At that thought, Gaara let out a long sigh, and his gaze grew resolute once more.
"Once we return to the village, begin preparations immediately. Send Kirigakure everything they asked for, according to the terms we agreed to!"
"And officially announce that Sunagakure will close itself off for twenty years!"
Hearing this order, Sasori, encased in his puppet shell beside him, froze in confusion.
"Lord Kazekage, didn't you hear what that man just said? He'll be gone for an entire month. During that time, we could easily..."
Gaara shook his head, cutting him off, his tone utterly serious.
"Enough. Unless that man wants to die, who in this world could threaten his life?"
"But..."
Sasori still could not understand. If there was a sliver of hope, why give up resisting so easily?
At that moment, Fourth Kazekage Rasa, who had been following the group all along, narrowed his eyes as he watched his son, who had matured, and nodded approvingly.
"This is a completely pointless gamble. Even if Gekkō Raito doesn't return, Kirigakure alone, as it stands now, could still wipe the floor with the other villages."
"Even if we broke our agreement, we'd only start another war, and the ultimate victor would still undoubtedly be Kirigakure!"
Only after hearing Rasa's analysis did Sasori understand. He froze for two seconds, then silently lowered his head.
Gekkō Raito had presumably strengthened the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist in public just now to make an example of them.
He wanted them to understand that even without him, Kirigakure still possessed the terrifying strength to destroy every ninja village at any time, so they would abandon any ideas they should not be entertaining before it was too late.
Otherwise, what awaited them would truly be death without even a place to be