61-65

Chapter 61: One Family's Joy, Another's Sorrow 

The next few days were all about waiting for news. 

The Hidden Stone Village (Iwagakure) was waiting to hear from the Hidden Sand Village (Sunagakure). 

The Hidden Sand Village was waiting for word from the Hidden Leaf Village (Konoha). 

And Konoha? They were keeping a close eye on both Iwagakure and Sunagakure. 

--- 

In the Land of Hot Water, Konoha's Base 

Jiraiya actually got a promotion, well, sort of. As the vice-commander, he was now filling in for Orochimaru, handling all the command and coordination while Orochimaru was away on a secret mission. 

You see, Orochimaru had gotten some intel. Apparently, the Cloud Ninja commander in the Land of Hot Water, Killer B, the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, had lost control and injured a lot of Cloud Ninjas. They'd managed to subdue him, but his mental state was pretty rough, so he couldn't lead anymore. He'd been escorted back to the Hidden Cloud Village (Kumogakure) by a unit led by the Raikage, Ay. 

When Orochimaru heard this, he initially wanted to send ninja to attack the Cloud Ninja base right away. But then he thought of a better plan. A plan that would make Kumogakure so busy with their own problems they wouldn't have the energy to keep fighting Konoha in the Land of Hot Water. 

Honestly, Orochimaru really hated war. It just ate up so much of his time, leaving him no room for his research! He wanted to sneak into Kumogakure and quietly release the Eight-Tails from Killer B's seal. If he did that, Kumogakure would be hit hard, giving Konoha some much-needed downtime. 

And during that break, Orochimaru could finally get to work on all the wild ideas that had been brewing in his mind, but couldn't be put into practice because of this darn war. So, for the sake of that research time, Orochimaru decided to take matters into his own hands. He was going to infiltrate Kumogakure, break the Jinchuriki's seal, and unleash the Eight-Tails! 

Nobody knew about this, not even Jiraiya or Tsunade. They just knew Orochimaru was going away for a few days on a secret mission, but they had no idea what he was truly up to. If they knew, they'd never let him go! The risk was just too high. If Orochimaru got caught, it would instantly trigger an all-out war. 

Normally, for something this big, he'd have to report to Hiruzen Sarutobi and the other Konoha elders and get their approval before acting. But by the time that whole process was done, it would be too late. Orochimaru isn't exactly a stickler for rules, so he just went for it, leaving the base and heading straight for Kumogakure. 

Meanwhile, during these past few days of uninterrupted reading, Shindai's mind was practically overflowing with inspiration. With the basic scientific data Jiraiya had given him, he was learning and constantly getting new ideas. Shindai used the leftover materials Jiraiya had from making puppets to test out his new inspirations. You could say he was living a truly fulfilling life each day. 

Time just flew by like a ninja! Seven days had passed in a flash. 

Konoha's base in the Land of Hot Water was peaceful. Since Kumogakure hadn't sent a new commander yet, and Orochimaru had told Jiraiya to just maintain the status quo, there hadn't been any battles these past few days. Everyone was just eating, drinking, and sleeping. 

Back in Konoha, Hiruzen Sarutobi received news that a ninja representative from Sunagakure, sent by the Third Kazekage, had arrived with a letter. He immediately sent a ninja to invite the Sand ninja to the Hokage's office. 

"Lord Hokage, this letter is from our Kazekage-sama in Sunagakure. He specifically instructed me to deliver it to you personally." 

Hiruzen took the letter from the Sand ninja. "Thank you for your hard work. Haruto, please take our friends from Konoha to get some much-needed rest." 

"Yes, please follow me." 

The ninja, called 'Haruto' by Hiruzen, led the five Sand ninja away to rest. 

Hiruzen returned to his office, opened the letter, and began to read. A smile spread across his face as he read the contents. "It seems Jiraiya and Minato succeeded! Though, we'll have to give Sunagakure these supplies. It's like we traded these resources for Shindai and ensured Sunagakure wouldn't team up with Iwagakure. And they sent five Sand ninja directly to Konoha, meaning they want the supplies immediately. They're really eager, aren't they?" 

Hiruzen immediately wrote a letter. Its content was Konoha's willingness to compensate Sunagakure, giving them a batch of supplies as a thank you for being an ally and not abandoning their cooperation with Konoha. After writing the letter, Hiruzen arranged for a few ninja to start moving the military supplies for Sunagakure. 

After receiving the supplies and the letter, the Sand ninja didn't linger in Konoha. They quickly left and rushed back to Sunagakure. 

--- 

One Family's Joy, Another's Sorrow 

Konoha was happy, so naturally, Iwagakure wasn't. The Stone ninja Ohnoki had sent to Sunagakure with supplies had also returned. 

Ohnoki learned that Sunagakure had accepted the military supplies he sent, but only said, "Thank you for your generous gift, Tsuchikage." Ohnoki then understood that Sunagakure wasn't willing to cooperate with them and had essentially stolen their supplies. 

Fuming with anger, Ohnoki cursed, "What kind of benefits did Konoha give them that they wouldn't attack Konoha with me?! If they had just cooperated with Iwagakure to attack Konoha, with the help of Kumogakure, Konoha would have been overwhelmed, and we could have divided up a lot of benefits! That poor, broke Sunagakure could have had a better life! That short-sighted brat, Kaito! He's infuriating me!" 

Ohnoki's son, Kitsuchi, seeing his father so angry, tried to calm him down. "Old man, just cool down. Your back hasn't been doing so well lately, you don't want to throw it out again. The doctor said since you're old, if you throw it out once, it might happen often now." 

"Shut up! Ow!" 

With a 'snap,' Ohnoki clutched his back and cried out. Kitsuchi quickly began to massage Ohnoki's back, sighing, "See? I told you to calm down, but you didn't listen! Now look, you'll be throwing out your back all the time." 

--- 

A few more days passed. 

Inside Sunagakure

The Third Kazekage looked at the crates of supplies brought from Konoha with immense satisfaction. With these supplies, plus the ones Iwagakure "gifted" them, Sunagakure's ninja would finally be able to get some decent equipment. 

As the saying goes, "To do good work, one must first sharpen their tools." For ninja to perform at their best, their weapons and gear absolutely couldn't be a hindrance; they had to be top-notch. 

While the Third Kazekage was celebrating, deep underground in Sasori's home, Sasori's Hiruko puppet was in its final stages of completion. It was almost ready. The Hiruko already looked very impressive, radiating a sense of lethal intent. 

Sasori mumbled to himself, "Soon... soon, Kaito, you will pay the price for your past mistakes." 

Chapter 62: A Major Event in the Ninja World 

After only a few days of peace at the outpost, Shindai was dragged off on missions by Kakashi and the others. 

However, these were mostly investigative missions, so nothing dangerous happened. 

The main reason was that Minato Namikaze had been with them on these missions, making it hard for any real danger to arise. 

Gradually, Shindai got used to it and stopped complaining all the time during missions. 

Currently, Orochimaru wasn't at the outpost, and Jiraiya was instructed to maintain the status quo. So, there was no need to deploy Minato Namikaze, that "battlefield rogue." 

Thus, Minato, now with some free time, led the team and taught Kakashi, Rin, and even Shindai how to train. 

Minato looked at Shindai with a bit of helplessness, instructing him, "Shindai, you can't just throw one punch and then stop. Your biggest problem right now is that you throw a punch and then don't think about what comes next. You need to consider how to follow up that punch with the next one, without giving your opponent a chance to breathe." 

Minato felt that teaching Obito was easier than teaching Shindai. 

Shindai might have talent in puppet jutsu and his kekkei genkai, and he was a bit clever in combat. 

But that didn't change the fact that Shindai didn't know how to fight. 

Even Obito knew that when you strike, you should use both hands and not give the opponent an opening, yet Shindai didn't understand this. 

When Shindai threw a punch, he would habitually wait for the other person to react before throwing the next one. 

Isn't that just giving the opponent an opening? 

If his strength was superior, it might be fine, but if the opponent's strength was similar to Shindai's, this bad habit would cost Shindai dearly. 

Minato continued pointing out Shindai's flaws: "Also... why do you always subconsciously retreat? In combat, retreating even one step could allow the opponent to seize an opportunity, completely taking away your combat initiative and putting you at a disadvantage. You have to overcome these bad habits. 

And don't always use 'being afraid of combat' as an excuse. Even escaping is a technical skill; you have to seize the opponent's mistakes to get away. What if you have no chance to escape? Then you have to create an opportunity yourself, and to do that, you have to fight." 

Shindai's face turned beet red. 

Minato had completely shut down anything he wanted to say. 

Shindai thought that if Minato knew his true strength, he definitely wouldn't talk to him like that! 

However, whether Minato knew Shindai's strength or not, he would still have the same assessment, even after knowing Shindai's future strength. 

Because these flaws had nothing to do with Shindai's own power. 

Shindai said dejectedly, "I understand, Minato-sensei. I'll work hard to overcome these habits." 

Then, Minato looked at Obito, who was secretly laughing nearby, and said sternly, "Obito, stop laughing. You have no right to laugh at Shindai. I know what you're thinking; you believe that once you awaken your Sharingan, you'll immediately become stronger, right? 

That way of thinking is incredibly foolish. The Sharingan is just an aid. Even if you awaken it, if your own strength isn't up to par, it won't matter much and won't boost your power significantly. 

Relying too much on the Sharingan will only make you stagnate, especially since you haven't even awakened it yet. So, you need to train even harder. 

The Sharingan is the icing on the cake. Only when your own strength improves, and you awaken the Sharingan, will your power truly shine when combined with it." 

Now it was Obito's face that turned beet red. 

He just saw Shindai looking defeated and wanted to laugh, but he didn't expect it to be his turn next. 

And Shindai's muffled laughter made Obito's face even redder. 

Next up were Kakashi and Rin Nohara. 

However, Minato only had praise for Kakashi and Rin, which immediately made Shindai and Obito feel unfair. 

Seeing Shindai and Obito's indignant expressions, Minato offered them a little reward. 

"If you meet today's training goals, I'll cook a special meal for you!" 

Shindai immediately responded enthusiastically: "Don't worry, Minato-sensei! I'll definitely meet the goal!" 

Last time Minato cooked for them, Shindai was surprised to find that Minato was an excellent chef! 

So, Shindai was super excited for Minato's cooking. 

Obito quickly followed Shindai's lead: "I'll definitely meet the goal too!" 

It wasn't that Obito was eager for Minato's cooking; he just didn't want to be outdone by Shindai. 

Seeing that Shindai and Obito's enthusiasm had been sparked, Minato smiled and said, "Alright, let's continue training." 

--- 

Over the next period, Shindai spent his days on missions with Minato, training, and learning new things in his free time. It was incredibly fulfilling. 

Then, half a month later, a major incident suddenly occurred in the ninja world. 

The Eight-Tails in Kumogakure inexplicably went berserk, breaking free from its jinchuriki, causing severe damage to the village. 

However, the Third Raikage, leading elite shinobi, managed to seal the rampaging Eight-Tails. This battle resulted in the sacrifice of eight elite Kumogakure ninja, and the jinchuriki, Buru Bī, also died. 

These eight elite ninja weren't just ordinary Jonin; they were ninja of similar importance to Minato Namikaze in Konoha. 

Losing other ninja might have been manageable, but losing these eight elite ninja was a devastating blow to Kumogakure. 

Naturally, the new jinchuriki became the rap master, Killer B. 

The culprit behind the Eight-Tails breaking free and rampaging was, of course, Orochimaru, who had secretly infiltrated Kumogakure. 

At the Kumogakure outpost in the Land of Hot Water, Buru Bī had lost control, causing casualties among some Kumogakure ninja. Afterwards, a remorseful Buru Bī felt immense guilt. 

After becoming a jinchuriki, Buru Bī noticed how the people around him treated him differently, which gradually wore down his mind and body. He often imagined the terror of death, and tailed beasts would exploit a jinchuriki's weakest moments to invade their will, leading to loss of control. 

This wasn't intentional on the Eight-Tails' part, as it was the influence of tailed beast chakra on humans, and the Eight-Tails couldn't help it. That's why jinchuriki needed strong mental fortitude. 

And due to his self-blame, Buru Bī was in a state of weak will. 

Orochimaru, that sneaky old snake, infiltrated Kumogakure and disguised himself as a medical ninja specifically assigned to examine Buru Bī. He used specially prepared genjutsu pills to paralyze Buru Bī's entire body, rendering him immobile. 

Then, Orochimaru released Buru Bī's Iron Armor Seal, forcing the Eight-Tails to separate from him, causing the Eight-Tails to go berserk unconsciously. 

Because Orochimaru's genjutsu pills were powerful enough, no matter how hard the Eight-Tails tried, it couldn't recall the circumstances of its rampage, allowing Orochimaru to escape without anyone knowing he was the mastermind behind the incident. 

Most people in Kumogakure believed that Buru Bī's exhaustion, coupled with the influence of the Eight-Tails' chakra, caused the seal to fail, allowing the Eight-Tails to break free and cause the incident. 

Chapter 63: The Ambush 

The Hidden Cloud Village (Kumogakure) had suffered severe damage from the Eight-Tails' rampage, and many Cloud ninjas were heavily wounded during the sealing process. With their own backyard on fire, Kumogakure couldn't keep clashing with Konoha's ninja in the Land of Hot Water anymore. They had no choice but to pull their forces back to the border. 

Meanwhile, Orochimaru was already back at the Konoha base. As soon as he returned, Jiraiya excitedly found him and filled him in on everything that had happened with Kumogakure. Orochimaru, the one who caused it all, simply said, "That's great. The Cloud ninjas can calm down for a while now. I'm going back to Konoha to rest for a bit. This place is yours to manage for now." After saying that, Orochimaru just packed up and left, leaving a dumbfounded Jiraiya completely speechless. 

In the Hidden Sand Village (Sunagakure) 

Sasori had finished his first human puppet, Hiruko, and was already planning his move against the Third Kazekage. Sasori wrote a letter claiming he had developed a new puppet that could fix the weakness of puppet users in close combat. It was designed for both offense and defense, and any puppet ninja using it would see a massive boost in their strength. Sasori specifically emphasized that the Third Kazekage should meet him alone outside Sunagakure that night, where he would demonstrate the puppet's functions one by one. 

After sending a ninja to deliver the letter, Sasori sealed Hiruko into a scroll. Then, he sat in front of the puppets he'd made of his parents, just staring silently. Chiyo came to check on Sasori and found him staring blankly at his parents' puppets again. Chiyo's heart ached. She was secretly working with a group of medical ninja to develop a Reincarnation Ninjutsu. This jutsu would use all of the user's chakra as a medium to transfer life force to the dead, converting the user's chakra into the deceased's soul until the user died. Chiyo's secret goal for developing this jutsu was to bring her grandson Sasori's parents back to life. After all, seeing her grandson so heartbroken and secluded himself at home every day made Chiyo incredibly sad. That's why Chiyo wanted to sacrifice her own life to bring Sasori's parents back so they could be with him again. 

After watching Sasori for a while, Chiyo quietly left without disturbing him. Once Chiyo was gone, Sasori turned his head towards the doorway, a hint of complexity in his eyes. But that fleeting emotion quickly vanished, replaced by a strong, murderous intent. 

The Third Kazekage received Sasori's letter. As he opened and read it, a wide grin spread across his face. "He truly lives up to his reputation as a genius puppet designer, the grandson of Advisor Chiyo! And he's developed an even better puppet for our Hidden Sand Village. He's truly a pillar of our village!" 

As time passed, the puppets developed by the Second Kazekage had become outdated. Other ninja had already figured them out, and there were many ways to counter them. So, these outdated puppets definitely needed an upgrade. Sasori earned his title as a genius puppet designer not just for his talent in making puppets, but also because he'd helped Sunagakure iterate through several puppet upgrades. So, the Third Kazekage didn't suspect Sasori at all. He planned to meet Sasori that night to see what this newly developed puppet was all about. 

As the Third Kazekage continued with his paperwork, a thought inexplicably popped into his head—something Shindai had once told him: "Uncle Kaito, be careful of Sasori." The Third Kazekage shook his head. Be careful of Sasori? If he had to be careful of Sasori, who else in Sunagakure could he trust? 

"Shindai gave Sunagakure such important intel before. I should write a letter to praise him." The Third Kazekage took out a blank sheet of paper and began writing. 

Night fell. 

The Third Kazekage stretched, glanced at the moon outside his window, and stood up from his chair. "Time to meet Sasori." 

The Third Kazekage arrived outside Sunagakure. Although the letter didn't specify an exact location, he easily spotted Sasori in the distance. After all, it was a desert, practically wide open, so anything could be easily seen. The Third Kazekage approached Sasori, smiling, "Sasori, have you been waiting long?" 

The Third Kazekage was just being polite, but Sasori replied, "Yes. I don't like waiting, and I don't like being waited for." 

The Third Kazekage: ??? 

He was just making polite conversation, and Sasori's bluntness made him feel incredibly awkward. Good thing no one else was around to see it. The Third Kazekage cleared his throat and said, "Right, Sasori, didn't you say in your letter that you developed a puppet that makes up for the weakness of puppet ninja in close combat, one that's good for both offense and defense? Show it to me quickly." 

Sasori took out a scroll. After unrolling it, he summoned Hiruko. Seeing Hiruko, the Third Kazekage's eyes lit up. "Sasori, your new puppet is truly lifelike, almost like a real person!" This was the second time the Third Kazekage had seen such a lifelike puppet; the first was Shindai's Kannazuki. However, Sasori's puppet seemed even more human-like than Shindai's Kannazuki. Sasori's puppet was so realistic that the Third Kazekage unconsciously thought it was a real person, which made him feel a bit odd. 

Sasori ignored the Third Kazekage's compliment. After all, how could this puppet not be lifelike when it was made from a real person? Sasori demonstrated and explained to the Third Kazekage, "First, it addresses the weakness of puppet ninja in close combat. This puppet's body is hollow, meaning the puppet master can hide inside it to control the puppet." 

Sasori opened Hiruko and climbed inside. The Third Kazekage's eyes gleamed. That was indeed a brilliant idea! And Sasori's puppet was so lifelike, enemies wouldn't realize it was a puppet, nor would they think someone was hidden inside. 

Sasori continued to explain, "Poison needles can be shot from the mouth in the head." Sasori manipulated Hiruko to open its mouth, but instead of firing directly at the Third Kazekage, it launched a large number of poison needles to the side. "The left arm has a double-barreled mechanism, and the back is extremely sturdy; it's difficult to damage with kunai or shuriken..." 

As Sasori demonstrated and explained, the Third Kazekage became increasingly engrossed. Sasori's new puppet was far better than he had imagined, significantly so. The Third Kazekage was already fantasizing about how much his village's puppet ninja would improve if they were all equipped with these puppets! 

Inside Hiruko, Sasori saw the Third Kazekage's expression and a mocking smirk appeared on his face. 

"Finally, a tail made of iron, like a scorpion's, can extend from the opening on the back. The tail has potent venom; even a slight graze will poison the victim... like this!" 

From the opening on Hiruko's back, a tail suddenly shot out, directly piercing the unsuspecting Third Kazekage's body. 

Chapter 64: The Third Kazekage's Demise 

Sasori's Hiruko's tail barb pierced directly into the Third Kazekage's body. 

The Third Kazekage coughed up blood, his eyes wide with disbelief as he looked at Sasori. "Wh-why?" 

"Why? If you want to know why, I'll let you die with understanding." 

Sasori unrolled a scroll and summoned his "Father" and "Mother" puppets. 

"Now, do you understand why I did this?" 

Seeing the two puppets Sasori summoned, the Third Kazekage looked utterly bewildered. 

He knew that these two puppets were modeled after Sasori's parents. 

But what did that have to do with Sasori wanting to kill him? 

Sasori saw the Third Kazekage's confused expression and instantly grew furious. Although his voice remained steady, the anger within it was palpable: "Still don't understand? 

During the Second Great Ninja War, if it weren't for your negligence, would Konoha have been able to invade the Land of Wind? If it weren't for your negligence, my parents wouldn't have died at the hands of the White Fang of Konoha. 

And now, I'm going to make you pay for your mistakes from back then! The price of your life!" 

The Third Kazekage's already disbelieving gaze widened even further. 

This guy... is he crazy? 

Instead of blaming the Konoha ninja, he was blaming the Kazekage himself. 

Back then, he was commanding operations outside the Land of Wind. How could he have known Konoha would directly send people to attack within the Land of Wind? 

It's not like after Konoha invaded the Land of Wind, he could negotiate with the Konoha ninja during battle and say, "Hey, Konoha ninja, you can't kill Sasori's parents, okay?" That's just ridiculous! 

In war, casualties are normal. He too was prepared to sacrifice himself in battle. No one wants to see their comrades die, and he certainly didn't intentionally send Sasori's parents to their deaths. 

The Third Kazekage angrily roared at Sasori, "Your parents sacrificed themselves for the village with honor! And you, as their child, are defiling their glory! Sasori! You are unforgivable! Today... cough!" 

As the Third Kazekage spoke, he couldn't hold it in and spewed a large mouthful of blood. 

The blood that came out was noticeably black. 

Furthermore, black lines appeared all over the Third Kazekage's body. 

These lines were the Third Kazekage's blood vessels, which had turned black due to the poison. 

Sasori sneered coldly, "What 'honor'? Something that disappears with time is useless. As I said before, the tail has potent poison. Concentrating chakra will only make the poisoning accelerate and worsen." 

Sasori stepped out of Hiruko, standing in front of it, and gently stroked Hiruko's head, revealing a chilling smile: "You must be satisfied with my Hiruko, right? Human flesh will one day decay, rot into a pile of bones, and eventually even the bones will weather into dust. 

But this Hiruko! It's the ultimate art that will never decay, never rot, and never disappear. This is eternal art!" 

The Third Kazekage's body trembled. 

Sasori first said that human flesh would eventually decay, and then said that Hiruko would never decay. 

Combined with Hiruko's incredibly realistic appearance. 

The Third Kazekage was shocked: "This is... a puppet you made from a person?!" 

Sasori's chilling laughter grew more bizarre: "That's right, this is the eternal art I created, Human Puppets! Kagetoki, I'll be taking your body. I'll make good use of it and turn you into a human puppet." 

The Third Kazekage's limbs grew cold, not just because of the poison, but also because of Sasori's madness. 

The Third Kazekage never imagined that Chiyo-sensei's highly respected grandson in Sunagakure would be so depraved. 

Just as the Third Kazekage was about to make a desperate last stand, Sasori was a step ahead, manipulating Hiruko to bind and restrain the Third Kazekage with its tail. 

As Hiruko's tail tightened, it caused the Third Kazekage immense pain. 

Moreover, the poison Sasori used was his special concoction, fast-acting and virulent. 

Sasori even thought the Third Kazekage's resistance was quite impressive for enduring this long. 

However, no matter how strong, it was useless. 

As Hiruko's tail tightened, its sharp barbs pierced the Third Kazekage's skin, injecting more potent venom into his body. 

Sasori wanted the Third Kazekage to die in agony. 

Now, the Third Kazekage felt his strength draining away, and a kaleidoscope of memories flashed through his mind. 

After becoming a shinobi, he fought for Sunagakure. 

After taking on the mantle of Kazekage, he worked diligently, never daring to slack off for a moment, hoping that Sunagakure would flourish under his leadership. 

How ironic that he didn't die at the hands of an enemy, but instead at the hands of someone he trusted from his own village. 

The Third Kazekage once again thought of Shindai's warning. 

If only he had listened to Shindai back then, would today's outcome have been different? 

But there are no "ifs." This was the reality, the reality that he was about to die. 

After the memories faded, the Third Kazekage closed his eyes, his body went limp, and he completely lost his life. 

Sasori looked expressionlessly at the Third Kazekage's corpse, then placed it inside Hiruko. 

As he put the Third Kazekage into Hiruko, a piece of paper fell to the ground. 

Sasori stepped forward and picked up the paper. 

Reading the contents, Sasori's eyes narrowed slightly: "Shindai... is it that kid?" 

In all of Sunagakure, before this, the only one who could create unique puppets was Sasori. 

Because the Third Kazekage discovered Shindai's talent for puppetry, Shindai, out of passive resistance, made two puppets to fool the Third Kazekage. 

The Third Kazekage praised Shindai's puppets in front of Chiyo, so Chiyo showed one of these puppets to Sasori. 

After seeing it, Sasori felt it had "something." 

Most puppets are hollow, designed to contain various mechanisms, which makes precise movements difficult to control. 

But the puppets Shindai made weren't hollow; they had skeletons built inside their bodies. 

The presence of these skeletons allowed for extremely precise puppet manipulation. 

However, that was all there was to it. Nothing else caught Sasori's attention; they simply couldn't compare to his own puppets. 

Now, his human puppets could also achieve very precise movements because human puppets inherently possessed skeletons. 

When it came to puppet making, if he said he was second, no one would dare claim first! 

"Heh, so he went to Konoha as a spy?" 

Sasori rummaged through the Third Kazekage's corpse and smoothly pulled out Shindai's letter. 

Then Sasori took out a blank scroll and began to write, mimicking the handwriting from Shindai's letter. 

After finishing, Sasori casually tossed the scroll onto the bloodstained sand. 

Sasori took one last look at Sunagakure behind him, then turned around, manipulating Hiruko, and vanished into the desert. 

Chapter 65: The Forged Scroll 

Back at the base after his training, Shindai sneezed a few times. He touched his forehead—normal temperature, so it wasn't a cold. He rubbed his nose, muttering, "Which idiot is thinking about me? If I don't know who it is, I'll just blame Obito. Everything's Obito's fault anyway!" 

The Next Day in Sunagakure 

A few ninja found Chiyo and Ebizo, who were drinking tea. "Advisor Chiyo, Advisor Ebizo, the Third Kazekage suddenly disappeared. Do either of you know where he went?" 

Chiyo looked puzzled. "No, I don't. Have you checked everywhere else?" 

"Yes, we've searched all of Sunagakure, even some hidden spots within the village, but there's no trace of the Third Kazekage." 

Chiyo guessed, "Could the Third Kazekage have left the village for somewhere?" 

Ebizo's brow furrowed slightly. "Something's not right, sister. If the Third Kazekage were to leave the village, he'd never just go without saying a word." 

Chiyo's expression also grew serious. "Come to think of it, I've had a strange feeling of unease since last night, but the Third Kazekage was in the village yesterday, and his strength is considerable. Even if he were attacked, there's no way it would happen without any disturbance." 

Ebizo gave orders to the ninja: "No matter what, find the Third Kazekage first. Maybe he's still in the village and we missed some spots. Then, send a squad of ninja to search the nearby areas outside the village too! Report any findings to us immediately." 

"Yes, sir!" 

The Sand ninja began searching for the Third Kazekage both inside and outside Sunagakure. Ebizo noticed Chiyo's hand trembling as she held her teacup. "Sister?" 

Chiyo put down her teacup and said seriously, "Ebizo, I have a very bad feeling about this. You stay here; I'm going to check on Sasori!" Before Ebizo could reply, Chiyo had already rushed off. 

Chiyo arrived at Sasori's house, calling out for him. Her brows furrowed tighter and tighter as she mumbled, "Why isn't Sasori here either?" Just as Chiyo was about to leave, she noticed something odd on the ground near a shelf. There were clear drag marks around the shelf, the kind that only appear from frequent dragging. Following the marks, Chiyo moved the shelf aside and discovered an underground passage. Seeing the passage, Chiyo's heart pounded faster and faster. 

With a heavy heart, Chiyo entered the underground passage and quickly found herself in a hidden room. As Chiyo entered, she was hit by an extremely foul odor. The hidden room was spotless, a stark contrast to the terrible smell. Because the room had no ventilation, the smell couldn't escape. Chiyo's expression darkened. She knew that smell well. It was the scent of decaying blood. Something must have happened in this room, and it must have been something bad. 

Chiyo, with a heavy heart, emerged from the basement. 

"Sister!" 

As soon as she left the room, Chiyo heard Ebizo's call. Chiyo instinctively moved the shelf back into place, preventing Ebizo from discovering the basement. Chiyo asked, "Ebizo, what's wrong?" 

Ebizo handed a scroll to Chiyo. "This was found buried in the sand not far from the village. It must have happened last night; the wind buried the scroll overnight. There were faint traces of blood on the surrounding sand." 

Chiyo opened the scroll. It contained only one sentence: 

[Uncle Kaito, I have very important Konoha intelligence that I must report to you in person. Please, Uncle Kaito, come outside Sunagakure to meet me now.] 

Seeing this sentence, Chiyo subtly let out a sigh of relief. Calming herself, Chiyo frowned. "Uncle Kaito? Konoha intelligence? So, this scroll is from the spy the Third Kazekage sent to Konoha?" 

Ebizo's next words made Chiyo's heart clench: "No, this scroll is most likely forged." 

Chiyo immediately asked, "Why would it be forged?" 

Ebizo pointed to the writing. "Look at the ink on it, and the smudges around it. Because the scroll was rolled up, the ink was still a bit damp. The writing couldn't have been done more than ten hours ago. When I opened the scroll, I clearly saw signs of the damp ink sticking together. This only happens the first time a scroll is opened. So, this scroll was never opened after it was written. If the Third Kazekage never opened this scroll, how would he know its contents and leave Sunagakure to meet this person? Therefore, I believe someone wrote this scroll after the fact and then discarded it in the sand, trying to frame our spy. The fact that someone could do this, and the Third Kazekage is missing... Sister, we need to prepare for the worst." 

Chiyo thought of Sasori, but she couldn't believe her own grandson would do such a thing. Because she believed in him, Chiyo took a deep breath and told Ebizo, "Ebizo, besides the Third Kazekage, Sasori is also gone." However, Chiyo still didn't mention the basement. Despite her belief, Chiyo felt a little uneasy. 

"Sasori's gone too?" 

The Third Kazekage couldn't be found, and now Sasori was also missing. Looking at this, there had to be a connection between the two. 

Chiyo said anxiously, "Ebizo, Sasori would absolutely never betray the village!" 

Ebizo tried to calm Chiyo. "Sister, don't rush to conclusions. No one said Sasori was involved. Let's send people to look for both of them first." 

Chiyo said gravely, "Ebizo, find the Third Kazekage first. We can deal with Sasori's situation later." 

A forged scroll was found in the sand, asking the Third Kazekage to meet someone, and there were bloodstains in the sand. No matter how you looked at it, the Third Kazekage's situation didn't look good. The person who could make the Third Kazekage leave Sunagakure to meet them had to be someone he knew. So, if they looked for the Third Kazekage and Sasori together, it would easily link the Third Kazekage's disappearance to Sasori. 

Seeing Chiyo's panic, Ebizo sighed. "Alright, let's put Sasori's matter aside for now. Immediately send people to find the Third Kazekage!" 

Chiyo and Ebizo immediately gathered a large number of ninja and began searching for the Third Kazekage, spreading out from Sunagakure. They searched for ten straight days. However, the Sand ninja couldn't find the Third Kazekage and eventually returned empty-handed. The Third Kazekage hadn't appeared for ten days, which made the Sand ninja very anxious. The leader of the village was missing, and with the current tense global ninja situation, just ten days was enough to make the atmosphere in Sunagakure very strained. 

It seems things are getting pretty intense in Sunagakure, with the Third Kazekage missing and Sasori also gone. Chiyo's trying hard to protect her grandson, but the evidence is piling up. What do you think will happen next in Sunagakure without their leader?