Hey guys, here is the new chapter hope you will liked and read thru everything.
Hey! This is a more chill post. Although I already have an idea of how their training will go, you guys always have great ideas, so don't hesitate to share them in the comments
If we hit 200 PW I post a extra chapter you been hitting all the goals to get more chapters
Don't forget to leave your power stones along with your comment if you have any ideas or opinions that could help me, as well as a review to continue showing your support.
Enjoy the chapter!
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The return journey from the borders of the Land of Grass was a transition not only of geography, but of peace. Karinna, wrapped in the heavy black cloak Sasori had given her, watched in reverent silence as the world changed around her.
Behind her lay the rotting green, the suffocating humidity, and the stench of disease that had permeated her pores for years in Kusagakure. Before her, the horizon opened into a vast expanse of beautiful greenery and tall trees.
The forest air, fresh and pure, hit her face for the first time, chasing away the ghosts of the ninjas who had used her as a mere medical tool.
Seated behind Sasori who had been carrying her ever since he shifted his position Karinna felt a strange peace. It wasn't the peace of happiness, but the peace of exhaustion that finally finds a place to rest.
Upon crossing the towering gates of Kanzaki, Karinna was stunned. This was not the rough, austere military village she had imagined. Kanzaki was a citadel pulsating with constructive energy. She saw Suna ninjas working side-by-side with civilians, raising walls that seemed to surge from the very earth, while others worked in various locations. But the most striking feature was the main tower; instead of a dull, difficult building, it had walls and details of pink crystal that made it look elegant.
The Kazekage himself was waiting for her.
The reception was not a cold interrogation in a torture room, but an act of hospitality that left her completely disoriented.
Upon entering Daigo's office, the scent that greeted her was not that of disinfectant or blood, but of freshly baked bread, sweet fruits, and seasoned meat.
On the Kazekage's table sat a banquet that, for someone who had lived on scraps and hospital rations, seemed like a hallucination.
"Sit and eat, Karinna. In this place, no one will ask anything of you until your strength has fully returned," Daigo said in a calm voice, yet one that carried the weight of absolute authority.
Karinna obeyed, her hands trembling slightly as she took a piece of bread. She ate with a mixture of desperation and shame, while Daigo watched her from his chair with a gaze she couldn't quite decipher.
Daigo, using his Seismic Sense, analyzed the woman's chakra network. It was a spectacle both fascinating and tragic. Despite being treated as a human battery, her Uzumaki lineage maintained a massive chakra core; her chakra circulatory system was like a rushing river that refused to dry up despite the constant extractions. They were, without a doubt, biological miracles that the ninja world had tried to extinguish out of pure fear.
When Karinna finally finished, wiping her lips with a napkin, she lowered her gaze, unable to maintain eye contact with the man who controlled a village of thousands of shinobi.
"Thank you, Kazekage-sama," she whispered, her voice gaining a bit of strength thanks to the food. "But, to be honest... I don't understand. I've spent years as a bargaining chip. In the Grass, my life was only worth my chakra and my ability to heal their ninjas. What is it you truly seek from me? What is the price of this banquet?"
Daigo leaned back in his chair, crossing his hands over his desk. He shook his head with a serenity that Karinna found unsettling.
"I want you to forget every chain they put on you in that place, Karinna. In Sunagakure, and specifically under my command, no one will ever bite you to heal themselves again. It is a barbaric practice, an inefficiency I will not allow in my lands. I didn't send for you to be a walking medicine. I sent for you because of your mind for what your ancestors engraved in your memory and your blood."
Karinna blinked, confused, searching for a hint of deception in Daigo's eyes. "My mind? I'm not a strategist, nor a powerful warrior..."
"Fūinjutsu," Daigo declared, and the word resonated in the office like something distant.
"Everyone knows the Uzumaki are the greatest sealing masters to have ever walked the earth. Suna has Lady Chiyo and Sasori, and though both are geniuses in their fields, neither possesses that natural instinct that almost mystical connection with seals that your clan has.
I need a Sealing Master, Karinna. I need the walls of this village, the seals of our Bijuu, and the safety of our people to be protected by techniques that no one else on this continent can decipher."
The woman sighed, a shadow of deep sadness clouding her eyes.
"My village, Uzushio... was destroyed when I was just a girl. I couldn't learn all the secrets. The sacred scrolls were lost to fire and sea. I only possess fragments memories of what my parents taught me before the end."
"Those fragments are more valuable than the entire libraries of other nations, save perhaps for Konoha," Daigo replied with an encouraging smile.
"If I give you ancient scrolls, top-quality materials, and a place to research without fear, do you believe you could rebuild that legacy for us?"
Karinna felt a lump in her throat. It wasn't a request for sacrifice; it was an offer of purpose.
"I swear on my life and the honor of my clan that I will learn everything necessary. If I am given the chance to be something more than a hand to be bitten, I will repay every gram of food and every drop of water I've been given with the best sealing Suna has ever seen."
"That is all I ask," Daigo said, signaling to Sasori. "From this very moment, you are a ninja of Sunagakure under my direct protection. No one can touch you; no one can demand anything of you without my permission. Sasori will take you to one of the new houses near the tower. It will be your home. He will see to it that you receive the few sealing archives we have so you can begin working when you feel ready."
Karinna stood up, giving a deep bow. As she walked toward the exit alongside Sasori, she felt the air was no longer heavy. Her feet, though tired, stepped with a firmness she hadn't known. She had ceased to be a tool and had become a fundamental piece of an empire under construction.
Silence returned to the Kazekage's office as the door closed. Daigo let out a long, heavy sigh, finally letting his shoulders drop. He sank into his leather chair, closing his eyes. The weight of these days the tension of territorial negotiations and the logistics of missions alongside the affairs of Suna was consuming even his legendary stamina.
He had thought about secretly entering Konoha to steal the Shadow Clone Jutsu; that was the true jutsu of his dreams.
Although Sasori had told him it was possible to obtain the jutsu thru the third hokage puppet, so he would just have to wait.
However, it wasn't long before he felt a familiar and warm presence. Soft, expert hands rested on his shoulders, beginning a slow massage that unknotted the tension in his neck. He didn't need to open his eyes to know who it was.
"You look exhausted, even though you try to hide it behind that mask of an imperturbable leader," Pakura said, peering over his shoulder. Her voice had that affectionate tone she only used when they were alone.
"I've watched you all day. You've been working since before the sun came up."
Daigo opened one eye and smirked, feeling the warmth from Pakura's hands seep into his skin.
"You know I'm a hard-working man. You look especially beautiful today, Pakura. The Kanzaki sun seems to favor you more than the one in Suna."
She turned red instantly, a reaction that always amused Daigo. Despite being one of the most feared kunoichi in the world, Daigo's sincere praise always managed to tear down her defenses.
"Oh, really? Just today?" she asked, regaining her playful tone as she kneaded his shoulders a bit harder.
Daigo didn't respond with words. In a quick, fluid motion charged with a confidence only they shared, he took her by the waist and pulled her toward him.
In a blink, Pakura found herself sitting on his lap in an intimate, romantic position. Their eyes met just inches apart.
"You always are, but today there's a different light in you," Daigo murmured, wrapping his arms around her waist.
Pakura settled in, interlacing her fingers behind Daigo's neck, though her gaze remained inquisitive.
"I'm glad you think so... but tell me the truth, Daigo. Why so much trust in that Uzumaki woman? I understand the strategic value, but you've given her a house, quality clothes, and placed her under Sasori's protection. It's almost as if you're trying to compensate for something."
"The Uzumaki are a clan with a lineage that deserves respect, Pakura. What they did to her in the Grass was an offense to the uzumaki dignity. I don't want her to work for us out of fear or obligation. I want her to work because she feels that Sunagakure is her home. If she is happy here, her seals will be unbreakable. I don't want suffering subjects; I want allies who believe in my vision. As long as she helps make Suna strong, I have no problem treating her as she deserves."
Pakura nodded slowly, processing the logic behind his words. She knew Daigo always thought on three different levels: the strategic, the political, and the human.
She leaned in and kissed Daigo a long kiss, charged with a silent promise and an affection that had strengthened in the fires of war. As they pulled apart, she rested her forehead against his.
"Sometimes I forget that, beneath all that power and the ambition to lead Suna to the top of the world, you aren't a monster. You're still the man who cares about the small details."
Daigo watched her in silence for a moment, admiring the determination in her eyes and the strength of her presence. After a few seconds of quiet, his expression turned more solemn.
"Pakura, there is something I must tell you. I plan to leave for a while."
She tensed immediately in his lap, her hands tightening slightly around his neck. "Leave? What do you mean, leave? We just signed the peace; Kanzaki is growing, as is Suna... you can't just disappear."
"I'm not going to disappear forever," he clarified, calming her with a caress on her back.
"I'm going to travel to the summoning world of the elephants. I've been putting this off for too long. I need to finish my training with them, absorb the millenary wisdom they possess, and perfect my Earth Style techniques and my Seismic Sense."
Pakura frowned, her concern evident in the shine of her eyes. "Is it really necessary, Daigo? You are already incredibly strong. You defeated one of the Seven Swordsmen, brought the Mist to its knees, and forced Minato Namikaze to accept your terms, you even defeated him and killed the Third Hokage. You are the youngest and most powerful Kazekage in history. Why seek more?"
Daigo sighed, looking toward the window where the sun was beginning to set behind the Great Trees.
"Because I know what's coming, Pakura. The peace we signed is only a breather. I feel it in my blood new threats, much larger than Konoha or Iwa, are brewing in the shadows. My current level is enough to win wars, but not to protect you and Suna from what I imagine is coming. I can't afford to just be 'strong.' I must be a powerhouse on my own."
Pakura fell silent. She knew that look in Daigo; it was the look of someone who saw the future and didn't like what he found. She knew she couldn't stop him, and deep down, she didn't want to.
"If that's what you feel, then go," she said firmly. "But don't think I'll be the only one waiting around. While you train with elephants, I won't be sitting in this office doing your work."
Daigo smiled, pleased by her response.
"That's exactly what I wanted to hear. Your Shakuton is a force of nature, Pakura, but you rely too much on creating those heat spheres and launching them. It's predictable for a high-level enemy.
I want you to experiment. I want you to learn to use the Scorch Style in more subtle, efficient ways. What if you could heat the air around an enemy without moving a finger? What if you could turn your opponent's sweat into boiling steam from the inside? I want your fighting style to be impossible to read when I return."
Pakura looked at him with a spark of ambition in her eyes, accepting the challenge with the pride of a Suna warrior.
"I accept the challenge, Kazekage. Go seek your wisdom. I promise you that when you return, you will meet a new Pakura. My Shakuton won't just be an attack technique; it will be an absolute law on the battlefield. No one will ever doubt why I am your right hand again."
Daigo drew her into a protective embrace once more. "I'm not leaving just yet. First, I have to resolve the deal with Mangetsu, and then, if things are quieter, I'll go. That way, we have time alone."
End of Chapter