Kazuyama Gekkō forced himself to look amiable.
But that was only his own perception. To the three young ones, his expression looked like that of a creepy uncle. Seeing his grin, they dared not speak.
"Fine. I knew it was that bastard Rasa."
"No wonder he kept attacking me the moment he saw me!"
"And he damn well happily let me become your teacher—turns out he was setting me up!"
"Hmph! Well then..."
Seeing the three remain silent, Kazuyama smirked mischievously. In the next second, he appeared right beside them.
"You want to... hm? Wait—where is this?"
As the eldest sister, Temari instinctively wanted to ask what he was doing when he suddenly vanished. But before she could react, the scenery shifted in an instant. Mountains and rivers filled her view—beautiful and serene. This was definitely not Sunagakure.
"Welcome to the Land of Rivers."
"Yeah, it's not far from Sunagakure."
"Even if you hadn't said it, I know that bastard Rasa must've mentioned it."
"But don't worry. Konoha and Sunagakure are about to form an alliance."
"And I… am your teacher."
Kazuyama's Flying Thunder God Technique markers were scattered all over the world, and of course, the Land of Rivers had one too. Now, he no longer needed Chōmei's chakra to teleport over long distances.
With Sage Mode continuously absorbing natural energy, he was practically a walking humanoid tailed beast. In fact, aside from the Nine-Tails, there wasn't another beast whose chakra he feared matching against.
"An alliance? Why haven't I heard about this?"
Temari was puzzled. As Rasa's eldest daughter, it was impossible for her not to know about such an important political decision.
"It was decided just today. You not knowing is perfectly normal."
"Otherwise, how do you think I, your village's number one enemy, could stroll into Sunagakure so openly?"
Kazuyama found a rock and sat down leisurely, observing the three curious children before him. Temari looked uncertain, Kankurō scrutinized him carefully, and Gaara simply looked lost.
"Stop overthinking it. I came with your dad—what else could it be?"
"Now, introduce yourselves. Tell me what techniques you're skilled in and which ones you want to learn."
He already knew their abilities, of course. But as a teacher, he wanted to go through the motions properly.
It felt nostalgic—like when he had once taught Kakashi's team. That feeling of guiding a new generation was oddly satisfying.
"My name is Temari. I love wind, so I want to learn Wind Release ninjutsu! Someday, I'll become an outstanding Wind Release ninja!"
Temari spoke first. Maybe because the man before her had been brought by her father, her guard was lower than before. Besides, if he wanted to kill them, he wouldn't need all this talk.
Seeing her speak, Kankurō followed reluctantly.
"My name's Kankurō. I like puppet techniques. I want to become a puppeteer."
With both of them done, only Gaara remained silent, staring at Kazuyama without saying a word.
"And you, eyebrowless brat?"
Kazuyama smiled as he studied the boy. Honestly, Gaara was quite cute as a kid—except for the missing eyebrows.
"His name is Gaara! He's not an eyebrowless brat!"
"As for what he likes… I don't know…"
Temari couldn't stand how Kazuyama was treating her brother, so she spoke up for him. But Kazuyama wasn't having it—he wanted Gaara to answer for himself.
With a casual flick of his hand, Temari and Kankurō suddenly froze in place, unable to move or make a sound.
"Temari? Kankurō?"
Gaara stared at them in surprise, puzzled as to why they suddenly went silent.
"They're under my control. They can't speak."
"Gaara, tell me what kind of technique you like, what you want to become in the future. If you don't say anything, I won't release them."
Seeing Kazuyama's smug grin, Gaara grew flustered. He didn't know what he liked—or what he wanted to become.
"Kid, what are you good at? What can you do?"
Kazuyama could see the panic behind Gaara's silence and almost laughed, but he forced himself to look serious.
"I…"
"You?"
"I don't really know. I just know I can control sand… and the sand protects me."
He spread his hands, and the surrounding sand began to gather toward him.
Magnet Release—though it only controlled sand, it was still an incredible ability. Abundant, flexible, and powerful.
"Just like your father—Magnet Release."
"As for that sand protecting you, that's not your own jutsu. It's someone else's protection."
Kazuyama reached out and touched the sand.
This sand could kill.
He remembered vividly how much he had admired Gaara's Sand Coffin when he first watched the series in his previous life. One hit, one kill—brutal and perfect.
"Someone else?"
"Yeah. I can't tell you yet. When you meet my expectations and become a worthy disciple, I'll tell you things you don't know—even things your sister and brother don't."
Hearing that, Gaara's eyes gleamed with curiosity.
"Really?"
"Absolutely."
"Alright then. Oh, right—those two."
Kazuyama had nearly forgotten about Temari and Kankurō. He quickly released them, and they rushed over to Gaara's side.
"Hey, what are you doing?"
"I'm not going to hurt you."
"Temari, Wind Release. Kankurō, Puppet Technique."
"Hm, Kankurō, I can't teach you that. Puppet Technique is unique to Sunagakure. A Konoha ninja like me doesn't know it."
"But Wind Release…"
"Follow me."
As soon as Kazuyama finished speaking, he turned and walked toward the cliffs ahead.
The three exchanged glances and hurried to follow. They didn't know the area, and getting separated could mean getting lost.
Soon, Kazuyama stopped at the edge of a high cliff.
"What are we doing here?"
"Yeah, we might as well go back and let me work on my puppets."
"..."
The three of them stared in confusion at Kazuyama standing at the cliff's edge.
But what came next would be a moment of pure astonishment.