My Techniques are a bit off

"Sha~"

The Absolute Defense, a shield of sand that symbolized Gaara's isolation, slowly unraveled.

Sand fell away, scattering into the air.

Link, whose hand was already on Gaara's shoulder, felt no resistance—the sand had avoided him from the start.

Temari staggered slightly but quickly regained her balance, keeping her hand on her little brother's arm.

Kankuro, however, had been standing at the edge, hesitantly touching the sand shield out of lingering fear.

So the moment the sand dispersed, he stumbled forward—directly hugging his terrifying little brother.

[I… I'm not going to die for this, right? Gaara won't kill me… right?]

Dark thoughts flashed through Kankuro's mind.

But at this point… it would feel even weirder to let go.

"Krrk—"

The soft sound of cracking came from Gaara's "Sand Armor".

Even though the sound was faint, all three of them heard it clearly.

"Sha~"

As more sand fell away, Gaara lowered his head.

For the first time in a very, very long time, his actual body was exposed to the sunlight.

Right now, he was at his most vulnerable.

He had lost Shukaku.

His Absolute Defense was gone.

Even the automatic sand shield no longer protected him.

At this moment—

If someone gripped his throat and applied just a bit of force, they could easily assassinate him.

"…"

Kankuro had been wondering whether to let go—

But when he saw Gaara's defenses completely collapse, he froze.

A moment later, his anxious face softened into something gentle.

And then, for the first time ever—

He tightened his embrace.

[Nice work, Kankuro.]

Temari smiled, relieved that this idiot didn't mess things up.

Due to the height difference [Gaara: 146cm, Kankuro: 165cm], Gaara completely disappeared into Kankuro's chest.

They couldn't see his face—

But after a brief tremor, he slowly raised his arms…

And wrapped them around his older brother.

[This… feels right.]

Link thought to himself, stepping back as he formed a hand seal.

Summoning Jutsu—

COME OUT, KARURA!

POOF!

A fat man in underwear appeared in a panic, looking utterly confused—

And before he could say anything, he was instantly sent back.

...Okay. That was not the right person.

Link paused, glancing at the floating sand behind the siblings.

He reached out to touch it—

But the sand nimbly dodged him, retreating into the gourd.

[Karura's chakra is still inside Gaara's sand? Protecting her child even now? …Did her soul stay behind?]

In the Naruto world, chakra can transcend both life and death.

If a ninja chooses not to enter the afterlife, they can remain behind.

Examples:

Rin never left Obito and watched over him.

Sakumo [Konoha's White Fang] waited on the border between life and death, hoping to see his son again.

Link's Summoning Jutsu can directly connect to the Pure Land.

But… what if a soul isn't even in the Pure Land?

A very interesting problem.

But at the moment… he couldn't find Karura.

And even Yashamaru wasn't appearing.

Instead… he got a random fat civilian.

Yeah. That's a little disappointing.

Link shook his head, turning to leave and give the siblings time to talk.

"Sensei."

Temari called out, smiling.

"You're not thinking of leaving just like that, are you?"

Kankuro, who had released Gaara, scratched his head awkwardly.

"At least let us thank you properly, Link-sensei."

For the first time, the title "sensei" carried genuine sincerity.

Link turned away with a small wave.

"See you in the afternoon."

And with that—

He vanished.

Link had invested in them because they were valuable.

He had pushed them toward normalcy to earn their gratitude and make them more useful.

This wasn't some feel-good story of selfless kindness.

Whether it was:

Iris,

Ami,

Sasuke,

Or the Suna Siblings,

His approach was the same.

He was the "omniscient manipulator"—

Guiding their lives while never letting them into his own.

[Shame Naruto didn't deviate from his original path.]

Link sighed.

If things had turned out differently,

The Nine-Tails Jinchuriki would've made an amazing human shield.

Leaving the training ground, Link headed straight for the hospital.

Today was Lee's final treatment.

Might as well go early and finally put him out of his misery.

[…Wait, why does that sound weird?]

Upon arrival, Lee was obediently lying in bed.

It seemed he had actually listened to medical advice for once.

One Delicate Illness Extraction Jutsu.

Paired with basic chakra healing techniques, the treatment was done within minutes.

"THANK YOU!"

The brand-new Rock Lee immediately did a backflip off the bed.

"DOCTOR, CAN I LEAVE NOW?!"

"Almost. But I recommend staying for a final check-up—"

Before Link could even finish his sentence,

Lee had already sprinted out the door.

Right now, forget normal combat—

He could probably open the Eight Gates on the spot.

This was a total restoration.

Lee had always been covered in injuries from training, wrapped in bandages like a mummy—

But now, his entire body was fully healed.

With all internal and external damage removed,

His training speed would skyrocket.

A guy who:

Trains insanely hard

Fights recklessly

Has the Eight Gates

Paired with Delicate Illness Extraction Jutsu…

Yeah. That's kind of broken.

[Damn. I kind of want to train one of these guys myself.]

Link mused, watching Lee excitedly return with his discharge papers.

"YES! I CAN FINALLY TRAIN AGAIN!!"

Tearing off his hospital gown,

Lee revealed his green spandex jumpsuit.

Link stared.

And instantly erased his previous thought.

[…Yeah. No. If I train one, it has to be a version that doesn't wear green spandex.]

…

Meanwhile – Sunagakure.

"…That's everything."

Sitting inside a veil-covered room, the Fourth Kazekage finished reading Konoha's report.

"Sister?!"

Ebizō turned to his older sister, gently shaking her.

Chiyo remained silent for a few moments.

Then, suddenly—

"Hah! Got you!"

She opened her eyes with a grin.

The Fourth Kazekage sighed.

"We need to take action."

"I'll go to Konoha."

Chiyo stood up.

Her voice was calm, but her gaze was heavy.

"My dear grandson… has gone too far."

"I'll go with you, sister."

Ebizō followed.

"The village's safety is in your hands, Kazekage."

"Understood."

Rasa nodded.

He turned to his elite jonin.

"Yūra. Escort them to Konoha."

"Yes, sir."

As Chiyo walked toward the exit, she sighed:

"The village gets weaker every year."

"If it were the old days… we'd never have fallen this far."

"Even Baki…"

Ebizō muttered:

"Sister… maybe it's because our generation didn't do enough."

~~~

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