All the shinobi of Sunagakure seethed with righteous fury.
Their village's jinchūriki had died in Konoha. They would make Konoha pay dearly!
The Third Hokage slumped heavily into his chair in despair. It was over.
War between the two villages was inevitable!
Damn that Zhou Cheng. I should have killed him long ago!
Orochimaru, disguised as the Kazekage, narrowed his eyes. He had never expected Zhou Cheng to hand him such a perfect opportunity.
He could launch the Konoha Crush Plan now without even revealing himself.
But he hesitated. With someone as powerful as Zhou Cheng added to the mix, there were too many unknowns!
For a moment, he could not make up his mind!
Every shinobi in Konoha went on guard, wary that Sunagakure might launch a sudden attack in its fury.
Some who had no ties to Zhou Cheng even began to blame him.
One man had sparked a war between two shinobi villages.
Just then, a roar shook heaven and earth.
An enormous, sandy-yellow figure rose amid the swirling sand and rubble.
He stood dozens of meters tall, like a raccoon dog enlarged thousands of times.
His hand was mangled, but countless grains of sand gathered around it, slowly forming a new one.
"Brat, you actually broke my hand! I'm going to kill you!"
As he spoke, the unconscious Gaara atop his head slowly sank into his body.
Shukaku was now in his complete form.
"That's Gaara! He's still alive!"
Temari's tearful cry of joy snapped the Sunagakure shinobi out of their fury.
Gaara isn't dead?
Wonderful!
Then Shukaku, the One-Tail, is still our village's tailed beast.
We're still one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages!
Zhou Cheng, who had become the target of everyone's anger, burst out laughing.
"You finally decided to come out!"
"Come on,