Chapter 195: Kisame Hoshigaki: I'm Not Necessarily the One Who'll Lose Today

A mass of sand swallowed Yashamaru.

"Gaara... I'm sorry. You must live well."

"Your mother and I both loved you deeply."

Yashamaru's whisper faded as Gaara crushed him to a bloody pulp with the Sand Binding Technique.

After Yashamaru died, the scene before Gaara vanished.

Naruto Uzumaki and Temari appeared before him again.

He was back in the Dungeon.

"So that was the truth..."

Gaara murmured, dazed.

The love he had always longed for, envied, and sought... he had possessed it all along.

He had thought he'd lived in darkness since birth, never realizing that love had surrounded him from the beginning.

The sand protected him on its own because his mother had been watching over him all this time.

At that thought,

the knot in Gaara's heart finally came undone.

Tears ran down his face. He bowed deeply to Naruto Uzumaki. "Naruto, thank you for telling me the whole truth."

Gaara's gratitude was sincere.

"If you really want to thank me, let me beat you up."

"My hands are suddenly itching for a fight."

Naruto Uzumaki grinned.

"N-no, thanks."

"I've figured it out. From now on, I need to avoid getting hurt as much as I can."

"I can't let my mother's love go to waste."

Gaara touched the gourd on his back, a happy smile spreading across his face.

Temari stared, dumbfounded.

She had no idea what Gaara had seen in the Genjutsu. From her perspective, one moment he had been coldly questioning Naruto, and the next, his whole manner had changed.

Most astonishingly, Temari saw happiness on Gaara's face!

It was almost impossible to believe.

"I want to visit my mother's and Uncle Yashamaru's graves."

"Please excuse me."

Gaara bowed politely to Naruto Uzumaki and Temari, then dissolved into flowing sand and disappeared.

"Naruto-kun, how did you