Hidan's words made everyone present feel like their brains had just been hit with a gong.
Especially Kakuzu, who stared at Hidan in utter disbelief.
He couldn't understand how this lunatic managed to ask such a question at a time like this.
Even on Konoha's side, Kakashi shot Hidan a dead-fish-eyed glare, and Kitagawa Gen's shadow clone looked momentarily stunned.
As for Guy, he just seemed lost. He knew Hidan was crazy, sure—but not this crazy.
"Wait, don't you all know this person?" Guy finally asked in disbelief.
That instantly got Hidan excited.
"Who is it? Tell me! Come on, spit it out!"
"It seems like—"
Just as Guy was about to speak, a voice called out from the distance and interrupted him.
"Sasori! So it really is you!"
Hearing that voice, Sasori raised an eyebrow. His gaze slowly shifted toward the approaching figure.
After a brief pause, he shook his head and muttered helplessly, "Granny… it's you."
It was none other than Chiyo.
The desert was her domain—tracking someone down here wasn't difficult for her at all.
She had already been feeling suspicious when she noticed Kakashi and the others heading toward the direction of Rōran. She wasn't sure if Konoha was targeting Rōran… or if a member of the Akatsuki had appeared nearby.
But once she sensed a massive chakra fluctuation from afar, she rushed over immediately—and just happened to see Sasori!
At this moment, Sasori wasn't using Hiruko. Ever since it was destroyed by Kitagawa Gen, he hadn't found a replacement yet.
His real face was now laid bare before everyone. And seeing her grandson, who still looked just as he did back then, left Chiyo feeling dazed.
"I heard... it was you who assassinated the Third Kazekage?"
After a long silence, she finally asked with a heavy expression.
But Sasori only tilted his head and gave a carefree smile.
"Yeah, that was me. He's one of my art pieces now."
"You've completely changed."
Chiyo stared at her grandson, now utterly consumed by darkness. A trace of sorrow crept into her expression.
"Maybe I should never have taught you puppetry in the first place."
"How fragile. I don't think I've ever seen that look on your face before."
Sasori still wore a casual, indifferent expression, though there was a flicker of emotion between his brows.
"Looks like age is catching up to you. You're starting to change too."
"Well, it was me who personally led my own disappointing grandson down this path... A little regret is to be expected."
Chiyo let out a sigh but slowly straightened her posture, regaining her resolve.
"But perhaps this is how it should be. Since I'm the one who taught you puppetry... I'll be the one to take it back."
As she spoke, she casually tossed a signal flare to the ground—clearly intending to keep others from interfering in their battle.
"You really are funny," Sasori said coldly. "If you hadn't planted that seed in me to begin with, why would I have pursued this path at all?"
The smile faded from his face, replaced by a distant coldness.
"I never stopped moving forward. You're the one who changed. Those two beside you—one is the son of Hatake Sakumo, and the other inherited his sword. How could you stand with them?"
"..."
Chiyo fell silent again.
The truth was, she had never truly stopped either.
And in fact, she had already taken that forbidden step.
In order to resurrect her son and daughter-in-law, she developed the Self-Reincarnation Technique.
But the price of this jutsu—and the consequences of its existence—made her realize one thing.
If it were ever revealed or exposed, the Land of Wind, and Sunagakure along with it, would face utter ruin.
"Go on then. Let me see how far you've come."
"Hmph. The me standing before you now…"
With a sharp motion, Sasori tore open a scroll. The reassembled Third Kazekage immediately appeared, and his pitch-black Iron Sand launched straight into an attack.
"…has already surpassed you in puppetry!"
[Boom—]
[Boom—]
[Boom—]
The clash between Sasori and Chiyo erupted in an instant. Explosions echoed one after another without pause.
"Get down!"
Kakashi quickly grabbed Guy and leapt aside, all while shouting to Kitagawa Gen's shadow clone.
"Dispel the clone right now—focus entirely on that fight. Also, inform your original body about what's going on here."
"Understood. Kakashi-sensei, Guy-sensei, you both have my kunai on you. If anything happens, just signal me."
Kitagawa Gen's clone nodded, and just before vanishing, added a final reminder.
"And… be careful."
[Poof—]
With a puff of smoke, the clone disappeared. Kakashi and Guy turned to face the approaching Kakuzu and Hidan.
" Tch. So that was a shadow clone, huh? Looks like the real one's over there."
Kakuzu snorted coldly. His green eyes flickered slightly before he spoke again.
"If nothing unexpected happened, he probably ran into Orochimaru. What a pity. I wanted to kill that bastard with my own hands."
"Orochimaru…"
Kakashi's face grew visibly more serious. Still, he had absolute faith in Kitagawa Gen.
After all, if Gen really wanted to, he could return to their side at any time.
"That side doesn't need my concern. Right now, taking care of you is more important."
"Such arrogance."
Kakuzu gave another snort, and the chakra inside his body began to surge.
"I may not be back to full strength yet—but dealing with you won't be a problem!"
Before the words had even finished leaving his mouth, Kakuzu was already charging in. Kakashi immediately drew his kunai to meet him head-on.
"Kappa freak, looks like it's just you and me again."
Hidan raised an eyebrow and pointed his scythe toward Guy.
"So? Are you ready to tell me now?"
"Tell you after you beat me."
Guy couldn't be bothered to entertain this lunatic any further. His focus was on figuring out how to take this guy down.
At the same time, he found himself trying to recall—who was it that came in dead last in their class again? He vaguely remembered… some spiky-haired guy?
"Alright then!"
But Hidan just got more excited. In a flash, he charged forward.
"Let's do this!"
...
Meanwhile, in an oasis hidden within the vast desert of the Land of Wind, more than twenty Kumogakure shinobi lay concealed.
Some were resting with their eyes closed, while others lurked in the shadows, silently watching the surroundings. Their coordination was seamless.
It was obvious—they were a team of elite shinobi.
Operating in the Land of Wind required extreme caution.
"Captain, what should we do now?"
Deeper within the oasis, one of the Kumogakure ninja whispered to Toroi.
This squad was part of Kumo's special forces, and their leader, Toroi, was a shinobi with the rare Kekkei Genkai: Magnet Release.
Even though this mission required them to cross thousands of kilometers to reach the Land of Wind, the Kumo-nin had still managed to infiltrate the territory in complete silence.
But they were also running into problems.
The harsh environment of the Land of Wind—combined with its vast, sparsely populated terrain—made finding anyone incredibly difficult.
"Any intel from the Anbu?"
Toroi's mood was far from pleasant. He paused for a moment before asking.
"Weren't they the ones who discovered Konoha shinobi had entered the Land of Wind? So why haven't we heard anything since?"
"We don't know either. We've tried contacting them multiple times, but there's been no response."
The Kumogakure shinobi he asked wore a confused expression. The Anbu had entered the Land of Wind ahead of them, but now it was as if they'd vanished without a trace.
"Could they have been discovered by Sunagakure? After all, this is..."
"It's hard to say. For now, all we can do is be careful ourselves."
Toroi was clearly frustrated. The humiliation suffered by the Raikage had brought shame upon all of Kumogakure.
Even though the Fourth Raikage had repeatedly reminded them before departure to prioritize safety, every one of them had come with the resolve to die if necessary.
Whether it was to carry out the external operation or seize the chance to eliminate Konoha operatives, they were fully prepared.
But now they couldn't even locate their targets—and that was unacceptable.
"Captain, movement!"
Suddenly, a sensory-type Kumogakure ninja ran over and reported in a low voice.
"South of here. There's a surge of chakra—and I sensed a squad of roughly thirty people heading in that direction."
"South? A thirty-man team?"
Toroi raised an eyebrow. After a brief pause, he gave the order without hesitation.
"Everyone, prepare to move out. Whatever it is—we're going to check it out."
"Yes, sir!"
The Kumogakure shinobi sprang into action at once. They didn't know what was happening yet, but having a target was better than stumbling around like headless flies.
---
I will post some extra Chapters in Patreon, you can check it out. >> patreon.com/TitoVillar
---