Chapter 41: Renting Shukaku  

Yellow sand is the only main theme here. Sasuke and his team have encountered sandstorms for the third time in the past few days.

"Sasuke-kun, Sunagakure has arrived," said Suigetsu excitedly. "Are we going to fight directly?"

Sasuke punched him away. "Suigetsu, if you talk nonsense again after entering the village, I won't care about you then."

Suigetsu was picked up by Sasuke, and Jugo and Kimimaro laughed heartily. Suigetsu usually played pranks everywhere, so he deserved to be cleaned up.

At the gate of Sunagakure, the guarding Sunagakure ninja looked at the group warily.

"That seems to be Uchiha Sasuke, specially called by Lady Temari."

It turned out that Temari was worried that Sasuke would come to Sunagakure and she happened to be away, so she gave Sasuke's portrait to the guards of Sunagakure, just in case.

"Go and tell Lord Maki quickly."

"Yes."

Sasuke naturally heard what the two said and waited calmly outside the gate. If it were Kumogakure, he would have swept past with Susanoo.

In a moment, Maki, a jonin in tight combat uniform, chain mail, and a white cloth wrapped around his head, appeared at the gate and politely invited Sasuke in.

As for Sasuke's identity as a Konoha traitor, Maki didn't care at all. Although Konoha and Sunagakure are allies, they are not on the same page behind the scenes, and Sasuke and Kazekage have a special relationship.

As an elite jonin of Sunagakure, Maki's contribution to Gaara becoming Kazekage cannot be ignored. Maki also received a huge reward.

With the help of Gaara's influence, he successfully entered the upper echelons of the village.

It turns out that Gaara is far more outstanding than he imagined, and in just one year, Sunagakure has undergone earth-shaking changes.

"Sasuke-sama, Kazekage-sama has been waiting for a long time," Maki led everyone to the Kazekage Building, and the others were stopped by him.

He only allowed Sasuke to go in because he saw that Sasuke's subordinates were all very capable. If only Sasuke was inside, Gaara would not be at a disadvantage even if a fight broke out.

"Thank you for your hard work."

Sasuke waved his hand to signal others to wait here and pushed open the door to Gaara's office. There were at least fifty people hiding in the shadows of this building. Gaara's defense was good. Sasuke looked around.

Sasuke pushed the door in and found that it was not only Gaara who was waiting for him, but also Temari. At this time, she was staring at him with a burning look, but thanks to Gaara, she had not taken any action yet.

"Sasuke, long time no see."

Gaara stood up, and the two looked at each other, as if they were back in the Chunin Exams.

"Gaara, you've grown taller."

Gaara looked at Sasuke's height of more than 1.8 meters and was secretly speechless. Did this guy grow up on hormones?

"I'm the Kazekage. Sasuke, this is your first time in Sand Village. If you need anything, just let me know."

Gaara hinted at this clearly, and he almost whispered into Sasuke's ear to remind him of his current identity.

Sasuke pretended to care and said, "Little brother Gaara has become the Kazekage, so you have to be careful. Kazekage is a high-risk job."

Temari listened to their conversation with a smile and tears. These two were actually bickering. Is this the competitive spirit of men?

Sasuke thought about it and still didn't tell Gaara that the person who killed his father is drinking tea downstairs. At that time, for the Konoha collapse plan, Orochimaru and Kimimaro secretly ambushed Rasa and were very sincere to him.

"Gaara, congratulations on becoming a strong man who can stand on his own," Sasuke said solemnly.

Gaara smiled. He always wanted to get Sasuke's recognition.

After all, he was the opponent he wanted to defeat the most. No, he is still here now. He didn't come here to bicker with Gaara.

He had planned it months ago, wanting to attract the attention of Akatsuki and sit down to negotiate with them. He must have enough bargaining chips to impress them.

What does Nagato care about most now? Of course, it's the tailed beasts. As long as he has a few tailed beasts in his hands, he will naturally come to his door. The easiest and closest tailed beast to obtain at present is Gaara's One-Tail.

Sasuke is sure that he can take out the tailed beast without hurting Gaara, and the second is to make

Akatsuki no longer focus on Sunagakure. Otherwise, if Akatsuki invades Sunagakure, Temari will also be implicated.

But this matter still needs to be discussed with Gaara. Gaara and Temari are siblings, and he can't use the Mangekyō to influence him.

Most of the houses in Sunagakure are disc-shaped, perhaps to prevent wind and sand. Anyway, Sasuke can't appreciate this kind of beauty.

Sasuke stood on the building, waiting quietly, and finally, a figure appeared from the darkness. He decided to make it clear with Gaara.

If it really didn't work, he would have to give up and capture other tailed beasts.

"Sasuke, you." Gaara was curious about why Sasuke would look for him in the middle of the night.

Is it important?

Sasuke stated his thoughts without hiding his purpose at all. Gaara's reaction was beyond Sasuke's expectations.

"Take out the tailed beast without damaging the Jinchūriki at all. If what you said is true, then what if I give you the One-Tail?"

Gaara said seriously, "To be honest, Shukaku has been bothering me for so many years. I never need Shukaku's power; it only brings me suffering. My strength comes only from myself."

Sasuke looked at Gaara without any contempt. He found that he had underestimated other strong men in the ninja world before.

Sure enough, those who can become Kage must have both character and strength.

"I don't know what Shukaku means to you, but I, Uchiha Sasuke, am not someone who likes to take advantage," Sasuke said.

"The One-Tail is very useful to me. Just think of it as me renting the One-Tail from Sand Village."

Sasuke threw a scroll to Gaara. "This is my latest ninjutsu storage scroll. It contains ten S-rank ninjutsu I created, which will give you unexpected surprises when dealing with some special Bloodline Limit Ninjas. Just think of it as the rent for me borrowing the One-Tail."

Gaara took the scroll. He knew how precious it was, but he didn't know why Sasuke would deliberately mention the Bloodline Limit Ninjas.

"Well, I'll be polite then."