"Boom!"
The sand exploded outward.
Chen Xing brushed it aside with a wave of his hand, then seized Gaara and vanished into the forest.
He dropped Gaara lightly onto the ground and said calmly,
"Now, can we talk?"
Gaara stared at him coldly, killing intent undisguised.
"If you want to kill me, then do it."
Chen Xing shook his head.
"If I wanted you dead, you wouldn't still be standing. Even the power of Shukaku isn't enough to stop me."
Gaara fell silent. He knew this was true. Even when Shukaku's chakra surged, this man had suppressed it with ease.
Lowering his head, Gaara asked hoarsely,
"What do you want?"
Chen Xing leaned against a tree.
"First, let me tell you something. The man on the platform isn't the Fourth Kazekage."
Gaara's eyes widened.
"He's already dead," Chen Xing continued. "Killed by Orochimaru, who infiltrated Sunagakure and took his place."
Gaara froze—then suddenly laughed.
"Haha… so he's dead? And I didn't even kill him myself…"
But beneath the laughter, his eyes trembled.
---
Not long after, Gaara calmed down.
"You… seem to know a lot about me," he said, staring sharply.
Chen Xing replied,
"Every village has its intelligence network. Yours isn't an exception."
Then he spoke the truth Gaara had been told since childhood.
About how he had been treated as a weapon.
About how even his uncle had tried to kill him.
Gaara clenched his fists.
"That's a lie! He told me my mother hated me—that I took her life!"
Chen Xing shook his head.
"If your mother truly hated you, why would her chakra protect you even after death?"
The sand at Gaara's feet stirred slightly.
"That sand… carries her will," Chen Xing said softly. "Karura never stopped protecting you."
Gaara stood frozen.
---
Chen Xing changed the subject slightly.
"Do you know Naruto Uzumaki?"
Gaara frowned.
"The loud idiot from Konoha?"
Chen Xing smirked.
"He's just like you. A jinchūriki. But unlike you… he found something worth protecting."
---
Afterward, Chen Xing adjusted the seal on Gaara's body, stabilizing Shukaku's chakra.
For the first time, Gaara felt something unfamiliar—quiet.
Then Chen Xing suddenly looked toward the forest.
"They're here," he said.
Gaara immediately understood.
His siblings.
---
Moments later, two figures rushed in—Temari and Kankuro.
"Gaara!" Temari shouted.
Before they could react—
"Boom!"
Chen Xing struck Gaara, sending him crashing into a tree. The sand tried to defend him, but Chen Xing's speed overwhelmed it.
Gaara coughed, blood spilling from his mouth.
"Stop!" Temari yelled, pulling out her fan.
Chen Xing stepped on Gaara, looking down coldly.
"I'm just helping you eliminate a threat."
Kankuro's expression darkened, but he hesitated.
"You call him a failure… but isn't he your brother?" Chen Xing said.
Temari clenched her teeth.
"Let him go!"
Chen Xing's voice turned colder.
"A brother? The same one who was ordered to be killed by his own father? The same one feared by everyone in the village?"
Neither Temari nor Kankuro could respond.
Because it was true.
"But even so…" Temari stepped forward, her voice trembling,
"he's still our brother!"
Chen Xing's gaze sharpened.
Suddenly—
A terrifying killing intent burst from him, flooding the forest.
It felt like stepping into hell itself.
Temari and Kankuro froze, their bodies trembling uncontrollably as they stared at Chen Xing—like prey before a predator.
---