Chiyo successfully traded her own life for Gaara's using the One's Own Life Reincarnation Technique. When Gaara opened his eyes again, the first thing he saw was Naruto's radiant smile.
"That's great! You're finally awake!"
Gaara looked around sluggishly. Before he could clearly take in his surroundings, Temari and Kankurō rushed forward and hugged him tightly.
Although the siblings' relationship hadn't been very good because of Rasa, blood ties between family mbers could never truly be severed. Now that Gaara had been revived, Temari and Kankurō could hardly suppress their excitent.
Gaara blankly felt the warmth of Temari and Kankurō's bodies. Looking at the familiar faces around him, his eyes gradually reddened—yet a warmth-filled smile, one never seen before, suddenly appeared on his face.
In the slightly dry breeze of the Land of Wind, the group respectfully bowed deeply before Chiyo's remains, bidding their final farewell to the forr "Flower of Sunagakure."
Thus, the rescue of Gaara officially ca to an end. Amid the enthusiastic farewells of Sunagakure's people, Hoshiyomi and the others set off on their journey back to Konoha.
The Fifth Kazekage, Gaara, had successfully returned to Sunagakure—but the dark clouds hanging over the shinobi world had yet to disperse.
...
Akatsuki Headquarters
As Deva Path Pain listened to Black Zetsu's report, his already cold expression grew even more murderous.
"You're certain that both Sasori and Deidara died at the hands of Konoha's shinobi?"
Black Zetsu looked at Pain with his usual half-smile and spoke in a low voice:
"Absolutely. Afterward, we returned to the cave in Sunagakure and found Sasori's puppet components scattered there. As for Deidara, we discovered his body two or three kiloters outside the cave."
Hearing this, Nagato—who controlled Pain—felt an inexplicable jolt in his heart.
Among the Akatsuki mbers, the Kirigakure trio had been brought in by Black Zetsu, and Hidan wasn't exactly bright. Excluding them, the ones Nagato admired most were Sasori and Deidara—yet those two had died so decisively at the hands of Konoha shinobi.
Still, in front of Black Zetsu—the trusted confidant of "Madara"—Nagato would not show weakness. Though inwardly shocked, he continued to control Deva Path Pain, speaking coldly:
"I understand. If they are dead, so be it. First, promote two people from within the organization to temporarily take their places. As for the rest of our arrangents, leave them unchanged. First, we'll collect all the remaining tailed beasts."
Kneeling on one knee below, Black Zetsu maintained his half-smiling expression. Without saying anything further, he respectfully took his leave.
After Black Zetsu departed, Konan stared at his retreating figure for a long ti before speaking softly:
"Sothing doesn't feel right. That guy used to strongly recomnd lying low and not acting rashly. Now that Deidara and Sasori are dead, he didn't even try to persuade us to proceed more cautiously. Could he be scheming sothing in secret?"
Pain turned to Konan and said:
"Let's talk about it further inside."
...
Deep within the Akatsuki base, Konan looked at the emaciated Nagato, her eyes reddening.
"Nagato… is your body really okay?"
Hearing her concern, the gaunt Nagato looked up and forced a smile that wasn't very reassuring.
"It's fine. My body can still hold on."
Seeing how his once-vibrant red hair had dulled to the color of withered grass, Konan couldn't help but say:
"At least rest for a while before continuing. Controlling such a massive demonic statue to absorb the chakra of a tailed beast must place a huge burden on your body."
"Konan!"
Nagato suddenly raised his voice. Realizing he had startled her, he lowered it again.
"There isn't much ti left for Akatsuki. Once our operation begins, we must strike decisively and defeat them all before they have a chance to unite…"
At this point, Nagato suddenly frowned.
"Also, just as you said, I think Black Zetsu is suspicious. Before, he clearly wanted the plan to drag on for as long as possible, yet now that Deidara and Sasori are dead, he's still acting completely calm. I suspect that the old bastard behind him…"
Hearing this, Konan suddenly thought of a terrifying possibility and couldn't help but interject:
"You an… Madara is trying to usurp the position and take over Akatsuki?"
Nagato nodded heavily.
"We didn't notice it before, but thinking about it now—Black Zetsu and Tobi were people they brought in. As for those three from Kirigakure, although they usually seem only loosely connected to them, they were ultimately introduced into Akatsuki by Black Zetsu. We have to prepare for the worst."
At this thought, Konan's face turned pale.
"Then… what should we do?"
"We can only use the thod of killing with a borrowed blade."
As he said this, a fierce glint flashed through Nagato's eyes.
"They need the power of these eyes to seal the tailed beasts, so before the tailed beasts are fully gathered, they definitely won't dare to act rashly. Since that's the case, we might as well play along and use Konoha to weaken their strength."
Hearing this, Konan couldn't help but shudder slightly. She hesitated before saying:
"But what if… the three from Kirigakure really have nothing to do with them?"
Nagato fell silent for a mont, then said firmly:
"Better to kill a thousand by mistake than let a single one slip through."
...
"After today's little performance of yours, Nagato probably can't sit still anymore. That guy will most likely try to use Konoha's people to pull a 'borrowed blade' trick."
Deep within the Valley of Clouds and Lightning, Tobi teased Black Zetsu, who was equally silent.
Hearing this, Black Zetsu actually offered rare praise to Tobi:
"After spending these years in Kumogakure, your mind has beco much sharper. You're far better than Nagato—that ungrateful fool."
Tobi rolled his eyes at that, then continued with a grin:
"That guy really thinks that just because he has those eyes, he's above everyone else. He doesn't even consider why we're so wary of Gekko Hoshiyomi…
"But he'll never realize that this is exactly the effect we want. If we don't push him to that point, how could we possibly resurrect Lord Madara?"
...
The result of Black Zetsu and Nagato each harboring their own sches was that the originally planned Tailed Beast capture operation inexplicably accelerated by who knows how much.
Because the Two-Tails, Yugito Nii, had long been under Tobi's control, she was simply sent out and taken without resistance.
The Five-Tails was also easily dealt with when Kisa and Ayuri found an opportunity.
The Six-Tails was personally taken away by the Deva Path. The people of Kirigakure didn't even realize the Six-Tails was gone at first—it took several days before they finally noticed that their village's tailed beast had disappeared.
The Seven-Tails of Takigakure didn't manage to stay hidden for long either. Under the surveillance of the White Zetsu spread throughout the entire shinobi world, there were no secrets left.
In less than two months, the sealing of the One-Tails through the Seven-Tails was completely finished.
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