Chapter 488: Confirmation
After saying goodbye to Nagasawa, Yashamaru sent Gaara back home, then hurriedly went to Sunagakure Hospital to look for Rasa.
Because of his status and position, Yashamaru encountered no obstruction along the way. After greeting the guarding Sunagakure ninja, Yashamaru knocked on the door and walked into Rasa’s ward.
At this time, there were only Rasa and Maki in the ward. Because the treatment had been completed, Tsunade and Chiyo had not come again.
Rasa was wondering who would come at this time. Looking toward the door and seeing that it was Yashamaru, his face showed some surprise. He had not expected it to be Yashamaru.
The relationship between the two was somewhat special. They were both superior and subordinate, and also brother-in-law and younger brother-in-law.
Logically speaking, their relationship should have been very good.
In fact, that was also the case, but a time had to be added to that, which was before Gaara was born.
Before Gaara was born, Yashamaru could be said to have respected and even worshipped this brother-in-law who had become Kazekage.
It was not that one could only be recognized by everyone after becoming a Kage, but that only someone recognized by the masses could become a Kage.
Because Rasa himself had become Kazekage precisely because he was recognized by the people of Sunagakure Village.
After becoming Kage, Rasa quickly ended the war and signed a treaty with Konoha, avoiding the situation where Sunagakure’s strength would continue being consumed.
Signing a treaty was not just something said casually. It was not as if Sunagakure Village had no hawks, so Yashamaru very much recognized Rasa’s ability.
After Rasa became Kage, Yashamaru, as an Anbu, was also heavily used. He soon became Rasa’s right-hand man as an excellent Anbu. The brother-in-law and younger brother-in-law worked closely together.
It was not only that Yashamaru respected and worshipped Rasa. Rasa also greatly appreciated this younger brother-in-law with strong ability to handle matters.
After all, Rasa was a very realistic person. If one could not contribute to the village, then even a younger brother-in-law could not hold a high position. He was even willing to sacrifice his own son, so what was a younger brother-in-law?
But all of this changed after Gaara was born. Gaara was a premature baby. His mother died from difficult labor after giving birth to him, which caused Gaara’s impression of his mother to only be photos.
Regarding his sister’s death, Yashamaru was very sad. He looked the same as his sister, and his relationship with his sister had also been very good.
However, although he was sad at that time, it was impossible for him to vent his anger on Rasa just because his sister died in difficult labor. Difficult labor had nothing to do with Rasa.
But Yashamaru had not expected that Rasa would actually let his sister’s last child become a Jinchuriki.
Yashamaru was extremely furious. As an Anbu, he understood the darkness of this world too clearly. Although Jinchuriki were powerful, their endings were generally extremely miserable.
For example, the previous One-Tail Jinchuriki, Bunpuku. Because he was a Jinchuriki, Sunagakure’s higher-ups prevented the Tailed Beast from going berserk, so they directly imprisoned Bunpuku in prison for his entire life.
Only during war would Bunpuku be released and sent onto the battlefield.
Without committing any crime, and without even truly going berserk, merely for the reason of preventing him from going berserk, Sunagakure imprisoned a person in prison for an entire lifetime.
Of course Yashamaru did not want the child his sister had given birth to with all her life to become a Jinchuriki.
But he could not resist, because the one who gave the order was not only Rasa, but the entire Sunagakure higher-ups.
He was only a small Anbu ninja. How could he possibly resist Sunagakure’s higher-ups?
Moreover, even if he wanted to resist, there was no chance, because by the time the news reached him, Gaara had already become a Jinchuriki. It was already an irreversible fact.
The only possibility for a Tailed Beast to leave a Jinchuriki was for the Jinchuriki to die.
That night, Yashamaru personally went to Rasa’s house. He questioned Rasa, asking why he had made Gaara become a Jinchuriki. This was his sister’s last child. In order to give birth to Gaara, she had even lost her life.
That night, Rasa was instead unusually calm. Perhaps because Yashamaru had always handled matters reliably, he did not get angry because of Yashamaru’s questioning, but calmly told Yashamaru.
"We have no money left." Rasa said calmly.
"Three experimental subjects tested to have aptitude have already died. Because of the failed experiments, I have also fought the One-Tail many times and suppressed it.
The daimyo is still cutting funding. We are almost unable to support ninja anymore. Right now, we are barely holding on by relying on me using Magnet Release to collect Gold Dust." Rasa described the difficulties Sunagakure was facing.
"And at this time, Gaara just happens to have aptitude. If possible, I also would not want my own child to become a Jinchuriki.
But if the experiment keeps failing, not only will it consume a large amount of funds, our Sunagakure’s Jinchuriki position will also always remain vacant.
Perhaps Gaara will be miserable after becoming a Jinchuriki, but if Gaara does not become a Jinchuriki and war breaks out, what should we do? Without a Jinchuriki, how are we to face the other Five Great Nations?"
"If Gaara does not become a Jinchuriki, Sunagakure will lose a lot. Do you understand?
Before being a father, I am Sunagakure Village’s Kazekage."
After saying these things, Rasa did not continue speaking. If Yashamaru still did not understand after things had been said to this extent, then let him not understand.
Yashamaru had no way to refute Rasa’s words, because Rasa was doing it from the perspective of the entire village. He occupied the righteousness.
If Yashamaru were the kind of shameless person who acted unreasonably, he could continue arguing, but unfortunately, he was not someone who did not understand reason.
In the end, Yashamaru returned to his own home in disappointment, bought a large pile of alcohol, and got himself drunk.
But at this time, although Yashamaru was somewhat dissatisfied with Rasa, it was not too terrible.
What caused the relationship between the two to worsen was what happened afterward.
Due to his own considerations, Rasa did not personally raise Gaara, but had Yashamaru raise him.
At that time, Yashamaru thought in his heart, he is at least his own son, so Gaara should not receive the same abuse as the previous Jinchuriki.
But facts proved that this was not impossible.
Perhaps because he was his own child, Rasa had very high expectations of Gaara. He hoped Gaara could become a perfect Jinchuriki, the strongest Jinchuriki who could perfectly control the Tailed Beast without going berserk.
But not long after, Gaara went berserk. After Rasa suppressed him, he was very disappointed in Gaara, and only then did the current various extreme targeting come about.
In Rasa’s view, all of this was a trial for Gaara. If Gaara passed, then Gaara could still become a perfect Jinchuriki.
If Gaara failed and died midway or something, then that would mean Gaara was a failed product.
Yashamaru had protested to Rasa more than once, protesting that he made all of Sunagakure isolate Gaara, protesting that Gaara had to suffer inhuman treatment at such a young age.
But Rasa did not accept Yashamaru’s protests and gradually felt annoyed.
He felt that this younger brother-in-law of his was already no longer the good helper from before. When thinking about matters, he actually did not take the village’s greatest benefit as the priority.
Yashamaru felt Rasa was heartless, and Rasa felt Yashamaru did not understand the big picture. The relationship between the two became worse and worse.
Of course, because of Yashamaru’s own personality, he would not bring his private temper into work, and Rasa was also a pragmatist.
So although the relationship between the two worsened, Yashamaru’s position and status did not change. Perhaps in the eyes of others, their relationship had never changed.
Although Yashamaru still obeyed Rasa’s orders at work, wanting Yashamaru to actively talk to Rasa and greet him as before was impossible.
When Rasa had just been injured, Yashamaru symbolically came once, said some polite words on the surface, and left.
Rasa also knew in his heart that he no longer had much goodwill on Yashamaru’s side, which was why he was surprised that Yashamaru came to find him.
"Lord Kazekage." Yashamaru called out with surface respect, but in reality, distance.
"Yashamaru, is something the matter?" Rasa directly looked at Yashamaru and asked indifferently.
He did not think he had done anything wrong. Everything he did was for Sunagakure.
"Lord Kazekage, may I ask whether Assistant Nagasawa has arrived in our Sunagakure Village?" Yashamaru did not first ask about Gaara’s matter, but first asked about Nagasawa’s matter.
After all, if even the matter of Nagasawa was false, then the authenticity of the information he had said would greatly decrease.
Rasa’s face showed a surprised expression. How did Yashamaru know Nagasawa had come? On Sunagakure’s side, only he, Maki, and Granny Chiyo should know.
Maki had been in his room as a guard the whole time. Could it be...
Before Rasa could randomly guess, Yashamaru opened his mouth and explained, "Not long ago, I happened to meet Assistant Nagasawa. He told me some things, so I wanted to come and verify them."
Rasa nodded and said, "That’s right. Assistant Nagasawa is currently in Sunagakure. The one you encountered should be Assistant Nagasawa."
"Assistant Nagasawa is concealing his identity for the sake of this mission. Do not leak his identity." Rasa reminded.
Yashamaru nodded and said, "I know. Assistant Nagasawa also reminded me before he left."
"Then, the matter of Gaara going to Konoha as an exchange student, and me also having to follow along to take care of Gaara, is also true?" Yashamaru looked into Rasa’s eyes and asked.
At this time, he could already roughly confirm in his heart that Nagasawa had not deceived him.
"He even told you that? It doesn’t matter. You would know sooner or later anyway. That’s right, it is true. Two weeks later, Gaara will go to Konoha as an exchange student until he graduates from the Ninja Academy." Rasa said straightforwardly.
"Why do this?" Yashamaru could not help but ask. Was it not somewhat cruel to have a three-year-old child leave his home and go to another country?
Of course, this was also because Rasa’s methods toward Gaara had not yet reached the extreme at present. Otherwise, when Yashamaru heard that Gaara was leaving Sunagakure, he might have set off firecrackers overnight.
There was truly no one else who sent people to assassinate their own son every day.
Rasa gave Yashamaru a strange look. It seemed Nagasawa had not told Yashamaru everything either.
"Do you think this is only what I want? I was also preparing to have you properly clean out Sunagakure’s spies after this incident ends. Even the forbidden technique we secretly developed and the Jinchuriki were known by Konoha." Rasa said.
"It is not that I want to send Gaara to Konoha as an exchange student. This is Konoha’s condition for healing me."
"Although Assistant Nagasawa promised that he would not do anything to Gaara, Yashamaru, you must properly watch Gaara over there and prevent Gaara from being brainwashed by Konoha." Rasa ordered.
"Letting you follow along was a condition I obtained with great difficulty. Do not disappoint me, Yashamaru." Rasa said.
"I will..." Yashamaru felt a feeling in his heart that he could not describe. After agreeing, he fell silent.
"Do you have anything else?" Rasa asked.
"No." After Yashamaru finished speaking, he tactfully left the room.
"Yashamaru seems to be caring more and more about Gaara. I don’t know whether he can complete the mission." Looking at Yashamaru’s departing figure, Rasa frowned and said.
"No, Lord Yashamaru still knows the importance of things. Isn’t he your most trusted subordinate?" Maki beside him spoke with a respectful face.
"I naturally know that. In terms of obeying orders, Yashamaru has never disappointed me." Rasa said.
If not for this, how could he possibly continue heavily using Yashamaru when their feelings had worsened?
Yashamaru was a relatively traditional ninja. He would unconditionally obey the orders of his superior, the Kazekage Rasa, even if that mission made him uncomfortable.
After Yashamaru walked out of Sunagakure Hospital, he did not immediately return home. Instead, he went to Sunagakure Village’s bookstore and bought some books about the Land of Fire.
After returning home, Yashamaru placed the books to the side and said to Gaara:
"Gaara, you indeed have to leave Sunagakure Village for a period of time. The destination is Konoha of the Land of Fire."
"Konoha of the Land of Fire..." Gaara silently murmured. His already adorable little face revealed a confused expression.
"In this world, there are many, many ninja villages, but among these many ninja villages, five ninja villages are the strongest. They are called the Five Great Ninja Villages."
Yashamaru smiled and rubbed Gaara’s red hair, beginning to explain Konoha to Gaara.
"Our Sunagakure Village is also one of the Five Great Ninja Villages, and Konoha is also one of the Five Great Ninja Villages. At the same time, Konoha is also the first ninja village, and currently the strongest ninja village."
"The strongest?" Gaara asked.
"That’s right, the strongest! Much stronger than our Sunagakure Village." Yashamaru nodded affirmatively.
"You will live in that strongest ninja village for a period of time. After you graduate from Konoha’s Ninja Academy, you can return to Sunagakure."
"Because Konoha is stronger than our village, Father is sending me there to study?" Gaara asked.
Gaara’s question made Yashamaru fall silent, and for a moment he did not know how to answer.
"I don’t know either. When Gaara grows up, go ask him yourself." Yashamaru thought for a moment and replied.
He could not bear to let Gaara know just how much that father of his did not care about him. That would make Gaara very sad.
But if he were to lie to Gaara and say this was Rasa being good to him, Yashamaru did not want to let Rasa off so cheaply either.
So Yashamaru simply did not answer and let Gaara ask himself in the future.
"The original Konoha Village was established together by the Senju clan and the Uchiha clan. The First Hokage was Senju Hashirama. His strength was extremely powerful, and he was respected as..." Yashamaru continued explaining Konoha to Gaara.
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