Born with a great love for the Uchiha

This is, after all, the Fourth Kazekage!

"No! No need for the Hokage to trouble himself!"

Granny Chiyo rejected Gen Uchiha's suggestion to "do it for her" without hesitation.

She recalled the scene she had just witnessed, a replica of reality, and tried to mitigate Luo Sha's guilt.

"Lord Hokage, Princess Slug says the Fourth Hokage's heart has disappeared..."

"Yes."

Uchiha Gen glanced at him, and a spatial ripple appeared beside him as a piece of [Amber Seal] flew out.

“Rosa’s ‘heart’ is right here.”

Gen Uchiha released the Amber Seal, revealing the black tentacles and white mask inside to the Sand Village ninjas.

Having lost Kakuzu as its master, the tentacles of [Earth Grudge Fear] have lost their vitality.

However, the white mask made from the Kazekage's heart did not lose its chakra.

Sunagakure has a tradition of puppeteers.

Granny Chiyo is the strongest puppeteer in Sunagakure in her generation, bar none.

Granny Chiyo, an expert in puppet making, immediately recognized the extraordinary nature of the white mask.

With a slight sense, she detected Rasa's chakra emanating from the mask.

"This……"

"This is a special mask made by Kakuzu, an S-rank rogue ninja, using the heart of the Fourth Kazekage."

Gen Uchiha gave a brief introduction while simultaneously shirking responsibility.

"He was already dead before I could take care of your Fourth Kazekage."

Chapter 284: Were we set up by the other four villages?!

Translate.

What does it mean that "the Kazekage was already dead before you killed him"?

Grandma Chiyo's eyelids twitched with anger, but she forced herself to suppress her rage.

The fourth generation leader is dead, and she no longer cares about right or wrong.

The most urgent task is to figure out how to minimize the losses to the village caused by Luo Sha's illness!

All the mistakes were Luo Sha's fault.

The Kazekage's actions have nothing to do with Sunagakure!

Granny Chiyo carefully recalled every word the Fifth Hokage had said, and suddenly her eyes lit up.

"Lord Hokage!"

Grandma Chiyo seemed to have grasped at a lifeline, and her aged voice suddenly rose considerably.

"Since you say that the Fourth Hokage was already dead before you made your move!"

"Does that mean that the person who attacked the Shadows of other villages was not our village's Fourth Hokage?"

"After all, the Fourth Hokage at that time was just a corpse, not a living person with self-awareness!"

Grandma Chiyo's words made some sense.

However, Gen Uchiha could only partially agree.

You're right, but—

Gen Uchiha first nodded, then shook his head.

"As far as I know, your Sunagakure village possesses an extremely advanced puppetry technique tradition."

"Among the many puppetry techniques, there is a branch called 'human puppetry,' which can turn the corpses of ninjas into human-shaped puppets."

"The Fourth Kazekage was already a corpse when he attended the Five Kage Summit."

"But who can guarantee that the Fourth Kazekage at that time wasn't a humanoid puppet?"

"And if the Fourth Kazekage is a humanoid puppet, then the only people who can control this puppet are probably the Sand Village ninjas, right?"

Grandma Chiyo's brows furrowed immediately.

Uchiha Gen's words sound like they make some sense.

However, from the perspective of Sunagakure, their words are completely untenable!

Leaving aside other issues...

What is the "motive" of Sunagakure?

Take a thousand steps back.

How could a Sand Village ninja kill the Fourth Kazekage first, and then manipulate the Fourth Kazekage's corpse to launch attacks on the Kage of the other four villages?

unless……

The person who killed the Fourth Kazekage was indeed a ninja from Sunagakure, but he was a rogue ninja!

A rogue ninja with the ability to assassinate the Kazekage and turn him into a human puppet...

A red-haired figure suddenly flashed through Granny Chiyo's mind.

'It can't be? No way...'

Grandma Chiyo took a deep breath, suppressing the confusion and unease in her heart.

"Sunagakure will never accept this argument!"

Grandma Chiyo said sternly and righteously.

"Sunagakure is also a victim of this incident!"

The village has already lost a fourth generation leader.

Aren't they victims?

Honestly.

Granny Chiyo even suspected that the death of the Fourth Kazekage was a setup orchestrated by the other four villages!

If you think about it carefully...

Konoha successively signed alliance contracts with Kirigakure, Kumogakure, and Iwagakure.

Of the five great villages in the ninja world, only Sunagakure is an exception.

The Fourth Kazekage attended the Five Kage Summit alone, only to be assassinated by the other four Kage in a coordinated scheme...

That does sound like there's a little bit of truth to it.

Granny Chiyo never hesitated to assume the worst about the ninjas from other villages.

“I can understand.”

Uchiha Gen spoke grand and righteous words.

"But the Fourth Kazekage—whether he is alive, dead, or a puppet."

"He did indeed attack the Five Kage Summit and caused significant damage to the Third Tsuchikage and others."

"This is also why I came to Sunagakure."

“If you Sunagakure think there are suspicious circumstances surrounding the death of the Fourth Kazekage, then quickly select a suitable representative to go to the Land of Iron to examine the Kazekage’s body.”

"Another point is that the Five Kage Summit was forced to stop due to personnel issues, and now the Sand Village's participation is also needed."

At this point, Gen Uchiha paused, his crimson eyes sweeping over the group of Sand Village ninja opposite him.

"Of course... if Sunagakure feels there's no need for them to participate in the Five Kage Summit, then forget it."

If I don't want to participate, then I don't!

Grandma Chiyo really wanted to speak so forcefully.

The sudden death of the Fourth Kazekage dealt a significant blow to Sunagakure.

just in case.

What if her guess was true?

What if the new Sunagakure representative goes to the Five Kage Summit and encounters another unexpected event?

Can Sunagakure withstand this?

But when the words were on the tip of her tongue, Grandma Chiyo just couldn't bring herself to say them.

If Sunagakure really doesn't participate in the Five Kage Summit.

In the eyes of other villages.

It wasn't that Sunagakure had the strength or confidence to forcefully refuse the invitation to the Five Kage Summit.

Rather, Sunagakure is no longer qualified to stand on the same level as the other four great ninja villages!

Even though Sunagakure is now in a state of decline.

But it has always remained one of the five great ninja villages in the ninja world.

Granny Chiyo simply couldn't accept that her village had become a small village like Amegakure.

Other high-ranking ninjas from Sunagakure also recognized this.

Regardless of whether there was any foul play involved in the death of the Fourth Kazekage.

Sunagakure cannot be absent from the Five Kage Summit!

"Lord Hokage is joking."

Grandma Chiyo managed a stiff smile on her old face.