After all that, was this what Orochimaru wanted to say? Trying to sow discord with his background?
If Naruto still wanted to waste words with Orochimaru, he would probably say, "That topic is long gone."
Following the previous steps to seal Edo Tensei bodies, sealing runes completely covered Orochimaru's entire body, eventually forming an impenetrable cocoon of Chakra, encasing and sealing him within.
In the last moment before his consciousness was swallowed by darkness, a look of genuine disbelief finally appeared on Orochimaru's face, realizing his plan had completely spiraled out of control; he couldn't understand why this bombshell had failed to create even the slightest ripple.
But now, let alone forming hand signs to resist, he couldn't even mobilize a single trace of Chakra.
Let this guy "live" in this "cocoon" for a while first.
Naruto turned around, only to meet the astonished gazes of the Third Hokage and Jiraiya. They were clearly extremely surprised and puzzled by Naruto's overly calm reaction.
It seems... he'll have to do some explaining later... Naruto felt a headache coming on. How should he explain?
Right now, he was more worried about Gaara's condition. Recalling Gaara's pale face and empty eyes, as if his soul had been extracted, Naruto was concerned.
"I'm going to check on Gaara," he said casually to the two, trying to temporarily avoid their questions, "Let's talk about it when we get back to Konoha."
"Naruto, wait!"
However, the Flying Thunder God technique had already activated. With a flash of golden light, Naruto instantly vanished from his spot, and the next moment, he appeared in front of Gaara, who was sitting against a tree nearby.
Gaara still maintained that worrying state. It wasn't the look of renewed hope after hearing Naruto's encouragement, nor the previous deathly coldness, but rather a kind of... fragility, like a crack appearing in porcelain.
He wasn't crying, but his emerald eyes were filled with a sadness that was almost overflowing.
Naruto placed his hand on Gaara's shoulder, and golden Chakra slowly flowed in, mending some of the small scrapes and bruises on his body.
"...Orochimaru has been defeated and sealed by me. It's over now." Naruto softened his voice, "Let's go back first... Tell me, what exactly did Orochimaru say to you? What did he do?"
"I'm sorry..." Gaara's voice was so faint it was almost inaudible.
"Now isn't the time for apologies, is it?" Naruto tried to interrupt his negativity with a light tone, "I don't think you've done anything you need to apologize to me for."
"...But," Gaara's voice trembled. "Everything I touch will die because of me... Mother... Yashamaru... Temari... Kankuro... even... you might die because of me..."
"A monster like me... doesn't deserve to be treated like that by you... doesn't deserve to have anything...!"
"Bang!"
Gaara's self-deprecating words were not yet finished when Naruto suddenly made an unexpected move—he leaned forward abruptly and forcefully slammed his forehead against Gaara's!
The sudden impact and pain momentarily "jolted" Gaara out of the abyss of self-loathing he was drowning in.
He grunted in pain, his body, which had been sitting on the ground, tilted backward from the impact. He braced himself with his hands on the ground, looked up, and stared at Naruto with astonishment and confusion. What met his eyes was Naruto's face, clearly etched with anger.
Recalling the previous discovery of Temari and Kankuro being poisoned and on the verge of death, combined with Gaara's current state of collapse, Naruto instantly understood Orochimaru's malicious trick.
He wanted to use the "death" of his closest relatives as a final blow to completely destroy Gaara's will to resist, making him willingly become an experimental subject!
"I absolutely do not agree with that mistaken perception!" Naruto's voice rose with anger, "We are merely Jinchuriki! We are never monsters abandoned by the world! We are vessels that bear the pain for those important to us!"
He saw Gaara flinch at his roar, which tightened his heart, but his words pierced even more directly to the core.
"You say you don't want to be expected, understood, or known by anyone, and you shut yourself off... But even so, you still feel sorrow for those lives lost due to conspiracy and betrayal!"
"You suffer and despair when people you care about are hurt! How could I abandon you, with a heart like that?!"
This cry, mixed with anger and sincerity, and feeling the strong emotions in Naruto's words that were born because of him, Gaara instinctively wanted to apologize again. He was afraid of hearing disappointment in this anger, afraid that this only light would also be extinguished by his "mistakes."
"...But, Temari... and, Kankuro..." His voice choked, almost unable to form words, that was his deepest self-reproach.
"They're still alive."
"...Al-alive?!" Gaara suddenly looked up, his emerald eyes trembling violently at this sudden news.
"Yes." Naruto nodded affirmingly, his tone softening, "Before I found you, I found them first. The poison in their bodies has been removed by me, and they are no longer in danger. And, it was they who told me you were captured by Orochimaru and pleaded with me to save you."
"...I see... So... that's how it is..." A huge wave of relief and lingering fear washed over him. Gaara wanted to let out a long breath, but found his heart clogged with various complex emotions, making even breathing difficult.
He was like a child who had done something wrong, lowering his head in shame, not daring to look directly into Naruto's eyes anymore.
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