Born in Sunagakure, dedicated to antagonizing Konoha for decades

...

"Lord Kaizou, so much time has passed and we still haven't found Lord Kazekage. I'm sure everyone has their own guesses. To put it bluntly, I think Lord Kazekage has most likely met with some misfortune. There aren't many people in the ninja world who have the power to kill Lord Kazekage silently. Konoha's White Fang is definitely one of them. We must avenge Lord Kazekage!"

"Yes! It must have been Konoha's White Fang! Damn it, those hypocritical bastards from Konoha.....(▼へ▼メ)"

"That's right, we absolutely must avenge Lord Kazekage! (艹皿艹)"

"That's right, Lord Kaizo, we must avenge Lord Kazekage! (「▼皿▼)"

"........"

Inside the Wind Shadow Pavilion, the heads of various clans were all furious, their faces red and their necks thick with spittle, as if their own fathers had been killed. Among them, the heads of the top clans, such as Mei Chuan Nai Teng and Yu Sha Kaku, spoke the loudest, as if they were sworn enemies. They were ready to send men to fight as soon as Ebizo said the word.

They wouldn't suspect Handsome Scorpion, after all, Handsome Scorpion was the Crown Prince and the next successor to the Wind Shadow. He would only kill the Wind Shadow if he was sick. In their minds, the simultaneous disappearance of Handsome Scorpion and the Wind Shadow was just a coincidence. Of course, it was also possible that he was killed by someone like the Wind Shadow.

The village has been recuperating for almost ten years, and all departments are now fully staffed. Although it's uncertain whether White Fang killed the Kazekage, White Fang is the prime suspect. Their Kazekage is one of the strongest ninjas in the world; not just any Tom, Dick, or Harry could kill him, let alone so quietly. The Kazekage is a great mage; even a single skill he uses generates intense chakra fluctuations, which they couldn't possibly have missed.

White Fang is skilled in assassination, so they can conveniently shift the blame to Konoha. Even if Konoha helps them find some evidence, it'll likely force them into war anyway, considering the benefits they reaped from the previous two wars...

To paraphrase Shinto, the best course of action is to shift the blame to Konoha!

649. It's rare for ancestral graves to emit auspicious smoke twice.

"...I understand everyone's feelings. After all, he is our Kazekage, so we must find him alive or dead. Send more people to the Land of Fire to search for him. We'll talk about the rest later."

Ebizo looked at the group of guys who were acting like their fathers, wanting to avenge him, and after a long silence, he spoke.

He understood that Maowa and those bastards just wanted to make a fortune from the war like they did in World War I and World War II. Although many people died in the previous two wars, they also made a fortune. Compared with the benefits they gained, what did a few deaths matter? What war doesn't result in deaths? Apart from the Yusa clan having a lower reproductive rate, which clan is short of people?

Judging from the current situation in the ninja world, the next war is inevitable and will have to start sooner or later. However, what he wants is not for Sunagakure to be the vanguard, but for other villages to take the lead, just like the previous two times, with Sunagakure entering the fray later. This would give them more options. Moreover, he and Sunagakure had been "lord and vassal" for so many years. They shared the four great bonds of life: fighting together, sharing spoils, studying together, and even going whoring together... cough cough, he and Sunagakure had all of those. He had to find out whether Sunagakure was dead or alive, and he couldn't let his body remain cold.

Furthermore, there's the unknown Kirigakure behind them. Rashly starting a war with Konoha now would have far-reaching consequences. Kirigakure and Iwagakure are sworn enemies, that's true, but it's hard to say whether Kirigakure might try to outmaneuver Sunagakure. Sunagakure's resources are already scarce; if they get outmaneuvered by Kirigakure, they'll be back to square one...

But looking at these foul-mouthed bastards, Ebizo felt a headache coming on. Not only was Sunagawa missing, but his precious grand-nephew had also disappeared. This was what was giving him the biggest headache. That was the hope of their entire village, a super genius! How many years does it take for someone like that to appear? Haven't you seen how many decades it's been since Onoki in Iwagakure? They've moved their ancestral graves several times, and they still haven't produced a single super genius. That shows just how rare they are.

Their Sunagakure ancestral graves had unusually emitted auspicious smoke twice, and damn it, one of them escaped, and it was the young one at that. Just thinking about it made Ebizo's liver ache.

"......"

Seeing Ebizo's grim expression, the group of clan heads, all grieving the loss of their fathers, assumed it was due to the uncertainty surrounding Kazekage's fate. They stopped their tirade. Besides, Kazekage had only been missing for a little over a month; they couldn't be sure if he was truly dead. What if Kazekage returned one day and found out they were all cursing him to die? They'd be in trouble if they waited until they were certain of his life. There was no rush...

......

For a period of time afterward, the border of the Land of Fire was extremely tense, with large numbers of Sand Ninja constantly appearing on the border. Konoha, of course, would not allow the Sand Ninja to invade its territory. During this period, the two sides fought small battles every two days and large battles every three days. The scene was quite intense. Although the Sand Ninja were fighting on foreign soil, with orders from higher-ups, these Sand Ninja underlings were like they had taken some kind of drug. After being repelled by one wave, the next wave would arrive on the battlefield in five seconds.

This situation left all the villages in the ninja world completely bewildered.

"What exactly are these Sand Village ninja trying to do...?"

Inside the Tsuchikage's building in Iwagakure, Onoki looked at the intelligence report in his hand, and a tuft of hair on the back of his head was pulled out. The situation in Sunagakure was too abnormal. Although the friction between the major ninja villages and Konoha had been very intense over the past year, there was still a limit. It wasn't as crazy as Sunagakure. Judging from Sunagakure's actions, it was like they were fighting for the starting forward position. But this was completely different from his impression of Sunagakure and that effeminate guy from Sunagawa who swayed his hips.

Whether it was the First World War or the Second World War, Sunagakure had never been at the forefront. It was always Iwagakure that took the initiative to invite them to form teams. Moreover, Sunagawa, that stingy guy, didn't seem like the kind of person with such courage. It was really strange that he would take the initiative to start a war with Konoha.

Is it trying to lure us into starting a fight by making a show of vying for the starting striker position?

This stirred up another wave of conspiracy theories in his mind...

"Could something have happened in Sunagakure? Unfortunately, our spies only went there recently and haven't found any useful information..."

Tumu said regretfully, "Sunagakure is the place that spies from every village least want to go. Not to mention the terrible living conditions, they often die on the way to Sunagakure because of the unfamiliar climate or sandstorms. Last time, because of the Senju clan's successor incident, their two spies who had managed to infiltrate the enemy for almost ten years were killed by Shiki. So they had to send new spies to infiltrate Sunagakure. Of the ten people sent this time, nine died on the way due to various reasons, including the unfamiliar climate. The remaining one has only just arrived in Sunagakure and has no means to collect useful intelligence. Besides, Sunagakure is a place where, apart from Shiki, there is no news value at all. However, Shiki has not been in Sunagakure for the past two years, and even the most diligent paparazzi are unwilling to stake out Sunagakure. So it is almost impossible to find any useful information."

......

"boom!"

"Are these Sand Village ninjas on fire? They're so irritable!"

Compared to Onoki's conspiracy theories, the Konoha Hokage Building was much more popular. Apart from the chief advisor being absent for some unknown reason, almost all of Konoha's high-ranking officials were present.

First, the literary figure Mitokado Homura was the first to lash out, slamming his cup on the table and unleashing a torrent of angry words. His spittle flew everywhere, filling the entire office with a thick, pungent aroma of chicken soup. Even Hiruzen Sarutobi's cigarette smoke couldn't mask the overwhelming smell. During this time, the Sand Ninja had been relentlessly attacking the Land of Fire's borders. Although Konoha had the home-field advantage and held off wave after wave, the Sand Ninja seemed to be on steroids, fighting relentlessly, even when already weakened, clinging to their last breath to take their comrades down with them. The Sand Ninja suffered heavy casualties, but Konoha also suffered significant losses, especially the Sand Ninja's puppeteers, who were practically invincible in team battles. The hospital wards were completely full. Last night, he drank too much chicken soup and suffered indigestion, so he couldn't even find a bed at the hospital and had to gag himself all night.

"Sigh... We've suffered heavy casualties recently, especially Lady Tsunade. The puppeteers' poisons have been updated, and we can't develop an antidote in the short term."

Konoha's current Grand Marshal, Nara Shikaku, presented a hospital report to the assembled high-ranking officials, saying, "Although Sunagakure has pursued an elite strategy in recent years, its military strength is not as great as Iwagakure or Kumogakure, and it can't compare to Kirigakure, whose strength has been well preserved. However, Sunagakure will always be Konoha's biggest headache. Their puppeteers are just too damn damn bad!"

650. Konoha has no choice but to take the blame for this.

In the past, when the medical genius Tsunade was in power, it would take some time to develop an antidote. Not to mention now that Tsunade is no longer in the village, although Konoha's medical equipment is the best in the entire ninja world, they have the hardware but not the software. How easy is it to deal with the poison of the peerless poison master Chiyo?

"The intelligence I just gathered indicates that the Kazekage of Sunagakure disappeared over two months ago. Sunagakure is basically certain that the Kazekage is dead, but they all suspect that Lord Sakumo was responsible, so..."

After Nara Shikaku finished speaking, Yamanaka Inoichi, the head of the Anbu interrogation department, looked helplessly at Hatake Sakumo, who was looking a bit bewildered.

"puff!"

Holy crap!

"The Wind Shadow has disappeared?"

"..."

As soon as Yamanaka Inoichi finished speaking, the literary figure spat out a mouthful of water that tasted strongly of chicken soup, staring wide-eyed at Hatake Sakumo. The clan heads around him also turned to look in shock.

"Sakumo, you haven't been in the village for the past two months. You... you didn't actually kill the Kazekage, did you? (⊙_⊙)?"

"Uh-huh....!"

Jiraiya, standing next to Sakumo Hatake, turned into a beady-eyed man and asked in a low voice.

The surrounding clan heads nodded in agreement. After all, the Third Kazekage was a Kage-level shinobi, and more importantly, he could fly. Although the title of the strongest Kazekage in history was somewhat shameless, just like their Hokage's title of the strongest Hokage in history, his strength was still undeniable. Especially since the Third Kazekage could fly, that skill alone made 99.99% of the ninja world look up in disbelief. Just like Onoki, if it weren't for their Hokage's stick that could grow longer and thicker to restrain him, they would be completely helpless if Onoki flew through the air and unleashed his map-wide attacks. Even if they could restrain Onoki, killing him was another matter entirely.

Although the Kazekage doesn't have a bloodline limit as overpowered as map-wide attacks, and the Magnet Release technique is quite lethal, taking down the Kazekage would be too difficult. However, if it were to be the White Fang of Konoha, they would find it quite reasonable. Sakumo is the only man in the ninja world who can show off his skills in the 360-degree sea of ​​swords that Shiki has no blind spots, and he is also an expert in assassination. It seems that taking down the Kazekage silently would indeed not be difficult.

The most crucial point is that Jiraiya also mentioned that he wasn't in the village during the period when the Kazekage started to disappear.

Could it be...? As if they had thought of something, everyone turned their attention to Hiruzen Sarutobi, who seemed completely unsurprised.

The only man in the village who can command this half-sleeved Hokage is the Hokage himself. Could it be the Hokage's doing?

The more people thought about it, the more likely it seemed...

"...I went to the Land of Snow two months ago, how could I have had time to kill the Kazekage.....-_-||"

Seeing the looks in everyone's eyes, Sakumo Hatake looked up at the sky speechlessly. It was like he was sitting at home when trouble fell from the sky.

But thinking about it, it's not surprising. There aren't many people in the ninja world who can kill the Kazekage, and even fewer who can kill him silently. He is indeed a master in this regard. However, the Hatake clan members are responsible for their actions, and they would rather die than admit that they did something wrong.

"Sigh! That makes sense. Could it be Orochimaru? You know, your snake venom once knocked out the Third Raikage. It seems easy enough to secretly release a few snakes to the Kazekage and then kill him."

Jiraiya nodded after hearing Sakumo Hatake's words, and then, transforming into a master detective, pointed the target suspect at the handsome man who was quietly standing to the side.

"Hiss... Idiot."

Orochimaru glanced at Jiraiya indifferently, too lazy to explain. This was precisely the time he was focused on his research, preparing to produce results; he had no time to kill the Kazekage...

"Actually, it's pointless for us to discuss who the murderer is now. In the past year, the friction between Konoha and the other villages has intensified. The reason why the other villages have been holding back until now is because they are worried about Kirigakure. Now that this has happened, I estimate that Sunagakure can't hold back anymore. Before there is evidence to prove that it wasn't Lord Sakumo who killed the Kazekage, Konoha is destined to carry the burden. Hokage, the main thing now is to prepare for war."

Nara Shikaku looked at Jiraiya still playing Detective Adventure and helplessly spread his hands.

"...Shikaku is right. After the meeting, all the clans and villages will go into a state of war preparedness. Jiraiya, go find Tsunade and see if you can call her back..."

After taking a few deep drags of his opium to dispel the lingering smell of chicken soup in the room, Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded. After all, the Kazekage had been killed, and this fight was inevitable. However, what frustrated him the most was that he had been inexplicably framed. Putting aside the fact that Sakumo had indeed gone to the Land of Snow, even if he hadn't, he wouldn't have been so foolish as to let Sakumo kill the Kazekage. Konoha was already the undisputed ruler of the ninja world, with so many powerful figures and so many talented people. If they could just focus on developing for a few years and selecting the next Hokage, he could retire gracefully. He wasn't bragging, but after his retirement, his historical status would definitely surpass that of his two teachers, making him the greatest in history. Just look at his achievements over the past few decades.

What's giving him a headache is that he hasn't figured out who to promote for the next Hokage. His ideal candidate was his beloved disciple Orochimaru, but Orochimaru has fallen into depravity and joined forces with Danzo. Over the years, he's become increasingly sinister, and his popularity in the village has plummeted. He's no longer suitable to be Hokage. His most satisfactory candidate for the next generation is actually his perfect grand-disciple Minato. He's upright, kind, humble, and handsome. The key is that he can also help him deal with Kushina, that fiery girl. He's also recently risen to the rank of Double Flower Red Staff. He's practically the perfect candidate, even better than his perfect eldest son, who is indeed lacking in talent and looks.

However, he remembered that when Nawaki was in school, his dream was to become Hokage, which gave him a headache. If Nawaki's talent were even slightly better, he didn't need to be as amazing as Minato, who could learn the Second Hokage's Flying Thunder God Technique on his own. Just being as good as his eldest son would be enough. Just based on his status as the heir of the Senju clan, he would push him to become Hokage. At worst, he would let Minato be the Hokage's assistant and clean up his messes.

But now his mindset is starting to change. The Kazekage incident has made him wary. Even the Kazekage, who was hailed as the strongest in history, could be taken down silently. The position of Konoha's leader is even more dangerous than the Kazekage's. With that damned talent of Nawaki, if he were to become Konoha's leader, he might just ruin him. You can protect someone for a while, but not forever. If he were to be killed one day, he wouldn't have the face to face the First and Second Hokage and the Senju clan members who sacrificed themselves for the village.

651. Let Kakuzu take him along.

"Hey! Isn't this handsome young man? Why aren't you in the village playing house with your girlfriend? What are you doing here? Who... did this to you? Tell Uncle, and Uncle will expose them for you! My poor handsome young man, you're so pitiful!! (?_?)"

Just as the friction between Konoha and Sunagakure was becoming increasingly intense, leading Konoha to begin preparing for war, Shinto finally found Sasori, the handsome young man, in the Land of Demons, which is next to the Land of Wind, after searching for more than a month.

what?

Handsome Scorpion's father searched the entire Land of Wind but couldn't find it. How did he find it?

That's too damn simple. He doesn't know how this kid tricked Sunakawa, but he's certain of one thing: this kid was spoiled rotten by Chiyo since he was little and has absolutely no concept of money management. Chiyo gave him pocket money, which his future mother, Karin, used to get him puppet materials. He's basically a spendthrift. After all, he doesn't spend money on food, drink, or anything else at home, and he's completely focused on puppets. Even his first time playing ring toss was done passively. What concept of money could this kid possibly have? So, Shinto guessed that after tricking Sunakawa and planning to run away from home and wander the world, he definitely didn't have much money on him, or he didn't have any money at all.

Everyone needs to eat, especially since the handsome 14-15-year-old Sasori is still growing. This kid has never had any sense of right and wrong, and he has no money. If he eats something and doesn't pay, won't he be considered a dine-and-dash hog? Given his temper, which makes him want to fight at the slightest provocation, it's no wonder he'll cause a few murders. Besides, he can't fly in a little over a month, so he can't go very far. Originally, he wanted to go back to the village with the Sand Ninja who had informed him, but then he thought about how this kid had been wandering around outside without any money, and he had been a shut-in for over ten years, only leaving the village a few times. His experience in the outside world was practically zero. If this kid made a name for himself as a notorious killer, that would be fine, since he was still Golden Lion's nephew and hadn't disgraced him.

But if people think he's a poor bastard or an idiot... wouldn't that be incredibly embarrassing for him?

So thinking about it now, going back to the village would be pointless. Even if he didn't say anything, people like Yusaori's father would obviously shift the blame to Konoha, which coincided with his own thoughts, so there was no need for him to do anything unnecessary.

He simply sent his Sand Ninja underlings back to the village to find Sasori and impart some social experience to him. If that didn't work, he could ask his good brother Kakuzu to mentor him. After all, they would be colleagues in the future, so it would be good to give each other a heads-up beforehand so they could look out for each other in the Akatsuki crew. He could also have Kakuzu keep an eye on him so that if the kid still had any dangerous ideas about turning himself into a wooden puppet, he could stop him in time.

So he used his Observation Haki to wander around the Land of Wind, and sure enough, he discovered several murder cases. From the wounds on the victims, he could tell that they were shot by Senbon. Following the direction of the incident, he arrived in Japan and found his nephew in a dilapidated house. However, seeing his nephew's condition, he couldn't help but shed tears. Not only was he disheveled, but his clothes were also tattered and covered in blood. His handsome face was also dirty. If you didn't know better, you would think that this kid had run all the way here. Shinto pinched his handsome face with teary eyes.

What kind of karma did they have to create?! Why give up being a perfectly good rich kid and have to suffer like this?!

"...Bastard, let me go! Are you here to take me back? (▼へ▼メ)"

Handsome Scorpion's mind went blank for a few seconds. The pain on his face brought him back to his senses. Seeing this bastard blatantly wiping snot and tears all over him, and seeing that the bastard didn't seem to care about him at all, Handsome Scorpion instantly exploded. He struggled to break free and said viciously.

Ever since he decided to take action against Sunagawa, he had known this day would come. He had been studying the Basic Law since he was three years old. He knew how serious the crime of killing the Kazekage was. Even if his dead grandfather were to be resurrected, he could not protect him. However, for the sake of that noble art, he did not regret it. If he could not move forward for his dream, what difference would he be from this bastard who was just wasting his days?

A year ago, his art reached a bottleneck. The corpses of ordinary people were no longer enough for him. What he wanted to do was create the strongest puppet in the ninja world, not some unremarkable piece of junk. What kind of puppet could best showcase his art? Not the common Fire Release, Water Release, or Wind Release techniques. Only a Bloodline Limit could perfectly display his research results. And there were not many Bloodline Limit ninjas to begin with, and even fewer around him.

Originally, he had set his sights on this bastard uncle. Whether it was Magnet Release, Armament Haki, or swordsmanship, this bastard uncle could meet his requirements. If he could kill this bastard uncle and turn him into a puppet, that would definitely be the greatest art in history. However, thinking about the bastard uncle's rock-hard defense, his grandmother had told him that even the Tailed Beast Ball couldn't break through his defense, so if he couldn't find a way to break through his defense, he simply couldn't kill him.

He immediately ruled out this goal!

Let's talk about it after we find a way to defeat this bastard...

The only remaining bloodline limit ninjas in their village are Sunagawa, Rasa, and Pakura with the Scorching Release.

He had encountered Yekura's Scorch Release quite a bit; it was just a slightly more powerful fire release, nothing special. Besides, his grandmother had taught him since he was a child not to touch girls... so Yekura was also a pass on him.

If you remove the strongest one and the weakest one, all that's left are Rasa and Sunagawa. Rasa is only a few years older than him, and his strength is so-so in his eyes. If you're going to do something, do something big. Isn't Sunagawa known as the strongest Kazekage? Even if he's not strong, he can't be that weak, right?

Furthermore, Magnet Release is quite powerful, at least stronger than Gold Sand, as Iron Sand has a much higher melting point than Gold Sand...

After choosing Sunagawa as his target, he was tormented for a while. His loving parents, grandmother, and the bastard woman who took his virginity were all in the village. If he killed Sunagawa, he would definitely have to leave the village and wander the world. At that time, these people would definitely be very sad... He never thought that the bastard uncle who had abused him since childhood would be sad.

But if he didn't do that, what would be the point of spending so many years studying this puppet? As a great artist, the No. 1 in the puppet world, in the end he would just spend his life like his grandmother and father, the Chikamatsu Ten Puppet Masters. What would be the point of his talent that surpasses even the founder of puppetry? What difference would he be from his grandmother and father?

But while he mentally prepares for a fierce battle, his family will try to stop him, and girls will slow his reflexes... all for the sake of his grand dream and sublime art...

Damn it!