Sunagakure’s Drastic Upheaval

Sasori of the Red Sand had left Sunagakure several years ago. This Suna-nin Anbu had never expected to encounter Sasori of the Red Sand here, much less be saved by him.

"Lord Sasori!!"

When Sasori of the Red Sand had been in Sunagakure, he had been renowned for his Puppet Technique. He was Elder Chiyo’s grandson and had possessed strength comparable to a Jonin in his teens. Even the Third Kazekage had valued him, but for some unknown reason, he had suddenly disappeared from Sunagakure later on.

Elder Chiyo had searched for him for a long time without finding any trace. However, out of consideration for Chiyo and Ebizo, the Third Kazekage had not declared Sasori of the Red Sand a Rogue ninja.

Sasori turned back and gave the Suna-nin Anbu a cold glance before saying, "Go call for help. Rasa is dead."

"What? Lord Kazekage, he…"

The Suna-nin Anbu’s face was filled with disbelief. How long had it been? Lord Kazekage had already been defeated?

Yet the sounds of battle in the distance had indeed stopped, leaving the Suna-nin Anbu deeply unsettled.

Lord Kazekage was actually dead. What would happen to Sunagakure now? As the Kazekage’s guard, this was a grave dereliction of duty!

At that moment, people from the other battlefield also approached. The Suna-nin Anbu keenly noticed that the shark-like Mist Village Rogue ninja was carrying none other than the Fourth Kazekage in his hand.

"Why haven’t you gone back to report this? What use is it for you to stay here? Has Sunagakure truly declined to this extent?"

Sasori frowned and rebuked him, instantly snapping the surviving Suna-nin Anbu back to his senses.

He hurriedly said to Sasori, "Thank you, Lord Sasori." After saying that, the Anbu Ninja turned and ran toward Sunagakure.

He had to bring this news back to the village!

The Kazekage had been assassinated in the Land of Wind, and this trip had been extremely sudden. Without an insider cooperating with them, there was no way the enemy could have intercepted them so precisely.

"Hey, I never agreed to let you go. Fire Style: Head Hard Work! Wind Release: Pressure Damage!"

Kakuzu had already been in a bad mood after losing a lightning-nature heart. Now that he saw Sasori of the Red Sand letting his prey escape, he immediately used a Compound Ninjutsu.

"The power is decent. Your method of using Chakra is just a little weak."

Sasori of the Red Sand snorted, then took out a Sealing Scroll and released a Mecha Puppet from it. It was icy blue, with the character "Water" on its chest.

"Ice Release: Blizzard Tide!"

Under Sasori of the Red Sand’s control, the puppet immediately raised both arms. Two cannon-like nozzles extended from its shoulders, blasting out an incomparably massive current of freezing air.

Crack! Crack-crack!

The surrounding temperature instantly dropped below freezing. The water surface froze over, and the air itself seemed coated in frost.

After Kakuzu’s Compound Ninjutsu collided with the freezing tide, they stalemated for several seconds before the endless current of cold air froze it into crystalline pillars of frost. After freezing the Ninjutsu, the freezing tide continued surging toward Kakuzu.

Forcing him to quickly leap backward.

Even a compound Fire Style Ninjutsu could be frozen. The frosty current made Kakuzu feel immense danger. If he failed to dodge, his remaining four lives would likely all be lost here.

After Kakuzu dodged, Sasori of the Red Sand controlled the puppet and shut off its frost cannons.

This was a device he had developed based on his Kekkei Genkai research into Haku’s Ice Release. To make it, Sasori of the Red Sand had even gone to Kirigakure and stolen several well-preserved Yuki Clan corpses.

Although it was a water-nature puppet, it used Ice Release more often.

After the four members of Akatsuki regrouped, they saw a strange sight: amid the scorching desert stood a field of ice sculptures, and at its center was something resembling a burning fireball.

"So it was you, Sasori of the Red Sand."

When Konan saw Sasori, then glanced at the icy scene created by the puppet, her expression grew more solemn.

Sasori glanced at them and said flatly, "Assassinating the Kazekage—you people really are bold. Fine, get lost. Leave Rasa’s corpse behind, or none of you are leaving."

He had already done as Hyuga Mirai had said and saved a Suna-nin Anbu. For the rest of the time, he could act freely.

"Such terrifying Ice Release is rare even within the Yuki Clan. Did a puppet really do that?" Raiga Kurosuki scratched his head. Why had he encountered nothing but monsters today? Was he the weakest one here?

Damn it, he was one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen after all!

Kisame Hoshigaki also revealed a shark-like grin. "Ice Release, huh? We just dealt with the Fourth Kazekage, only to run into someone whose affinity clashes with mine."

Ice Release was practically an advanced form of Water Release. And Ice Release that could even freeze Fire Style would certainly suppress Water Release even more.

A pair of wings formed from folded paper gathered behind Konan’s back. She flew into the sky and said to Sasori, "Sasori of the Red Sand, since you happened to see what happened today, we can’t let you leave. But if you join the organization, you can still live."

"Heh. Woman, are you telling a joke?"

Sasori sneered at Konan, then saw the four Akatsuki members slowly spread out into a formation, as though they intended to surround and kill him.

This only made Sasori more excited. If art had no audience, how was it any different from entertaining oneself?

Hyuga Mirai had seen his puppets and praised them, but many of the ideas behind Sasori’s puppets had been inspired by Hyuga Mirai’s mecha. Sasori wanted more viewers to witness the "art" he had newly developed.

"Today, I’ll let you see the Ultimate Puppet Art!"

After saying that, Sasori took out several more scrolls. Six more puppets appeared before him. Their appearances were very similar, the only difference being the characters on their chests.

Aside from the first one, the remaining six bore the characters "Fire," "Wind," "Lightning," "Earth," "Body," and "Three."

"I hope you can entertain me."

Excitement flashed across Sasori’s face, and then he snapped his fingers.

The seven puppets immediately charged at the four Akatsuki members as though they had received an order.

After the Anbu returned to Sunagakure, he forced himself to finish explaining Rasa’s assassination before immediately collapsing unconscious.

Quite a few people heard the news: the Sunagakure higher-ups, the Anbu Captain, Pakura, and others.

They immediately arranged treatment for the Anbu. After a brief discussion, they had Pakura lead four squads of reinforcements and immediately head for the place where the Kazekage had been attacked.

This incident caused no small stir in Sunagakure. Android 18 naturally learned of Rasa’s condition. By the time Pakura left Sunagakure, Sasori’s battle had already ended.

After losing three hearts, Kakuzu sacrificed a fourth heart to seize Rasa’s head, then fled without looking back.

Raiga Kurosuki’s Kiba had been broken, Kisame Hoshigaki had a hole punched through his abdomen, and Konan retreated in a miserable state.

Although he had failed to kill any of them, fighting these people gave Sasori more ideas, such as coordination between puppets and even Combination Puppets.

After being influenced by Hyuga Mirai for a while, Sasori’s desire to kill had also diminished somewhat, and he gradually began shifting toward research.

However, he still took Rasa’s corpse with him. Though it no longer had a head, that was not a major problem. For Magnet Release’s Kekkei Genkai, a body was enough.

When Pakura led her team to the place where Rasa had been attacked, all they saw were traces left behind after the battle.

A lake in the desert, a strange icy landscape, sand nearly crystallized from scorching flames, and huge craters left by explosions.

Every detail showed that a brutal battle had taken place here. Yet they found only the corpses of three Suna-nin Anbu at the scene. Neither Rasa’s nor Sasori of the Red Sand’s body could be found.

Pakura ordered people to spread out and search for half a day, but they still found nothing.

"Let’s go back."

Pakura said with a grave expression. Rasa was dead, and something major was about to happen in Sunagakure. This matter also involved Sasori of the Red Sand. After returning, she had to invite Elder Chiyo out.

After returning to Sunagakure, Pakura gathered the Sunagakure higher-ups, along with Chiyo and Ebizo, the two retired elder advisors. The Anbu who had accompanied Rasa was given some simple treatment before being summoned as well.

After the Sunagakure higher-ups heard the full account of what had happened, everyone in the meeting hall was filled with fury.

The leader of an entire village had been assassinated on his own territory by people from the Underground Money Exchange. Was there anything more ridiculous than that?

Once word got out, Sunagakure would surely become a complete laughingstock. Not only would the other Four Great Ninja Villages look down on them, even the smaller Ninja Villages would likely no longer take Sunagakure seriously.

"Since Rasa’s death has been confirmed, there are three urgent matters that must be resolved as soon as possible."

After coughing twice, Chiyo spoke to the Sunagakure higher-ups. Upon hearing that there was no trace of Sasori and no puppet wreckage had been left at the scene, Chiyo knew that her grandson should be fine.

Moreover, he had saved a Suna-nin Ninja, which showed that Sasori still had feelings for Sunagakure in his heart. He simply did not want to return for the time being. But that was not important. As long as Sunagakure did not declare Sasori a Rogue ninja, he could come back whenever he wished.

"The first matter is selecting the Fifth Kazekage. Without a Kazekage, many village affairs cannot be handled. I am merely a retired old woman. Being invited out time and again truly makes no sense."

After hearing Chiyo’s words, the Suna-nin Ninja in the room all lowered their heads somewhat sheepishly.

Repeatedly asking an elderly woman who had long retired to preside over village affairs truly made them seem incompetent.

"The second matter is to finalize the alliance with the Yasunori Trading Company as quickly as possible. This concerns Sunagakure’s lifeline. We can make some minor concessions based on what Rasa negotiated before his death, but it must be settled quickly!"

"The third matter is revenge. The leader of a village was assassinated on his own territory. Even if we cannot find those Rogue ninja, we must deal with the employer who paid for it."

The Anbu Captain frowned slightly and said, "The Underground Money Exchange has bounties that are not open to the public, usually for important figures from various nations or Daimyo of Small countries. I will send people to investigate from this direction…"

"Even without concrete evidence, we can still act. Whoever knew the Fourth Kazekage’s itinerary and could afford to pay so much money."

Ebizo said calmly.

"Within the entire Land of Wind, the only one who should have a grudge against the Fourth Kazekage is the one in the capital, isn’t it?"

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