Cheating

Now that my work was done, I sealed off the lab and walked through the village in my casual clothes. The streets were now livelier than ever and people had rosy expressions, indicating good health and nutrition.

The biggest change was the way they looked at me when I passed by. Instead of giving me fearful looks, they respectfully smiled and nodded when they saw me... Some would even bow.

'It seems like Rasa didn't take all the credit for himself... People have started to respect me, huh?'

Well, I didn't care about what others thought of me, but I couldn't deny that gaining the people's support and admiration was necessary to become Kazekage.

As I strolled through the village, taking in the sights and enjoying the fresh air, I felt relatively at peace.

"Are you finally done with playing god? When are you going to let me out again!"

Suddenly, Shukaku's voice resounded in my head. He had been quiet the past month, so him talking out of the blue surprised me.

"Playing god? I think you've got it all wrong there, buddy. As for you... I'll let you out soon, don't worry."

"You better, brat!"

With nothing better to do, I headed over to Shira's place.

Once there, the burly landlady greeted me respectfully... Nodding at her, I headed straight to my teammate's room. Opening the door, the first thing I saw was Shira doing push-ups.

"Hey, Shira. Got some time on your hands?"

Noticing me, Shira got up and quickly dried his sweat off with a towel he had nearby.

"Gaara...! What brings you here?"

Taking a closer look at his body, I noticed Shira had fully healed from Sasuke's Chidori. Although he had a massive scar on his shoulder, his body looked even stronger than before.

"Well, I was wondering if we could spar a little? I recently got a little better at Taijutsu."

Hearing my words, Shira's face lit up in happiness. Placing both of his hands on my shoulders, he smiled from ear to ear.

"Sure thing! Let's head over to the training grounds!"

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Once we reached the training grounds, I laid out the rules for the sparring match; No Ninjutsu, Genjutsu or Sand... Only Taijutsu would be permitted. Oh, and the heavenly breaths were also prohibited.

Shira readily agreed and removed his weights before getting into his usual stance.

"Ready?"

"You're on."

Smiling, I disappeared from my previous spot, re-appearing right next to an unsuspecting Shira.

"What...?"

"Boo."

I smiled and threw a kick at Shira's stomach, sending him flying a fair distance... He looked at me with disbelief.

"Gaara... You... When?"

Ignoring his question, I played around with him a little. The match wasn't even close, with me winning by a landslide... In the end, Shira was struggling to breathe.

"..."

"Surprised?"

Shira averted my gaze, looking down in shame... It seemed like he didn't take the loss too well.

"Shira, don't be like that... I cheated."

Suddenly, his head sprung up and he looked at me with hope in his eyes. From what I could gather, losing a Taijutsu match didn't sit too well with Shira... The now relieved look on his face was a clear indicator of this fact.

"I used a performance-boosting technique. Do you know what natural energy is?"

"..."

"Natural energy circulates throughout the world, but it is usually imperceptible. Some people train for years and still can't feel it."

"In a way, it's like chakra, but stronger. It can be used to drastically boost your physical capabilities and senses."

Shira looked at me with increasing confusion.

"Why did I never hear of such a thing...?"

"Well, it's an obscure topic. Only select few people in the world know of its existence and how it is used... Turns out I'm one of them."

Pulling on my collar, I showed him the perfected curse-mark.

"This thing here passively absorbs natural energy and basks my body in it. Because of this, I could defeat you so easily."

"Damn... That sounds cool."

Smiling, I let go of my collar and massaged my neck a little.

"Well, it takes some getting used to. Shira, would you like to have this power?"

"Me...?"

His eyes darted around, trying to understand what was going on.

"Of course, I can't give it to you now... Although your body is strong, you lack chakra. If I gave you this thing, you would probably die."

This was true. To handle nature-energy, one needed to have enough base chakra to start with... Shira was far from meeting the criteria.

"You must increase your chakra levels from now on. Do you know how to do this?"

"Yeah... But what if I never meet the criteria?"

Hearing his questions, I smiled. If he never reached the required amounts of chakra, I had a way to work around it.

"I'd find a way to increase your chakra levels if that was to ever be the case, don't worry... Just train as much as you can from now on."

"Sure, Thanks!"