Chapter 50: The Unseen Pawn
The moment his palm made contact, Aizen imprinted a subtle spiritual seal onto the fabric of Gaara's own chakra and the monstrous power it contained. When he had touched Gaara's abdomen, he had felt it clearly—a vast, bestial, and incredibly volatile force, radiating a powerful repulsion that sought to reject any external probe.
The One-Tail, Aizen had concluded. Strong, but ultimately a caged beast. And a caged beast, no matter how fierce, was a tool waiting to be wielded.
The purpose of the spiritual seal was insidious. His mutated spiritual energy, which could intertwine with and mimic chakra, would slowly seep into the foundations of Shukaku's prison. When the time was right, a focused burst of this energy could destabilize the seal entirely, unleashing the beast upon Konoha in a controlled, calculated catastrophe.
This was the true reason for his restraint. He had no desire to kill Gaara. The boy was far more valuable as an unwitting pawn, a living weapon primed to detonate at Aizen's command during the impending invasion. This way, he advanced his grand scheme without revealing a fraction of his true power.
"Sand Binding Coffin!" Gaara roared, his fury undimmed. He clenched his hands, and the sand surged forward once more in a crushing wave. He refused to believe his control could be so utterly defied.
This time, however, Aizen did not rely on his overwhelming speed. His objective was achieved; the mask of the humble prodigy could be donned once more.
His hands flew through a series of seals. "Shadow Clone Technique!"
Poof! Poof! Poof! Poof! Poof!
Five identical Aizens appeared in a circle around the original, their forms a perfect mirror image.
"Shadow Clones?" Gaara's lips curled into a sneer. "A pointless trick before my sand!" He thrust his hands outward, palms open, then slammed them together. "Sand Waterfall Funeral!"
The very air seemed to thicken as sand coalesced overhead, forming a roaring, monumental waterfall of grit and stone. It was a terrifying spectacle of nature bent to a single will, crashing down upon all six Aizens with annihilating force.
BOOM!
The impact shook the earth, sending plumes of dust and sand high into the air. The destructive power was absolute. Under Gaara's relentless sensory gaze, the chakra signatures of all six figures winked out, swallowed by the torrent.
"A bit troublesome," Gaara muttered, his breathing slightly labored, "but finally dealt with." He could no longer sense Aizen's presence. It was as if the boy had been utterly erased from the world.
Temari and Kankuro scanned the devastated area, their senses stretched to the limit, but found nothing.
"I thought he might be an opponent worth my interest," Gaara said, his arrogance returning in full force. "It seems he was just a waste who relied on a single trick."
With a thought, he commanded the sand to flow back into his gourd. As the golden streams receded, a single object became visible on the scarred ground: the simple, dark outer robe Aizen had been wearing.
Seeing this tangible proof of destruction, Gaara was satisfied. The interloper had been completely obliterated.
"Temari, Kankuro. Let's go," he commanded, turning his back on the scene. "Setting the record is our primary goal. This delay was insignificant." The two siblings fell in step behind him, a mixture of relief and awe in their steps, and the three Sand ninja disappeared into the forest, leaving the patch of desertified land behind.
In the deep shadows of the adjacent forest, a voice whispered, too soft for any but the trees to hear.
"How truly interesting, that boy from Sunagakure," Aizen mused, a faint, knowing smile on his lips as he leaned against a towering tree trunk. He was completely unharmed, his robes intact. "Perhaps you will lend me a most helpful hand in our next encounter."
At the precise moment the Sand Waterfall had descended, Aizen had not used the Shadow Clone. He had used one of the highest forms of Shunpo, a near-teleportation that left no afterimage. While Gaara was focused on obliterating the decoys, the real Aizen had already transcended the battlefield, watching the entire display from a place of perfect safety.
From the very beginning to the very end, every action of the Sand siblings had unfolded exactly as he had foreseen. He had engaged them, tested their limits, planted his secret, and retreated, all while allowing them to believe they had emerged victorious. The pawn was in place, and the hunter remained hidden in plain sight, his strings attached and waiting to be pulled.