Chapter 39

The rest of the Chunin exam was unfair for Gaara the Sand—without sand except for the wet layer on his face.

Since Gaara never struggled a day in his life physically, he couldn't move fast, and his experience in taijutsu was non-existent.

When Kuzo approached him, a few grains of sand tried to protect him. But it was too thin, too little.

The sand attempted to shield Gaara, but it wasn't enough, nor could it counter Kuzo's lightning club. Gaara's face got hit, sending him to the ground. Gaara, seeing his own blood, opened his eyes widely.

Kuzo didn't give him time to realize that he'd been hurt. The last thing he wanted was Shukaku on rampage. So when Gaara had fallen, he lifted his club with both hands and started slamming the shit out of Gaara's head while holding back a little. The sand shield did nothing, and even with it absorbing a bit of the impact, the lightning still got through it thanks to the water, forcing Gaara to feel the shock.

With one last hit, Kuzo knocked out Gaara. The reason for Kuzo's confidence that Shukaku wouldn't wake up was thanks to what he'd seen in the anime. When Gaara lost to Deidara and fell unconscious, he hadn't turned into Shukaku. It appeared that only when Gaara slept willingly would he give up his body's awareness to the tailed beast But that could be a plot hole. Well, it won't hurt to seal the one-tailed beast chakra and prevent it from reaching Gaara's head to prevent any rampage.

The Jonin responsible for the exam went to Kuzo, saying, "And the winner clearly is Kuzo."

Not forgetting to feign injury, Kuzo fell on his knees and bit his tongue before pretending to throw up blood. When a med staff came to pick up Gaara, he didn't forget to put on a show. He wiped his mouth, muttering, "Shit. Boosting my speed with kinjutsu comes up with a price."

Looking at Gaara, he thought of the poor guy who couldn't sleep. Sleep was the most important part of human life.

It breaks whatever emotion cycle you had. 

Had you ever determined to change your life and start something before sleep, only to wake up, and realizing that motivation was replaced by the desire to sleep more five minutes. And then, that decision would go away. 

 When you get to jail, a few nights of sleep would make it natural. When you struggle in life, you need sleep. When you are angry and feel against you, nothing could beat that other than bed. And when you have a bad day, it won't end until you sleep.

In Gaara's case, he'd been living a very long bad day for so long. That day had never ended. And his brain wouldn't plasticize itself through the changes if he doesn't sleep. 'No wonder his mental health gets worse.' Kuzo felt pity for someone who never slept in his life.

He walked to Gaara as the medical meds lifted him, saying, "Hold on. I'll help him a bit." Why was he doing this? Maybe pity. Maybe he didn't want Orochimaru to use Gaara as a weapon, which came to his benefit. But who knows if Gaara would lose control after waking up and destroy everything. It won't hurt. 

"What are you doing?" asked a doctor. 

"This." He lifted his fingers. On each finger, chakra extended, characters appearing in the middle of them. Tsuchigomo clans were experts in seals that most of their attacks depended on. Making a seal to prevent Shukaku from ever spreading its chakra to Gaara's head was within his league now.

Kuzo slammed Gaara's head. 'I may be wrong. But my bet after he sleeps a few nights, he won't act like a predator. Once he finds comfort in bed, he'd try to escape from this cruel world, and he'd have a better mind. When I transmigrated here, to forget that I'm weak and could die at any moment, I used to sleep. It helped me accept reality.'

He gave Gaara's cheek a gentle slap. He's still asleep. When Kuzo stood up and turned, he found Temari in front of him, stressing her tongue. "What did you do to him?"

"I made him able to sleep," Kuzo said to Temari, who blinked twice. When Kuzo smiled at her, she opened her eyes widely, realizing that he knew Gaara's secret. And if he put a seal on top of Gaara's head, he wouldn't be able to turn into Shikaku. Well, not until the latter's chakra breaks the seal.

"You've got a problem with that," he said, putting his forehead on hers. The green eyes of hers shook, and she shook her head. 

"He'll be able to sleep without, you know?" she asked.

"I have no idea what you are talking about." He turned and started walking away. 

"Thank you," Temari replied. Her tone then changed. "Though, I'll warn you. I'll make you pay back for what you did to my little brother."

She must have really fallen for his act and thought he's weak. 

Kuzo stopped his steps. He hit the club on his palm a few times. He put the club on his shoulder as he turned to her.

Tz Tz

Lightning covered his weapon. "I didn't hear you well. What did you say?" he asked her. If she thought she could act cocky around him because he let her talk comfortably to him, then she must be wrong.

"Nothing," Temari put her hands behind her back and lowered her head timidly. Kuzo turned and started walking away. Suddenly, he remembered something. 'Gaara is the strongest possible opponent. I need to make people think I'm going to lose so they bet against me.'

Kuzo suddenly fell on his front, closing his eyes. Some medical kit came and lifted him, taking him back to the treating room. Kuzo, taken into one room, pretended to be asleep. He needed also to make sure the medical kits spread rumors. 'I ain't allowing anyone else profiting from me.'

He then took a nap, deciding to forget about the last fight. Kuzo soon was immersed in a dream until someone knocked on his head. The Hokage was standing above him. "Did you really have to go this far?" asked the Hokage.

Kuzo replied, saying, "Did you really have to put against the strongest one." He then sat up, his expression changing. "Do you know how hard it was for me to defeat Gaara without showing any power? Geez. I needed to feign exhaustion."

The Hokage chuckled. "Well, to you, you want to win a bet. To me, you're going to represent Konoha's power." 

"But against who?" Kuzo asked, "Forget it. None of these genins can let me show my potentials."

"Right. Also, you don't know who you'll fight. You didn't wait until the end of the third phase, so you don't know." 

"It doesn't matter," replied Kuzo. "I'll get my money; you'll get your show."

Why did it matter who he was going to fight? After all, he could clap everyone's ass in his way. 'Hold up. The last phase is more like a tournament, so I'll fight all of them.' He thought to himself. 'More bets.' 

 "Don't forget why you're doing this for me. It's because you wanted Karin in Konoha and to be your underling." The hokage reminded him.

"Oh, right." Kuzo remembered something. "Before we go, put a guard on the graves of the first and the second Hokage." 

"Why?" asked the Hokage. 

"Orochimaru lost his village and living soldiers," he replied. "With him mastering Edo Tensei, I don't think he'd hesitate to summon an army of undead to us. It's an easy fight unless we're against kages, especially Hashirama."

The 3rd Hokage lowered his head, lifting up his pipe and smoking. 

Kuzo looked at his hospital room, staring at a sign that said 'No smoking.' 

"What's your second plan?" asked the Hokage. "Now, Orochimaru has escaped."

"Obviously, we send someone to sneak into the Sand Village," replied Kuzo. "And we keep someone on the graves of our shinobis. We need to mess him up before the final exam." Originally, Kuzo had planned to make Orochimaru come to the village as the Kazekage and then trap him with the Hokage, Jiraiya, and Guy.But now, now there was money on the line. 

There was no way Kuzo would let Orochimaru ruin his profit. 

"And who is going there?" asked the Hokage. 

"I, personally, will go there," Kuzo replied. "I'll train for two weeks before heading up." 

"Train?" "I have gained a lot of power. I didn't master it yet," Kuzo said. He had a lot of jutsu that needed to be discovered.