Chapter 145: Sunagakure Troops

[Land of Rivers]

"Hahahaha... This lord is out again!"

"Die, die! Drilling Air Bullet!"

A giant tanuki was laughing wildly in a field of broken rocks.

Then it kept firing Drilling Air Bullet at a group of Sunagakure shinobi on the open ground.

Although this tanuki stood more than ten meters tall, compared to its size in the desert, it was still quite different.

These Sunagakure shinobi were obviously elites, dodging very easily.

Or rather, they had already adapted to the attack rhythm of One-Tail Shukaku.

Every time Shukaku released Drilling Air Bullet, he would have an obvious inhaling motion beforehand.

The Sunagakure shinobi took that chance to dodge quickly.

Among this group of Sunagakure shinobi, the leader had hair that was a mix of brown and green, a beautiful face, a completely bare back, and an enormously large chest.

She was the famous kekkei genkai user of Sunagakure, Scorch Style Pakura.

She led her people calmly, dodging Drilling Air Bullet with ease, a faint confidence on her face.

The Sunagakure shinobi behind her weren't too panicked either.

After all, Gaara going berserk wasn't the first time.

What was different from before was that this time, they actively triggered Gaara's berserk state.

The condition for Gaara to go berserk was very simple, just let Gaara fall asleep.

The reason for doing this was that letting Gaara sleep properly could ensure he wouldn't go berserk for the next week.

After all, the upcoming mission required a more stable Jinchuriki.

This terrain was specially selected for containing Shukaku. In this environment, Shukaku couldn't easily convert the ground into sand.

His main attack method was Drilling Air Bullet, relatively safe.

Right now, Shukaku hadn't completely broken free from Gaara's seal; using a Tailed Beast Bomb would wake Gaara up.

So Shukaku wouldn't even use the Tailed Beast Bomb.

His speed wasn't fast, and Pakura and others divided into teams, continuously circling around him.

"Lady Pakura, our Sunagakure tailed beast seems pretty useless, huh?", A Jonin named Shosei couldn't help but complain.

Pakura led her group to calmly avoid a Drilling Air Bullet and then sneered, "That idiot Rasa tried to make a powerful Jinchuriki like other villages, even using his own wife for experimentation."

"The Jinchuriki was made, but the sealing technique is faulty, so he can't be controlled at all."

"This time he sent Gaara out purely out of unease. If we encounter a powerful enemy, we'd better stay far away from Gaara."

Because of the changes in Kirigakure and her survival, Pakura became aware of something and joined Elder Chiyo early on.

With Ebizo's intel, Pakura already knew she had almost become a sacrificial pawn.

And she saw clearly that Rasa was a man with an extreme lust for power.

Twisted inside, stubborn, and self-willed, he even sent assassins after his own son every day.

As they were from different factions and had a life-and-death feud, Pakura naturally didn't speak kindly of him.

Although this incident was jointly planned by both factions, each had their own agenda.

Pakura had been scared enough. She prioritized the safety of herself and the elders' faction of shinobi.

Shosei and others were all from the elder side, so they naturally understood what she meant and nodded continuously.

They had already lured One-Tail Shukaku around for three rounds.

Shukaku still didn't seem tired, constantly shouting trash talk.

That sharp and high-pitched voice kept reverberating, making people dizzy and lightheaded.

Shosei said gloomily, "This tailed beast is so noisy, won't it easily attract attention from other forces?"

Pakura said indifferently, "It doesn't matter. I don't really care how this mission goes. It's fine if we get discovered."

"Just like how Rasa doesn't care whether Gaara lives or dies."

Shosei asked doubtfully, "But isn't the Jinchuriki an important resource for our Sunagakure?"

Pakura shook her head, "Only usable Jinchuriki are valuable. Unusable ones only drag us down."

"Rasa gave me a secret order: if Gaara can't be controlled, kill him directly."

Pakura's Scorch Style kekkei genkai was extremely terrifying. With proper preparation, she could instantly evaporate all the water in Gaara's body.

No matter the situation, she could kill Gaara in an instant.

Once Gaara died, Shukaku would naturally die too.

For Sunagakure, the current Jinchuriki was a burden, not only unable to bring them any benefit, but also causing the daimyo to continuously cut funding due to lack of control.

The best method was to get rid of him.

What? You're saying if Sunagakure loses a tailed beast, wouldn't they get invaded?

Impossible. This dump called Sunagakure wouldn't be wanted even if you gave it away.

In the previous great ninja wars, no one ever came to fight on Sunagakure's territory.

Not to mention that fighting on home ground provides advantages.

The Land of Wind always had massive sandstorms, Sunagakure shinobi could die from them if not careful.

Let alone outsiders, so a large-scale invasion was basically impossible.

No one would do something that brings no gain.

Just wait a year or two, and Shukaku would naturally be reborn.

Shukaku's rebirth always occurred in the desert. Every previous time it happened, it was within the Land of Wind's deserts.

So Rasa didn't care about the Jinchuriki's life or death.

———

Far from Sunagakure, Uchiha Norihiko was observing through binoculars.

But they didn't plan to act yet, they were waiting for reinforcements.

———

[Border of the Land of Fire]

Yugito Nii, who had been knocked unconscious by Rengoku, slowly woke up and found herself lying inside a tent.

All the chakra in her body had completely fallen silent, not just her own, but she couldn't even hear Matatabi's voice.

She shook her head, then remembered she had been fighting Rengoku.

She had gone full tailed beast mode and fought with Rengoku's shadow clone for half the day.

Later, once Rengoku's real body took action, she didn't even last a single move.

"If you're awake, come out," Rengoku's voice came. Yugito walked out.

Rengoku was sitting by the fire, a deer leg in hand, slowly roasting it.

Cee was sitting with his group a few meters away.

Yugito looked grim, "Cee, what's going on here?"

Cee wore a helpless expression, "You lost and were captured by Uchiha Rengoku."

"He's asking for three billion, with a deadline of seven days."

Yugito was shocked at first, then filled with deep shame.

"Uchiha Rengoku, you actually dare…! AHHHH!"

Yugito's anger surged, and she instinctively tried to use chakra. Flames instantly burst from her body.

She screamed in pain and collapsed on the ground.

Cee shot up, "Yugito, stop using your chakra!"

Yugito grunted, gave up using chakra, and only then did the pain and the sealing mark subside.

Rengoku looked at the deer leg's doneness, then took out a small knife and sliced it a few times, sprinkling seasoning before continuing to grill.

"You've got my sealing technique on your body. You can't use chakra or be more than 500 meters away from me."

"Otherwise, you'll be consumed by flames. Hmm… you've already experienced it."

"If you're a captive, act like one. I'm not really interested in this ransom anyway."

Rengoku's voice was unhurried, but Yugito's face was full of humiliation.

'Damn it! Mangekyo is actually this strong,' Yugito angrily punched the ground.

She deeply regretted insisting on solo combat.

Now captured, she had brought huge trouble to Kumogakure.

She was Kumogakure's Jinchuriki, so they naturally couldn't give her up easily. She shot Cee a meaningful glance.

Cee closed his eyes briefly, signaling her to calm down for now.

Only then did Yugito relax.

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