"Elder Ebizō, but Temari she—"
Kankuro had a troubled look on his face.
For a moment, the words "village" and "family" swung in his mind.
"Kankuro, Gaara has been captured. The village will depend on you from now on."
Ebizō stepped forward, patted Kankuro on the shoulder lightly, and whispered something in his ear.
A moment later—
Kankuro was shocked.
The village... will depend on him?
Kankuro had never felt the weight of responsibility as much as he did today.
The burden on his shoulders suddenly felt unbearably heavy.
"Elder Ebizō..."
Kankuro looked at Ebizō in front of him with a bewildered expression.
Ebizo said, "Come with me. You still have a lot to learn."
Ebizō didn't say anything more. He just turned around and walked toward the village.
Kankuro hesitated for a moment, then finally looked back at the direction where Temari had disappeared.
As if having made a firm decision, he turned his head resolutely and followed Ebizō.
Hearing the footsteps behind him, Ebizō sighed inwardly.
In reality—
In terms of character, he appreciated Temari more.
Someone with Kankuro's personality?
Even if he became the Kazekage, he wouldn't accomplish much.
At best, he could maintain Sunagakure's current status but even that seemed uncertain.
'I just hope the next generation is good enough.' Ebizō thought to himself.
But—
At his age, he doubted he would live long enough to see it.
Meanwhile, Menma, who had captured Shukaku, quickly put away his Susanoo.
Then, he crushed Shukaku, forcing him to return to Gaara's body.
Of course, this process would be extremely painful.
But Shukaku didn't dare to refuse.
He was terrified.
The Uchiha before him was even scarier than Madara.
Shukaku just wanted to be transferred to this Uchiha's junior as soon as possible.
At that time, maybe he could have a better life.
Poor Shukaku had no idea what was actually coming.
"Ah! By the way, Menma-senpai, are you sure you don't want to deal with the little tail following behind us?"
Tobi, who had been silent before, suddenly spoke.
Menma said, "No need. If she wants to follow, let her. She's just an ant."
But in reality—
'That's the girl the main body likes. What can I do? Beat her up? The main body would definitely scold me. If she wants to follow, let her. When the time comes, and we extract the One Tail from Gaara, she can take his body away.'
Of course, Tobi had no idea about what Menma was really thinking.
He couldn't read minds.
However, he agreed with Menma's indifference.
That little girl was just a Jōnin from Sunagakure.
Any one of them could crush her effortlessly.
So, if she wanted to follow, she could follow.
Tobi was just puzzled as to why Menma wouldn't deal with her outright.
Soon—
Menma and Tobi found a cave in the Land of Wind and threw the unconscious Gaara to the ground.
Menma said, "Seal the entrance. I'll contact Pain."
Tobi nodded and turned around to seal the cave entrance.
Ten minutes later—
When Temari arrived, exhausted, she found a cave with the entrance completely sealed.
Moreover, a sealing technique blocked the entrance—one she couldn't break alone.
"Damn it!"
Temari viciously pulled out her fan and smashed it against the rock, but it didn't budge.
"Didn't Kankuro follow?"
She looked back but didn't see her younger brother anywhere.
Temari sighed.
She knew Kankuro had always feared Gaara.
But she also knew he still saw Gaara as his brother. He was just too afraid to act.
Now that Kankuro hadn't followed, Temari guessed that Ebizō and the others had stopped him.
But—
If Kankuro had really wanted to follow Gaara, no one could've stopped him.
Just like when she had given chase earlier.
Ebizō and the others had tried to stop her, yet she had still come.
If Kankuro hadn't come, it meant that he had been persuaded.
Temari didn't blame him. She knew that his choice was the rational one.
But as Gaara's sister, she couldn't just sit back and do nothing.
Even if she knew she was being impulsive and reckless, she still did it.
Because Gaara was her real brother.
Inside the cave
Menma contacted Pain and the rest.
Then, the other members of the Akatsuki appeared via the holographic projection.
The process of sealing Shukaku began.
In reality, with Menma's power, he could have instantly pulled out Shukaku and sealed him in the Gedo Statue.
But he didn't.
Instead, he participated in the slow, meticulous process of extracting Shukaku's chakra.
Meanwhile—
Shukaku, finally realizing what was happening, cursed endlessly from inside Gaara's body.
He spat out every foul word imaginable.
But no matter how much he cursed, it was useless.
No one outside could hear him.
And no one was going to stop the sealing just because of his complaints.
...
Konoha
Senju Clan Compound
"All in! I win!"
At the mahjong table, Ryosuke spread out his tiles and grinned at the three people in front of him.
Seated around the table were Ryosuke, Tsunade, Yugao, and Kurenai, playing mahjong together.
On the side, Anko, who had just eaten and drunk her fill, was snoring peacefully.
She had somehow managed to sleep soundly, without being disturbed by the noisy game.
"No, no, no!"
Tsunade pushed the cards in front of her and said with a dejected look.
She had lost all day today.
From morning to afternoon.
It was ridiculous that she hadn't won even once.
This made Tsunade afraid she wouldn't want to play mahjong again for a short while.
But this "short while" was only two to three days.
That was actually a long time for Tsunade.
After all—
Last time she said she'd never play mahjong again, but the very next day, she laughed and came to play with Ryosuke again.
It could only be said that anything Tsunade said was always tied to one word—betting.
And that made it completely unreliable.
"Not playing anymore? All right, I have won enough today anyway."
Ryosuke opened the small drawer in front of him, which was already filled with chips of all sizes.
These piles of chips added up to more than tens of millions of ryos.
"Hmph~! You just got lucky today. Next time, I'll definitely beat you." Tsunade said with an unconvinced face.
Hearing this, Ryosuke only smiled. He didn't take her words seriously.
After all, she had said the same thing more than once or twice.
She lost every time, and every time she said she'd win next time—only to repeat the same mistakes.
"Are you not playing? I feel like my luck has changed." Yugao said with a regretful expression.
She opened her drawer, counted her chips, and then laughed.
"I even won a little bit."
Hearing this, Tsunade's face suddenly turned troubled.
She looked expectantly at Kurenai on the other side—hoping that Kurenai had lost, just like her.
But contrary to her wishes, there were even more chips in Kurenai's drawer than in Yugao's.
She didn't look like a loser at all!
Tsunade said, "Three winners, one loser!"
"I suspect you three are cheating!"
Ryosuke said with a chuckle, "Alright, alright. You're a grown woman. Stop acting like you can't take a loss."
Tsunade: "!!!"
What did he just say?!
"Ryosuke! I'm your older sister!"
Tsunade glared at him angrily.
Ryosuke replied indifferently, "So what if you're my sister? I'm still your younger brother."
Tsunade's imposing aura immediately collapsed.
In the next second, she smiled and leaned on Ryosuke, placing her hands on his shoulders.
"Ryosuke~ You have so much money. How about lending some to your dear sister?"
Tsunade suddenly realized that she had lost all her money again.
Just two days ago, she had received her rent payment.
Yes, you heard that right!
Tsunade was now Konoha's biggest landlord.
After all, the Senju clan's land had been returned, and in the entire Senju clan, she was the only member left.
It wasn't like she could live in all those houses, right?
So—
Except for the core area, she had rented out everything else.
Because of that, she received tens of millions of ryos in rent every month.
Over a year, it added up to more than 100 million ryos.
If she spent normally, no matter how much she ate, drank, or splurged on luxury goods, she still wouldn't be able to finish it all.
But Tsunade loved gambling and her luck was notoriously awful.
And now—
Looking at the huge pile of chips in Ryosuke's drawer, it was clear that aside from his own bets, the rest had been won from Tsunade.
It could be said that 80% of the rent Tsunade had collected last month was now in Ryosuke's hands.
"You want to borrow money?"
Ryosuke flicked out two chips and handed them to Tsunade.
"Hey! Don't be so stingy!"
Tsunade saw the two 10,000-ryo chips in her hand and immediately smacked Ryosuke's shoulder angrily.
"What can I even do with just 20,000 ryos?!" Tsunade said, frustrated.
"Eat."
Ryosuke answered matter-of-factly.
"What, do you want to gamble again? And lose to others?"
Hearing this, Tsunade suddenly looked like she had been wronged.
Even though she was so old, she still looked like a child.
The only actual "child" here was Ryosuke.
And yet, the oldest one, Tsunade, had the most childish personality.
Oh, right!
The one still sleeping over there was just as bad.
"Ryosuke~!"
"Just lend me some more~!"
Tsunade grabbed Ryosuke's arm and shook it vigorously.
Ryosuke couldn't take it anymore and said, "Fine, fine! Take it all!"
He handed Tsunade all the chips in his drawer and reminded, "But you better write an IOU."
Tsunade said, "No problem!"
After receiving the money, Tsunade's expression instantly changed.
She laughed happily, and hugged the chips in her arms.
Then, she skillfully took out a paper and pen to write an IOU for Ryosuke.
"Play slowly, I'm heading out for now."
Tsunade waved her hand and used the Body Flicker Technique to disappear.
Ryosuke shook his head speechlessly.
He didn't even have to guess where she was going.
Yugao asked, "Ryosuke, which IOU is this?"
Yugao leaned over curiously to take a look.
"Who knows? Maybe the twentieth or thirtieth? Anyway, there's a lot."
Ryosuke said as he put it away.
But he wasn't worried that Tsunade wouldn't repay him because Konoha's casino was actually his.
But Tsunade didn't know it.
So, Tsunade borrows money from him, then loses it, and the money just circles back into his hands.
Kurenai said, "Tsunade-sama is so pitiful—having a younger brother like you."
Kurenai covered her mouth and laughed.
Hearing this, Ryosuke pulled her into his arms angrily and gave her a light smack.
Ryosuke said, "What do you mean 'pitiful'? I'm helping her fix her gambling addiction."
With flushed cheeks, Kurenai gave him an annoyed look.
"Alright, let's go eat."
Ryosuke waved his hand to call the two over.
Then, he went to pick up Anko—who was still asleep.
"Are you guys about to go eat?"
Anko groggily woke up and asked.
Kurenai replied, "Yes, Anko, you can really sleep."
Kurenai laughed as she walked beside her.
Anko giggled, then struggled a little.
She said, "Ryosuke, put me down! I can walk by myself!"
Ryosuke answered, "No, I'm afraid you'll fall asleep on the way."
Anko refuted, "I'm not a pig! How could I fall asleep on the way?"
Ryosuke joked, "Hehe~ Pigs can sleep anywhere."
Anko shouted, "Ahhh!!! If you keep this up, I'll bite you!"