Chapter 15

As I watched Noel fall to the ground from exhaustion, I should have felt elated. I should be joyful. I should feel accomplished. Even the chime from the system at my completed quest did nothing to assuage the feeling in my stomach at the victory. I didn't win. Noel had just lost faster. Nothing I could do could touch him with that lightning armor. I was jolted out of my thoughts as the crowd began to explode in noise. I stared at them, unconsciously shifting my platform all around so I could look at every corner of the stadium. That made them even more ecstatic. I smiled at them, doing my best to swallow the thoughts that were ruining my mood. This was not the time for that. The Proctor signaled for me to come down and join him, and I did so as Noel was being carted off the field. I spared him a look but no more.

When I reached him, he took a hold of my hand and lifted it to the skies, making the audience even more rapturous. Over the applause and noise, he whispered into my ear, "Now, everything will change."

I had no idea what those words were supposed to mean as I was ushered to the Kage as they came down from their box. I went down on one knee as Rasa got close enough. The display of submission offended my pride, but I settled myself with the knowledge that this would be the last time. This would be the last time.

The Hokage was the first to speak. "Gaara-chan, what a display. I dare say no Chunin exams will ever be as memorable as these ones." I nodded at him, fighting off a smile at the acknowledgement.

The Tsuchikage went next. "You understood the purpose of the exams, and your performance has left no doubts in our minds-"

The Raikage continued, "You are hereby conferred with a promotion to the rank of Chunin."

Rasa spoke last, "Well done, my son," he said, unsealing a vest from a scroll he fished out from his pocket. I beheld the Chunin vest, and as I put it on, I noticed a few things. It definitely wasn't the standard-issue vest. It looked much different, and it swallowed me comprehensively.

"That is the vest I wore as a Chunin of Sunagakure, and the one my Sensei wore before me," Rasa explained, and I could barely prevent myself from gaping at him. His sensei had been the third Kazekage. This vest was history. Actual history.

The worn pockets and scuffed collars had a whole other weight to them, even beyond the already heavy weight of the vest itself. The thing swallowed me, going down to my knees easily and probably weighing just as much as I did.

"Well done," the Hokage said, and some of the weight of the vest disappeared as I felt lighter than the air itself. This was it. I'd done it. Mission fucking accomplished.

XXXXXXX

I stared at the rewards I'd received from the mission to win the exams. It was actually something else, and I was reminded that this was supposed to be a pivotal moment in my life. This was it. This was a high point, and I felt no joy. No elation. None of that great happiness that I would have expected to find at such a victory, and I knew exactly why that was. I stared at it now, Gamer's Mind Mark 2, lvl max. I felt nothing because a game character would feel nothing but a vague sense of achievement. Gamer's mind didn't rid me of emotion. It just muted them so I could never get overwhelmed either way, positively orWe had returned to Suna immediately after the exams, and there was even a festival being held to celebrate my victory. However, they weren't celebrating me; they were celebrating Suna, the Kazekage, Baki, and even Chiyo. Everyone except me. I just sat in my room on the outskirts of town, watching them with my Sand scrying jutsu, trying to train and improve it. Even now, all I cared about was training. I felt nothing beyond the desire to improve, to get better at everything. I had initially thought it was due to my desire to survive, but I began to wonder if it was the gamer's mind pushing me in that direction. Why was all of this important? Because I had completed a quest, and as a result, I had rewards. A shit ton of rewards.

Quest Success:

Main Objective: Win the Chunin Exam tournament✔

Rewards: 1500XP; 15 Stat Points; One legendary loot roll; New Title (Winner of the Chunin Exams; +25 Rep in all hidden villages.)

Main Objective 2; Become a Chunin✔

Rewards: 2000XP; 20 Stat Points; One legendary loot roll; New Title (Chunin of Sunagakure; +50% training efficiency when training in Sunagakure. +15 Rep with all inhabitabts of Sunagakure)

Bonus Objective 1; Prevent Noel Yatsuki from using the lightning armour- failed

Bonus Objective 2; Defeat Noel Yatsuki with the lightning armour✔

Rewards; 800 XP; 3 Stat Points; One common loot roll

Bonus Objective 3; Make it to the finals ✔

Rewards; 500XP; 3 Stat Points; One common loot roll.

I smiled at the rewards again. A total of 41 stat points was a life-changing sum, and the experience gains meant I had gained three whole levels, giving me another 15 stat points. I had 56 stat points to do whatever I wanted with. Now, it was settled. The power of the gamer was much too OP for this power system. Not that I'm complaining though. The only thing that had me pensive was the result of the loot rolls. The first one had yielded a power. I had gained an inventory. A whole fucking inventory. The thing had some rules attached to what I could and couldn't use it for, but the ability to carry everything I owned in a separate subspace that only I could access was OP as hell. And I could fill it up with sand too, so there goes the need for the gourd I had spent some time designing. It was good, but it wasn't the standout. The standout was the second loot roll.

It gave me something I had never thought about, and it was the reason I had been so introspective lately. It upgraded Gamer's Mind. It didn't change the capabilities; it just added a toggle to the ability. It gave me the power to turn off the mind of the gamer. I had no idea why that was a legendary ability on its own, but I wasn't complaining. The common loot rolls had given me a beautiful sword and an archery set each. The weapons were well-made, much better than what the blacksmiths of Suna could make, but I couldn't focus on them now.

The button stared at me, tauntingly. I couldn't even remember pushing it. All I remembered was a voice booming in my head: "I'm Freeeeee,"and the world going black.

XXXXXXX - THE FOURTH KAZEKAGE

That chakra. No. Not now. Not today. Gaara is supposed to be the perfect one. The one who doesn't fail. What is this? The Ichibi. No.

I heard the voice for the first time in a long while, and I just closed my eyes as I took off the hat and robes before grabbing the scroll that leaned against the wall of my office and jumping out through the window. As I moved, I saw multiple jōnin and chūnin move towards the tailed beast, hoping to contain it. Gaara had been harbored at the edge of the village to contain the violence he could cause if he gave in to his tenant, but we had gotten lax. Our anti-Shukaku measures were rusty.

It had already reached the commercial district, and with each swipe of its hands, it killed dozens. Shukaku, the most murderous of the tailed beasts, cackled and laughed with each life it took. "Thought he could suppress me forever. Not me. Not Shukakuuuuuuu." Its voice grated on my ears. A squad of jōnin rushed in, and Shukaku only turned towards them before taking a deep breath. By the time they were about to fall upon it, it unleashed an actual windstorm that tore their bodies to shreds.

The earliest residents of Suna had learned to mold wind release by watching Shukaku, and it showed that it was the true progenitor. The fan corps scattered one of its feet with a massive collaboration jutsu, but that only worked for a second before the limb regenerated. "Wind? Shukaku will show you wind," it shouted before taking another deep breath, visibly sucking in the air around us, making my lungs strain to keep taking in air.

I was finally close enough. I threw up the scroll with one hand and tapped the center without even looking. My awareness of the golden dust I controlled was instant, and I noticed I had even less than I expected. Without Shukaku lashing out, I had been more willing to sell off more and more of my dust as I needed to keep Suna afloat, and with more and more pressure coming my way, I had kept procrastinating the mining trip to get more of the dust.

This was the worst-case scenario, but I was the Kazekage. Sensei said it best. Suna is mine. I am Suna's. The blast of wind sent at the fan corps was stopped in its tracks by a wall of pure gold. It caught the light from the few traffic lights still functioning and gleamed with power as it stood intact from the Jinchūriki's power. I ignored the whispers from my ninja as I made my presence known.

"You?" the beast asked, and I placed a cocky smile on my face before replying, "Me."

I turned to my subordinates as I stepped forward. "Thank you for your sacrifice, but please step back and maintain a perimeter. I will defend Suna from here on," I said, and they instantly obeyed. As Shukaku reared up to face me, my traitorous mind began to ponder the benefits of this attack. It was bad and would be expensive in terms of lost lives, manpower, and infrastructure, but there were still advantages to be had. Our victory at the Chunin exams might have done a bit to unify the people of Suna, but true unity was only found in tragedy.

A tragedy like this would thoroughly awaken the nationalist spirit in even the most disillusioned of shinobi. I was sure they would begin to give their 110% in missions and assignments after this. The shinobi we lost in this attack would be covered for and eventually replaced by more enthusiastic brethren. This attack had the potential of being good for Suna in the long term, but only if I stopped it here. I'm sorry, Karura, but what is good for Suna and what is bad for Gaara are once again aligned. They would unite and do so most vehemently against outsiders, and Gaara remained, when all was said and done, an outsider.

It stretched its hand to swat me into the ground, but a platform of golden dust took me far out of the reach of the attack. I took control of the dust on the ground, shaping it into bullets that I splattered the tailed beast with. It tanked the attack with little difficulty before sending another wind attack against me. A shield rose from the platform I stood upon and took the attack with little trouble.

Sensing that the shinobi had followed my orders, I took hold of the dust that I had used to defend them in the meantime and splashed it against the Ichibi. It could do little as I piled more and more golden dust upon it to weigh it down. It was weaker. Much weaker than it had ever been. Something about being sealed in Gaara had weakened it so badly that I was able to defeat it with much less golden dust than it had taken the last time.

XXXXXXX

When I regained consciousness, it was accompanied by the feeling of having been run over by a train. My body felt as if it had been put through an actual meat grinder, and my mind wasn't any better. The exhaustion I felt was overwhelming. Suddenly, I heard the voice of the Ichibi in my mind, and in a panic, I scrambled to activate Gamer's mind. As I did, I realized what had happened. Shukaku had been set free. That explained the headache. I was mistaken in thinking that the game had destroyed him; it had only suppressed his consciousness, allowing me to utilize his chakra as I saw fit. With mental clarity restored, I finally assessed my surroundings and noticed that I was in a sealed cell. Seals covered every corner, which explained why my body felt so weak. I couldn't access my chakra, rendering me as powerless as a six-year-old.

Fortunately, it didn't take long before someone appeared in front of my cell. Chiyo stared at me with her usual blend of disappointment and boredom, a look she should consider patenting soon—it was that good. As I awkwardly shifted on my feet, she opened the cell and gestured for me to follow her. I scrambled to comply as we traversed through an unremarkable hallway, taking numerous turns before she bothered to speak.

"You're feeling better now, aren't you? Less likely to repeat whatever you did to release the Ichibi," she said. It took a moment for her words to sink in, and I looked at her in shock as she sighed.

"I am Suna's seal master, boyyo. I got a good look at your seal while you were unconscious. The thing about Tailed Beasts is that they rebel. They resist their captivity. They test the limits of their confinement and try to break free. This means that every seal used to contain a Tailed Beast undergoes a certain amount of stress and begins to deteriorate over time. That's why individuals like you rarely live past their thirties. However, your seal shows no signs of wear. It's almost as if the Shukaku was dormant until yesterday." Each word she spoke landed like a bomb, and I could sense that I had been caught. She locked eyes with me before smiling and relenting, "You can keep your secrets. Rasa-chan doesn't pay me enough to care, and I don't want to get involved in whatever mess is going on in your head." I nodded, immensely relieved and glad to be done with the entire ordeal.

Of course, she gave me another intense look and filled the hallway with a threatening aura. "But now? Now I know that whenever the Ichibi is released, it's your choice to do so. You're an asset to Suna, for now. If I see the One-tailed Tanuki roaming free again, I will kill you. Believe that," she warned. I audibly gulped before she resumed walking, signaling for me to follow as we exited the current building and made our way to another one. For an elderly woman, she moved remarkably fast. At some point, it almost felt like we were running, yet whenever I glanced at her, she appeared to be strolling casually. A casual stroll at a speed that forced me to essentially jog to keep up. Chakra was truly unbelievable. She had to be in her seventies by now. We arrived at another unremarkable building, and after she nodded at an oblivious receptionist, I found myself in a different location as she made a seal on a blank wall. We had entered a vast underground complex that stretched as far as my eyes could see. White-clad individuals gathered around different patients. This was Suna's medical ninja division, not to be confused with the Suna hospital.

It was one of Rasa's main initiatives since becoming the Kazekage. Dozens of shinobi were trained here at all times to become skilled medical ninjas. It was a source of pride and joy for Suna. I was certain that Konoha and Kumo had better facilities, but as I took it all in, I couldn't deny a flicker of nationalistic pride burning within me. However, even with that pride, I realized that this was a form of punishment. The medical ninja corps was a competitive field in Suna. Gaining admission was difficult, and the training was grueling. The few conversations I had with Chiyo about it were enough to dampen any interest I had in pursuing that path. All I had wanted was to learn the Mystic Palm Technique, but it seemed Rasa had made the decision for me.

Chiyo cleared her throat, drawing my attention back to her as she pointed to a corner of the cavern where wide-eyed teenagers in black robes congregated. "That's your class. I wish you the best of luck," she said before turning to leave. I shuffled over to join them, not particularly thrilled about being there, but determined to make the best of the situation. Medical ninja training took an average of six years, but I needed to leave here in one. I had too much training to do to waste time lingering. Canon was only five years away. The clock was ticking.

XXXXXXXXX

When I first introduced myself to my classmates, they were far from enthusiastic about my presence here. Considering my "rampage" had occurred just yesterday while they were present, that couldn't be the reason. It was likely because of my age, but it was too early to tell for sure.

Our first class was anatomy, and I resigned myself to being bored out of my mind as we were taught things that Chiyo had already made me read. However, I was quickly surprised to find that Chiyo's books had barely scratched the surface. They were enough to learn the Mystic Palm Technique, but not sufficient for becoming a fully-fledged medical ninja. I had to beg for some paper and a pencil from another trainee, and it was a struggle to keep up as we frantically took notes.

The lecturer showed no interest in making the coursework enjoyable or even understandable. They were content to ramble on from topic to topic without a discernible thread connecting everything. What irritated me the most was the fact that I seemed to be the only one confused by what was going on. I tried to keep my arrogance in check, but it was difficult when all I heard was how much of a genius I was supposed to be. I saw it in people's eyes. Even Baki had called me a genius a couple of times in his weaker moments, but surrounded by these people, that illusion began to shatter. As one of my classmates asked a question I couldn't comprehend, only to be answered by another classmate whose response I couldn't grasp, and then corrected by yet another whom I also couldn't understand, I accepted that this was going to be an uphill battle, at the very least.

By the end of the lecture, after two hours of discussion, I had completely run out of paper. I had printed my words in the smallest font possible and filled every corner of the sheets I had been given, but it wasn't enough. The next lecturer arrived and dropped a bag full of materials at my desk without even acknowledging my presence. I opened it to find writing materials and scrolls. I simply nodded and retrieved paper and a pencil for the next round of note-taking.

This time, the lecturer didn't bother seeking any input from the class. They just rambled on and on about the effects various chemicals could have on the body. Things were not looking up at all as they named chemical after chemical that I couldn't even spell, let alone understand. And once again, the entire class seemed to be keeping up. At the end of it, I glanced at the timetable that came with the bag and realized we were supposed to have a thirty-minute break before the next class.

I waited for the students to gather into groups and socialize during the break, but they didn't. Everyone remained at their desks, pulling out scrolls or notes to study. Was this what medical school was like? If it was, then I definitely owed my cousin an apology for teasing him about dropping out. Not that I would ever see him again. I highly doubted that the afterlives of this world and mine had any overlap.

I looked through the notes I had just taken, and even after reading them a second and third time, I still didn't grasp the entirety of the material. I could recite it from front to back, but that wasn't impressive. I'm sure everyone here could do the same. I opened my stat sheet and stared at the 56 stat points I had accumulated from the last quest. The temptation to allocate them all to intelligence was strong, but I managed to resist. I closed it and turned to the bag I had been given, rustling through it and examining the scrolls that were inside.

XXXXXXXXX- THE FOURTH KAZEKAGE

I stared at the elder who had just finished speaking, silently waiting and watching him until he backed down and returned to his seat with a mumbled apology. My decision to send Gaara to the med nin corps as punishment wasn't being well-received by anyone involved.

Chiyo had screamed for a bit before reluctantly accepting it, and now these old geezers wanted to make themselves heard. Suna's council was an advisory body only, and it seemed they were beginning to forget that.

"I have no need to explain myself to all of you. I have already done so as a courtesy, and nothing more. Suna's jinchuriki is our greatest weapon. Gaara single-handedly won the Chunin Exams. Your advice would have me discard such talent by forcing him into mission after mission until he breaks or betrays us. No. The path I have chosen is the right one. He will learn medical ninjutsu. He will learn patience, and in six years, he will still be in a position to meaningfully contribute to Suna's future," I stated firmly, triggering another round of shouting. If I were completely honest, it was only my fondness for Sensei that prevented me from dissolving the council entirely.

They were shortsighted and afraid. The absence of an attack from the Ichibi for the past few years had made them complacent. They had forgotten the days when we had to deal with the beast every week. Fear made people do foolish things, Sensei had taught me, and that fear was leading them to entertain some very foolish ideas. They wanted to throw Suna's greatest weapon into mission after mission to extract the maximum use from him before killing him and transferring the tailed beast.

One outburst had them dismissing Gaara as a failed project. They were a bunch of shortsighted fools.

Author's Note: How does this feel to you? Bet none of you saw this coming. I look forward to the debates (not to the flaming, but that's a necessary evil)