My Journey as Fourth Kazekage

"Father!!!"

In just an instant, Temari recognized the man who had appeared beside Shukaku's Tailed Beast Ball.

The other Sunagakure shinobi also reacted, immediately becoming excited. The fear they had just felt at the appearance of one of the Legendary Sannin, Jiraiya, vanished in an instant.

"This is great!"

"It's Kazekage-sama!"

"..."

But only Baki felt that something was very wrong at that moment.

Because he noticed that the Kazekage's state had changed again. He no longer looked like a lifeless corpse, as he had when they encountered him not long ago. Now he looked like a normal person. But strangely, Baki couldn't sense any chakra from him. And was it just his imagination, or… had Kazekage-sama become younger?

Baki had followed the Kazekage for over a decade, so he knew him better than anyone else in this world.

It was precisely because of this that he was able to sharply detect what was off about the Kazekage in front of him.

How should he put it?

The youthful appearance of Kazekage-sama before him reminded Baki of over ten years ago, when the Kazekage had just taken office. And if he wasn't mistaken, Kazekage-sama was absorbing Shukaku's chakra right now. He had never known the Kazekage possessed such an ability.

"So what the hell is going on?"

However, even though his heart was filled with questions, he couldn't show it right now.

Because if the man in front of them wasn't the real Kazekage… then where had Kazekage-sama gone?

Right now, Sunagakure couldn't afford to lose its Kage.

Rasa, however, had no intention of paying attention to the Sunagakure and Konohagakure shinobi below.

His entire focus was on Shukaku's chakra.

Since he had come to this world, as a traveler from a different timeline, he no longer needed to act cautiously. Besides, Gaara's condition was much better than Bunpuku's had been. If he didn't take this chance to extract Shukaku's chakra, when would he?

The Sunagakure and Konohagakure shinobi below, along with Jiraiya, were also confused by the situation before them.

So none of them made any sudden moves, simply staring in shock as Rasa absorbed Shukaku's chakra.

However, to form a chakra fruit…

Just the chakra from a single Tailed Beast Ball was clearly not enough.

"You bastard! You're actually stealing my chakra!"

Watching as the familiar figure absorbed his Tailed Beast Ball—Sunagakure's Fourth Kazekage—Shukaku flew into a rage. Just as he was about to resist, four stone pillars suddenly erupted from the ground around him. Countless sealing marks spread out from the pillars and completely bound Shukaku's body.

"Dragon Vein Seal!"

"Damn it!!!"

This scene left everyone around stunned.

"What kind of sealing technique is that?!"

Even someone as well-versed as Jiraiya had never heard of this seal.

Rasa had already finished absorbing the chakra from the Tailed Beast Ball and descended from the sky, landing atop the immobilized Shukaku.

Shukaku glared at Rasa above him with eyes full of hatred.

Rasa didn't immediately awaken the future son he saw in front of him. Instead, he seized the opportunity and pressed the [Kāma]on his right hand directly onto Shukaku's head.

In an instant, an even greater surge of Shukaku's chakra burst out from Gaara's seal, gathering onto Rasa's right hand.

No one knew how much time passed before a deep purple chakra fruit slowly materialized in Rasa's hand.

At that moment, everyone present was dumbfounded. Even Jiraiya stared in shock at the chakra fruit floating beside Rasa's hand, utterly stunned and unable to comprehend what was happening.

Only Black Zetsu, who had rushed over upon receiving the news, widened his pupils in disbelief when he saw the scene unfold.

"!!!"

"How is this possible… that's the power of the Ōtsutsuki clan… That's Mother's Kāma… What the hell is going on?"

Black Zetsu was completely stunned.

Wasn't Mother sealed away by those two bastards, Hagoromo and Hamura? Why was Mother's Kāma appearing on the Fourth Kazekage?

Black Zetsu couldn't make sense of it at all.

This sudden twist had scrambled even his thoughts.

Meanwhile, as the massive amount of chakra from Shukaku was absorbed by Rasa, Gaara's full transformation was completely undone. Shukaku's enormous body disintegrated into sand and vanished, leaving behind Gaara's frail body lying in Rasa's arms, slowly regaining consciousness.

The first thing Gaara saw when he opened his eyes was the blurry figure of his father, Rasa.

His gaze was filled with confusion. Was this a dream?

"Father…?"

He had just begun to speak when he heard a gentle voice—something he had never heard before.

"Get some rest. When you wake up, everything will be better."

"..."

Gaara truly was exhausted. The fatigue at that moment overwhelmed him, and he couldn't help but close his eyes again.

Looking at the child in his arms, a convenient son from this world and a character Rasa had always liked in the manga, Rasa sighed and gently descended with a cloud of Gold Dust. In many ways, Gaara was Naruto without the protagonist's aura.

"Temari, Kankurō!"

Upon hearing their father call out, Temari and Kankurō immediately ran over.

Both of them looked at Rasa with a mix of fear and unease.

Seeing this, Rasa was a little speechless. All he could think was that the original version of himself in the story truly deserved his death. To ruin a perfectly good family and treat his own child with such cruelty...

"Take good care of your little brother."

"Little brother?!"

Temari and Kankurō were both stunned. Their father had never referred to Gaara this way before. In his eyes, Gaara had always been the village's Tailed Beast weapon.

Though they didn't understand, they anxiously received Gaara from Rasa's arms.

Only then did Rasa look toward Baki, who was watching him from not far away with caution.

"Baki."

Upon hearing Rasa's voice, Baki trembled slightly. But after thinking for a moment, he quickly stepped forward and knelt down on one knee.

"Kazekage-sama."

"Are all the Sunagakure shinobi who took part in this operation present?"

"Yes!"

Baki immediately nodded in response.

"Good. Then let's go."

With that, Rasa glanced briefly at the Konoha shinobi ahead, especially at Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki, then turned to leave.

But just then, Jiraiya's voice rang out behind him.

"Oh? Kazekage of Sunagakure, are you planning to walk away just like that after your alliance with Otogakure attacked Konoha?"

Rasa paused mid-step, turned, and looked at the familiar face standing atop a giant toad.

"Oh, one of the legendary Sannin, the Toad Sage Jiraiya. Are you trying to invite me to be a guest in Konoha? What a shame~ I'm not interested. But if you want to test your strength, well… I'm quite interested."

!!!

Jiraiya was momentarily startled, then broke into a broad grin.

"Oh? You sound confident, Kazekage of Sunagakure. In that case, let me, the great Sage Jiraiya of Mount Myōboku, see how strong you really are. Kakashi, take Naruto and the others and withdraw. The next battle isn't one you can get involved in."

"Hmph."

Rasa snorted with interest.

"Baki, take all the Sunagakure shinobi and retreat ten kilometers."

"Yes!"

And so, what should have been a battle for the younger generation quickly escalated into a clash between titans.