Gaara took a deep look at Sasori.
He could clearly feel Sasori's refusal.
Although it was a pity that a powerful puppeteer like Sasori couldn't return to Sunagakure to serve the village,
He wouldn't force it either.
He also knew that the possibility of Sasori returning was low; he was just trying casually.
"Although I've said it many times on the road, I still want to express my gratitude."
Gaara turned to Takumi and said, "If it weren't for you all, Sunagakure would probably have fallen into chaos."
"Don't say that."
Takumi waved his hand. "We were still a step too late, otherwise Advisor Chiyo wouldn't have had to sacrifice her life to save you."
"The fact that you were able to come back to life is entirely Advisor Chiyo's doing."
In front of others, Takumi habitually acted modest.
"Regardless, without your help, even finding my corpse would have required considerable effort."
Gaara said seriously.
Takumi thought about it and realized the situation was indeed as Gaara described.
At that time, the Akatsuki had temporarily changed their location. They didn't go to the secret base in the Land of Rivers.
Instead, they chose to create an underground cavity and extract the Tailed Beast from his body there.
If it weren't for Neji's Byakugan, relying on Sunagakure's search capabilities, they really might not have been able to find that cavity in the vast desert.
"Alright, it's all in the past."
Takumi patted Gaara's shoulder to comfort him. "Now that the Tailed Beast is gone from your body, the Akatsuki has lost its reason to target you."
"All you need to do now is stay safely in Sunagakure, work hard to improve your strength and experience, and then inherit the position of Kazekage in a year or two."
"You are Sunagakure's hope."
After Takumi finished speaking, Gaara's expression didn't change.
He wouldn't feel embarrassed because of this.
He quickly understood the responsibility he bore.
As the son of the Fourth Kazekage, although the youngest, he was also the strongest.
He was currently the most suitable candidate to serve as Kazekage.
And he knew this and had long begun trying to fulfill his duties.
"When is it going to start?"
Sasori was getting impatient.
He didn't like making others wait for him, and he also didn't like waiting for others.
He had always been very particular about time.
"It should be soon."
Takumi said as he looked for a certain figure.
Actually, this was a sudden proposal from Hiruzen.
In fact, Yamato had only just received the news and was rushing here.
So Takumi and the others still had to wait for a while.
On a distant rooftop,
Konan, who had infiltrated without effort, stood there, gazing at Takumi from afar.
Her eyes were full of disbelief.
Earlier, by overhearing the conversations of passersby, she had learned what Takumi intended to do with the captured Sasori.
But it was after hearing it that she became even more incredulous.
'He wanted Sasori to use his puppetry skills to be a barber?'
'What kind of thinking was that?'
Konan felt she would never have thought of having Sasori do such a thing.
But thinking about it carefully, if Sasori himself didn't resist, given his ability to control hundreds of puppets without error, cutting people's hair would be more than enough.
It could indeed save manpower and material resources, and also save everyone time.
After all, a normal barber can only cut one person's hair at a time.
This wasn't the first time Konan had witnessed Takumi's imaginative ideas.
But each time, they were full of surprises for her.
Just like this time.
Like everyone else, she thought Takumi wanted to get more information about the Akatsuki from Sasori.
For example, their purpose in capturing Tailed Beasts, their numbers, where their secret base was, and so on.
But judging by the situation, Takumi didn't seem to care about these things, simply wanting to realize the ideas in his head.
Compared to Takumi, their way of thinking was completely out of sync.
'Maybe this was the difference between a true genius and us?'
Konan couldn't help but wonder.
Being able to stand against their entire Akatsuki at the age of twelve or thirteen was more than just genius.
This surpassed the category of genius.
After all, the members of the Akatsuki were all geniuses from their respective villages.
And Takumi's performance was even more genius than theirs.
"What a pity."
Konan couldn't help but sigh. 'If you could really get information about our headquarters from Sasori, how great would that be?'
'Then maybe you could stop Nagato from continuing to be foolish?'
Konan secretly regretted.
But she also had to reluctantly admit what Nagato had said.
Sasori was not the type to easily divulge information.
Sasori's special body meant that even under torture, he wouldn't feel anything.
Genjutsu was also ineffective against him.
Even the Yamanaka Clan's ability to directly peer into a target's brain might not necessarily work.
This was the source of Nagato's confidence.
Even if Sasori didn't even know their real plan,
Sasori's responsibility as a Shinobi was unquestionable.
Casually divulging information about companions would be despised by others.
Someone as proud as Sasori would definitely not reveal information about the Akatsuki.
Suddenly, Konan's gaze hardened.
It contained killing intent.
Not just her.
All the women around Takumi turned their gazes, filled with killing intent, towards Takumi... towards the Temari beside him.
And the reason Temari received these looks was due to her recent action.
Time rewinds a few minutes.
"Although Gaara has already spoken."
Temari stepped forward and said, "But as his sister, I still have to say it again: Thank you, Takumi-kun."
After saying this, she gently leaned in and, catching Takumi off guard, lightly pressed her lips to his cheek.
"..."
Takumi was momentarily stunned.
He didn't expect Temari to be so forward in public!
Of course, it was just a kiss on the cheek, and she clearly stated it was to express gratitude.
But others definitely wouldn't see it that way.
He glanced around and sure enough, found all the women glaring angrily at Temari.
Sakura and Ino, in particular, seemed to have flames erupting from their bodies, as if they might explode at any moment.
Even their eyes turned into the shape of flames.
Temari was also quite bold. Being stared at by so many people, her expression didn't change at all.
After all, as the Kazekage's daughter, she had seen a lot of trouble.
"Damn woman! How dare you kiss Takumi-kun's cheek without permission!"
Sakura growled through gritted teeth. "Something even I have never done! And she!"
She was extremely unwilling, her eyes full of killing intent.
If not in public, she would probably have charged over immediately.
"That stinky woman from Sunagakure! How dare she take advantage of Takumi-kun like that!"
Ino also clenched her teeth. "Doing something so sly! I haven't even kissed Takumi's cheek!"
Their words represented the mindset of all the women present.
Except for Kurenai.
Tsunade wasn't there; she was still busy with Medical-nin matters.
This kind of work was very mentally consuming.
Tsunade spent most of her time here.
Basically, she could only see Takumi once a week.