Chapter 30

The Fox Says Too Much

Gaara growls, a raspy, but guttural, choking sound. "They want your blood."

Kurama chuckles. "Of course he does. He always does. But do you really want to try anything now? Not the smartest idea." He huffs. "Well, the brat wants control again. I'll speak with you later, when we can do so… privately." He closes Naruto's eyes and takes a deep breath, his features receding, as Naruto returns with his bright blue eyes. "Well, now that his introduction is out of the way, I'll try to be a bit more civil. I'm Uzumaki Naruto, future Hokage, all around sneaky badass, and jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Youko. This is Hyuuga Hinata, clan heiress and all around-cinnamon roll-" Hinata eeps. "And the competing squad from Kumo, consisting of Nii Yugito, Samui, Karui, and Omoi, the minty-haired nutcase is Fuu, and…" He points down to the fox seated at his heels. "This is Yoko."

Temari and Kankurou are taken aback by just how forward with blonde numbskull is being with his status, and discovering their brother's. Baki's eyes slowly drift across them and up to Yugito. "Miss to see you again. I hadn't heard you'd taken up a genin squad."

"Oh, I haven't." She huffs. "They're Bee's kids."

Baki cringes. "Ah… yes, that would explain it." He sighs. "Well, I suppose I will introduce my squad. These are the Kazekage's own children. Temari, Kankurou, and Gaara." The two elder siblings bow, but Gaara remains upright and gritting his teeth. "Gaara, calm yourself. We must meet with the Hokage regarding our arrival, then we'll find a hotel room so you may… meditate."

"Oof, meditation." Naruto cringes. "Most annoying part of jinchuuriki training. Well, I'll accompany you all up, I've gotta talk to Hokage-jiji anyway." He turns to Hinata. "You coming, or should we meet up again tomorrow for more fuuton training?"

"U-Um, tomorrow would be quite alright. I have a few errands I need to run. Just… try not to be too crazy up there, ok?" She smiles sweetly, but there's clearly some stress barely masked by it. "Your Hokage career won't happen if you cause a huge political mess this soon." She giggles and she backs up with a bit of a skip in her step.

Naruto scoffs and mimics Ino, sticking his nose in the air. "I'd never! Unless someone deserved it and I could pin it on them."

Omoi nearly drops his lollipop as he stares at Naruto. Samui only breaks into laughter, just to get slugged by Karui. Yugito has to resist the urge to facepalm.

"Of course you wouldn't." Hinata giggles. "I'll see you tomorrow, then!" She takes off and has quite the skip in her step.

Naruto sighs and turns back to the tower. "Welp, I'll lead ya up. I doubt we'll get turned away, all showing up at once."

"Hold up, hold up!" They turn to see another team with an escort just arriving, and Naruto grins at the sight of an old man in a straw hat that reminds him much of one of his favorite mission customers along with a team he's already got a lot of experience with. Kurotsuchi slows to a stop with a wide grin. "I was wondering how long it'd take to find you in here. We saw Sasuke in our way in too, with Asuma."

"Did he challenge Tetsuma to a kenjutsu duel?"

Testsuma huffs. "He won't stand a chance, no idea why he bothered."

"You'd be surprised." He chuckles and peeks up to Kitsuchi. "Kitsuchi-san, good to see you."

"Likewise, runt."

"And Roshi, right?" He smirks as the man lowers his bottle of sake and hums. "Good to meet you, Yon. I'm Kyuu, you've already met Nii, and these are Nana and Ichi."

Silence falls amongst the Iwa squad as those words set in, and Roshi lets out a weak, blubbering belch that snaps him out of it. "Damn, I don't think there's ever been so many of us in one place before. Is this legal?"

"We can ask the Hokage, I'm sure he'll have something interesting to say when we all show up together, especially since he already knows about four of us."

Roshi snorts. "Oh, that's going to be fun. That, and he'll be begging me to join him for a few drinks tonight after." He steps ahead and leads, but Naruto goes ahead of him.

"Let me start us off, I gotta see the look on his face." He chuckles and leads the way up, and nobody protests, seeing as he's the one local involved in the matter. The secretary almost has a kniption at the sigh of the size of this foreign party, not to mention the high-profile faces among them. Upon reaching the door, he knocks in a signature set that alerts the Hokage to his specific presence, and he can hear the lock clicking just after. He waves for everyone to step back and heads in first. "Hey, jiji! Got a riddle for you."

Hiruzen sighs and sits back from his paperwork as he takes a puff from his pipe. His unofficially adopted grandson's presence brings a pleasant smile to his weathered face. "Go ahead, Naruto. I'm sure the titular Professor can solve it."

"What has 28 legs and 24 tails?"

That makes his grin fade. "... Oh dear lord."

That rips a laugh from Roshi as he steps through followed by everyone else. "That's just the start of it, ya old bastard!"

His jaw drops further as everyone piles in, but he eventually shakes if off. "Well, I see where 23 of 24 tails are." He hums. "Baki, I suppose one of your students hosts the Ichibi?"

Baki nods, and Gaara steps forth. "I am Subaku no Gaara, youngest son of the Yondaime Kazekage and host of Shukaku."

"Also, his seal is really fucked up." Naruto cuts in, and all eyes turn on him. "I mean seriously, the old fox is telling me that shit is really shoddy work, he doesn't even get sealing and he can feel the flaws just from how his brother's chakra is flowing. It's full of so many loopholes that it's barely threaded together enough to be considered a knot."

Hiruzen's eyes narrow as he turns to Baki. "Is that so?"

Baki takes a deep breath to steel himself. "It is indeed. In fact, it's something we intended to address here. Konoha's sealmaster would surely be able to provide a suitable replacement in return for intel we've gathered for you."

Hiruzen hums and nods. "I see… Very well. I'll recall Jiraiya immediately. Thank you for being forthcoming with this, Baki."

He bows. "Of course, Hokage-sama." He uprights himself. "Regardless, it is… interesting to have such a large and eclectic collection of jinchuuriki under the same roof."

Roshi finishes another swig. "Son says he hasn't seen this many in one place since 'that red-armored Senju brat decided to hunt them all down', apparently."

Naruto's eyes flash to red again. "That would be right. As much as I despise the man, he was quite powerful and skilled to have done so, although he did need his wife's help for the sealing itself."

Temari's eye twitches. "That's… just creepy."

Kurama huffs. "Bold of you to say so, brat. Bold enough for me to let it slide. Besides, I like being creepy. Weeds out the weaklings I want out of my presence."

Temari scoffs, but shakes it off before looking to Hiruzen. "A-Are you sure his seal is more stable than my brother's?"

"Oh, quite." Hiruzen grins. "The Yondaime was very thorough. What you're seeing is the result of proper camaraderie between jinchuuriki and biju. Others have succeeded with much the same."

Roshi chuckles. "He's right, I know Yugito and I can anyway."

Fuu shrugs. "Choumei knows I'm uncomfortable with it because whenever she takes me over, she talks a mile a minute and makes me even more manic than I usually am."

"Moving on…" Hiruzen cuts in. "Kitsuchi, it's wonderful to see you here. How has your father been?"

"Looking to speak with you, actually." He crosses his arms. "Has a lot to say about this new treaty you're lining up with Kiri."

"Well, what do you know?" Yugito huffs. "Raikage-sama's thinking the same thing."

Hiruzen grins and looks ro Naruto who chuckles and claps. "Hook, line…"

"Sinker…" Everyone turns to see Zabuza standing in the doorway. "I thought the fishing puns were supposed to be my village's thing. Sup, brat?"

"Hey, I thought she'd send you!" Naruto grins ear-to-ear. "So, where's Haku?"

"Right here, Naruto-kun." She steps into view with a smile. "As is my squad." Behind her, two more Kiri shinobi emerge.

One is a white-haired boy with bared, grinning shark teeth and a violet tank top. "Hozuki Suigetsu, at your service."

"U-Um…" The next is a bashful boy with crew-cut silver-blue hair and a navy vest over a corduroy sweater. "I'm Chojuro. I-It's a pleasure to be here, H-Hokage-sama."

Hiruzen hums as he looks them over. "A fine team in such a short time, Zabuza. I see you decided to take on Mangetsu's little brother."

Suigetsu chuckles. "Of course you'd know. Yeah, that's my bro. Don't expect to stay in his shadow."

"Wouldn't dream of it. And if it's any consolation-"

He's cut off by Suigetsu raising his hand. "Nope. I don't blame Konoha for that night, that was the Sandaime Mizukage making a bad play and running into a monster that could use one of the sickest kinjutsu in the world. He knew what he was in for. A Shinobigatana Shichinin Shū knows they live and die by the blade. No point in seeking revenge for people doing their jobs."

Akatsuchi raises her arms in exasperation. "Thank you! You'd think more of the shinobi populace would have that through their thick skulls. My village needs a reality check."

Kitsuchi sighs and grumbles. "You're right, but do you need to say it out loud around this many foreigners?"

"Hey, maybe it'll get back to some of our spies and they'll finally get the picture, a few of them will stop being dumbasses."

Haku crosses her arms. "It's quite difficult to be a stupid spy and live, though."

"Oh, it's not." Hiruzen remarks. "We identify many spies and keep them around just to feed them false information. Quite amusing, really."

Zabuza nods. "It's true, every village does it, and it's frankly hilarious."

Naruto peeks up in awe. "Are you telling me every kage is in on one huge series of professional level pranks against each other, and it's actually part of the job description?"

Roshi almost spits up his sake in laughter. "Holy shit, you're training the most twisted kage the world's ever gonna see."

"Oh, you haven't the slightest clue." Hiruzen sighs. "On the note of spies, you've reminded me I now owe Jiraiya fifty thousand zeni."

"What'd he bet you this time?"

"That Naruto would bring an entourage of other biju into my office and pack so many dangerous individuals into one room that our sensor corp is panicking about an S-rank jutsu being used in a room with nobody even using their chakra."

.

.

Upon leaving, the only people remaining in the office as Naruto and the Sunagakure team. Baki peeks up to Hiruzen in suspicion. "Why have you insisted on this genin's presence for this discussion?"

He hums. "Several reasons, I suppose. For one, Shukaku is best handled by one of his own who is willing to follow my advice. Secondly, discussion of a seal of this caliber will be good experience for an up-coming sealmaster. Lastly, I fully believe and support his intended claim of my hat." He peeks to Naruto with a smirk, and the boy is just beaming at him. "And involvement in such political matters is also excellent experience."

Baki hums and peeks down to Naruto with his one visible eye. "I see. Very well, but I won't provide the intel we have until he's left."

"Agreeable. Now, what can you tell us of the seal?"

He sighs. "Gaara's seal was intentionally designed with various loopholes to properly weaponize Shukaku's various properties in war, specifically that the demon obtains complete control if Gaara ever falls asleep. He's essentially been wide awake for most of his life and recovers entirely through meditation and drawing off his tennant's chakra as a source of excess stamina."

Naruto can't help but growl. "Can you tell me who made this seal?"

Baki side-eyes Naruto. "That's classified."

"Really?" Hiruzen huffs. "Becuase I recall the only competent sealmasters in your village being Chiyo and Ebizo."

"Thank you, jiji." Naruto grins with grit teeth. "I'll be sure to question them about that seal if I ever have the honor of meeting them."

Temari can't help but smile a bit. "You're not the only one pissed at them believe me. Those two ancient fools are more trouble than they're worth."

Kankurou shoves an accusing finger in her face. "Don't you dare speak ill of Chiyo-baa-sama! Her puppetry is by far the greatest in the village, and she's only ever served with the utmost efficiency! Hanzo would have wiped out hundreds of us if not for antidotes she made!"

Naruto hums. "Ok, I'll take that into consideration. Now, next up should be deciding what to do about that seal. Gaara, mind if I take a closer look?"

Gaara growls a bit, but closes his eyes and pulls his collar down to reveal a seal over his heart. The center appears to be a tiered pyramid, with a branch of seal code emerging from the three apexes and forming another triangle. Naruto hums as he looks it over, then peeks to his left. "What do you think?"

An invisible figure slowly fades into view, startling the Suna team and causing Gaara to step back. Baki gawks for a moment, but huffs and shakes it off. The Sannin have been well-known for their eccentricity for some time now. Jiraiya hums as he looks the seal over. "General structure isn't bad, it's solid containment, but the details are shoddy. Apparently intentional." He hums and points to a specific mark in the upward branch. "You see this gap here?"

Naruto hums. "Yeah, the surrounding parts are familiar. A lot like my communication seal with the Kyuubi" He points to one specific symbol. "This must be the condition clause for sleep, but the communication channel is too wide, and in Shukaku's favor. Whoever thought that was a good idea needs a swift kick to the head."

Temari huffs. "Blame my father."

"Noted." Naruto scratches his head. "So that's one kage on my shit list. Ok, so this part down here I don't quite get."

Jiraiya huffs. "That would be a-" His eyes narrow. "Huh, that's odd… this part appears to be a bit corroded. Shukaku's doing something to it from the inside. And it's…" He stands abruptly and stares off into empty space.

Hiruzen's eyes narrow. "What did you find?"

"... It's.. twisted." he shivers and looks away. "It appears the channel once meant to filter Gaara and Shukaku's chakras together to provide constant access to Shukaku's abilities has been altered to accept a third source, but it's incredibly imbalanced."

Naruto huffs as he stands. "The Kyuubi did say Shukaku keeps experimenting with senjutsu seals and messing them up."

Jiraiya grumbles. "That would explain a lot…" He closes his eyes and focuses his nature sense. "... From what I can tell, even as unbalanced as the nature energy in you is, it's enough to survive one hell of an impact with little more than the wind knocked out of you. But, the constant exhaustion you've suffered has also limited your physical and mental ability, and made you far less efficient than you would be otherwise. If I place a seal that locks that channel and keeps nature chakra out of you, you may become less durable, but your quality of life will drastically improve, and Shukaku will likely be far less volatile."

Gaara closes his eyes as he considers this. "... And can you place another seal over the communication channel to restrict his control and allow me to sleep?"

"Oh, certainly." Jiraiya chuckles. "That might be the easiest part, actually. I've always had a weakness for genjutsu, so I've figured out a few seals that prevent any mental tampering." He cracks his knuckles to loosen his fingers up. "Thankfully, I know these two seals well enough to perform them now. Just a warning though, you're probably going to sleep for a good twenty-four hours after this." He peeks up to Baki. "Can you give your word that the Kazekage will approve of this?"

Baki nods solemnly. "Half of these results are within his expectations. The senjutsu, he had no inklings of, but left it to our discretion to approach any unforeseen issues with the seal as necessary. If the nature energy being absorbed is indeed the source of Shukaku's mental instability, then I believe it's in our best interest to address it immediately."

Hiruzen hums and nods. "Very well, then. Jiraiya, are there any other consequences to address?"

"None in the slightest. Naruto, does the fox have any input?"

He hums and thinks it over, then reaches into his pocket and pulls out a communication seal strip just like the one that's been linking his seal to his head. He pulls a second one and links them together- one between Gaara's head and his own, and one between Gaara's head and Shukaku's seal. "That's not in the way, is it?"

"Nope, I can work around that." Jiraiya stretches his wrists, then starts shifting through half-handsigns, a different chain on each hand. "Have fun in there, kid." His fingers light up with red flames on one side and green on the other, and he jabs at two of the corners of Gaara's seal. "FUIN!"

The world goes black, and Gaara is at first terrified as he slips away. The last thing he registers is a smaller pair of hands catching him. At first, he can't understand why the sand didn't intercept and hold him up.

He doesn;t have time to consider it when he finds himself in an enormous, dimly-lit chamber with water beneath his feet and getting into his sandals. He peeks around in confusion, but quickly finds Naruto standing in front of him. "Where are we?"

"We're…" Naruto hums. "I guess it's a mental space created by our linked seals. Hold on, I think the other two are arriving."

"Other tw-?" He's cut off as an enormous, sandy hand slams down to his right, swaths of sand falling off as a sealing array falls apart.

"DAMNIT!" Shukaku shrieks. "DECADES OF WORK, THROWN AWAY! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA-"

"Oh will you shut up?" A pair of crimson eyes light up far behind Naruto, and Kurama slowly fades into view. "You should be coming back to your senses any moment now."

Gaara cannot help but shiver at the sight of the strongest of the Biju, a presence that dwarfs that of his own tennant. Hearing the fox's words, he slowly turns around to see more sand falling from the Tanuki as many of the blue and black marking across him disperse.

"KURAMA, YOU BASTARD- Wait…" Shukaku pauses for a moment as the last of the markings across his falls off and splashes down. "... I'm.. suddenly very dizzy. Wait, wait, no… I was dizzy before." He reaches up and holds his head. "Kurama… how long?..."

He sighs. "I can't be sure. We haven't met in many decades. Almost a century. Knowing you, you did this somewhere around seven decades ago."

Shukaku hangs his head, then growls and punches the ground. "Seventy years with another faulty seal!" He starts shifting the disconnected sand around to write new ones. "I'll get it right this time! I know I'll make father proud!"

Kurama sighs and shakes his head. "No point, you have no access to nature energy now. Take some time to sort your head out and work with your jinchuuriki for a while before you dive into that obsession again, you clueless mutt."

"OY!" Shukaku howls. "You know I don't take orders from you!"

"No, you don't…" He huffs and closes his eyes. "But maybe you could listen for once, for your own good. Choumei is worried about you."

That stuns Shukaku into silence, and Naruto peeks back. "Wow, weaponizing your sister, now that's brutal."

He shrugs. "Choumei is a big weak point for him and Kokuo."

Naruto chuckles as he mentally files that away, but Gaara interrupts. "Uzumaki…"

"Hm?" he peeks up and crosses his arms behind his head. "What's up?"

"... How… are you so… cheerful… when you've lived with the same curse?"

"Yeah, go ahead, talk like that about me when I'm right here…"

Gaara doesn't respond to Shukaku, just awaiting Naruto's answer. The boy is contemplative for a moment, pacing across the water. "Well… I guess… I still understand how you got how you are." He scratches his head and really thinks on it. "I mean… if my dad hadn't adopted me, if I didn't have my friends… yeah, I'd probably be a lot more like you. But I found people who care. For you…" He peeks up to Shukaku. "It must have been a lot harder to recognize people who were already there. I know what it's like to have a voice in your head telling you that nobody cares. For me though, that was just my own head messing with me. For you, it was a lot more literal."

Shukaku takes a step back at that, hanging his head. That hit home for the biju as well, it seems. Gaara finds his vision swimming as he struggles to grasp how accurate that is. "But… what good do those bonds do you? This world is… cruel. Heartless. Strength is all you can rely on."

Naruto shames his head. "It's one thing you can always rely on, but there's plenty more. You just need to know where to look and be willing to take the risk of getting hurt."

A few tears leak into Gaara's eyes as the many ghosts of his past come flooding back. His uncle's dying smile comes through clearly, and he finds his legs giving out on him. He tries to speak, but his form in this world fades and flickers.

Naruto sighs. "Damn. These conversations are quick, but you're passing out fast. I won't be able to stay in here while you're unconscious. How about you come find me when you're awake, and we can talk more?"

Gaara peeks up form his fading hand, and after some quick deliberation, he nods. "Very well. We will speak again soon… Uzumaki."

He shrugs. "Just call me Naruto. Sleep well, Gaara."

Finally, Naruto pops back into his body and sighs, pulling the seals apart and stashing them again. "Ok, that went pretty well. Shukaku already seems to be doing better. He's in a bit of a daze, but I think he'll be fine by the time Gaara wakes up."

Temari shivers faintly as she holds her brother up. "A-Are you sure Shukaku is actually sealed properly now?"

Jiraiya barks out in laughter and jumps into his one-footed kabuki pose. "The Great JIraiya's sealing talents are unmatched!"

"Bitch, my mother taught you things you could barely fathom."

Jiraiya's face falls as he glares at his godson. "I swore the Uzumaki would be the death of me, and the way you keep running your mouth, I'm gonna be executed for strangling you."

Kankurou snorts. "Wow, dad was right. The strongest shinobi are always kinda crazy."

Baki grumbles. "Sady, yes, that does tend to be a common trait."

Naruto hums. "So if I'm already this crazy at my age and this point in my career, would that be additive or exponential by the time I'm a kage?"

Hiruzen huffs. "In your case it better be a constant value, otherwise the elemental nations will burn down in my lifetime."

.

.

Sakura wanders Konoha with Haku, watching as various genin squads from around the village eye up the competition almost lecherously. The older fools who've been stuck at this low rank for too long only see young prey, rather than threats.

Haku's more the familiar with being underestimated. It's almost calming, knowing she's got so much less to worry about, if not for knowing how talented one particular team she's against is. Regardless, she can enjoy her time with them for now. "I do hope you've picked up a better variety of genjutsu by now, Sakura. Although your techniques were quite effective at fooling our prey in Nami, I don't believe it will be quite enough against me."

She scoff. "You think I was really giving that my all? Although your acting was great, gotta say. I need to work on that myself. It's weird. I'm a medic and use genjutsu, but for some reason my method is the most direct out of my whole squad."

"Acting can be quite difficult. Getting yourself engrossed in a role, enough for your actions in it to feel natural, is the greatest hurdle. I had to act as stoic and heartless as I usually do on the job. The acting you're looking to do is on an entirely different level." She sighs. "I'm far from an effective teacher for that. I crafted merely one persona to go with my fake anbu role. You will need to create new scenarios on a whim. In a way, you're more of a director than an actor, but that means you need to know how to improve someone's acting."

Sakura's head slowly tilts as that sinks in, then smirks. "Maybe we can make a night of it, watching some bad, but fun movies?"

Haku pauses. "Wow… I never realized I'd been waiting practically my whole life for someone ask me to attend a movie night."

"Get used to it girl, you're one of us now." Sakura grins. "Wanna stop by Ino's and get her in on it?"

"Oh, certainly! Do you think we might be able to rope HInata in too?"

"That girl needs it just as badly as you do, so we're damn sure gonna try."

.

.

Shikamaru sits beneath the shade of a tree, meditating as deer meander around him. His brow furls as he ponders the next great question of his training.

His father had approached him with a unique conundrum. The greatest weakness of their clan's techniques is the inability to wield a shadow that is not their own or that of an inanimate object their shadow is in contact with. In many cases, this has been a downfall for their clan. In the barren, open battlefields of Earth country, they were stunted. The same could be said in the Wind's deserts, before the treaty was forged. Creating more shadows is a possibility, but a difficult one without either a lot of sealed objects to manipulate, as there are no jutsu capable of creating a solid object from thin air. Earth jutsu is a possibility, but a costly one which is also a rarity within the clan. So how, then, is this great hurdle to be overcome?

Shikamaru had been pondering this very question beneath this tree for nearly three hours now, and nothing has ever stumped him to such a degree. All the while, his father watches in silence. He could never solve this problem himself, but he knows his son has a unique perspective, especially with the influence and creativity of his friends. If anyone could solve it, his son could. He knew the answer would not come easily, but every twitch of his son's brow was a sign of progress. A route had been discovered or closed off. Results upon results ring through his mind. It's not until Shikamaru opens his eyes and tries to clear his head, and spots a fox wandering nearby, that something clicks.

.

.

"So let me get this straight." Hiruzen's grip on his pipe nearly cracks. Would be quite the shame, it was carved from Senju wood. "Rasa was pressured by the Wind country's royalty into betraying us with Orochimaru's aid, and you only turned the offer down because of our sudden treaty with Kirigakure?"

Baki kneels and bows, prostrating before the venerable Kami no Shinobi. "I offer you our sincerest apologies. We've been desperate to improve our village's economy, for our people's sake, but no other route was presenting itself. Many of our potential clients were turning to you instead, and our stability is currently sure to collapse within a few years. Desperation drove us to make foolish mistakes. Kazekage-sama himself has said so."

Hiruzen hums as he consider this. "Well… I can certainly understand the motivation. We will provide aid in the matter, but there will be mandatory assistance in dealing with my wayward student and his apparent flock in Otogakure." He huffs. "Thankfully, as cocky as he is, I doubt he'll be calling off his plans, only altering and improving them. Does he know of your betrayal yet?"

"He does not, as best we know. We intended to assist you in laying a trap for him."

Hiruzen smirks. "Wonderful. Well, I suppose we have an accord, then. I'll have my best strategists working on it. You and the men under your employ are to follow Orochimaru's orders to a T, report back to me, and when the time comes, we'll spring on him from both sides. I can only hope I can be close enough to my old protegee to see the look on his face for myself." He waves them off. "Now, go and rest. I need to make some clones to handle paperwork and catch up to Roshi for a few drinks."

.

.

A.N.: Yeah, I know, this one took me a while. I had a bit of a block with this one. I wanted to subvert things. With the power play Hiruzen made, Suna would know they have no chance of succeeding in betraying Konoha. Orochimaru's plan would look far less lucrative than a greater alliance with more villages they could easily open trade with. Although Suna doesn;t have too much to give, they are particularly good in a few fields that will explode with access to more trade routes. They need supplies to turn around before it really goes somewhere, and this is a viable route. But, that meant turning away from Orochimaru and getting the backup they need to snuff the snake, hence making a deal with them here. Using Gaara as a living nuke isn't so viable when you suddenly have greater numbers to rely on in the event of greater conflict, and nothing can beat a 3 village union, even if two of them are weakened.

As for Shukaku using senjutsu, he's clearly been the one who most idolized his father, and he canonically is capable of using seals and cursemarks, so it makes sense for him to attempt something like this. The resulting instability would explain a lot, and balancing it out is gonna make him a much more manageable character moving forward. Once Gaara wakes up and he's back in the picture, anyway.

Next time, you guys can expect a couple more reveals about the cat in the last downtime chapter before the exams! Then, things are gonna go really crazy. This is where the timeline starts to drastically diverge. Don't expect any of the same matchups this time around! Fuck rehashing, we're gonna remix this and make something beautiful.

So keep reading, recommending, reviewing, and just being the awesome nerds you are. I'm gonna be over here nerding out over No Way Home, Hawkeye, and Sonic Frontiers. See you next chapter, guys!