Chapter 355: Lord Kazekage
The chain explosions soon subsided.
Sasuke landed on the water surface in a slightly ragged state, his footsteps staggering a bit; the Lightning Style cloak had disappeared, and the cat ears and tail of the Youkai Form were charred in several places.
"I lost."
He raised his hand, shook his head, let out a sigh, and admitted defeat frankly.
It had been a long time since he said this to her, and Sasuke suddenly felt a little nostalgic.
If he was facing Naruto, he probably wouldn't have surrendered so simply—no, he wouldn't have been pushed into such a sorry state by that guy at all!
But against Sakura, he was used to admitting defeat to her.
Anyway, in today's battle where they agreed to go all out, both sides held back in the end. So the real outcome still retained a little suspense, although his chances of winning were already very low.
Haruno Sakura's figure appeared beside him: "Are you hurt?"
"I'm fine," Sasuke released the Combination Transformation and handed the ninja cats in his hands to Sakura. "Heal the two of them first."
The shameful thing about the Combination Transformation Jutsu was that it allowed the ninja cats to take damage first. Only when the damage overflowed and they couldn't bear it would the transformation be released and they would be reverse-summoned home to recover. So Sasuke still looked calm and composed.
On the contrary, the poor siblings Oni and Hino, kittens just over a year old, were pulled out by their master to get blown up before they were fully developed. Their tails and ears were injured by the explosion. The girl silently mourned for them while stroking and healing them.
"This jutsu is quite useful. Felines are strong and very suitable for me," Sasuke said.
After healing the cats' injuries, Sasuke took the two ninja cats into his arms, patted their heads and said, "Ninja cats develop very fast. Now they are equivalent to teenagers of sixteen or seventeen. By the end of the year, they will be fully developed."
When Oni and Hino were still little kittens, Sasuke brought them home, so he watched the two cats grow up. He had deep feelings for them, who were cute and powerful. Even when he stroked them, his expression was much softer than usual.
"Very cute..." Haruno Sakura said with a slight smile.
Sasuke nodded, reverse-summoned the unconscious kittens home, looked at Sakura and suggested, "It's getting late... Ramen?"
The sun was already setting in the west, and it was dinner time.
"Sure! With Naruto gone, we haven't eaten at Ichiraku for a long time!"
"Heh... Naruto, that guy..."
The black-haired boy said ambiguous words, a faint smile on his lips.
On the same day, Sand Village.
At this time last year, the Sand ninja were having a headache over the issue of the next Kazekage.
After discovering that Baki was not suitable as the leader of the Sand Village, the candidate for Kazekage became a complete problem. Finally, Chiyo proposed postponing the issue for a year, using one year to verify whether someone could bear the responsibility of Kazekage.
The proposal was agreed to by most people.
And today was the day the one-year period officially expired.
The scorching sun hung high in the sky, and the violent sunlight made the air irritable and hot.
However, the high-level meeting room of the Sand Ninja was unusually cool: cheap ice imported from Konoha had become an excellent tool for the Sand ninja to escape the heat.
Of course, no matter how much ice Yuki Haku could make, it was limited. Therefore, except for the hospital and the Kazekage building, ordinary Sand ninja could only occasionally enjoy the ice to cool off.
Unless they made friends with ninja who knew Ice Style.
Many blocks of ice were extravagantly placed in the spacious meeting room, lowering the temperature in the room to a pleasant level. According to tradition, ninja should not be too obsessed with such enjoyment. However, since Konoha could export ice blocks to make the unbearable summer cool, the high-level officials present seemed to have selectively forgotten the Sand tradition of endurance and hard work.
"Today's topic is the nomination of the new Kazekage," Chiyo said slowly. "The one-year period is up. Does anyone have any thoughts on the candidate for the new Kazekage?"
"How about Yura?" A high-level official suggested casually.
"He has advantages in leadership," Ebizō waved his withered hand and denied, "but his strength is too lacking! As a Kage of a village, if he doesn't have enough strength to protect the village when foreign enemies invade, it is the greatest dereliction of duty, so he is not suitable."
Chiyo's deep-set eyes swept around the meeting room. Seeing no one refute, she said, "Then remove Yura. Next?"
"Hey, I say," a middle-aged Sand high-level official knocked on the table and said, "stop dawdling! Everyone knows very well that there is only one candidate for Kazekage, either Gaara, or leave it empty like last year. Anyway, we didn't encounter any problems doing that last year!"
Chiyo looked at the middle-aged ninja with deep eyes and said faintly, "The situation in the ninja world is becoming more and more tense. The Akatsuki's actions are likely to unfold in the next two years. If we can't find a suitable Kazekage and no one makes decisions when things happen, the village will be in chaos!"
"So must a candidate for the new Kazekage be selected this year?" A voice said. "Doesn't that mean Gaara is designated? Who else is there besides him?"
Chiyo frowned and glanced in the direction of the voice, saying, "There is no issue of designation. If Gaara doesn't get enough votes in the high-level meeting and the Jonin confidence vote, we still won't let him become the Kazekage."
"I still hold that view. A Jinchuriki is not suitable to be the Kazekage!" Another old man said slowly. "I won't vote for Gaara!"
"Then I want to ask you, besides Gaara, who else in our Sand Village is qualified to be the Kazekage? Or should we let the position of Kazekage continue to be empty, and be leaderless and panicked when facing changes in the ninja world?"
Rebuttal voices rang out. Gaara's performance over the past year was obvious to all, at least seen by some people.
Therefore, the voices supporting him in the meeting room were much more numerous than at this time last year.
However, there were also quite a few people opposing Gaara!
"Letting a homicidal maniac be the Kazekage, do you want to repeat the mistakes of the Village of the Bloody Mist?"
Another voice said.
The exaggerated metaphor instantly attracted everyone's attention. The two factions supporting and opposing Gaara immediately split into two groups and began to discuss intensely, even arguing!
"Sister..." Ebizō glanced at the scene which was faintly getting out of control and said with some worry.
"Let them continue to argue!" Chiyo raised her eyebrows and said coldly. "Don't worry, they know the limits..."
"When they get tired of arguing, they will recognize the facts."
And the fact was, apart from Gaara, the Sand Village had no other choice...!
At this time, the object of the Sand high-level officials' discussion and debate was quietly staying at home, waiting for the result with his siblings.
"The time has exceeded by a lot!" Even the coolness brought by the ice blocks Haruno Sakura gave them couldn't cover Kankurō's irritability. He shouted loudly, "When did their efficiency become so low? Gaara's application has been submitted. Is there any ninja more suitable to be the Kazekage than Gaara? What exactly are the high-level officials thinking?"
"Enough, Kankurō, what's the use of being anxious? Stop circling around the room!" Temari, who also looked annoyed, shouted impatiently. "It's annoying me!"
On the contrary, Gaara, the center of the event, looked nonchalant, sitting quietly on the sofa waiting for the result, showing no signs of anxiety at all.
"You two calm down," the boy with dark circles said faintly. "If you're impatient waiting, go do your own things. You don't need to deliberately accompany me here. I'm enough by myself."
"No way!" The siblings who were bickering just now said in unison upon hearing this. "How can we leave you alone for such an important matter!"
Temari stood up and walked to her brother, holding his hand, and said solemnly, "As long as you pass the high-level vote and the Jonin confidence vote held today, you will be the new Kazekage! This is the most important moment in your life. How can we be absent from such a thing!"
"Yeah, if I miss today, I'll regret it for the rest of my life." Kankurō also walked over and patted Gaara on the shoulder.
Although Temari's hand was rougher than the hands of Konoha's female ninja, it was very warm.
Gaara, who forced himself to be calm, instantly felt a warmth in his heart.
"Thank you..." he said faintly, the faint uneasiness in his heart dissipating a lot.
"Why thank family!" Kankurō smiled and shook his head.
Kankurō spoke beautifully, but when he waited with them, he almost waited in despair.
At noon, Temari cooked and mistook sugar for salt, but none of the three tasted it.
Just when Gaara also began to feel that his hope was slim, an Anbu visited and announced the result to the three: "The high-level vote has produced a result. The proposal for you to serve as the Fifth Kazekage was passed with eleven votes in favor and eight against. Congratulations, Gaara!"
He took off his mask. He was an acquaintance Gaara knew in the regular forces; many ninja in the regular forces had changed their views on him greatly after contact with him. Now fewer and fewer people regarded Gaara as a scourge.
The four looked at each other. Gaara, who had always been calm, also stood up, took a deep breath, smiled slightly and said, "Thank you."
The ones with the most prejudice against Gaara were the Sand high-level officials. On the contrary, ordinary ninja had a fair impression of him. After Gaara's efforts in the past year or two, his reputation had greatly improved, and the assurance of passing the Jonin confidence vote was higher.
"You're welcome, Gaara." The Anbu ninja waved goodbye, and said before leaving, "I also hope you can become the Kazekage!"
The result of the Jonin confidence vote in the afternoon directly determined whether Gaara could become the Kazekage, so the long waiting time became even more agonizing.
Fortunately, the final result was good.
The attitude of the Anbu who came to convey the notice was very respectful, which explained everything.
He knelt on one knee, took out an appointment letter and handed it to Gaara: "Lord Gaara, the resolution for you to serve as the new Kazekage was voted on and passed in the Jonin meeting this afternoon. This is the appointment letter from the Council of Elders."
"Please accept it, Lord Fifth Kazekage!"
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