Earlier, in order to ease the intense pain Rasa was enduring, the medicine sprayed on him had been a highly potent analgesic.
After the first wave of searing pain passed, the drug gradually took effect, and Rasa slowly lost sensation across the surface of his skin.
Only then did he finally let out a long breath of relief, as if a heavy burden had been lifted, and regain the ability to speak normally.
However, when he looked out and saw the village reduced to a devastated, unrecognizable ruin, a surge of shame and helplessness rose in his heart.
In the end, he could only explain, "I was careless for a moment and accidentally fell asleep. That gave Shukaku an opening to slip into my consciousness and take control of my body."
Hearing this, Pakura merely let out a cold laugh and said nothing more.
Then she turned and issued orders to the medical ninja who were preparing to lift Rasa onto a stretcher, "You don't need to use too many precious medicines on this jinchuriki. He has strong self-healing abilities. Just increase the dosage of painkillers appropriately."
The medical ninja responded respectfully, "Understood, Kazekage-sama."
With an expressionless face, the Kazekage gave another order, "Hurry and handle the aftermath. Everyone else, disperse."
At her command, everyone began moving. The crowd that had been gathered gradually scattered.
However, at this moment, the three jonin who had just been dealing with Shukaku didn't leave immediately. Instead, they huddled together, whispering among themselves.
One of them lowered his voice and said, "He calls himself the former Kazekage, but he's not even as good as Gaara."
Another immediately echoed, "Exactly. I don't know where he gets the nerve to brag about how strong he is."
The third quickly warned them, "Shh! Keep it down, both of you. Don't let him hear."
But the first didn't seem to care at all and even raised his voice, "What's there to be afraid of? I'm just stating facts. He's a complete and utter waste. So what if he hears?"
The second chimed in as well, "Yeah. When Gaara goes berserk, he can be subdued quickly. But every time this guy loses control, it takes massive manpower and resources to calm him down. And last time, even Nana died because of his rampage."
At this point, the three fell silent at the same time, clearly feeling deep regret over Nanchuan's death.
"He couldn't handle being a jinchuriki but insisted on showing off. He really thought he was invincible. In the end, he's just a failure…"
Although Rasa was some distance away, as a powerful jinchuriki, his sharp senses allowed him to clearly catch every word.
Faced with such blunt accusations and ridicule, his heart was filled with helplessness and pain.
Because he knew that Nana had indeed lost his life during his first rampage. That was an undeniable fact.
So at this moment, he couldn't even find a reason or excuse to argue back. All he could do was silently endure it.
Although the physical pain in his body was gradually subsiding, the sense of humiliation in his heart surged like waves, one after another, growing stronger each time.
Back then, when everyone captured Shukaku and discussed who should become the jinchuriki, Rasa had volunteered without hesitation to take on the heavy responsibility.
After stepping down from the position of Kazekage, his life had actually become more relaxed and comfortable.
After all, only he possessed the unique ability to extract gold from sand. No one else could even come close to that.
Because of this, every word he said in the village still carried considerable weight.
Not only that, Rasa himself was quite powerful.
As a master of Magnet Release, if he could coordinate with Shukaku, his overall strength would undoubtedly undergo a qualitative leap.
Based on these factors, everyone ultimately agreed to his request.
At that time, Rasa held a pent-up determination in his heart. He was intent on fully mastering Shukaku's power, reclaiming the authority he had once lost, and even launching a frenzied retaliation against the Hidden Leaf Village.
Just like Yagura, he wanted to become a perfect jinchuriki.
In his eyes, even the elderly monk Bunpuku back then had been able to suppress Shukaku with ease, maintaining control for decades without a single mistake.
With his own abilities, achieving that should have been no problem at all.
As for Gaara, Rasa had always believed he was nothing more than a complete failure, unable to effectively suppress Shukaku, which he considered normal.
What no one expected was that after sealing Shukaku inside his body, he fell into endless insomnia, unable to rest even for a moment.
The sealed Shukaku was like a deranged madman, constantly spewing trash talk inside his body.
Worse still, those words repeated over and over, always the same few lines, making it unbearably irritating.
Because the voice was transmitted directly through his mind, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't stop it from entering his thoughts.
In just a few days, due to severe sleep deprivation, dark circles as heavy as ink had formed around Rasa's eyes.
His entire mental state became extremely exhausted, and his thinking and reaction speed slowed down several times compared to before.
At first, Rasa had naively believed this condition was only a temporary discomfort caused by sealing Shukaku into his body.
As long as he put in enough effort, he would eventually be able to subdue this unruly tailed beast.
However, reality dealt him a heavy blow.
Not only was Shukaku completely impossible to communicate with, but even getting a peaceful night's sleep became an unreachable fantasy.
As long as Rasa closed his eyes for more than twenty minutes, Shukaku would seize the opportunity to take control of his body.
When this happened, it manifested as sudden, uncontrollable rampages.
He would go on a frenzy, destroying buildings within the village and mercilessly attacking anyone he saw.
It should be known that for anyone unable to sleep for long periods, their mental state cannot withstand such immense pressure.
Prolonged sleeplessness left him physically and mentally drained, making him both extremely irritable and deeply despondent.
These two extreme emotions played out in turns within him like scenes in a stage play. Gradually, even his original personality began to warp.
Finally, on the seventh day after sealing Shukaku, when Rasa dozed off for just a moment, he fell into a deep sleep as if plunging into an abyss.
At that exact moment, Shukaku, long sealed, seized the chance to break free and instantly entered a berserk state.
Because Rasa had previously sworn to everyone that nothing would go wrong, the village's defensive preparations for such an incident were severely insufficient.
The result was predictable. Jonin Nanchuan and two other chunin were killed during the fierce battle with Shukaku.
Not only that, more than twenty innocent civilians were slaughtered under Shukaku's rampage.
Whether in terms of casualties or other losses, the damage was immense.
═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═
[email protected]/AmbitiousTranslator
🥳Joining P@treon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining.🥰 You can access upto 20 advance chapter through P@treon.