Naruto: From Ninja Academy to an Early Grave

Who else could it be? Naturally, it was the talented individuals within the Akatsuki.

Obito and that special White Zetsu called Tobi could both use Wood Release, though neither possessed particularly powerful Wood Release abilities.

With Orochimaru around, however, that wasn't a problem. He could either enhance their Wood Release or use Impure World Reincarnation to drag out dead shinobi who could use Wood Release and put them to work.

The only question was which method he had chosen.

Orochimaru and Makoto had always maintained nothing more than a business relationship. He wasn't Makoto's subordinate, and he had plenty of ideas of his own. Given his personality, there was no way he'd ever willingly become anyone's underling.

Now it seemed that this snake also found the ninja world too quiet and too boring. He wanted to stir up a gale and thoroughly churn the stagnant waters.

Makoto spoke directly.

"I can guarantee that Konohagakure had no involvement in this matter. As far as I'm concerned, Tailed Beasts aren't much different from pets. What would be the point of stealing them?"

"However, besides us, there are others in the ninja world who can use Wood Release. You two should remember the Nine-Tails Incident that struck Konoha sixteen years ago."

"The mysterious masked man who orchestrated everything that night could use Wood Release, and he belonged to an organization called Akatsuki. I assume you've heard of them."

Neither man doubted Makoto's bold claim. A few years ago, Rasa had personally witnessed someone treating Shukaku like a housecat and casually petting it.

Rasa nodded.

"Akatsuki, huh? I've heard of them. They've been an extremely active mercenary ninja organization in recent years. I always heard they were powerful, but I never imagined such a dangerous mastermind was hiding among them."

Ebizō suddenly spoke up.

"Sasori... he's part of that organization too, isn't he?"

"That's right," Makoto replied. "Deidara is as well. Their members are all S-rank missing-nin from various nations. Even Konoha's Orochimaru and Kirigakure's Hoshigaki Kisame are among their ranks."

Rasa's expression changed.

This was no longer a matter of being powerful. If all of them mobilized at once, they could cripple Sunagakure—or even wipe the village out entirely.

"So many dangerous people gathered in one place? What exactly is Akatsuki after?"

"We're still investigating that ourselves," Makoto answered. "But judging from the current evidence, one of their objectives is very likely the Tailed Beasts of the various villages."

Ebizō stroked his chin.

"There has long been intelligence suggesting that Tsuchikage Ōnoki maintains frequent contact with that organization and has entrusted them with many missions."

"And Deidara, his disciple, is also a member. I've never heard that Deidara committed any unforgivable crime in Iwagakure."

"Tell me, do you think it's possible that Akatsuki is actually being controlled from behind the scenes by that old fox Ōnoki?"

"Very possible," Rasa immediately agreed.

The moment he thought about that scheming old bastard Ōnoki, everything suddenly seemed to make perfect sense.

Makoto: "..."

If he hadn't known the full truth, he might actually have believed Ebizō's analysis.

Because, damn it, it sounded way too reasonable.

...

After an entire morning of treatment, Sakura finally used the Delicate Illness Extraction Technique to remove all the mixed toxins from the patients' bodies.

Kankurō and Temari woke up after lunch, but both were in low spirits.

Temari especially.

Part of her was worried about Gaara, while another part sat staring blankly at her severed hand.

Over the past two years, Gaara's temperament had changed tremendously. Both siblings had gradually come to care deeply for their younger brother.

Chiyo comforted her from the side.

"It's alright. I'll make a puppet hand for you. I guarantee it won't feel much different from before."

At present, the ninja world had yet to develop technology capable of regenerating lost limbs.

Konoha did possess Hashirama Cells, but putting aside whether anyone could actually obtain them, using those things was practically a death sentence.

The invasive nature of Hashirama Cells was no joke. Even Danzō had needed so many Sharingan just to keep them under control.

The best option would be White Zetsu cells, but White Zetsu had not yet appeared on a large scale.

The thought of her right hand becoming a puppet mechanism instantly filled Temari with despair.

Was she supposed to start using Puppet Technique like her brother?

But all she wanted to use was Wind Release.

When Makoto and the others arrived, they immediately sensed the oppressive atmosphere hanging over the hospital room.

Rasa patted his daughter's back.

"Being alive is what matters. It's only one hand."

Temari said nothing.

Kankurō spoke instead.

"I think they deliberately spared us. But I can't figure out why."

Chiyo sighed.

"Perhaps Sasori simply couldn't bring himself to kill you. After all, you're both children of the Fourth Kazekage."

"No, Granny Chiyo," Kankurō replied firmly. "That's impossible."

"During the battle, Sasori used a Human Puppet.

"It was the corpse of the Third Kazekage."

"In other words, when the Third Kazekage disappeared alongside him all those years ago, it wasn't because they were ambushed by another village as we'd assumed. Sasori killed the Third Kazekage himself."

In this world, Gaara wasn't the Fifth Kazekage, and he hadn't been in the village when the attack occurred. There had been no need to protect the civilians, allowing Shukaku to unleash his full power.

That was probably why Sasori had brought out his strongest single-combat weapon.

"What?!" xN

Everyone from Sunagakure was stunned.

Back then, after the Third Kazekage disappeared, they had shifted the village's internal tensions by pinning the blame on Konoha, even going so far as to ignite the Third Great Ninja War.

Yet after all this time...

It had been Sasori all along.

Looking back now, it really did make sense. Given the Third Kazekage's reputation as the strongest Kazekage in history, even an assassination by Konoha or another hidden village could never have been carried out without leaving a trace.

Only someone close to him, like Sasori, would have had the opportunity to strike from the shadows.

It really was true—you can guard against enemies day and night, but the hardest thief to stop is the one inside your own house.

Chiyo's face filled with anguish.

"So... this child has fallen that far?"

Ebizō sighed.

"I'm not surprised, Sister. Sasori changed a long time ago. Of everyone here, you should know that better than anyone."

"But I don't understand." Chiyo's voice trembled. "Why would he target the Third Kazekage? If he wanted someone to blame, shouldn't he have come after me, his own grandmother, first?"

"Were all those comrades who died in the war supposed to have sacrificed themselves for nothing?"

"And now he's even gone after Gaara... He's completely lost his way."

Rasa felt awful as well, but he forced himself to remain calm.

"Enough, Chiyo-sama. There's no point dwelling on the past. The priority now is recovering the One-Tail. The village cannot bear the consequences of losing its Tailed Beast."

Kankurō and Temari were both deeply dissatisfied with their father's words.

Just the Tailed Beast?

Gaara is your son too, Father.

Chiyo clenched her fists.

"We absolutely cannot let Sasori continue down this path. Gaara must come back alive. No matter what... he has to survive."

The Konoha shinobi hadn't expected to uncover such a shocking secret. Inwardly, every one of them felt the trip had been more than worthwhile.

Sakura, however, sympathized with Temari.

Over the past few years, thanks to the Joint Chūnin Exams, the younger generation from the Five Great Shinobi Villages had enjoyed many opportunities to interact.

Unlike their predecessors, they weren't consumed by hatred born from war.

On the contrary, most of them got along surprisingly well.

"Makoto-sensei... if it isn't too much trouble, could you..."

"Of course." Makoto smiled. "It would be such a shame for a beautiful young lady to lose a hand. Consider it a gift from your senpai."

As he spoke, Makoto removed the bandages wrapped around Temari's right wrist stump.

Looking at the cleanly severed wound, he gently placed his hand around her forearm.

Temari blinked in confusion.

She had no idea what this legendary figure was about to do.

But she soon felt Makoto's chakra flowing into her arm. A strange tingling sensation spread through the wound, followed by something she could actually see.

The missing flesh began regenerating at an astonishing speed.

This...

This had already gone far beyond the realm of medical ninjutsu.

It was nothing short of a miracle.

Moments later, Temari's right hand had completely regrown.

It looked exactly as it had before, aside from a slight difference in skin tone compared to the rest of her arm.

But no one cared about such a trivial detail.

Temari stared at her restored hand in disbelief, flexing her fingers again and again as tears streamed down her face.

"My hand... It's really my hand... It actually came back."

She didn't even notice that the weakness throughout her body had vanished.

At that moment, her entire world consisted only of her beloved right hand.

Makoto smiled.

"It has grown back, but don't make any large movements for now. Give it a few days for the Chakra Pathways to fully stabilize, and it'll be perfectly fine."

"Yes, thank you very much, Makoto-sama."

That day, every Sunagakure shinobi present witnessed a miracle.

A hand that had already been amputated had regrown in well under a minute.

The ninja world might possess techniques capable of bringing the dead back to life, but no one had ever heard of anyone regenerating a severed limb so quickly.

The world really was a strange place.

Bringing the dead back to life was considered ninjutsu.

But what Makoto had just done, however, seemed nothing short of divine.

Only now did Rasa and the others truly understand.

Makoto's power had already reached a level they simply couldn't comprehend. Things they considered impossible, he accomplished effortlessly.

Someone like that had absolutely no need to resort to schemes just to steal their One-Tail.