Compared to the Nine-Tails, the One-Tail was far weaker, yet its Chakra had already seeped through Gaara's entire mental space. With that thing harassing him day and night, it would have been stranger if Gaara's mind had stayed stable.
If Sunagakure's seal was an unfinished shell of a house, maybe even a mud hut, then Konoha's seal was a fully renovated luxury villa. The two sides were not even on the same level.
But thinking about it, that made sense. Konoha's Fuinjutsu came directly from the Uzumaki Clan, a clan that excelled at sealing techniques and had researched the field for over a thousand years.
Konoha had basically taken all of that thousand-year research for itself.
That alone had allowed Konoha's Fuinjutsu to make enormous progress, to the point where they could even perform an absurd operation like splitting the Nine-Tails into Yin and Yang halves.
"Roar!"
The One-Tail roared, its massive eyes glaring at Kaede Kitahara through the cage-like seal.
And in Kaede Kitahara's vision, in one corner of Gaara's mental world, a little boy was crying nonstop. The One-Tail's Chakra kept corroding the boy from all sides.
It was forcing him to give up resisting and hand over control of his body.
"So that's what's going on."
Kaede Kitahara sighed. He stretched out his hand, and in an instant, he crushed the Chakra that had seeped out, along with the mental will of the One-Tail contained within it.
In the later stages, the One-Tail seemed to become comic relief. It could not even afford to provoke Uzumaki Himawari. But in the early stages, without question, it was an extremely terrifying supervillain.
Still, as far as the current situation was concerned, the sealed One-Tail posed no threat at all.
Even if the One-Tail came out directly, Kaede Kitahara could beat it into submission.
He was not some delicate little Kazekage. He had plenty of strength and plenty of methods.
In an instant, the Chakra and mental power belonging to One-Tail Shukaku retreated like the tide. The little boy who had been trapped in the corner looked timidly toward Kaede Kitahara.
A moment later, Kaede Kitahara withdrew from Gaara's mental world. Without Shukaku's Chakra and mental power affecting him, Gaara, whose mind was already on the verge of collapse, immediately fell asleep.
"Gaara!"
In her panic, Temari actually broke free of the pressure from Kaede Kitahara's aura and rushed to Gaara's side. Then she quickly froze in disbelief.
Gaara was asleep?
"Don't worry. He's only sleeping right now," Kaede Kitahara said directly.
Although they came from different villages, Kaede Kitahara did not hold much malice toward Gaara. Early-stage Gaara was without question a minor villain, but in the end, he was only a pitiful child.
He was the child of the Kazekage, and unlike Uzumaki Naruto, whose biological father had died, Gaara's father was still alive. Yet his life had been miserable. No one had cared about him since he was little, and whenever someone did appear, they were usually trying to kill him.
And all of that had only been to test him, to test whether he had the capacity and ability to become a Jinchuriki.
Listen to that. Was that even something a human being should say?
Even the one uncle who had cared about him had been arranged to assassinate him, all to see whether Gaara would lose control under such extreme circumstances, and whether there was a risk of him going berserk.
In Kaede Kitahara's eyes, they were all lunatics. If you thought a glass might shatter at any moment, then there was a high chance it really would shatter.
So you kept throwing it down from higher and higher places, and only after it finally broke would you say, See? I told you it would shatter.
Was that not insane?
Then again, there were so many lunatics in the Shinobi World that one more family of lunatics hardly made a difference.
In his previous life, Kaede Kitahara had only found out later that these three were actually siblings. How was that reasonable?
They were blood siblings, yet they acted like enemies who might kill each other at any moment.
After confirming that Gaara was fine, Temari finally let out a breath of relief. Once Kaede Kitahara withdrew the pressure from his aura, everyone else was able to relax too.
Kankuro no longer showed any hostility either. This was Konoha, and the strength Kaede Kitahara had displayed was far too terrifying. If he wanted to kill them, it would not be difficult at all. At this point, the only thing Kankuro could do was keep as low a profile as possible.
"You're in someone else's village. Don't you think you're acting a little too high-profile?"
Kaede Kitahara glanced at Kankuro as he spoke.
"Especially when you're bringing someone this important with you. If something happens, I imagine your Kazekage will be very troubled too."
Kaede Kitahara stood there with both hands in his pockets.
He knows?
Kankuro's heart jolted slightly.
As the village's Jinchuriki, Gaara was subject to roughly the same rules as the Jinchuriki of other villages. It was not as if no one knew about him, but in practice, only a few high-ranking officials, people closely connected to him, or teammates like them would know.
Even inside Sunagakure, very few people knew this secret. So how did this guy know?
Gaara was far too important. Not only was One-Tail Shukaku of the Sand itself Sunagakure's nuclear weapon, more importantly, Gaara was connected to the Konoha Crush Plan that would come next.
Kaede Kitahara was right. They really did need to keep a lower profile.
Fortunately, this guy did not know their overall plan. Otherwise, things would be terrible right now.
If Konoha discovered everything ahead of time, they would have no chance of victory.
Although Sunagakure was also one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, its strength was at least one level below the Hidden Leaf Village.
If it were a one-on-one fight, Konoha could basically beat Sunagakure into the ground.
But generally speaking, if the Hidden Leaf Village and Sunagakure went to war, it would not end as a one-on-one fight. Most likely, other shinobi villages would join in as well. They would not sit by and watch Konoha truly beat Sunagakure into submission and turn it into Konoha's little brother.
"We understand," Temari said quickly.
At this moment, when she looked at Kaede Kitahara's handsome face again, a faint blush rose to her cheeks despite herself. But then she immediately remembered the terrifying strength he had shown just now, and that budding flutter in her heart vanished without a trace.
After being scared by Kaede Kitahara like that, Temari and Kankuro did not dare stay any longer. They quickly took the sleeping Gaara and returned to the hotel where the Sunagakure delegation was staying.
They also had to send someone to contact the Kazekage and explain the situation.
Only after watching them leave did Kaede Kitahara turn to Sasuke and say, "Sasuke, your mastery of Thunder Breathing has reached another level."
Kaede Kitahara looked at Uchiha Sasuke. After not seeing him for so long, Uchiha Sasuke's mastery of Thunder Breathing had indeed climbed to a new stage.
He had already reached the level of Full-Body Chakra Control. At that stage, by coordinating a specific breathing method with Chakra, the user could greatly enhance their basic physical abilities for a short time, including speed, strength, and reaction time.
Reaching this point could already be considered proper mastery.
Uchiha Sasuke had brought Thunder Breathing to this level in such a short time. Sure enough, he had talent in breathing techniques, swordsmanship, and lightning-natured power.
"Tch. I'm still nowhere close."
Uchiha Sasuke silently put away the Kusanagi Sword in his hand.
Just now, he had also been thinking back over that sword strike. He realized that although he had nearly pierced through Gaara's Armor of Sand with one blow, his own foot had also been caught by the sand. Whether his sword could have ultimately pierced through Gaara's Armor of Sand was still hard to say, but his foot definitely would have been ruined.
"True, you're still nowhere close. Without activating your Sharingan, your dynamic vision isn't enough. If I hadn't stopped you just now, Gaara's sand would have crushed your foot."
Kaede Kitahara had seen everything clearly and began directly giving Uchiha Sasuke pointers.
If someone else had said that to him, Uchiha Sasuke might not have accepted it. But facing Kaede Kitahara, he had no choice but to listen. Kaede Kitahara counted as half a teacher to him, even if he did not have the formal title the way Hatake Kakashi did.
Even Sasuke's current hidden trump card, Thunder Breathing, had been taught to him by Kaede Kitahara.
Not to mention, Kaede Kitahara's strength gave him an overwhelming advantage over Sasuke. Sasuke had the traditional temperament of the Uchiha Clan. When facing someone far stronger than himself, he was willing to listen.
Just now, Kaede Kitahara had erased both of their attacks in a single move. His own overwhelming strength had been displayed fully and completely.
And what Kaede Kitahara said was indeed a problem. Whether it was Thunder Breathing or Chidori, both were extremely fast when used. If Sasuke did not activate his Sharingan, it really was easy for him to overlook the most crucial things.
Most importantly, Sasuke also understood the meaning behind Kaede Kitahara's words. He had been overconfident.
He had clearly known how strong Gaara was, yet he had still been arrogant enough not to activate his Sharingan. That was arrogance in itself.
If Kaede Kitahara had not suddenly appeared to save the situation, then in that instant, both sides would probably have suffered serious injuries.
The sword strike that pierced Gaara would certainly have heavily injured him, but Sasuke's own foot would have been crushed. It would have been ten times harder to treat than the wound from his sword.
He might even have missed this Chunin Exams entirely.
Thinking of that, a chill of fear rose in his heart.
"Big Brother Kaede, that was so cool!"
From a distance, Uzumaki Naruto gave Kaede Kitahara a thumbs-up. This was great. As long as that bastard Sasuke did not get to steal the spotlight and show off, everything was just great.
Kaede Kitahara looked at Uzumaki Naruto's expression and instantly knew what he was thinking. He nearly laughed despite himself.
This guy really only had showing off in his head.
But children at this age were like that.
This might be the last bit of easy, carefree time Uzumaki Naruto would have in this life. After this, major incidents would come one after another, and he would never again get to enjoy such simple, pure happiness.
This idiot.
Uchiha Sasuke understood it too and could not help roasting him inwardly.
Every time he saw Uzumaki Naruto acting this stupid, he seriously wondered whether the mature and reliable Uzumaki Naruto of the future had really grown from the guy in front of him.
Could he have been taken over by Possession / Body Snatching or something?
No matter how Sasuke looked at him, this idiot did not seem like someone who would become that incredibly dependable Seventh Hokage in the future.
Thinking of that, Uchiha Sasuke's gaze toward Uzumaki Naruto suddenly filled with suspicion.