Naruto: I, who fooled the ninja world, was hailed as a savior.

Chapter 265 Ant Nest (5k)

The world was desolate, and the colors were as crimson as blood.

"No, no, no! Impossible!"

Looking at the familiar stone tablet, Luo Sha's throat bobbed up and down, his dry and cracked lips opened and closed, but he could only squeeze out broken and hoarse sounds from deep in his throat.

The scene before him completely shattered his composure and rationality as the Kazekage.

Is this an illusion?

This must be an illusion!

"untie!"

He suddenly raised his hands, using all his strength to force himself to form the hand seals to dispel the illusion.

They stared wide-eyed, held their breath, and waited for the scene before them to distort, shatter, and dissipate, revealing the familiar outline of Sunagakure.

However, nothing happened.

Only the wind continued to howl tirelessly, whipping up fine sand that lashed at his face, the stinging sensation feeling like countless ants biting him.

Clear and vivid.

This is not an illusion.

A bone-chilling coldness surged uncontrollably from his feet, creeping up Luo Sha's spine inch by inch, causing his hands, which were forming hand seals, to tremble uncontrollably.

Fear and panic! Unbelievable!
How could this be? How could this happen?
They were only gone for a few days, what happened? How did Sunagakure become like this?!
Just as he was lost in thought and panic.

Puff! Puff puff puff!

Several withered, charred, twisted arms, like the roots of an old tree, suddenly burst forth from the seemingly calm sand beneath him!

These arms were shriveled up, with only a layer of skin covering the bones. They were charred black or ashen, with sharp, curved nails like bird claws, completely unlike the limbs of a living person.

His movements were stiff, but he held onto Luo Sha's legs and hands tightly!
"Varied……"

Before Luo Sha could even react to the sudden attack, an irresistible pulling force came from those arms!

It was as if demons from hell were frantically dragging him downwards, trying to pull him into this bottomless sea of ​​sand!

The sand beneath him seemed to have turned into a quicksand swamp, and his body began to sink at an alarming speed.

"What the hell is this?"

Rasa's chakra instincts erupted as he tried to break free.

But the strength of these withered arms was beyond imagination, and their numbers were increasing, constantly emerging from the sand, locking his hands and body so that he could not form hand seals!
But he still struggled frantically, manipulating the small amount of gold dust to slash and parry, constantly cutting off and shredding the withered arms that reached out from all directions!
puff! Poof!

The severed arm did not bleed; it simply turned into handfuls of lifeless, ordinary sand, which fell down and merged back into the surrounding sea of ​​sand.

All this is in vain.

No matter how many he shattered, more withered arms immediately emerged from the sea of ​​sand, grabbing his ankles, arms, and waist, dragging him into the abyss.

It's like trying to fight against a vast, malevolent desert all by yourself; the power of an individual is ridiculously insignificant.

"Do not……"

Luo Sha's final roar, filled with despair and rage, was like a stone thrown into the deep sea, instantly swallowed up by the endless, cold quicksand.

Countless arms dragged him into the soft, cold quicksand.

Yellow sand surged in from all directions, pressing down on his entire body with immense pressure, as if to crush him. Sand filled his mouth and nose, making it hard to breathe.

Suppressing his panic, Rasa struggled to control the little chakra remaining in his body, and golden sand condensed around his head, forcibly creating just enough space for him to breathe.

"Ahem! Ahem!"

The fresh air rushed into his lungs, giving him some relief from his chest, which felt like it was about to explode.

But he was still enveloped by the endless sea of ​​sand, and heavy pressure came from all directions, continuously consuming his already meager chakra.

The abdominal injury inflicted by 'Mouryou' in the Land of Demons has not fully healed, even though it was treated and saved by medical ninjas there.

He tried to struggle upwards, manipulating the gold dust to break through, but the surrounding sand was thicker than he could have imagined, like sinking into the thickest swamp.

Each attempt to move only caused the surrounding quicksand to envelop him more tightly, causing him to sink deeper. The more he struggled, the faster he sank.

Dying?

Despair, like the surrounding sand, enveloped him coldly.

He didn't know how long he had endured this slow descent.

Pfft!
Suddenly, the ground beneath my feet gave way to a feeling of weightlessness.

He was freed from the viscous, heavy sand and began to fall!

Bang!
His feet landed on a solid, familiar ground, a sensation that made him stagger a few steps, but he quickly regained his balance.

"Where is this place?"

Luo Sha suddenly raised his head and instinctively looked around.

However, once his vision adjusted to the dim light and he could see clearly what was before him, his body and his mind froze completely, turning him into a statue.

A thin, dim light seeped down from who-knows-where, barely illuminating this vast, eerie space.

What unfolds before my eyes is a bizarre and grotesque scene, resembling some kind of cruel performance art.

There was only an endless expanse of yellowish-brown, with countless sands not piled up loosely, but as if shaped by some invisible force, gathering into towering sand trees.

These "trees" forcefully support a "sky" also made of sand, with fine sand constantly cascading down like a waterfall, submerging the buildings below.

It is these strange "trees" that, beneath this sea of ​​sand, have struggled to support this vast and empty underground space.

In the space beneath this sea of ​​sand, Luo Sha looked around in bewilderment and fear, and saw the outlines of familiar buildings.

Sunagakure was built on a huge basin, and its architectural structure, which was already similar to an anthill, now looked even more like a huge anthill that had been completely buried underground.

If Sunagakure is an anthill, then what is now submerged and solidified within that anthill are the tiny ants that once lived there.

Luo Sha's trembling gaze swept over the familiar streets, squares, and houses...

What he saw were countless figures, all different in shape, their bodies dry and cracked, completely devoid of moisture and life.

They remained in the postures of their last moments: some were prostrate on the ground, some were struggling to reach upwards, and some had their mouths open, as if silently wailing...

There was no flesh or blood, no sign of struggle, only overwhelming despair!

The silence of death enveloped everything.

Luo Sha's heart felt as if it were being squeezed tightly by a hand, making it incredibly difficult to breathe. Each breath was filled with the stench of sand and the smell of death.

His gaze drifted further into the distance, towards the center of the village, where the Kazekage Building, the symbol of power and order in Sunagakure, should have stood.

However, what stood there at that moment was not a building he was familiar with, but a huge pyramid made of sand.

"How can it be……"

Rosa's throat bobbed up and down, his mind blank.

This is absolutely something a tailed beast like Shukaku could do!
Although Shukaku's power is violent and destructive, it is impossible for it to bury the entire village, along with all life, in such a twisted and ritualistic way!
This is even less likely to be something that humans could do.

what exactly is it? !

Something unimaginably terrifying has turned the entire Sand Village, along with all life, into a giant "anthill" specimen.

What kind of monster could possibly accomplish something like this, with this kind of power?!
Upon witnessing such a bizarre scene, cold sweat instantly soaked through Rasa's back, and his chakra instincts surged throughout his body, causing gold dust to gush out and swirl around him.

at this time.

Whoosh!
A very faint sound of air being torn apart suddenly appeared behind him!

Almost instinctively, before he could even think, Luo Sha condensed the gold dust floating around him into a blade, which swept backward with a sharp whooshing sound!
The figure narrowly avoided the fierce slash.

"it's me."

A deliberately lowered voice, filled with barely concealed fatigue, yet strangely familiar, rang out.

Luo Sha's hand seal movement suddenly stopped, and he abruptly turned around to look at the person who had come.

Behind them stood a female ninja wearing a tattered Sand Village ninja vest, her face covered in sand and dried blood, looking tired and tense.

Those bloodshot eyes were constantly scanning their surroundings.

"Ye Cang?" Rasa blurted out, her voice filled with disbelief and astonishment. "How could you..."

"This is not the place to talk!" Before he could finish speaking, Ye Cang's gaze suddenly sharpened, staring intently at a certain spot in the sky behind Luo Sha, his expression becoming even more unpleasant.

"Come on!"

Before she finished speaking, her figure disappeared from the spot and sped off in one direction!
Luo Sha followed her gaze and looked up sharply, his pupils shrinking instantly.

In the distance, in a corner of the constantly leaking "sky" made of sand, a giant eyeball formed of sand was silently floating and flying toward their location!

The Eye of Sand?!

Without any hesitation, Rasa's chakra erupted instantly, and he raised his hand to form hand seals, using the Body Flicker Technique to disappear from the spot.

Following closely behind Yekura, the two swiftly traversed the half-buried ruins, and soon brought Rasa to an extremely hidden entrance covered by sand.

Outside the entrance, a pile of mummified corpses stood in place, looking terrifying and eerie.

And Rasa finally realized why he felt these mummies were familiar.

Scorching Release is a fusion of wind and fire chakra nature transformations. It can instantly evaporate the moisture of an opponent upon contact, turning them into a state similar to a dried corpse.

"Did you kill these people?" Luo Sha asked Ye Cang in front of him.

Ye Cang turned her back to him and did not answer, but walked towards the heavy metal door at the entrance.

The metal door was tightly closed, and several white strips of cloth radiating chakra fluctuations were wrapped around it, with the character "禁" (forbidden) written on the surface of each strip.

Ye Cang quickly formed several complex hand seals and shouted in a low voice, "Release!"

The white cloth strip on the door quickly retracted and untied, and the heavy metal door made a soft sound as she pushed it open, creating a gap just wide enough for one person to pass through.

"Go in!" Ye Cang was the first to dash in.

Luo Sha followed closely behind, stepping inside.

Inside the door was a dimly lit space that was not very spacious and was clearly converted from an emergency shelter.

The air was thick and filled with the smells of medicine, sweat, and blood. The only source of light was a few flickering emergency lights.

As Rasa's gaze swept across the interior of the shelter, his heart sank.

Several hundred people were sitting or lying in the space, all dressed in rags, looking pale and sickly, their faces filled with undisguised fatigue and fear.

Upon hearing the door open, everyone jerked their heads up like startled birds, looking over nervously.

When their gaze fell upon Yekura and Luosha, who followed closely behind, a faint light suddenly shone in their otherwise lifeless eyes.

"Lord Yakura!"

"Yes, it's Lord Kazekage!"

"Yakura has brought Lord Kazekage back!"

"Are we... are we saved?!"

Hoarse cries filled with sobs rose and fell, as if a lifeline had been thrown into the Dead Sea of ​​despair, and the still young Kankuro and Temari ran over crying.

However, Yekura completely ignored these hopeful cries.

She walked straight to a corner of the shelter, to an old man leaning against the wall, his hair and beard all white, his face covered with wrinkles and looking tired.

"I've brought the person back to you." Yecang's voice carried a weariness that seemed to have exhausted him, and even a hint of numbness that was barely perceptible.

The old man slowly raised his head; he was Ebizo, the advisor and elder of Sunagakure and Chiyo's younger brother.

He looked at Ye Cang with his cloudy eyes, then at Luo Sha who was walking over, and slowly nodded: "Thank you for your trouble, Ye Cang."

"It's just a matter of dying sooner or later."

Ye Cang muttered a self-deprecating remark, walked to the side, sat down against the wall, closed his eyes, as if he no longer wanted to care about anything.

"Ebizo? You're here too. What happened?"

Rasa, his arms tightly held by Temari and Kankuro, walked up to Ebizo with a grave expression and asked, "How did the village become like this? Where are the others?"

"other people?"

The one who answered him was not Ebizo, but Yokura, who was resting with his eyes closed.

She didn't even open her eyes, her voice icy and chilling: "That's all, that's all."

"What you see is the last living person in Sunagakure."

"……what?"

Although he had a bad feeling, hearing the cruel truth from Yecang's mouth still made Luo Sha feel dizzy and sway, almost unable to stand.

The entire village is now reduced to less than a thousand people?!
"All of this is thanks to you, Fourth Kazekage."

Ye Cang finally opened her eyes. Her bloodshot eyes were filled with complex emotions: anger, grief, and a deep sense of powerlessness and mockery.

She stared at Luo Sha and said, word by word, "All of this was done by your good son."

Yekura and Rasa have a very bad relationship, not only because of the conflict over the Fourth Kazekage, but also because Rasa has been targeting her in various ways ever since he became Kazekage.

This includes, but is not limited to, rejecting her application to go to the battlefield and refusing to let her become a high-ranking member of Sunagakure on the grounds that she is not qualified enough, so of course she has no respect for Rasa.

“…Who?” Rasa’s pupils trembled, his voice hoarse with shock, “Gaara?”

How can it be?

How could Gaara possibly possess such power?!
Even if Shukaku went berserk and broke free of its seal, Gaara could never have turned the entire village into this state with the power of the tailed beasts!

Ultimately, Shukaku excels at sealing techniques and Wind Release, not sand manipulation.

"It is indeed Gaara."

Ebizo sighed, "Three intruders dressed in black robes with red clouds broke into the village and ripped Shukaku from Gaara's body. After Gaara died, he turned into a monster called a 'Hollow'."

"If I'm not mistaken, he should be at the same level as those beings known as the 'Espada' who appeared in Konoha before."

At this point, as if recalling some horrifying scene, Ebizo's face twitched slightly. He paused for a moment before continuing:

"His incredibly terrifying sand manipulation technique allowed him to possess power comparable to a sandstorm in this desert environment."

“Besides those who died at the very beginning, many others were manipulated by him using the ‘mind manipulation technique’ and turned into his puppets.”

"Those mummies you saw were controlled by them to attack others, and then Yekura and we were forced to kill them with our own hands."

“That monster could have killed us outright, but he didn’t,” Ye Cang said. “He was just playing a game, a game of hide-and-seek!”

Her breathing became much heavier. Clearly, as a "hero" of Sunagakure, having to kill her comrade with her own hands was a huge psychological burden for her.

This is exactly what the monster wanted to see: their fear, pain, struggle, and despair...

"I knew it!"

That monster should have died long ago!

"Lord Kazekage should have killed him sooner!"

"If... if we could have killed him sooner, we..."

Driven by fear and resentment, civilians continued to roar and murmur.

They were so ignorant that they had no idea why Gaara had become like this, nor did they know what it meant to become a Jinchuriki.

All they knew was that the kid was a monster when he was alive, and that he had repeatedly gone out of control and caused the deaths of hundreds of people. They wondered if he would still be a monster after death.

After hearing Ebizo and Yokura's stories, Rasa finally realized just how terrifying his youngest son, whom he had always regarded as a tool and weapon, had become.

Moreover, unlike the 'fierce eyes' of Konoha, the 'Hollow' that Gaara became after his death actually possessed rationality and had a personality like a mischievous child.

The reason why he didn't kill everyone himself, but instead chose to manipulate the people of Sunagakure to kill other people of Sunagakure, is similar to a child crushing ants.

A kind of pure innocence and cruelty.

"how so……"

"Didn't the Third Hokage say that only those with powerful souls who devour enough souls after death can transform into a Hollow at the Espada level?"

Rasa's voice was dry and hoarse as he said, "Even if Gaara was filled with resentment and pain before he died, given his strength in life, he shouldn't have felt this way after becoming a Hollow..."

He paused suddenly, as if realizing something, and his breathing became rapid.

Is it...

Do not!
impossible!
(End of this chapter)