Naruto: Reborn as Yagura Karatachi

Three hours later.

Once the narrow gorge known as Heavenly Line was breached and ten thousand Mist shinobi poured into the heart of Sunagakure, the village gradually gave up resisting in the face of overwhelming disparity.

Elder Chiyo, the only one capable of standing up to the pressure, had been subdued and taken under control.

Though on the other hand, it could be said that she was the one who managed to stall the leader of this generation's Seven Ninja Swordsmen.

But the problem was the other three members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen—no regular Suna shinobi had the power to step up and hold them off.

Heroism had yet to shine through at the level of genin, chunin, or even jonin.

But once it reached the level of elite jonin and above, the gap became like a chasm.

To the Mist, Sunagakure's elite jonin were just slightly harder to kill—not nearly enough to be considered equal in strength.

And then there were the regular Mist shinobi.

It was only after real combat began that the Suna ninja were stunned to realize something terrifying: the Mist shinobi, once their bottom-of-the-barrel brothers-in-arms during the Third Great Ninja War, had undergone a quiet but complete metamorphosis.

They now exerted a pressure even greater than the Konoha shinobi did during that war.

Anyone who still dared resist or fight back was killed.

The rest surrendered one after another.

The Mist shinobi assumed full military control of Sunagakure.

The Suna shinobi were rounded up and placed under watch. Under clear command and coordination, the Mist began rapidly taking over security and operations throughout the village.

This defeat was far worse than the surprise attack from Iwagakure before the Third Great Ninja War.

Since the founding of the Five Great Hidden Villages and the beginning of recorded shinobi history, there had never been an instance where one Hidden Village was fully invaded and conquered by another like this.

As the realization dawned, the shinobi of Sunagakure were overcome by despair.

They were living through a transformation with no precedent in history—no past example, no guideline, nothing to fall back on.

So they had no idea how to break out of this crisis.

"What the hell do you Mist bastards plan to do with Sunagakure?!"

Baki shouted, grief and rage in his voice, glaring at the Mist shinobi guarding them.

The Mist shinobi met the angry, grieving stares of the captured Suna with cold indifference.

"Losers should keep their mouths shut."

"What did you say—?!"

Click!

All around, Mist shinobi raised their projectile tools, aiming directly at Baki and the other Suna who had stood up behind him. The sudden threat made them instinctively take a step back.

"You've already surrendered. If you value your lives, don't make things harder for us."

A few Mist shinobi snorted at their bravado.

If they wanted to act tough, they should've died fighting alongside those who resisted to the end.

Now that they'd surrendered, what was the point of playing the role of the unyielding warrior?

Still, the leading Mist shinobi gave no order to lower their weapons. The tension remained, an unspoken warning.

"Our superiors ordered no killing of prisoners. We have no intention of further bloodshed. Show some restraint."

"A ninja from the Bloody Mist claiming they have no intention to kill..."

An older Suna shinobi muttered bitterly under his breath—but the moment the words left his lips, every Mist shinobi on the scene locked deadly gazes onto him.

At the same time, the nearby Suna shinobi subtly stepped away from him to maintain distance.

The man's voice faltered, his bravado shrinking. His eyes darted around, looking to his comrades for support—only to find none.

If not for the standing order against killing surrendered enemies, the Mist shinobi would have already riddled him with projectiles.

...

Sunagakure, Kazekage Tower.

Mangetsu and the others had moved in, beginning talks with the upper echelon of Sunagakure.

While ordinary shinobi worried about what fate awaited them under Mist rule, the vested interests—the top brass—were far more concerned about something else:

What did the Mist want?

Would their demands threaten the existence of Sunagakure itself?

Or more importantly, would they jeopardize the power and benefits the elites currently enjoyed?

On that first point, the leadership had calmed down somewhat. They were certain the Mist wouldn't go so far as to wipe Sunagakure off the map.

Due to his status as Mizukage, Yagura couldn't take the battlefield personally—so he didn't come to Sunagakure.

Instead, Mei Terumi stood in as his full representative, delivering Kirigakure's demands to Sunagakure's high command, led by Chiyo.

At this point in their lightning-fast campaign, Sunagakure should've been surrendering unconditionally. When Chiyo ordered the remaining Suna shinobi to stand down, she had already prepared herself mentally for the consequences.

But when she saw the actual terms Kirigakure was demanding, a flicker of pale dread crept across her face.

1. Gaara, son of the Fourth Kazekage, will succeed as the Fifth Kazekage. He is to be mentored by Sasori.

Just this first point alone was enough to make Chiyo envision a bleak future for Sunagakure.

Gaara was still just a child.

Putting a child on the Kazekage's seat meant that, for the next few years at least, the village would have no real leadership—and that meant they wouldn't be able to mount any effective resistance against Kirigakure.

Worse yet, to have Sasori be his mentor… to have a Mist shinobi mentoring Gaara.

Chiyo had never stopped grieving over her grandson, and now Sasori had become an enemy threatening to destroy the village itself. The thought was a dagger to her heart.

What kind of ideology would Gaara grow up with under the influence of a Mist shinobi?

To Sunagakure, that would be uncontrollable.

To Kirigakure, completely manageable.

The rest of the treaty was filled with provisions requiring Sunagakure to cooperate with Kirigakure in military and strategic affairs.

Cooperation, as written. Submission, as read.

"Sasori…"

Chiyo lowered her head. She wasn't sure if she was speaking as a Sunagakure elder, or simply as a grandmother. She looked at Mei and asked,

"He came with you, didn't he?"

"Yes," Mei confirmed with a nod. "He should be in the village right now."

What exactly he was doing, she didn't know. None of the Mist shinobi were tracking his movements.

Chiyo set the treaty aside and said firmly, "I need to see him first. Then we'll continue negotiations."

It was a reasonable request. Mei agreed with a calm smile. "No problem."

Chiyo left the conference room. With only the remaining, less capable Suna officials left behind, Mei actually found the negotiations easier to handle.

Kirigakure had no reason to stop her.

It was only after they agreed that the others realized why they'd said yes so easily.

But Sunagakure's defeat was already sealed. This wasn't something Chiyo could overturn on her own.

And yet... if she left now...

"You should go, Sister."

At Chiyo's moment of indecision, Ebizō spoke gently.

"I'll hold things down here. That child is more important to you."

His words pierced straight through her hesitation like an arrow.

The village—or her grandson.

She stepped out of the conference room, leaving the arguing voices behind her.

For a brief moment, she set aside the role of Sunagakure Elder.

Without pausing, Chiyo hurried toward the only place she could think of.

Sasori had returned to the village.

There was only one place he could have gone.

The moment Mei had confirmed Sasori was back, Chiyo had already guessed it.

Bang!

She shoved the front door open with force. It slammed hard against the wall.

Despite having only run a short distance, Chiyo was out of breath and disheveled. Perhaps even more exhausted than if she'd been fighting Mist shinobi to the death.

Panting heavily, she looked toward the young man standing quietly in the living room.

Sasori.

As though he hadn't heard the commotion, Sasori continued what he was doing—gently wiping dust from the surface of an old photo of his parents.

"Sasori…"

He didn't respond to her voice.

But he also didn't move away as she approached step by step.

Which meant—her presence was permitted.

Hope bloomed in Chiyo's chest.

If Sasori was willing to come back now, willing to return to Sunagakure...

Splat.

Just as she reached out and grabbed his arm, Sasori abruptly pulled it away.

To him, the change in her emotional state was just data—calculated, analyzed, predicted. He immediately switched to the next pre-set program.

Even from that brief contact, Chiyo realized something was off.

That wasn't the touch of human skin. It was something cold, something artificial—something far too familiar.

Puppet parts.

She didn't want to accept it, but her years of instinct forced her to. The truth came crashing down before she could stop it.

Her heart fell into ice.

"So, you figured it out after all, old woman."

Sasori turned to face her, sarcasm dripping from his voice.

He unfastened his robe, revealing the puppet body underneath.

What she saw—was enough to break any parent's heart.

The body he had inherited from his mother and father, now disassembled and transformed into parts and gears.

Chiyo had lived through decades of war and power. But right now, she felt tears sting the corners of her eyes.

"Sasori! How could you?!"

Not even learning the truth about the Third Kazekage's death—that it was Sasori who had killed him—had hit her as hard as this.

She'd buried that truth. Hidden it. Used her influence to suppress it.

If Sasori had agreed to come back, even now, Chiyo might have crowned him Kazekage herself. Sunagakure had no one else left.

But now…

He had turned himself into a puppet.

There was no saving him.

In her middle age, she'd lost her son and daughter-in-law.

Now, in her twilight years, her life's work—Sunagakure—was crumbling, and her only grandson was gone in everything but name.

"What's wrong?"

Sasori tilted his head slightly, continuing to speak with chilling detachment.

"Isn't it beautiful? A perfect creation. No decay, no damage, no limitations of the flesh. Can't you see it? This is my eternal, everlasting art."

"You—this is madness! Twisted delusions!"

If Ōnoki had been here, he and Chiyo would have had a lot to agree on.

Nothing is more tragic than a dead heart.

Tears slid down Chiyo's face before she realized she was crying. With all her remaining strength, she punched Sasori in the face.

The blow landed—but left no mark.

It felt good. And then it felt hollow.

As though that punch had drained the last of her energy.

Chiyo let her hand fall. She walked slowly to the sofa and sat down.

Staring blankly at the table, her thoughts drifting.

Looking back on her life, and around the room, she realized—she had nothing left.

Sasori's puppet body was made of special material. Her punch had done nothing to it.

His program continued.

If Chiyo was still clinging to her role as Sunagakure's elder, then he would make her give it up.

He walked forward.

The task Yagura had given him in secret—now began.

Technically, Yagura had no authority to program him directly.

But Sasori chose to execute it of his own free will.

"Grandmother."

Sasori said flatly, "From here on, you'll have no further part in Sunagakure's affairs."

He didn't need to say it.

Chiyo didn't want to be involved anymore.

Everything was over.

She had already sacrificed so much—her family, her conscience—for the sake of the village. And this was the result.

She was just an old woman now. What was the point of sacrificing even more?

"If you really mean that…"

According to the path Sasori had set, if Chiyo truly let go—

"Then I'll take you to see him."

This was the final path Sasori had programmed.

If she could make that choice—he would walk it with her.

Too many hopes, too many disappointments.

This would be the last one.

The last chance. That's all she would get.

Yagura and Sasori were offering her the final shot at redemption.

And in the end, Chiyo took it.

She disappeared from the post-war negotiations between Kirigakure and Sunagakure—never to return.

(T/N: I strongly recommend you to read my new fanfic "Starting From Being Adopted by the Second Hokage!"

Quite an interesting fanfic. What really caught my attention is that the protagonist becomes stronger through a gradual process — this is not a brainless power fantasy. It's the first time I've seen something like this, and I have to say, I'm satisfied.

The main character has a pretty unique background, he's an Uchiha who was adopted by Tobirama (which is already unusual) thanks to Hashirama. As you might've guessed, the story takes place in the early timeline of the Naruto world. He's in the same generation as Hiruzen, which is another plus.

The MC is talented and works hard, but his efforts only make him slightly stronger than Hiruzen (at least for the first 100 chapters). He also has a well-developed personality, he's not a madman, but he is ruthless toward his enemies. One particularly interesting aspect is that he uses poison, a very underrated element in the Naruto world. We know from canon that poison can be deadly even to powerful shinobi, yet it's mostly associated with Sunagakure and usually used against genin or chunin.

The only downside is that the fanfic gives more attention to cooking than necessary (the MC is apparently very impressive at it, and everyone praises his cooking). It's manageable for me, but still a bit much. There's even a whole chapter about it at the beginning. For readers who aren't into that, I noted at the top that the chapter focuses on cooking and can be skipped. Thankfully, after that, the fanfic doesn't dwell on it this much.)

...

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Pls Drop some Power Stones

Fanfic is finished on Patreon (265 chapters in total.) 

Patreon(.)com/Jixo (for only $4.50, read this entire fanfic)