Uchiha Feiyu pushed open the door and stepped into Yahiko's home.
As the Kazekage of Sunagakure, Yahiko's house was—unsurprisingly—spacious.
But at this moment, the living room wasn't occupied by Yahiko alone.
There was another woman there as well: a short-haired beauty with a gloomy, guarded expression.
Gāraura.
The instant she heard the door open, the already-restless Gāraura jolted upright and stared toward the entrance.
The moment she saw Feiyu, it was as if she'd been scalded. She snapped her gaze away, cheeks flushing red in an instant.
"Feiyu, you're back."
The voice carried warmth and genuine delight. Yahiko sat on the sofa, smiling brightly. One arm cradled a little girl—barely over a year old—while the other reached out and tugged lightly at Gāraura's sleeve.
"This is Sister Gāraura. You've met her before, right? Well? Are you satisfied?"
Feiyu hadn't even spoken yet when Gāraura's body stiffened. She suddenly wrenched her arm free.
"Kazekage-sama…" Her voice trembled. "I… I've thought about it… I can't. I really can't accept improving my strength this way…"
Yahiko's smile slowly faded.
That slight chill in her expression made Gāraura's shoulders shake.
Then Yahiko spoke softly, almost gently.
"Is that so? I see…"
"That's fine. If you're unwilling, then… in order to raise the village's high-level combat strength, we'll have no choice but to restart the jinchūriki plan."
She tilted her head, smile returning—sweet and sharp.
"Didn't Rasa once have that kind of idea too?"
The words jinchūriki plan landed like a guillotine.
Gāraura's face went paper-white. Despair spread through her eyes.
"N-no… Temari is still too young…"
"Exactly because she's young, she's suitable." Yahiko's tone didn't change. "A jinchūriki has to be cultivated from childhood. Only then can they truly adapt to tailed beast chakra as an adult."
"Temari's success rate might not be high… but she's still the best candidate available."
Gāraura's knees buckled.
She slammed down into a deep bow, forehead nearly hitting the floor.
"Please—don't! Let Temari go…!"
"I'll do it. I'll do it—anything! Whatever you want, I'll do it!"
Yahiko's smile widened.
"Heh. If you were going to be obedient, you could've just done it from the start."
Feiyu, seated nearby, took a bite of fruit and set the intelligence report back down on the table, expression thoughtful.
Off to the side, Gāraura's eyes were dazed—almost worshipful—as she held a plate of cut fruit and fed him pieces with a toothpick.
Truthfully, the one who had shown the biggest improvement wasn't Yahiko.
It was Gāraura.
As a shinobi who had only just stepped into Kage-level territory, "dual cultivation" with someone like Feiyu had pushed her chakra up by nearly fifty percent.
And because Feiyu himself possessed multiple Magnet Release bloodlines, the shared resonance made Gāraura's Magnet Release grow even more vicious.
A few days passed in the blink of an eye.
The Gāraura who'd told herself she'd just endure it and get through it… completely collapsed within a week.
She became another obedient cauldron, soft and pliant, unable to refuse Feiyu anything.
Yet even then, she didn't dare ask questions.
Because she understood something very clearly:
If Yahiko truly insisted on turning her daughter into a jinchūriki, then against the collective will of Sunagakure, she couldn't stop it—no matter what she did.
Kazekage's Office
Feiyu lounged on the sofa in the Kazekage's office, legs crossed, scanning a stack of intelligence.
Even without the "first dual cultivation bonus," Gāraura's talent still provided Feiyu with a modest gain.
Gāraura peeked at the report with curiosity.
She saw names written across it—
Land of Snow.
Lōulán.
Land of Demons.
Land of Bears.
Why were they investigating so many obscure countries?
But she didn't ask.
She simply speared another piece of fruit with the toothpick and offered it to him.
Gāraura didn't know that these places were tied to events from "other stories"—details Feiyu had been verifying through Sand's intelligence network.
And the results were… uneven.
For example, the Lōulán "dragon vein" Feiyu cared about most?
It didn't exist.
There was a place called Lōulán in the Land of Wind, but it wasn't a country—just a city, essentially a large oasis. No dragon vein. Nothing special.
The Land of Demons existed too, and there truly was a shrine maiden with unusual abilities.
But anything like "Mōryō" or supernatural calamity beasts?
Nothing of the sort.
The Land of Snow, however, did exist. Its daimyō really did bear the name Kazahana, and the Snow Ninja and their special Ice Release were real as well—close enough to those rumors that it raised Feiyu's interest.
It was simply too early to know whether the corresponding "events" would actually happen.
As for the so-called Sky Ninja Village, there was no trace of it. No flying fortress. And although the shinobi world was vast—far larger than the Five Great Nations—there was no other continent overseas either.
Whatever "Gelel Stone" nonsense existed in myths, it clearly wasn't part of this world.
Only one lead stood out cleanly—
The Star Ninja Village, in the Land of Bears.
It existed.
So did its secret treasure: a "star" said to enable the cultivation of the Peacock Method.
The Peacock Method was a truly impressive secret art.
But because training it tended to shorten lifespan dramatically, the Star Ninja Village remained obscure—small enough to survive only because no one wanted to pay the price for its power.
Sunagakure had intelligence on it too. They'd even coveted it.
But after learning the flaw, they'd chosen not to act.
Or rather—
Because of that flaw, the Star Ninja Village had managed to keep its inheritance at all.
Feiyu wasn't interested in the Peacock Method itself.
He was interested in the "star."
That object radiated a strange energy capable of altering chakra properties inside the human body. It wasn't ordinary.
If it belonged to the chakra system, it might be tied to the Ōtsutsuki or the Divine Tree.
If it didn't belong to chakra at all?
Then it was even more valuable—because it represented an entirely new form of energy.
Feiyu ate the fruit offered to him, then pulled out the Star Ninja Village report and handed it to Gāraura.
"Take a few shinobi," he said calmly. "Bring the star back for me."
Gāraura's gaze snapped into focus. She took the intelligence, read it once, then nodded without hesitation.
"No problem. A mere Star Ninja Village won't have the courage to resist."
She wasn't boasting.
Gāraura was now solidly Kage-level—no longer bottom-tier even among that class. After dual cultivation, she was already stronger than her late husband, the Fourth Kazekage.
A minor village stood no chance against her, especially with Sand backing her.
The Peacock Method's biggest headache was its ability to grant limited flight—
but Magnet Release could fly too.
Against Gāraura, even running wouldn't work.
As for Feiyu himself…
He still had one final matter to handle for Sunagakure.
He needed to "deal with" the Wind Daimyō.
The Wind Daimyō Problem
In the system of the Five Great Nations and Five Great Villages, the daimyō and the Kage were often called the twin jewels.
The daimyō controlled finance, the economy, and governance of civilians.
The village controlled war and ultimate violence.
In most countries, the village held the advantage—because violence always spoke louder.
In the Land of Fire, for example, even the daimyō's Twelve Guardian Ninja had internal disputes over where their loyalty truly belonged.
That alone proved the daimyō was already in a losing position.
Of the Five Great Nations, three daimyō were basically ceremonial mascots.
The Fire Daimyō didn't need explanation.
Ōnoki had ruled Iwagakure for years with an iron fist, leaving the Earth Daimyō with little to no control.
And the Water Daimyō had it worst of all—Kirigakure's chaos had produced plenty of missing-nin who didn't mind "killing the daimyō as a sacrifice to the heavens."
The Land of Lightning was different.
There, the Raikage and the daimyo tended to be aligned—more like partners than superior and subordinate.
Which meant only one village was truly suppressed by its daimyō:
Sunagakure.
Feiyu intended to fix that.
His first choice was simple: use genjutsu to control the daimyō.
If that failed—
Then he could always solve the problem by solving the person who created it.
The Wind Daimyō wasn't strong because of "respect" from shinobi.
Low-level ninja might feel some awe due to education and class structure, yes.
But the shinobi world inherited another cultural tradition just as strongly:
Overthrowing your superiors.
Ninja frequently rebelled even against their own Kage. A significant portion of Kage throughout history had died at the hands of their own village's shinobi.
So a daimyō without a backer?
He'd have no confidence at all.
Even a normal genin, with basic substitution and body flicker, could plausibly assassinate a daimyō.
Yet the Wind Daimyō openly slashed Sunagakure's funding again and again—and Sand didn't kill him.
There was only one explanation:
He possessed a force strong enough to make Sunagakure hesitate.
After reading Sand's intelligence, Feiyu confirmed it.
The Wind Daimyō wasn't stupid.
He cut Sand's funding because, compared to Sand, he believed he had better options.
The Land of Wind had the largest territory among the Five Great Nations.
But endless deserts and wasteland made travel difficult and power fragmented. Even after Sunagakure was founded, many small ninja outposts still existed.
In fact, the Land of Wind likely had the highest number of wandering ninja in the shinobi world.
And beyond that—
Just like the Land of Fire had the Fire Temple—chakra-using monks rather than shinobi—
The Land of Wind had its own temples, and its monks were powerful.
It was said that Shukaku itself had once been captured by these monks.
If that was true, then their strength was self-evident.
Compared to Sunagakure, the Wind Daimyō trusted these monks far more.
He poured money into them—and into hiring wandering ninja.
Those two forces were his real trump cards.
That was why he dared to stand tall and speak down to Sunagakure.
Because if the village tried to assassinate or control him through standard shinobi means, it wouldn't work.
These monks had deeper exploration into spiritual domains than most shinobi; ordinary genjutsu would be seen through instantly.
Their sealing arts were also superior to Sand's.
After all, Shukaku had been sealed by them for years without going berserk.
Unless Sunagakure openly revolted in broad daylight, assassination and covert control weren't realistic.
And if Sand truly revolted, even victory would leave them crippled.
So Sunagakure endured the Wind Daimyō's slow slicing—soft knife, cutting flesh.
This was also one reason Sand so often became the first village to ignite war.
But Feiyu was confident.
His genjutsu wasn't Sand's genjutsu.
Mangekyō-tier illusion techniques weren't something mere monks could easily read.
And besides…
He smiled slightly, eyes cold.
"It's been a while since I harvested properly."
"Perfect time to replenish my sacrificial black qi."
"The Wind Country temples have over two thousand chakra-trained monks."
"And the Wind Daimyō has hired huge numbers of wandering ninja—he even wants to train his own ninja army…"
Feiyu's gaze sharpened with anticipation.
"Looks like I'm in for a big harvest."
A daimyō-controlled ninja army was, honestly, an interesting idea.
Feiyu even respected the ambition.
But it was misguided.
Shinobi were special-operations elites. Forcing a military into a "ninja army" was inefficient and wasteful.
Still—
For Feiyu, an army full of chakra-bearing bodies…
was temptation in its purest form.
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