At the same time.
Gelin City.
Gaara and Rasa had just stepped out of the government building. Once outside, father and son both reached up to wipe the grease from their mouths.
Lord Shirakawa was simply too hospitable. Every time they met, the table was piled with more snacks than they could possibly finish.
Gaara secretly let out a satisfied burp, but Rasa still heard it and smacked him on the back of the head, saying:
"Mind the village's image."
Gaara covered the back of his head, but he did not take it to heart.
He told Rasa, in great detail, about everything he had seen and heard at the Research Institute and in Kirigakure during this time.
Gaara had returned with the Extermination Army yesterday. He had spent the night in Gelin City, and Rasa had come to take him back to the village today.
Because Whitesnake had lost its extraction ability, and because the scholars at the Research Institute had tried every possible method without being able to remove the One-Tail Shukaku without harming Gaara—
They could not exactly leave a perfectly healthy child imprisoned at the Research Institute forever, so they took a step back and changed their approach—
Since they could not extract the One-Tail Shukaku, they would make it obedient and turn it into Gaara's weapon, giving him some means of self-defense.
Even if he truly encountered an enemy attack someday, Gaara, with control over the One-Tail, would be able to buy time until reinforcements arrived.
As for what if the One-Tail had a terrible temper and refused to obey?
Well—there were four others just like it.
When the four Tailed Beasts Lin Qing had captured were first brought in, they had been quite unruly.
Now, weren't they all supporting the Research Institute's work? They