Clink
Clink
Clink
In the dimly lit workshop, the metallic stench of blood envelopes the air, as Sasori tinkers with the corpse of enemy ninja he stored during a mission.
The sound of metal on metal echoed faintly through the narrow sandstone corridors. In admiration of his own craftsmanship, Sasori's hands skimmed over the delicate network of hollow channels carved inside his newest puppet. With a final adjustment, the modified chakra tubes aligned perfectly.
The faint thrum of latent chakra resonated through the wooden frame, and in a grotesque fashion, the core stolen from the very flesh of its host.
A faint smile tugged at his lips.
"It's finally complete, it was more difficult than I anticipated but using the chakra of a puppet via a cadaver is finally feasible"
Lying on Sasori's desk was a humanoid puppet, the rough grained texture of wood lined its husk yet in an antithetical twist, the chest compartment filled with metallic tubes connected to a core of radiating chakra, sustained by the preserved remnants of a once living being .
It seems Sasori has just completed his first prototype human puppet, capable of utilising the chakra of the host corpse.
Although he had made human puppets before, this is the first time he was able to use their stored chakra as a battery to fuel the puppets attacks.
In addition to the smell of blood, the pungent herbaceous smell on the desk of Sasori, originated from the mortar and pestle filled with rare medicinal herbs.
Beside it, jotted down on a small piece of paper was a table containing precise ratios of varying amounts ingredients.
Each ingredient was precious, with the devious intention of the antidote requiring a delicate balance of necessary ingredients to concoct.
"Now all I have to do is formulate the mixing ratio correctly and my plan will be complete.", Sasori's once monotone voice now said with a hint of excitement.
In the Kazekages Office
The Third Kazekage leaned back in his seat, the warm afternoon light piercing through the circular windows carved through the beige cracked walls, casting a long, sharp shadow on the classified mission scroll stamped with the personal seal of the Wind Daiymo himself. After analysing potential prospects for said mission, his eyes lingered on one name — Sasori.
The Third Kazekage had sifted through a plethora of administrative scrolls, in search of a suitable Shinobi for this highly classified S-rank mission.
And as for the reason why the Kazekage is so diligently searching for a suitable ninja, is because if missions requested by the Wind Daimyo aren't completed to a satisfactory standard, he may begin to decide to outsource them to other clients or worst case scenario, Sunagakure may even get a cut in funding for their defence budget.
Sighing, the Third Kazekage eyes glanced once again over Sasori's information.
Sasori:
5 D-rank, 12 C-rank, 16 B-rank,
29 A-rank, 10 S-rank
"It seems I may have to trouble him again. After all, I don't think there's anyone more efficient than Sasori", he mused to himself.
In a cryptic rhythmic pattern he tapped on his desk 3 times.
Woosh
In response to the covert cue, a man wearing a white mask flickered in front of the Kazekage, half kneeling down and bowing his head.
In a stern tone he ordered the ANBU guard who appeared in front of him:
"Send this missive to Sasori, you know where to go, inform him to report to me."
Woosh
The ANBU vanished as swiftly as he came, dispatched to deliver the order.
—-
Sasori poured the last of the ground herbs into a small ceramic jar using a solvent to procure the concoction, then corking it with deliberate care. His eyes lingered on the finished poison, its lavender, viscous sheen almost beautiful in the low luminosity of the light emanating from the candle on his desk.
Knock
The sudden sound disturbed his entranced mood.
Opening the door, was a man donning a beige flak jacket and a white cloth mask with only his eyes visible, his message was brief yet concise.
Throwing a scroll at the same time he stated:
"Lord Third has sent you a missive. Please report to him now."
Sasori turned and caught the scroll, his gaze cold but unreadable. He gave a single curt nod.
The ANBU vanished in a blur upon receiving the response.
The workshop was silent once more.
But this time Sasori's expression was slowly, almost ceremonially changed, his mouth curving into a thin, predatory grin.
His gaze hovering over the finely crafted hypodermic needles sitting on his desk.
…
In the Kazekages building, the dampened click of Sasori's steps inched closer and closer to the door of the office to the Kazekage.
The corridor seemed never ending as
Sasori's heart thumped in anticipation, each step reminding him of the foreboding fate he has planned for the Kazekage.
The heavy door creaked opened as Sasori knelt on one knee upon entering .
"Lord Third I'm here as requested"
"Sasori you've read the scroll I presume, this mission was issued by the Daimyo himself"
"Listed inside, is an assassination target. A description is written with his picture, this mission must be completed by tonight"
Despite being ordered, Sasori's eyes seemed absent, enthralled by the iron sand kept in the gourd beside the Kazekage.
His eyes traced across the Kazekage with a covetous look but he quickly returned to his usual demeanour.
"Not now…" Sasori muttered to himself as he remembered the ANBU concealing themselves in the room.
"Understood, I'll complete it quickly"
As soon as he received his briefing on the mission, Sasori flickered away.
With the noise dissipating in the room, a slight sense of unease had settled over the Kazekage.
…
Sasori headed out, lugging 3 scrolls on his back each prepared with his finest puppets.
In his typical fashion of not liking to make people wait, he rapidly trekked through the barren desert, the lack of moisture in the air made his mouth dry, yet endured in pursuit of his target.
"Why are you doing this ?!", a distraught assassination target pleads, his voice trembling with desperation to Sasori.
Sasori remained silent with a chilling look in his eyes that was devoid of humanity, his movements were precise and efficient.
Rattle
Without a response, he opened the arm of his puppet containing hundreds of small poison darts, each one whistling through the air and accurately piercing through the epidermis of his target.
Thud
The man's vision began to blur as he fell to the floor, his muscle spasms causing his body to seize involuntarily.
A lack of oxygen changes his face purple, as his own body deprives itself of air.
"Perfect. The neurotoxin I've formulated works just as intended, another specimen added to my collection", Sasori utters as he stores the freshly deceased body into his scroll.
…
He stepped through the village entrance, the moonlight illuminating his path as he walked through the dead of the night.
He stared at the hemispherical Kazekages office, attached to the surrounding buildings via a interconnected web of small support beams.
Arriving at the Kazekages office entrance once again, he gave a curt briefing on his job.
"Lord Third, the mission requested is complete"
The Kazekage heaved a euphoric sigh of relief, the Wind Daimyo will definitely be satisfied with the efficiency of the village.
"Good job, I knew I could count on you Sasori."
Contrary to the relief of the Kazekage, Sasori was tense.
As Sasori had begun to kneel down, a faint buzzing could be heard.
Blue spindle fibre like threads form at his fingertips, latching onto the gleaming darts in his back pocket.
His fingers manipulated the 3 hypodermic needles, coated in his specially formulated neurotoxin.
Fwish
A Sharp jolt radiated from the Kazekages neck.
Before the Kazekage could react, a needle pierced into his jugular vein administrating a lethal dose of poison swiftly.
Simultaneously, two others received the same treatment.
Two limp bodies appeared from the shadows collapsing to the ground, the personal guards, unconcealed from the shadows.
"W-why…", Despite the muscles in his airways contracting, the Kazekage managed to whisper out with a ragged breath, his final inquiry.
"Why you ask? Who in Sunagakure has a more powerful Kekkei Genkai than you?"
"No one is deemed more suitable for my human puppet"
His eyes opened wide in shock from hearing the inhumane reason for his betrayal.
And after the Kazekage breathed his final breaths, Sasori stored him and his guards into a scroll and left the building.
The next day:
Around the large roundtable a meeting was held between high ranking elders and councellors to the Kazekage, there was a heavy silence as a tense atmosphere enveloped the room.
An inexplicable event had occurred last night.
Unbeknownst to them, the Kazekage and his guards have all gone missing.
Bang!
Breaking the tension, a sudden slam of the table expressed the frustration of a Honoured Elder.
He raised the question that was pestering the minds of every high ranking official.
"Where has the Third Kazekage gone!?", he yelled in frustration.
"He has been missing since last night", Ebizō responded with a ruminative temperament.
Muttering voices reverberated around the room, like a floodgate being released, the stern elders all chimed in at once.
"He didn't even give us a notice"
"It's only been one day, we should wait before coming to a drastic conclusion"
"He's the most powerful Kazekage in history, there's no chance anything's gone wrong"
Amidst the chaos, Chiyo finally gave her take on the precarious situation
"Let's send search teams immediately , if rumours of an insecure state of leadership arises, as well news of us losing our most powerful ninja in Suna is spread, given the undercurrents of war between the other great villages, especially with the ongoing escalating skirmishes between Konoha, Iwa and Kumo, we would also be at risk of a possible invasion".
The room went pin drop silent.
What Chiyo said was the harsh brutal reality, layered with the prospect of war looming in the future, news of Sunagakure missing a Kazekage will cause major waves across the ninja world.
"I agree with my sister, lets utilise all upper-ranking trusted shinobi for a nationwide search of the Kazekage."
"To prevent spies from learning of this information.The village shall be in a temporary state of emergency and all ninjas who are sent out will be performing a S-rank mission in search for Lord Third."
…
I was carefully refilling the poison in my puppets,- when a sudden knock made me pause. The door opened, revealing Chiyo's worried face.
"Sora, where's your brother?"
"Shouldn't he be in his workshop, what happened? You never usually come to us directly."
"Well, since it's you… I'll tell you. The village is in a state of emergency, as of now only high ranking officials and Jonīn know of this."
Clack
Before I could say anything, the puppet I'd been working on slipped from my hands, the hollow wooden interior amplifying the noise echoing sharply in the room.
I froze, my heart pounding. "Seriously… what happened?"
Chiyo's eyes darkened.
"The Kazekage has been missing since yesterday. We're sending all high-ranking shinobi out to search—hence why I came for Sasori."
The words hit me like a punch. My mouth went dry, and for a moment I couldn't speak. Sasori… missing? It was as I feared.
In a panic, I sprinted to my brothers workshop opening the door.
The room was eerily dark and empty, the thick stench of blood piercing my nose overloading my senses and the once columns of puppets that were under construction had now gone missing.
"Sora! Why are you in such a hurry?",Chiyo asked as she chased me through the corridor.
She instantly stopped in her tracks at the entrance.
We both paused, glancing at each other briefly.
There was unmistakable, ominous signs hinting to the creation of human puppets, something was off with the room: the missing puppets, the scent of blood and poison.
"What is this?", Chiyo quietly muttered as she scanned the room.
Walking to his desk she smeared the remnant poison from the mortar and pestle on her fingertips, a cynical thought came to mind.
"There's no way that could've happened", she scoffed to herself.
"Has Sasori gone missing too? This is strange, first the Kazekage, now Sasori I really hope nothing bad has happened to him."
"I'll have to ask the search teams to keep an eye out for Sasori too.", she mumbled with a heavy heart.
She had turned a blind eye to the clear signs that something was amiss. Sasori being missing had taken presidence in this situation.
"I'll have to ask him what this is about when he returns"
"Sora, let's leave I'm sure your brothers fine."
As I walked behind Chiyo in the corridor, it was clear she was visibly shaken up from the sight of Sasori's workshop, her hands were trembling and her steps were offbeat.
She returned back to her room, glancing at the framed photo of her deceased son and daughter in law.
"Where did I go wrong", she grumbled to herself, as she reminisced on the state of Sasori's workshop.
Then returning back to work, she began to compose a list of high ranking Shinobi to form a search squad for the Kazekage.
As distressed as she is about Sasori, she can't let it interfere with maintaining the peace of the village.