Do Not Provoke

Three hours later, after Pakura's Team left...

"Did we really do the right thing?" Ebizo asked his sister once they returned to the privacy of their own home.

Chiyo remained silent and motionless, sitting with a tired expression on the sofa.

"Sister?" Ebizo looked at her with sadness.

"Haha! You fell for it again," Chiyo laughed before becoming expressionless, sighing, and expressing her opinion. "I think the village will be strengthened, and Temari will be able to correct her father's mistakes with our support, not to mention the influx of money and food." She looked up to see the ceiling. "Even if there were the remote and improbable possibility that Temari would not make a good Kazekage, the benefits the village will receive alone make her worthy of that position. And she doesn't have that trait that condemned Rasa to mediocrity."

"Power and authority hunger," Ebizo continued, nodding. "Indeed, he got lost in his desires and delusions of grandeur. It was toxic how his incompetence made the village even poorer, which, at the same time, caused us to depend even more on his gold dust. Perhaps at the moment when the Pakura incident happened, we should have realized that he wasn't a capable leader; he completely deceived us, and by the time we wanted to react, the damage was already done."

"And even though Temari will take that same position, did you hear her ideas?" Chiyo couldn't help but lift the corner of her wrinkled lips. "She didn't talk about how many clans will be under her orders, or how much political power she wants to control, or how much of the Daimyo's money she can keep for her personal pocket. Her first idea was to improve the conditions of the underground water wells!"

"Yes, maybe her youth also has its positive sides," Ebizo commented, also very pleased that the kunoichi had her thoughts in the right place.

"Did you make the preparations?" Chiyo asked with a darker and more serious tone.

"You know me, sister," Ebizo frowned. "I did a 'cleanup' enough so that the other villages won't know about this meeting for at least a few months, and even then, they will only believe that Seimeigakure came to buy some rare metals from us. I've already done the fake paperwork and placed it where the new spies can find it 'by coincidence' with a little effort."

"And about her security?"

"Twelve elite jounin will be protecting Temari from the shadows twenty-four hours a day in groups of four. I found two expert masters in Fuuton and Taijutsu to help her intensify her training to reach true jounin strength to take the Kazekage seat." Ebizo tallied up his plans carefully in his mind. "I will also take two hours a day to expand her knowledge of politics and teach her how to handle documents."

"Perfect, the sooner we stabilize the situation, the better it will be for us and the village," Chiyo nodded.

The room fell silent for a while.

"You read the reports of what happened in Konoha, and you've seen the same as me," Chiyo whispered. "Seimeigakure... is not something we should provoke."

Ebizo nodded; the many years of understanding between them made him comprehend many things with few words.

One minute!

That was how long it took to make a newly appointed chunin gain the necessary strength to compete with a jonin in terms of raw power, causing her potential to increase by a huge margin.

And they made it seem so casual.

If they were to recover a large number of war orphans, indoctrinate them to be loyal to their village, and strengthen them in this same way...

Villages needed years to produce new batches to replenish their number of ninjas, while Seimeigakure seemed to have the ability to generate a large quantity with a considerable strength... in a minute.

Just thinking about it gave him chills and a lump in his throat.

He wanted to think that something like that wasn't possible, that it had to have some terrible price or side effect like the Hero's Water from Takigakure. But the medical exams they subjected Temari to revealed that she was perfectly healthy, with no hidden ailments, and the hardness of her nails had multiplied countless times.

Even her cellular activity seemed more lively!

Chiyo personally verified that the hidden potential in Temari's cells had been unleashed, and her strength would not only grow faster, but she could even maintain her best condition (and appearance) another fifteen years above the usual average.

Fortunately for them, Seimeigakure seemed to have little interest in expanding.

They also had to consider that Pakura regained the support of the Daimyo, something that wouldn't be possible to hide for long, and that Pakura herself had a lot of sensitive information about Sunagakure.

Even if they had the slightest thought against that village for some deranged reason caused by the dementia of old age...

They have no idea where it is!

How can you attack someone you don't know where they are?

"Baki said that Gaara was acting strangely?" determined not to continue that line of dangerous thoughts, Ebizo skillfully changed the subject.

"He hasn't killed anyone since he returned; in fact, it's not his usual behavior," Chiyo felt so tired.

Maybe another reason why she should focus on training Temari, so that the next generation could take care of these headaches.

Wait, Temari is Gaara's sister.

...

"Brother," Chiyo slowly turned her head to give Ebizo a sharp look. "Now that I remember, what was Pakura talking about before?"

Ebizo was speechless.

Sister, my talent for changing the subject is not comparable to yours!