"Awake yet?"
Son Goten slapped his face with his other hand, each smack ringing out.
"Weren't you making plenty of noise just now? You wanted to kill people, wanted blood. How about I let some of yours out now?"
Gaara's eyes were vacant.
That crazed killing intent had long since vanished, replaced by a fear that rose from the depths of his soul.
Why was this guy scarier than Shukaku?
When that punch had landed, he had felt as though he had slammed into a mountain.
Shukaku inside him had gone completely silent, huddling in the deepest part of the seal and playing dead.
As a mass of chakra, that tanuki was more perceptive than humans.
He could clearly sense a savage presence slumbering within this brat, something far older than the Tailed Beasts.
Anyone who went out now would be an idiot.
"Say something. Gone mute?"
Son Goten gave the huge lump on his forehead another flick, neither too hard nor too soft.
"Ow!" Gaara cried out in pain.
"So young, and already picking up bad habits. Playing at being an insomniac? Shouting your head off and disturbing the neighbors?"
Son Goten switched into elder mode, pointing and lecturing.
"If I hear you howling in the middle of the night again, I'll drag that big tanuki of yours out and stuff him into Teuchi's ramen pot to make soup. Understand?"
Gaara nodded frantically, like an elementary school student caught by the head of discipline.
"Y-yes... I understand..."
He even blurted out, "B-brother-in-law, stop hitting me."
Calling him brother-in-law came out with effortless ease, entirely driven by a survival instinct beaten into him.
Nearby, Sasuke's hand froze in midair, still gripping his kunai.
Clang. The kunai fell to the ground with a crisp ring.
He watched that demonic monster, who