Naruto, my father's name is Uchiha Madara.

Page 256

"Gaara...I'm sorry..."

Naruto's voice had a heavy nasal tone.

Tears finally welled up uncontrollably, falling in large drops onto the yellow sand and leaving dark marks.

"I'm sorry... I was too slow... It's my fault... I couldn't protect you... If only... I could have gotten here sooner..."

Self-reproach gnawed at his heart like a venomous snake.

Scenes from the past three years flashed before my eyes like a revolving lantern.

During the tedious and arduous training breaks at Mount Myōboku, Master Jiraiya would always take him out to "gather materials," euphemistically calling it a balance between work and rest.

They had visited Sunagakure more than once.

Each time, Gaara personally received them.

That once aloof, indifferent, and self-absorbed demon.

He has become a calm, dignified figure, yet still carries a hint of subtle melancholy.

Naruto still remembers that they were on the highest rock wall in Sunagakure, overlooking the village bathed in the golden light of the setting sun, sharing a meal together;

I still remember the grand ceremony at which Gaara ascended to the throne as the Fifth Kazekage.

As an important guest of honor, he watched Gaara, clad in his Wind Shadow Robe, under the spotlight of the crowd.

He swore an oath in that still calm yet incredibly firm voice—

"I, Gaara the Sandstorm, will use my life to protect every inch of Sunagakure's land and every citizen!"

At that moment, Gaara's eyes shone with a light he had never seen before.

That was the unwavering light of someone who had found meaning in life and the way to protect!

The wind spirit who swore to protect everything lies here, cold and lifeless.

He gave his young life to protect his village.

And he himself, the one who kept saying he would protect his friends, arrived a step too late...

"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..."

Naruto pressed his forehead against Gaara's cold chest.

Suppressed sobs echoed through the empty desert, filled with endless regret and sorrow.

Sasuke stood silently to the side, watching Naruto's heartbroken state, his lips pressed tightly together, his eyes filled with complex emotions.

Kakashi also lowered his head, a hint of reluctance flashing in his Sharingan beneath his forehead protector.

Granny Chiyo held Sasori's remains, listening to Naruto's heart-wrenching apology.

His cloudy old eyes looked at Gaara, his heart filled with mixed emotions and bitterness.

Just as this atmosphere of sorrow and despair was about to engulf everyone!

Naruto's consciousness space—

The Nine-Tails' enormous and furious voice boomed like thunder, filled with deep impatience:

"Hey! Hey! Stop howling! You brat! Your wailing is driving me crazy! You're going to deafen me!"

This sudden roar instantly interrupted Naruto's consciousness, which was immersed in grief.

Naruto suddenly looked up, his eyes blurry with tears, at the Nine-Tails thrashing its tail restlessly in the cage: "Uncle Kurama? You..."

"What are you!"

The nine-tailed beast glared at him with its enormous beastly eyes and roared irritably, "I'm talking about that red-haired brat on the ground! He's not quite dead yet!"

"But if you don't give him some chakra to prolong his life, he'll really be going to report to the Pure Land!"

"what?!"

Naruto was instantly stunned, the shock even outweighing his grief: "Not...not quite dead?"

"Uncle Kurama, you're saying Gaara... he's still alive? How is that possible?!"

"He clearly... stopped breathing and his heart stopped beating! His body was cold!"

Not only Naruto, but also Minato and Kushina in the consciousness space, and even Madara who had been resting with his eyes closed, all instantly turned their gazes toward Kurama!

A strange light flashed across the crimson Eternal Kaleidoscope, tinged with inquiry: "Oh? You scraggly fox, are you sure? I didn't sense any residual life force within that brat of the Wind Shadow."

Nine-Tailed Fox proudly raised its enormous head and snorted through its nose.

The enormous claw slapped the water's surface, splashing up waves: "Hmph! Old man, it's normal that you can't sense it!"

"That faint connection is something only I could detect! After all... it's that bastard Shukaku's chakra!"

It paused, its tone carrying a hint of awkwardness that even it found unbelievable: "Although I don't want to admit it, that stinky raccoon... did something that wasn't like it this time."

"Before it was completely stripped away, it forcibly severed and preserved a small portion of its most core chakra, which contained its original life force, and secretly left it inside that red-haired brat's body!"

"Like a flame that's about to go out!"

"Chakra containing primordial life force?"

Minato immediately grasped the key point, and a glimmer of hope shone in his azure eyes: "He actually dared to do that?"

"Who knows?"

Kurama shook its head impatiently: "That little bit of chakra is too weak, hidden deep in the body, almost undetectable."

"It can only barely keep that kid's soul from dissipating, his bodily functions have completely stopped."

"So it looks no different from being dead! But if we don't add some 'fuel' to it, once that little bit of chakra is completely exhausted, it really won't be able to be saved by a god! Hmm!"

"Shukaku..."

Naruto muttered to himself, a complex emotion welling up inside him that was hard to describe.

Shukaku, who was always bickering with Kurama and had a bad temper, actually... at the last moment...

Would you choose to sacrifice a part of yourself to save Gaara's life?

Kushina clenched her fist excitedly: "Great! Naruto! Quick! Do as Kurama says! Transfer your chakra to Gaara!"

Naruto instantly snapped out of his immense shock and grief, and the flame of hope burned brightly within him!

Without further hesitation, his consciousness instantly returned to reality!

Chapter 277 The Reviving Wind and Shadow

Outside, on the desert.

Naruto suddenly raised his head, tears still on his face, but the despair in his eyes had been replaced by an urgent, unbelievable hope!

"Kakashi-sensei! Quick! Put Gaara down!"

Naruto's voice carried an undeniable urgency.

Kakashi and Sasuke were both taken aback by Naruto's sudden change.

Kakashi instinctively and gently laid Gaara flat on the sand.

Naruto immediately knelt down next to Gaara, took a deep breath, and tried to calm his excited emotions.

He stretched out his hands, palms down, and hovered them above Gaara's chest.

Pale golden Nine-Tails chakra began to gather in his palm, radiating a warm and powerful life force.

"Naruto? What's going on...?" Kakashi asked, puzzled.

"Gaara...he can still be saved!"

Naruto answered briefly, his eyes incredibly focused: "Uncle Kurama said Shukaku left a sliver of life within him! Now we need chakra to ignite it!"

Kakashi and Sasuke exchanged a glance, both seeing the shock and disbelief in each other's eyes.

But Naruto's unwavering gaze made them choose to believe!

Granny Chiyo also stopped crying and hugged the remains of the scorpion.

His cloudy old eyes were fixed on Naruto's movements, filled with tension and a last glimmer of hope.

Naruto closed his eyes and focused his mind on controlling his chakra.

He carefully manipulated the golden chakra in his palm.

Like the gentlest stream, it flowed slowly and gently into Gaara's cold chest.

Chakra, like warm sunlight, penetrated the cold body, seeped into the muscles, and flowed to every part of the body.

Ultimately, it surged into the depths of Gaara's body, searching for that faint spark of life belonging to Shukaku, like a candle flickering in the wind.

Deep within Gaara's consciousness:

Cold, dark, nothingness.

Gaara felt as if he were floating in a boundless, dark ocean devoid of any light.

There was no sound, no touch, and no sense of the passage of time.

It was as if everything had ended, leaving only eternal silence.

He even forgot who he was and why he was there.

"Hey! Gaara!"

A vague, somewhat familiar voice.

It seemed to come from an extremely distant place, piercing through the thick curtain of darkness.

'Who? Who are you calling?'

Gaara's consciousness was like a dusty mirror, blurry and unclear.

"Hey! I'm calling you! Gaara the Sandstorm!"

The sound seemed clearer.

It had a familiar, impatient yet inexplicably reassuring tone.

Suddenly, a faint ripple appeared in the depths of the deathly black "ocean" beneath him!