Guided by the puppet, Anya stopped flying after just half a day.
The puppet mark became clearer and clearer. Obviously, Sasori had already arrived.
As soon as she landed on the ground, an extremely joyful voice came over, "Kurotsuchi, it's really you! Long time no see."
Anya looked in the direction of the voice. Years had passed since their last meeting, and Sasori had now fully grown into a young man. His short red hair was soft and shiny. He had fair, delicate skin and a pair of bright, clear brown eyes radiating gentle warmth. His nose bridge was straight, curved beautifully. In terms of looks, he could easily rival Anya.
After staring at each other for a while, Anya took the initiative to hug Sasori. Overcome with joy at their long-awaited reunion, he said, "Yeah, it really has been a while."
After the hug, the awkwardness between them faded away. Sasori grinned excitedly, "I thought you'd have forgotten our promise by now."
"Impossible. You're my best friend in Sunagakure. No matter where I am, once I received your message, I came here immediately."
Anya always felt somewhat guilty toward Sasori. There was nothing he could do about it; after all, his master had killed Sasori's parents.
After hearing this, Sasori glanced in the direction Anya had come from and asked uncertainly, "So Kurotsuchi, are you living in the Land of Fire currently?"
Anya sighed inwardly before deciding to tell the truth, "More precisely, I'm currently a ninja from Konoha."
"Konoha?" Sasori stepped back two steps, his gaze flickering as he asked with a hint of hatred in his tone, "Then you must have met that ninja called Legend of the White Fang?"
"Yes, I did meet him. About three years ago, he committed suicide." Mentioning his mentor still caused hidden pain inside Anya, who then asked, "Why? Do you hate him?"
Sasori already knew about White Fang's death. He answered with confusion written across his face, "What difference does hatred make when he is already dead?"
Anya stepped forward and patted Sasori's shoulder, saying, "You silly kid, on the battlefield, life and death are never under your control. Since both sides were enemies, whoever survives or dies cannot blame others. The person you should truly hate is the one who took your parents away from you."
"That's right," Sasori's eyes flashed with incredible intensity, "Kurotsuchi, you really understand me the most. Third Kazekage deserves to die. If not for his negligence and wrong command, my parents wouldn't have died at all."
Seeing that Sasori's hatred had shifted, Anya breathed a sigh of relief. He understood that his identity couldn't remain concealed for much longer. Considering Sasori's intelligence, eventually he would discover Anya's true identity. Therefore, it was better to reveal part of the truth to him from the very beginning. Now that Sasori had shown up, Anya asked, "What are your current plans? Are you leaving Sunagakure?"
"No, I want to do something big, but I don't have much confidence," Sasori said with a determined look, "Therefore, I wanted to see you once before doing it. It's like fulfilling a wish."
Anya's expression turned serious as she pressed, "Tell me, what exactly are you planning to do?"
Sasori spoke without hesitation: "I want to assassinate the Third Kazekage."
Upon hearing this, Anya was stunned by Sasori's audacity. After all, the current Third Kazekage was known as the strongest Kazekage in history and possessed Magnet Release, an extremely powerful Kekkei Genkai. He was truly a top-tier expert among Kage-level fighters. How could Sasori dare to do something like this? At the very least, Anya had never considered attempting to assassinate the Hokage.
"No, it's too dangerous," Anya shook his head and refused to agree. "How about this? You come with me to Konoha; I'll help you forge an identity, and in the future, I can help you kill the Third Kazekage."
Sasori insisted: "Brother Kurotsuchi, I can't wait that long. I've already made up my mind. After meeting you today, I'm getting ready to go. No one can stop me."
Anya could hear the resolve in Sasori's voice — a willingness to risk everything. Sasori was no longer a child; he wasn't the type who could be persuaded so easily anymore. With this in mind, Anya sighed softly and said, "Fine then, let's go together. I'll help you."
Sasori was shocked by Anya's words: "But you... aren't you a ninja from Konoha? If you help me assassinate the Third Kazekage, it might lead to war between our two villages."
"So what?" Anya smiled joyfully. "This ninja title has never tied me down. What truly matters to me is our bond."
Touched by Anya's words, Sasori still shook his head and refused: "Brother Kurotsuchi, this is something I must do alone. I don't want to drag you into it. Besides..."
Before Sasori could finish speaking, Anya summoned the Wooden Bull Puppet, pulled out two crystal coffins from within, and asked, "Tell me, what do you think this is?"
The moment Sasori saw them, he froze in place, completely stunned. The two familiar figures — so familiar they only appeared in his dreams — stood before him. Could these really be... his parents?
Sasori fell to his knees before the crystal coffin, staring at his parents' bodies that looked almost alive, tears streaming down his face nonstop.
Ever since retrieving the remains of Sasori's parents, Anya had been preserving them with various medicines. Later, after meeting Haku, he even had her use Ice Release combined with special materials to create zero-degree crystal coffins for better preservation — to give Sasori the chance to see his parents with his own eyes one day. Now was precisely the time to bring them out and calm Sasori, who'd lost himself in hatred.
After a long silence, Sasori slowly came out of his grief, his eyes still fixed on his parents as he softly murmured, "Thank you, Brother Kurotsuchi. Thank you for keeping my parents' remains so well-preserved."
"You're welcome," Anya responded, adding regretfully, "It's just a shame that by the time I got there, they were already gone." He couldn't help but remember what happened back then — the moment their teacher hesitated to kill those kids. Had he been ruthless enough at that time, perhaps the teacher wouldn't have died later saving Nocturne instead of completing his mission.
"The Third Kazekage is even more deserving of death now," said Sasori, emerging from his sorrow, his hatred for the Kazekage intensifying further.
Trying to reason with him, Anya added, "The reason I brought your parents' remains here was exactly to make you calm down. Hatred can give strength, but it can also consume a person. If you decide to kill him, plan carefully and strike with one decisive blow, so your parents haven't died in vain."
"Okay, I'll listen to you."
Sasori was no ordinary person. He quickly wiped away his tears. Then he carefully placed his parents' bodies inside a puppet and secured it away safely.
Anya analyzed, "If we engage in direct combat, we have absolutely no chance. I think your plan should be the same as mine, right?"
Sasori got it instantly. "Yes, I plan to use poison."
Anya continued, "Does the Third Kazekage have any suspicion of you yet?"
Sasori shook his head. "No. I've always acted very obediently in the village. Everyone still thinks I'm just a child."
"I see. Then our chances are much greater now." Anya smiled confidently. During the three years he was imprisoned, if there was one area where he'd made the most progress without a doubt, it was in the use of poison. In that area, he'd already surpassed Tsunade.
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