffy.

"Other than that Deidara kid causing a mess near Konoha's northwestern border," Mei Terumi said with a frown, flipping through the synchronized battle reports sent from Iwagakure, "Iwagakure didn't contribute much to this war."

In fact, the only major move Iwagakure had made was at the very start—plundering the people of the Wind Country. That hit Sunagakure far harder than it helped them.

The rest of their demolition team seemed more like bodyguards escorting Deidara on a joyride through the Land of Fire.

And Deidara hadn't only bombed the Land of Fire's soil and people—he'd hit Kirigakure's property too.

"Well, well~ It's a small price to pay to let the Tsuchikage pocket a little profit," Yagura replied, unfazed. Conflicts between nations were never one-sided. Losses were inevitable.

While Iwagakure hadn't made any obvious contributions on the battlefield, the fact that they hadn't aligned themselves diplomatically against Kirigakure was already a massive help.

Yagura had given Ōnoki what he wanted and, in turn, received what he needed from the old man.

All in all, the operation against Sunagakure had been a success, and Yagura intended to show his appreciation—both to Ōnoki and to Yahiko.

The specific "rewards for services rendered" to Iwagakure, and the "hiring fees" due to Yahiko and his organization, would be handled by the Elder Council and its financial department.

...

After wrapping up internal matters, Yagura immediately moved on to personnel decisions.

He recalled Kisame—newly married and not suited to desert warfare—as well as Mangetsu and the injured Kirigakure shinobi.

Meanwhile, Sasori, Zabuza, and Ameyuri stayed behind in Sunagakure, leading a small garrison to maintain order and suppress any local unrest.

Once the assignments were made and orders passed down, Yagura set off for Sunagakure himself.

Though Sunagakure retained its name, the truth was it had become a satellite state under Kirigakure's authority.

Gaara had been handpicked by Yagura to assume the title of Fifth Kazekage.

Yagura knew Gaara would grow into an exceptional leader one day. But for now, Gaara was still just a child. Yagura intended to visit him, offer some guidance, and—more importantly—establish Kirigakure's dominance in person.

He would make his sovereignty clear.

...

Yagura didn't announce his arrival with fanfare.

The war had just ended in a flash, and the people of Sunagakure were still in shock. Their leaders had already made decisions for them before they even had time to react.

Public sentiment was still teetering on the edge, and Yagura had no intention of stirring the pot and making things harder for himself.

He was aiming for a peaceful, gradual transition—letting time slowly wear away resistance and reshape public opinion.

Before arriving, he had only notified Gaara and a few of his closest advisors.

The rest of Sunagakure may have heard whispers, but no official statement had been made.

Three mornings later, Yagura walked into a village thick with suspicion and unease, all fueled by vague, half-true rumors.

Cleaning up the public mood was a task for Sunagakure's current leadership. Yagura had no interest in cleaning up their mess.

After briefly greeting Zabuza and Ameyuri, he made his way to the Kazekage Building under their escort.

...

Kazekage Office – Guest Room

"I don't need any parental supervision for this talk with the Fifth Kazekage, do I?" Yagura said, signaling everyone to step aside—including Zabuza and Ameyuri.

Then he turned his gaze toward the two standing at Gaara's sides: Baki and Yashamaru.

The sheer presence of a Kage made the two seasoned jōnin visibly tense, cold sweat trickling down their backs.

"Baki… san," Gaara said, fidgeting nervously on the couch as if sitting on pins and needles.

Thankfully, Elder Ebizō had coached him on what to do. He summoned his courage and said what he thought was right: "Leave us for a bit. I'll be fine."

At his age, Gaara didn't know how to use more subtle phrasing like "Could you give us some space?"—so he said it plainly.

Yagura raised an eyebrow, looking every bit like a shady adult trying to lure a child away. He added cheerfully to the two adults,

"There, you heard your Kazekage. Time to skedaddle."

Given Gaara's directive, the two had no choice but to retreat and leave the office.

Now, it was just Yagura and Gaara alone in the room.

...

Watching Gaara sit there stiffly, Yagura leaned forward slightly, resting his cheek on one hand.

"If I told you not to be so scared and nervous, you probably wouldn't be able to do that anyway, huh?"

"I've got some experience with kids. I helped raise little ones."

"Want me to tell you a fairy tale? Or maybe you're hungry? Want a snack?"

...No thanks.

Elder Ebizō had once described the Mizukage to Gaara in terms a child could understand.

The summary was clear: This is not a good person. Don't eat anything he gives you. Don't let him get close or touch you. Don't believe a word he says.

Yagura didn't know exactly what "instruction manual" Ebizō had handed Gaara beforehand.

But judging from the wary, street-stranger level of caution in Gaara's eyes, Yagura could guess.

He picked up a piece of sugar cake from the table and waved it in front of Gaara.

"Not interested? But hey, this snack was served by your own people, you know."

Gaara immediately leaned half a body-length away.

Alright. He really was treating Yagura like a threat.

With a shrug, Yagura brought the cake to his own mouth and took a bite.

At least it was safe—no poison. And it was sweet.

Made from an extract of a desert oasis plant...

The treat was made from refined sugar—one of the rare specialties of Sunagakure.

Ebizō had taught Gaara that at the very least, he should be polite and greet people properly.

But that was asking too much of a child who barely spoke to anyone.

Especially when the person in question was a top-level leader.

Even for someone like Gaara, placing Baki and Yashamaru—two healthy adult men—across from Yagura would be enough to leave them tongue-tied.

As Yagura shifted his attention to the sugar pastry he'd just taken a bite of, the atmosphere he'd previously warmed up turned cold almost immediately. Gaara shrank back in fear.

"If only Baki and Yashamaru were still here..."

Yagura was trying to test what Gaara was really made of.

Gaara had just cooperated and sent Baki and Yashamaru away on his own initiative, which earned him a small measure of Yagura's approval. So this is Gaara, he had thought.

But maybe he'd overestimated the kid.

Staring at Gaara, Yagura asked, "Are you regretting that decision right now?"

After all, Gaara had personally told his guardians to leave.

Gaara quickly shook his head, dodging the obvious wrong answer with sharp instinct.

"No..."

"Good."

Yagura's expression softened into a smile. He stood and walked to the other side of the table, taking a seat right next to Gaara.

The safe distance between them collapsed in an instant. Gaara's body stiffened, panic clouding his clear jade-green eyes.

"What are you so scared of? It's not like I'm going to kill you."

But even as he said it, Gaara didn't believe a word.

The main reason Yagura had come was to get the One-Tail inside Gaara to behave.

It wasn't about turning Shukaku into a perfectly obedient beast under Gaara's control and making him the ideal Jinchūriki. That was too much to hope for.

At the very least, the creature couldn't be running amok every few days, causing chaos and rampages.

If that kept happening, not only would Gaara fail to protect the people of Sunagakure, he'd become an uncontrollable bomb living among them.

The villagers feared him, and his position as Kazekage would never be secure like that.

It was Yagura who had put Gaara in this position. The moment he sat in that chair, he'd been marked with Kirigakure's political branding—something that couldn't be peeled off even if he wanted to.

Yagura had no desire to see Gaara dethroned after just a few years, replaced by someone else, rendering all of their previous efforts worthless.

"Your dark circles look lighter than I remember."

Thump-thump!

Gaara scooted all the way back until he was pressed against the armrest of the couch.

There was nowhere left to retreat. His heart clenched tight, as if someone were squeezing it, and it felt like a madman was pounding a drum inside his chest.

Then—Yagura reached out, only to have his hand knocked away by Gaara's automatic sand defense.

"Oh, right. I forgot you had that absolute defense mechanism."

To an average jōnin or below, Gaara's sand was a troublesome and potentially lethal shield.

But the fact that Yagura had forgotten meant he didn't think much of it.

Ignoring the sand's binding attempts, Yagura's arm reached through and pressed against the sealing formula etched on Gaara's stomach.

In that instant, Gaara's consciousness was forcibly pulled into another realm.

...

Inside his mental landscape, Gaara saw the monster sealed within him from a distance.

Behind the bars of the seal, Yagura stood, speaking directly to Shukaku.

Gaara remained outside the cage, unable to hear or understand what was being said.

That brutal, terrifying beast living inside him—the one that could burst free at any moment and destroy everything, making the villagers and even his siblings hate him.

And yet, in front of Yagura, the beast wasn't rampaging.

This was a reunion between Yagura and Shukaku.

They had met once before, back when Shukaku had been inside Bunpuku.

Now, relying on that past connection, Yagura began advocating for Gaara like some kind of brand ambassador.

"Hey, little tanuki. If you've got a problem with him, I can let you out, beat you up, and then you probably won't have any complaints. Sound good?"

Shukaku: "..."

The beast was speechless.

The large tail brushed across his face lazily.

"Wake up!"

Shukaku started yelling at the turtle perched on Yagura's shoulder.

"Hey! Your human's getting cocky! Aren't you gonna do something?!"

"I can't control him," Isobu replied honestly, nuzzling up to the little human. "I like it. Not your problem."

Shukaku stared at him in disbelief.

"They say some animal reflect their owners. Didn't think turtles did too. Even the fox never got like this."

In some way, Shukaku was finding Isobu more annoying than ever.

At least he hadn't seen Kurama in ages, so he'd kind of forgotten just how infuriating the fox could be.

But Isobu—he'd changed. And in all the worst ways, turning more and more like a bad human!

How had they not seen this potential in him before?

You never really know what's in a beast's heart...

Isobu ignored being insulted. Naturally, Yagura wasn't going to pick a fight over semantics either. Instead, he turned to Shukaku and said:

"Compared to me, doesn't your current Jinchūriki Gaara seem kind, gentle, and cute? Can you really bear to hurt him?"

Shukaku: "..."

The beast was speechless. Again.

"This is the first time I've seen a human roast himself like that," Shukaku muttered. "Did your thick skin come from Isobu's shell?"

Oh gods above, Sage of Six Paths almighty...

What had he done to deserve this? To have Isobu and this human sent as divine punishment?

"I get it already!"

Shukaku decided it was better to just get rid of these two irritants as soon as possible.

Honestly, Yagura had a point—every extra second he spent with them was worse than an extra year trapped inside Gaara.

Since he couldn't beat this one-human-one-beast combo, Shukaku started to consider actually cooperating with Gaara.

"I'll hold back," he grumbled. "If Gaara can't control my power, that's on him. I won't be responsible."

Yagura snapped his fingers. "Okk. That works."

...

Gaara's consciousness was pulled back into his body.

The sand that once killed on instinct was now utterly ineffective. The rampaging beast within him had been completely subdued—reduced to the bullied one, even.

Gaara was still in a daze.

"I'll have the seal team back home reinforce the seal on your Tailed Beast," Yagura said casually.

He had learned a few sealing techniques from the Uzumaki clan and could judge the quality of Gaara's seal at a glance.

It bore a faint resemblance to the Uzumaki sealing techniques he'd once given Sunagakure—but just barely. Most of it was based on Sunagakure's own methods.

As he withdrew his hand, Yagura gave Gaara's spiky red hair a rough ruffle.

That jolt finally snapped Gaara back to reality.

He remembered everything that had just happened. This man... had just helped him suppress the monster inside him.

Instinctively, he murmured, "Th-thank you."

Yagura paused, caught off guard. He thought of everything he'd done to Sunagakure, then shook his head at the naïve boy before him.

"Don't thank me."

He'd come to the village for two things: to see Gaara, and to pacify Shukaku. Both were done.

He stood up from the couch and casually took another sugar pastry from the table, letting it melt in his mouth before swallowing.

Enjoying the crisp sweetness on his tongue, Yagura said, "Alright, alright, alright. This desert climate doesn't suit me. I'm heading back."

Gaara looked up, startled by the sudden change. "Back? You're leaving?"

"Yeah."

Yagura glanced over his shoulder at Gaara, remembering the feel of his hair just now.

He gave him another playful ruffle and seemed about to offer some words of encouragement.

"Kazekage Gaara."

The startled little red hedgehog perked up. "Yes!"

But since Yagura was technically the one responsible for most of the village's current mess, anything encouraging sounded off.

So the words changed at the last second.

"Promise me you won't change your hairstyle."

Gaara blinked. A giant question mark seemed to pop above his head.

His browless little face, paired with the confused squiggle of sand beside him, gave off a distinct expression:

(•_•)?

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Pls Drop some Power Stones

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