["You bastard!"The Second Mizukage, longtime rival of the Second Tsuchikage, immediately voiced his displeasure. "That's far too despicable!!"]
[The Third Raikage agreed, joining the Second Mizukage in condemning him. "Exactly! Don't think you'll get away with it!!"]
"That's right! Way too despicable!!""Seriously—are they already thinking about dividing the spoils?!""Those Iwagakure(Hidden Stone) guys are so damn scheming!!"
Ninja from every village shouted in protest before the image.
Tobirama Senju, however, had already seen through the intentions of his fellow Second Kage, Mu. A hint of a smile crossed his face, offering no explanation.
[In the image, the Third Tsuchikage—Mu's disciple—was the first to respond."We have no such intentions this time, Lord Mu."At the Five Kage Summit, it was Gaara's single question—When did you all lose yourselves?—that snapped them back to reality.]
[There was a trace of relief in Mu's voice. "Is that so? Good. As long as you didn't turn into a stubborn old man."]
[His longtime nemesis, Gengetsu Hōzuki, immediately understood Mu's meaning and laughed as he scolded him, "You worry too much."]
The Second Hokage said flatly, "As expected. Mu hasn't changed."
"That part does resemble you quite a bit, Tobirama-sensei," the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, said.
Koharu Utatane nodded. "Yes. I've heard the Second Tsuchikage was also skilled at developing ninjutsu."
"Uh…"Being teased by his own students, Tobirama suddenly had a dark vein pop on his forehead.
Hearing his second brother's name, Itama—who had been hiding in the back—popped his head out, staring at the three elderly men.
Tobirama-niisan's students… are all so old…Then Hashirama-bro's students… could they already be dead?
Not having seen his eldest brother anywhere, young Itama's imagination ran wild.
[After the reanimated former Kage finished their brief exchanges, the real battle between the strong finally began!]
[The Fifth Kazekage, Gaara, released sand from his gourd. Behind the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, an endless expanse of gold dust spread out. Another thrilling opening—two massive currents of sand collided like towering pillars of water, pushing against each other without yielding!]
Land of Wind · Sunagakure—
Chiyo stared wide-eyed in shock. "To think he could grow to this extent… that Gaara…"
[Within the colliding sands between Gaara and his father, claw-like shapes resembling Shukaku's hands suddenly emerged, forcefully seizing the Fourth Kazekage's gold dust and pressing it down!!]
[Gaara: "Sand Hail."]
[The sand transformed into bullet-like pellets the size of hailstones, scattering through the sky.]
[Rasa immediately gathered more gold dust to block Gaara's attack!]
Chiyo muttered, "The Fourth Kazekage was careless."
[Sure enough—Rasa: "Damn it! Sand Hail was just a feint!"The real objective was the quicksand forming beneath their feet!]
[Not only the Fourth Kazekage—under Gaara's cold gaze, all four reanimated former Kage had their movements hindered by the sand…]
Land of Fire· Konohagakure—
The genin currently participating in the Chūnin Exams all turned to look at Gaara when they saw the quicksand binding the Fourth Kazekage, the Third Raikage, the Second Mizukage, and the Second Tsuchikage in the image.
"Wait—this is—!!""N-no way…""Could it be…?"
Gaara's pale green eyes widened as he stared at the image, afraid to miss even a single detail.
[The quicksand restraining the Fourth Kazekage and the others gradually, taking the shape of a woman. Her arms locked tightly around Gaara's enemies, absolutely refusing to let them harm Gaara in the slightest!]
This power was the very same enhanced version of Absolute Defense that Gaara had used earlier—right there before everyone's eyes—to protect his friends!!
Land of Wind · Sunagakure—
Elder Chiyo stared at the image in disbelief, murmuring under her breath, "No wonder… no wonder the answer was… her."
...
The timeline rewound to the moment when the Horror Quiz descended upon the Sand ninja.
A Sunagakure jōnin named Runa was killed by the rules, turning into a cloud of blood and flesh before everyone's eyes.
Two chances to answer remained.
After summoning Elder Chiyo, the Sand Village's head elder analyzed the situation and confirmed that the Third Kazekage had died at the hands of the rogue Sand ninja Sasori of the Red Sand—and had been turned into a human puppet.
With the reward practically within reach, Sunagakure was determined to treasure these two remaining chances and secure the Third Kazekage's puppet at all costs!
Outside the domain barrier—
"Lady Chiyo, isn't Absolute Defense that mons—"Thinking of the earlier image and that person possibly becoming the commander-in-chief of the Allied Shinobi Forces in the Fourth Great Ninja War, the Sand ninja hastily corrected himself."I-I mean… isn't it Lord Gaara's ability?"
Chiyo replied calmly, "Yes. It is Gaara's ability."
Among Sunagakure's ninja, Gaara wasn't the only one who could manipulate sand—but the ability to perform passive Absolute Defense belonged to him alone.
So why had it been judged as [Incorrect Answer]?!
It was clearly Gaara's jutsu!It only ever protected Gaara himself!If it wasn't Gaara's ability, then whose could it possibly be?!
"Elder," a Sand ninja suggested, "could Absolute Defense be Shukaku's power?"
Would Shukaku protect Gaara?!
"That's it!" Chiyo suddenly realized."Gaara is Shukaku's vessel. If Gaara dies, Shukaku dies as well. Even if it were revived later, it would take years."
With that explanation, everyone felt it made sense.
The correct answer was Shukaku. If it wasn't Gaara's power, then it had to be Shukaku's!
"..."
Only one person stood apart from the group's excitement at having found the answer.
He was the father who, upon seeing Reward No. 2—the stuffed doll—had unconsciously said that he had once bought one just like it for his daughter.
He believed there was still another possibility—the true source of the power protecting Gaara.
But he was just an ordinary chūnin.His strength was unremarkable, his status low, and he had no voice in the village.
When a jōnin barked at him, he immediately apologized—timid by nature.
Family was his only anchor in the cruelty of a ninja's life.
He knew of Gaara. Gaara was even younger than his own daughter. Sometimes, after returning from missions, when he saw the boy being shunned by the village, a flicker of pity would rise in his heart.
But he didn't dare approach the son of the Fourth Kazekage—the vessel of Shukaku.
What if he angered him?What about his family then?Without income, what would happen to his child?
So after hesitating again and again, he still didn't dare voice his thoughts in front of the elders and the jōnin.
And then—
He regretted it.
...