"So there's something I've always wondered…"
Pakura hesitated for a moment before finally voicing the question that had been bothering her.
"Although jinchūriki are vessels for tailed beasts, they are still citizens of Sunagakure first and foremost.
"They sacrifice their own freedom to shoulder responsibilities they were never obligated to bear in the first place. Fundamentally, they're no different from the ninja who risk their lives on the battlefield.
"They should be regarded as heroes of Sunagakure…"
Her brows furrowed.
"So why are they instead forced to endure hatred from the villagers?
"That makes no sense."
"Well…"
Faced with Pakura's questioning, Chiyo hesitated.
"The One-Tail did cause severe destruction in Sunagakure many years ago. Quite a few older-generation Suna ninja were killed or left permanently disabled because of it.
"Although many years have passed and those wounds have healed, people still need somewhere to vent those emotions."
She paused.
"Besides, the other villages treat their jinchūriki the same way.
"It isn't only Sunagakure."
"Just because it has always been done that way means it's right?"
Pakura shook her head.
"The One-Tail itself is a wild beast.
"If someone invades its territory and it defends itself, I don't see anything unreasonable about that.
"If anything, we were the ones who captured it from the wild because we wanted its power. It's perfectly natural for it to hate us."
"And taking another step back—
"before Sunagakure was founded, the ninja clans of the Land of Wind fought one another for generations.
"But in the end, didn't they put aside their grudges and establish the village together?"
"If humans can turn enemies into allies…
"why can't tailed beasts be tamed like summoned beasts?"
"Uh…"
Chiyo found herself momentarily speechless.
At this point,
even Chiyo was beginning to realize something.
Right.
Sunagakure had gone through tremendous trouble to capture the One-Tail.
At the first Five Kage Summit, they had even rejected Senju Hashirama's proposal to distribute the tailed beasts equally because they already possessed one.
As a result, the Seven-Tails—which Sunagakure could otherwise have obtained—ended up in Takigakure's hands.
And after all that…
Sunagakure had spent decades locking the One-Tail and Bunpuku inside a temple.
Wasn't that an enormous waste?
Sunagakure had gotten there first!
They had captured a tailed beast early.
They had developed sealing techniques early.
So how had Kumogakure and Iwagakure somehow beaten them to actually weaponizing their tailed beasts?
Even those incompetent idiots in Kirigakure had moved faster than Sunagakure!
Looking at things from that perspective,
Sunagakure really did need to reflect on itself.
If they had valued Bunpuku properly and developed their One-Tail jinchūriki earlier for battlefield deployment,
there was no way their performance in the previous Shinobi World Wars would have been quite so miserable.
However…
when it came to whether jinchūriki should be bullied,
Chiyo still had reservations.
There was no particularly profound reason.
It simply felt like that was how things were supposed to be—
Forget jinchūriki.
What ordinary ninja hadn't been bullied a few times while growing up?
You're a jinchūriki.
You're already stronger than everyone else.
So what's wrong with getting bullied a little?
Would it make you lose a chunk of chakra or something?
Besides,
Kumogakure—the village with the most advanced tailed-beast weaponization—also treated Killer B and Yugito Nii poorly.
Who knew whether bullying was actually a necessary part of manufacturing a proper jinchūriki?
What if they skipped that step and the jinchūriki turned out defective?
When you didn't understand how someone else achieved their results, the safest way to reproduce them was obviously to copy the entire process exactly—
without changing even a single word!
With that thought,
Chiyo carefully considered her wording before speaking.
"If it's you, Lady Pakura…
"then you certainly do possess some aptitude for becoming a jinchūriki.
"But having the Kage of a village personally serve as a jinchūriki has no precedent in either Sunagakure or the wider history of the ninja world.
"I hope you'll consider it carefully."
"In addition, Ebizō, the other elders, and I will continue searching the village for younger ninja suitable for becoming jinchūriki.
"If we truly cannot find a better candidate, then it still won't be too late for you to step forward personally."
"…Alright."
Pakura nodded.
She hadn't actually become interested in possessing the One-Tail just now.
Rather,
there simply weren't many people in Sunagakure whom she considered both trustworthy and useful.
Instead of handing a tailed beast to some stranger and gambling on whether that person could tame the One-Tail,
Pakura would rather keep its power under her own control and avoid creating unnecessary complications.
But if she truly intended to become a jinchūriki…
there were still many more things to consider.
Perhaps she could ask that white-haired brat for his opinion through the Kamaitachi.
He had just captured two of Kirigakure's tailed beasts, after all.
He was probably considering how to deal with them too.
Pakura pushed those thoughts aside for now and continued,
"As for the other matter—
forming a military alliance with Konoha and jointly attacking the Lands of Lightning, Water, and the others—
we shouldn't make a decision too hastily."
"Everyone should return and gather opinions from ninja across the various levels of the village.
"Find out whether they still have the willingness to enter another war."
"As for me…
"I'm planning to make an official visit to Konoha in the near future."
Pakura's expression became thoughtful.
"Given the current difference in strength between Konoha and Sunagakure, if an alliance is formed, Konoha will inevitably take the dominant position.
"So…
"I need to first feel out Konoha's attitude."
"That would be appropriate."
Chiyo and the others nodded.
If they wanted to strengthen relations with Konoha,
having the Kazekage personally make an official visit was naturally the clearest way to demonstrate sincerity.
Even if Pakura hadn't suggested it herself, they probably would have tried persuading her to do exactly that.
Her volunteering saved them the trouble.
With that,
the meeting of Sunagakure's upper leadership came to an end.
Elder Totsuguri and the others gradually stood and left.
Chiyo and Ebizō also said goodbye to Pakura before departing.
Only Karura was asked to remain.
"Hmm?
"Lady Pa—Kazekage, do you need something from me?"
Karura looked back in confusion.
Pakura smiled and spoke casually.
"The meeting is already over.
"In a private setting like this, there's no need to address me by my title."
"How have you been lately?
"Things are alright between you and Rasa, I assume?"
"Pretty well.
"After that crushing defeat last time, he's become much quieter and isn't nearly as stubborn or self-important as before."
Karura smiled.
"Temari is the troublesome one lately.
"She needs her diapers changed several times a day.
"It's exhausting."
That was right.
Even before Sunagakure's ceasefire with Konoha,
Karura and Rasa had already formally become husband and wife and had their first daughter—
Temari.
Originally, after the war ended, Karura had considered having another child.
But Rasa had become somewhat dispirited after the disastrous defeat at Mount Kikyo.
He frequently disappeared into the mountains to mine for gold, leaving early in the morning and returning late at night.
So their original baby-making plans had to be postponed.
Incidentally,
Karura was a Sunagakure jōnin and had plenty of official duties.
Rasa wasn't exactly the patient type who would raise children or change diapers himself either.
Fortunately, Yashamaru—
Karura's twin younger brother and a medical ninja—
frequently came over to help.
So Temari was being taken care of quite well.
Pakura pondered briefly.
"In a few days, come with me to Konoha."
"…Huh?"
Karura froze.
"It's about what we discussed during the meeting—
strengthening our alliance with Konoha."
Pakura explained.
"I want you to serve as captain of my Kazekage Guard and be responsible for protecting me during the journey to Konoha."
Compared with the other major ninja villages,
Sunagakure was the one suffering the most severe shortage of talented personnel.
Even Kirigakure, after enduring decades of Bloody Mist policies, had more capable ninja available.
With Rasa excluded from consideration,
Pakura could only place the position of Kazekage Guard captain in the hands of Karura—
someone she had a good relationship with and whose strength was respectable.
As for the remaining members…
she would probably have to choose from Maki and the others.
Those people were much weaker.
Even Maki, the most outstanding among them, was only around elite-chūnin level and still had some distance to go before reaching jōnin.
But they should be capable of handling ordinary situations.
After all,
not everyone was named Mikami Yuu.
Most ninja at twelve or thirteen years old were merely ordinary chūnin.
Anyone reaching special-jōnin level at that age was already extremely rare.
Given Sunagakure's current shortage of capable successors,
Pakura couldn't exactly dig a few geniuses out of the desert just to make her escort team look respectable.
Speaking of Yuu…
Pakura sighed softly.
"It's a shame that guy isn't in Konoha right now…"
Otherwise,
seeing him standing there as a Konoha ninja and respectfully addressing her as "Lady Kazekage"…
would probably be quite amusing.
…
"Blood pressure…"
"Heartbeat…"
"Check the pupils…"
The location was one of the medical tents behind the Shakuka Town stronghold.
Yuu was currently performing surgery on Hyūga Hizashi.
Kurenai stood beside him as his assistant.
Tsunade sat far away in a corner of the room, casually flipping through a medical book while listening to Yuu verbally report the progress of the operation.
From time to time, she provided guidance and ensured everything remained on track.
Originally,
Rin should have been the one assisting Yuu.
Back on the Sunagakure front, Rin had once helped Hebiji perform corrective eye surgery on Yakushi Kabuto, so she had some experience with ophthalmic procedures.
But Rin's current condition was unstable.
There was still a risk that the Three-Tails inside her could go berserk.
So she had temporarily been confined to a tent to rest.
Kurenai took her place instead.
Naturally, Kurenai's medical-ninjutsu skill was nowhere near Rin's.
She was only slightly better than a complete beginner.
But if her job was merely to act as a nurse and pass surgical instruments,
she was competent enough.
A full hour passed.
Finally,
the tense and delicate eye surgery came to an end.
Yuu raised his blood-covered hands and used the Mystical Palm Technique to complete the final stages of healing.
Then he let out a long breath.
Just as he was about to wipe the sweat from his forehead,
Kurenai handed over a handkerchief.
She rose slightly onto her toes and carefully wiped away the beads of sweat for him.
"Thanks, Kurenai."
Yuu smiled.
And also…
(Thanks, Healing Technique.)
In response to Yuu's thoughts,
the "Healing Technique" inside the galgame system answered—
[Mystical Palm Technique (Healing Technique): Oh? Little Yuu has grown so much that he doesn't even call me Mommy anymore? How heartbreaking~]
(Uh…)
[Mystical Palm Technique (Healing Technique): Alright, alright, I'm only teasing you. How could Mommy hold something like that against you? The operation succeeded mainly because of your own ability, Little Yuu. Seeing you grow step by step until you've reached this point makes Mommy very proud~]
"…"
Right.
During the surgery, Yuu had indeed used the Mystical Palm Technique several times and received wholehearted assistance from the technique itself.
But when it came to actually calling Healing Technique "Mommy"…
Yuu still found it somewhat embarrassing.
Even though he had been the one who started using that nickname in the first place…
At that moment,
Hizashi himself began waking from the anesthesia.
Feeling the strange sensation around his eyes beneath the gauze, he opened his mouth as though he wanted to say something—
then stopped.
"Don't move."
Yuu pressed a hand against Hizashi's shoulder.
"The surgery just finished.
"We still can't be certain whether your vision will return completely to normal."
"For the next few days, rest properly.
"Don't try using your eyes."
"We can test them after the bandages come off."
Yuu paused.
"If everything goes smoothly, you should at least recover enough vision to see normally."
"…Thank you."
Hizashi quietly expressed his gratitude.
He had already prepared himself for permanent blindness and retirement.
Strictly speaking,
the moment both his eyes were injured, there had already been a high chance that he would simply die inside the Kiri base.
The fact that he had safely returned to the stronghold and received surgery at all was already fortunate.
Whether he made a complete recovery almost felt secondary.
Yuu smiled faintly.
"There's no need to thank me.
"Back when I was still at the Ninja Academy, I received guidance from you as well.
"It's only natural that I repay some of that favor now."
After exchanging a few more words,
Yuu signaled for Kurenai to explain the postoperative instructions to Hizashi.
He then washed the blood from his hands and walked over to Tsunade in the corner.
"How did it go?"
Tsunade raised an eyebrow.
"There shouldn't be any major problems."
Yuu nodded.
Then he glanced at Tsunade's slightly pale complexion and cautiously lowered his voice.
"By the way…
"Teacher Tsunade, are you perhaps…
"not very good with blood?"
"Huh?
"What kind of nonsense is that?"
Tsunade instinctively started denying it.
"I'm the greatest medical ninja in the entire shinobi world! How could I possibly be unable to handle—"
Her voice gradually softened.
"…Heh.
"So you actually noticed, brat?"
She shrugged.
"Well, it isn't anything serious.
"I just haven't been feeling very well lately and find the smell of blood a little unpleasant."
She pointed a finger toward him.
"Don't go spreading this around.
"If you do, I won't forgive you."
Then she raised her fist threateningly.
"…"
From Yuu's perspective,
Tsunade's hemophobia was a problem that was neither insignificant nor catastrophic.
Back when she stayed in Konoha, it hadn't mattered much.
Under ordinary circumstances, she wasn't required to personally enter combat anyway.
With Hiruzen and the others around to cover for her, even if something occasionally happened, it could easily be concealed.
But now—
Tsunade had actually come to the Kirigakure front.
Under these circumstances, her condition became a bomb that might explode at any moment.
Yuu figured it would be best if he could somehow help her overcome the problem.
However…
saying that was easy.
Figuring out exactly how to do it was another matter.
In the original story,
Tsunade overcame her hemophobia after witnessing Naruto being beaten nearly to death by Kabuto.
She was moved by his unwavering determination and finally broke through her psychological trauma.
But Naruto hadn't even been born yet…
Was Yuu supposed to imitate him?
Find an enemy and deliberately allow himself to be beaten nearly to death in front of Tsunade to stimulate her?
It wasn't completely impossible.
But with Yuu's current strength,
finding an enemy who could "reasonably" defeat him—
while simultaneously ensuring the situation didn't genuinely spiral out of control—
would probably be rather difficult.
He would need to plan this carefully…