The deathly standoff was a more suffocating torture than a bloody battle.
The invisible magnetic force blanketing the entire area was like a giant hand gripping everyone by the throat—cold and absolute.
Beneath Rasa's Kazekage hat, beads of sweat slid down his temples.
His prized Magnet Release bloodline limit, the sand-control techniques he had spent his entire life studying, had been utterly crushed before this man, without a shred of dignity left behind.
A choice?
From the moment the other man had suppressed Shukaku with a single move and controlled countless weapons with a thought, he had already lost the right to choose.
Betting the village's future, betting his own son, on an unknown powerhouse...
It sounded like a mad gamble.
But he had no doubt that if he refused, Sunagakure would be wiped off the map today.
Rasa's clenched fist slowly relaxed.
The terrifying pressure filling the air quietly dissipated as well.
The surrounding Sunagakure ninja's legs gave out, and they collapsed in heaps. Their metal ninja tools clattered to the ground, and none dared pick them up again.
Kamizuki Yu did not spare him another glance, as though Rasa's surrender had been the natural outcome.
He lowered his head, his gaze returning to the sleeping Gaara in his arms.
Even in sleep, the pale little face was tightly furrowed, as if haunted by endless nightmares.
[Compassion of the Holy Monk]
Warm chakra overflowed from Kamizuki Yu's palm once more, like a clear spring slowly flowing into Gaara's brow.
This time, it was not to suppress a tailed beast, but to soothe a child's soul.
Gaara's knitted brow gradually relaxed.
His small body completely loosened in Kamizuki Yu's arms. His breathing became steady and deep, and the corner of his mouth even curved upward unconsciously.
Since his birth, this