Wind and sand filled the air as Sunagakure maintained its usual rhythm. In a remote northern area, within a huge prison cell, a monk in his forties sat quietly in meditation.
This place had been converted from a cave. The cell was enormous, and with only one person imprisoned inside, it seemed exceptionally empty. It did not seem built for a human at all, but rather for trapping some enormous monster.
The cell was dark and silent, with no noise apart from dripping water. An ordinary person would be driven mad by this environment in a single day.
Two Sunagakure shinobi stood guard at the entrance to the cell, neither particularly focused. Nothing had ever happened here in all these years, and this was deep within the village, making it extremely safe.
Thus, there were not many guards here. Aside from the two visible guards, there were only four Anbu hidden in the shadows. All were jonin proficient in Sealing Technique, with an Elite Jonin serving as captain. They were not there to guard against outside enemies, but to restrain Shukaku the instant he went berserk.
Speaking of Jinchuriki, although every village exploited and feared them, their methods of handling them differed.
Take Konoha, for instance. The first Jinchuriki, Uzumaki Mizusu, was Senju Hashirama's wife and a core member of the village. There was no possibility of betrayal, and she held tremendous prestige among the village's upper ranks. As for the second Jinchuriki after her, Kushina Uzumaki, she had lived in Konoha since childhood and received Konoha's most orthodox education. Although she had been kept under covert observation after becoming a Jinchuriki, it had not affected her life.
Essentially, Konoha employed a strategy of making its Jinchuriki identify with the village, then winning them over through emotion. So far, the