Bounty

The sun rose.

The sky had been gray just moments ago, but in the blink of an eye, it had been scorched white.

Shukaku's massive body let out a howl in the morning light, making the entire expanse of sand tremble.

Rasa stood atop the platform, his hands forming seals. The sand beneath his feet split open, and Gold Sand erupted from the ground like a fountain.

The Gold Sand climbed up Shukaku's body, wrapping around his legs, his waist, and his shoulders.

Shukaku struggled once, tearing a crack through the Gold Sand, but fresh Gold Sand immediately flowed in to fill it. Layer upon layer, it wrapped tighter and tighter.

His movements grew slower and slower, as though he had sunk into a swamp. Every inch he moved had to fight against the weight of all that Gold Sand.

"Sealing Team!" Rasa growled.

More than a dozen sealing ninja, already in position, formed seals at the same time. The light of their jutsu spread from beneath their feet, crawling over the surface of the Gold Sand and covering Shukaku's entire body.

The sealing patterns wound around him like chains. With every layer that bound him, Shukaku's howls weakened further.

The Gold Sand pinned down his body, while the sealing jutsu locked away his chakra. Only through the two working together could they barely hold this thing down.

Shukaku let out another unwilling roar.

But this roar was no longer as earth-shaking as before. Then his body began to collapse, from the outside inward, Gold Sand and ordinary sand mingling as they poured down.

By the time the dust settled completely, Shukaku had disappeared.

At the center of the ruins lay a small figure, red hair buried in the sand.

Rasa remained standing atop the platform, unmoving from beginning to end. He looked at the small figure in the ruins without pity or relief on his face.

He merely watched, as though looking at a tool that had just been repaired.

The test plan ended here. Continuing the probing would cost too much and yield too little.

Rather than drive him mad, it was better to raise him into a useful blade.

He turned around, just about to step down from the platform, when a ninja came sprinting over from afar and dropped to one knee before him. The hurried ninja looked at the scene before him, confusion appearing on his face as well.

"Lord Kazekage, news has come from the border. They said Shukaku has gone out of control..."

Rasa stared at him as well, looking puzzled.

It was true that Shukaku had gone out of control, but how long had it been?

The border was at least dozens of kilometers from here. How could they have learned about it so quickly? And why had they instead sent him word that Shukaku had gone out of control?

Then, as if he had suddenly thought of something, his pupils constricted. He immediately ordered,

"Count the dead. Every single one. Count them one corpse at a time. Go now."

Then he strode down from the platform without looking back.

Temari had not slept all night. She sat by her bed, clutching the blanket tightly in both hands.

She did not dare open the window, nor did she dare lie down.

All night, she kept turning over what Lin Chongshu had said and what her father had said in her mind. Was this really the right thing to do?

The door was pushed open.

Rasa stood in the doorway, still wearing his conical hat. His expression was heavier than ever before. Temari had never seen her father look like this.

Temari stood up, looked at Rasa's face, and softly called out, "Father..."

"Does anyone else know about the plan to test Gaara?" Rasa's voice was low. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Temari immediately responded, "No. Only he knew."

Rasa narrowed his eyes, staring at his daughter with a sharp gaze.

Temari did not dare meet his eyes, and her voice grew quieter. "His name isn't Jiro Hijikata."

"What? You lied to me?"

"No!" Temari immediately shook her head. "I didn't know at the time either. He used a fake name to deceive me."

Rasa stared at her. He was certain that his daughter would never dare lie to him under those circumstances.

At that moment, a chunin appeared at the door.

"Lord Kazekage, we have news."

Rasa gave Temari another look before turning and walking to the doorway.

The chunin lowered his voice as he reported, "Lord Kazekage, we counted them. One corpse is indeed missing. And just now, another message came from the border. One of the border sentries has been killed."

"According to the other sentries, they encountered a boy last night who claimed to have been attacked by Shukaku. The dead sentry was the one left behind to care for that boy, but now the boy cannot be found."

"Based on the description, the person they encountered was Lin Chongshu!"

Rasa's fingers slowly clenched into a fist.

A little brat with no chakra and no talent had feigned death beneath Shukaku's claws, fooled an entire squad of jonin, crossed dozens of kilometers of desert, killed a trained border sentry, and then vanished along the border of the Land of Wind.

He had actually been played by a little brat.

Temari stood in the room, listening to the man's report to her father. Her shock deepened with every word.

He had actually evaded Shukaku's attack, slipped past the border sentries, survived right beneath her father's nose, and even escaped the Land of Wind.

And... Lin Chongshu... so that was your name.

Rasa turned his head and glanced at her through the doorframe.

Temari immediately lowered her head, not daring to keep eavesdropping.

Rasa strode away.

The chunin continued, "I looked through his records. Back when he was at the academy, he was practically invisible. Only in the past few months did he suddenly begin training his body. It seemed he had been preparing for something..."

Rasa did not answer. His tone was hard as stone. "If this person is not eliminated soon, he will become a grave threat to Sunagakure."

"Issue an A-Rank Missing-nin bounty..." He stopped halfway through. The corridor fell silent for several seconds.

"No. Issue only a C-rank bounty. He is to be captured alive."

The person beside him paused before answering, "Yes."

Rasa's change of mind did not mean he did not hate him. Having been toyed with like this by Lin Chongshu, he was filled with rage.

It was simply that placing an A-Rank bounty on Lin Chongshu would draw too much attention.

The Third Shinobi World War had only just ended. The peace between the Five Great Nations was as thin as window paper, and every nation was looking for flaws in the others.

If Lin Chongshu were captured by another country, they would surely wonder why Sunagakure had placed an A-Rank bounty on him.

Then they would interrogate him, investigate, and uncover Rasa's plan to use human lives to test the Jinchūriki. At that point, the problem would no longer be just one escaped Lin Chongshu, but an internal blow to Sunagakure itself.

He waved the ninja away, then turned his head slightly and spoke into the darkness behind him. "Go to the Underground Bounty Exchange. Put a bounty on Lin Chongshu's head at the standard rate for an A-Rank bounty. Keep it discreet."

A voice from the darkness replied, "Yes."

Everyone withdrew.

Rasa stood alone in the stone chamber, gritting out that name. "Lin Chongshu! Let's see how long you can keep running."

A little brat with no chakra and no backing— even if he had luckily crawled across the border, what awaited him would never be good fortune.

"Now that you're facing this situation, what other tricks can you come up with?"