After a whole day and a night, the sealing ceremony in the cave was finally over.
After being busy for so long, everyone in the Akatsuki finally relaxed.
"The girl is still outside, do you want to get rid of her?" Tobi suddenly spoke.
"What girl?" Hidan asked carelessly.
Tobi explained, "A woman from Sunagakure has been following us since Sunagakure. She's still standing guard outside."
Kisame said with a grin, "How about I handle it? I've been stuck here for too long, and I need to stretch a bit."
Immediately, he glanced at Menma, whose expression remained indifferent, taking his silence as approval.
Kisame then split a portion of his chakra, forming a clone inside the cave.
"Tobi, open the seal."
Kisame's clone ordered.
"Okay!"
Tobi ran over, swaying left and right.
Moments later—
Bang!
The massive boulder blocking the cave entrance was blasted away.
Temari, who had been waiting outside, was startled.
Fortunately, she was far enough away to avoid being hit by the flying debris.
"Gaara!"
Seeing the opening, Temari immediately rushed inside.
But at that moment—
Whoosh!
A sudden attack came her way.
Temari twisted her body to avoid it, while simultaneously flinging a shuriken at her attacker.
"Heh, child's play."
Kisame sneered, forming hand seals.
"Water release: Exploding Water Colliding Wave!"
Boom!!!
Even in a dry environment, Kisame conjured a raging torrent of water.
As expected of Kisame, the tailless beast—his strength was terrifying.
Temari found herself engaged in a battle of ninjutsu.
But even though she was only fighting a clone, she was rapidly being overwhelmed.
It was clear that she wouldn't hold out much longer.
"Haha! Kisame-san, you're really good at bullying little girls."
Tobi teased, jumping excitedly.
Hearing this, Kisame's clone shot Tobi a sharp glare.
Tobi quickly covered his mouth, looking as though he had said something he shouldn't have.
"Wind release: Violent Whirlwind!"
A fierce gust swept through the battlefield.
Sand and debris flew everywhere.
This was one of Temari's signature wind release ninjutsu.
Though only B-rank, every grain of airborne sand became like a bullet, chipping away at the rock walls.
Facing this, Kisame submerged into the water he had just created.
The flood surrounding them was all due to his earlier Water release.
As soon as the storm subsided—
Kisame unleashed another ninjutsu, summoning some ravenous sharks that surged towards Temari.
Temari dodged frantically, narrowly avoiding their bites multiple times.
Even so, one shark managed to graze her arm, drawing blood.
Temari looked battered and exhausted.
At the cave entrance—
Menma and Tobi stood in place, silently observing.
Tobi smirked and said, "Haha! Looks like Kisame-san has this wrapped up."
Menma indifferently said, "If he struggles against a mere Suna ninja, then he might as well step down from being an official Akatsuki member."
Hearing this, Tobi smirked and asked, "In that case, does that mean I can be promoted?"
Menma shot him a cold glance.
Menma replied, "If anyone gets promoted, it'll be Sasuke before you."
"What?! But I was here first!"
Tobi squatted down, sulking as he traced circles on the ground with a stick.
Menma ignored his antics.
He simply observed the battle, thinking it should be over soon.
'Why is the real body taking so long?' Menma thought impatiently.
Just then—
Whoosh!
A red portal suddenly opened midair.
Ryosuke stepped through, casually holding a cup of hot tea.
"It looks lively."
Ryosuke took a sip and smirked.
"Mind if I join?"
Then, he glanced at Kisame's clone.
In an instant, the space around it distorted.
Boom!
Kisame's clone exploded into nothingness.
Whoosh!
Ryosuke landed on the ground.
His gaze shifted to Temari and he calmly asked, "Are you alright?"
Temari bit her lip and shook her head.
Her eyes were red. Seeing Ryosuke made a wave of grievance rise in her chest.
At this moment—
A soft green glow enveloped Ryosuke's hand as he gently passed it over her injured arm.
Instantly, the wound sealed, scabbed, and flaked off, revealing Temari's unblemished skin.
"...Thanks."
Temari whispered.
Ryosuke nodded before turning toward Menma and Tobi.
Ryosuke sighed and said, "It's you again. Why do I always run into you two?"
At the cave entrance—
Tobi glanced at Ryosuke, then at Menma.
"Menma-senpai, that's Konoha's Ryosuke. This could get complicated."
Though outwardly playful, Obito behind the mask, was analyzing the red portal Ryosuke had emerged from.
It was obviously a space-time technique.
But—
'I've never seen this kind of teleportation before.'
Obito thought, perplexed.
Meanwhile—
Menma narrowed his eyes before suddenly chuckling.
He said, "Haha! This is just a misunderstanding. I have no interest in fighting Konoha."
He turned to Tobi and said, "Tobi, let's go."
"Huh?! Oh, oh!"
Tobi was stunned for a moment.
Then, he nodded after realizing it and quickly followed.
Seeing Menma and Tobi leave, Ryosuke didn't make a move to stop them.
"Gaara!"
Temari saw that the people blocking the way had all left.
So, she immediately shouted and ran towards the cave.
At this time, Ryosuke also followed and soon saw Gaara lying on the ground in the cave, motionless.
"Gaara!!"
Temari knelt beside Gaara's body, looking devastated.
At this moment, a hand lightly pressed on her shoulder.
Temari looked up and saw that Ryosuke was looking at her.
"He is dead." Ryosuke said lightly.
Temari, of course, knew that Gaara was dead. But she was not reconciled.
It had been so hard for her to catch up here, and to get her brother back.
But what she saw was his lifeless body.
"Ryosuke, you must have a way to save Gaara, right?!"
Temari had nothing else to count on now. She could only look at Ryosuke with pleading eyes.
Ryosuke said, "I don't have the ability to bring the dead back to life."
Of course, this was false. In reality, with just the Rinne Tensei Technique, Gaara could be easily revived.
But why would Ryosuke do that?
Hearing this, the light in Temari's eyes dimmed instantly.
But right then!
Ryosuke said, "But I heard that you Sunagakure have a technique called One's Own Life Reincarnation, which can exchange one life for another and revive the newly dead."
Swish!
Temari stood up abruptly and looked at Ryosuke.
"Are you serious? We Sunagakure have such ninjutsu?"
Temari asked with an excited look on her face.
Ryosuke nodded and said, "But this technique was created by Chiyo. I'm not sure if others know about it."
After all, Chiyo had already been killed by him.
"Grandma Chiyo..."
Temari pondered for a moment after hearing this, then said, "I know! Although Grandma Chiyo is no longer here, her younger brother, Elder Ebizō, is still alive. He must know about One's Own Life Reincarnation Technique."
"I'll take you back to Sunagakure." Ryosuke said.
Hearing this, Temari nodded and said, "Sorry to bother you."
"It's just a small matter."
Ryosuke said and snapped his fingers.
In an instant, a red portal appeared on the ground beneath their feet.
The three passed through the portal in an instant.
And on the other side of the portal was Sunagakure.
After a day and night of tension, Sunagakure was still immersed in a somber atmosphere.
At this moment, Ryosuke appeared with Temari and Gaara's body.
All of a sudden, many people turned to look at them.
"It's Temari, she's back!"
"Wait! Who's that next to Temari?!"
"God of Shinigami?!"
Seeing Temari return, many people smiled in relief.
But the moment they saw Ryosuke beside her, their smiles were instantly replaced by fear.
Ryosuke didn't care about their fear. He just looked at Temari beside him.
She nodded knowingly and immediately went to look for Ebizō.
Ryosuke, who stayed behind, walked to a nearby drink shop.
He sat down, and beckoned to the shop owner.
"Lord Ryosuke, what are your orders?"
The shop owner looked terrified.
"Give me a glass of juice." Ryosuke said.
Hearing this, the shop owner secretly heaved a sigh of relief.
This God of Shinigami didn't seem to want to kill people—he just wanted a drink.
The shop owner quickly responded and turned to squeeze the juice. Soon, a glass of freshly squeezed juice was served.
"Lord Ryosuke, your juice!"
The shop owner handed it over respectfully with both hands.
"How much?" Ryosuke asked.
"No, no, no! I can invite you to drink a glass of juice from my small shop. Just your presence already makes my shop flourish."
How could the shop owner dare to take money from Ryosuke?
"Don't be afraid, I'm not some monster that eats people." Ryosuke said as he handed over 100 ryo.
"I don't have the habit of not paying for food, so keep it."
Hearing this, the shop owner could only accept the 100 ryo.
He thought to himself, 'The legendary God of Shinigami isn't as scary as people say.'
Look! He even pays for his juice.
A few minutes later
Ryosuke had already drunk half a glass of juice.
At this moment, Temari ran back with a group of Suna ninjas.
Leading them was an old man, who was already quite aged.
Needless to say, this person was Chiyo's younger brother, Ebizō.
"Elder Ebizō, Gaara is here!"
Temari arrived with Ebizō and the others.
At this moment, Ebizō and the others saw Ryosuke sitting at the drink shop's entrance, and were surprised.
"Lord Ryosuke!"
They hurried over and greeted Ryosuke respectfully. They dared not show any disrespect.
Ryosuke waved his hand, looking too lazy to talk to them.
"Elder Ebizō, please check on Gaara first." Temari shouted anxiously.
Ebizō looked unhurried, which made Temari even more anxious.
Hearing this, Ebizō and the others surrounded Gaara.
"He's dead. Can he really be saved?"
An Elite Jōnin checked and confirmed that Gaara was utterly dead, with no chance of survival.
"Let me do it."
Ebizō moved the others aside and crouched down to check on Gaara himself.
"He's dead, but fortunately, the time of his death was not too long ago. He can still be saved." Ebizō said after examining Gaara.
"Really?!"
When Temari heard the news, her eyes lit up.
"Yes, now step aside. I'll use the Reincarnation Technique."
Ebizō had learned this Forbidden Technique from his sister.
He knew that once he uses this Reincarnation Technique, he wouldn't survive.
But he is already very old. Even if he lives on, he doesn't have many years left.
Instead of waiting for death, sacrificing his life to bring back an outstanding young ninja like Gaara is the best choice for Sunagakure.