Born in Sunagakure, dedicated to antagonizing Konoha for decades

But he is the uncle of Handsome Scorpion, so he obviously can't be a witness either, because he's a colleague.

Finally, there's his old leader, Luo Zhen, the longest-serving former head of the village's Anbu, and also the grandfather of the Fourth Kazekage. His seniority, status, and contributions to the village are all top-notch. But here's the problem: he's Chiyo and Ebizo's cousin. If we consider relatives as three generations, then Sasori is also a third-generation descendant of Luo Zhen, making them relatives as well. Therefore, he can't be a witness...

The witness question, which was originally an easy question, has now become the biggest problem due to the persuasion aspect.

"Actually... there is a suitable candidate, but whether he is willing to help depends on you, brother."

The handsome scorpion's father thought of someone, an old guy who had been hanging on for more than ten years, waiting to go to the underworld with his older brother. This person was the most suitable candidate.

But it's very difficult to operate...!

734. I'll catch that kid and bring him back to Karin's mother another day.

"Wow... there's such a person in the village? How come I didn't know him? (⊙_⊙)?"

Madara looked at his younger brother with the same stern gaze he had for Madara. There weren't many people of real importance in the village. Over the years, they had all passed away, some happily, some sadly. The oldest were Chiyo and Ebizo. These two were relatively healthy because they were both puppeteers and hadn't suffered any injuries in their youth. Even though their physical functions declined with age, they hadn't suffered any latent injuries, so they were still quite robust. His old leader, Rasa's grandfather, had survived to this day entirely because of his tough life. However, he had fought too many enemies in his youth and had suffered many injuries. He probably didn't have many years left.

Besides these three representatives of the old era, he really couldn't think of anyone else.

"...Brother, have you forgotten? Isn't there still the old clan chief of Meichuan...?-_-||"

Handsome Scorpion's father looked at his older brother strangely. The feud between the Mei Chuan clan elder and his brother could easily be made into a multi-season drama. The Mei Chuan clan elder was the most suitable candidate in terms of status and position, but thinking about the past grievances between him and his brother...

"What? That old guy hasn't had his happy funeral yet? If I remember correctly, that old guy has been bedridden for twenty years, and he's still not dead? (⊙_⊙)?"

Shock!

Shinto was completely shocked. He had thought his old boss was tough enough, but it turned out that Umekawa Hakuchi was even tougher. You see, that old guy had been bedridden for twenty years and there had been no news of him for many years. Shinto thought that old guy was dead.

Back then, when that old guy said he'd wait for him to die together, he just took it as a joke. That old guy was a few years older than Chiyo, and he was still in his prime. The old guy was already lying in bed waiting to die, but he's still alive and kicking. That's incredibly impressive!

"He's been bedridden for years, but he's not dead yet. Why don't you... go talk to him?"

Handsome Scorpion's father blinked at him. He knew that the two of them were like dogs meeting a cat when they first met, absolutely ready to fight to the death. Asking his older brother to go to Elder Meichuan was indeed a bit difficult for him, but for his son, for the honor of their Gonglie clan...

"Well... I'll talk to him tomorrow, but this old guy is really stubborn, he'll be tough to deal with."

At first, Shinto refused, but apart from the few people he could think of, Bai Chuan Shirochi was indeed the most suitable candidate. In terms of status, he was the former head of the Bai Chuan clan, the most powerful family in the village, and one of the representatives of the first generation. In the village, apart from Chiyo, the wife of the first generation, even Ebizo was a step below him. It was indeed very suitable for him to be a false witness.

However, this old guy is very conservative and loves the village. If he finds out that Handsome Scorpion killed Sunagawa and wants him to be a false witness for Handsome Scorpion, it will be difficult to handle. If the old guy can't take the shock and dies, it will be even more troublesome. Wouldn't he become a murderer?

But after all, Handsome Scorpion was his nephew and Chiyo's beloved grandson; for the sake of his family, he couldn't refuse to go...

.....

The next morning, Masato woke up on time as soon as his alarm rang. Chiyo was eating breakfast under his gaze, wondering if it had been decades since he last woke up this early.

"By the way, beautiful lady, where's Xiuli? Did she find someone else and forget about your precious grandson?"

While eating breakfast, Shinto suddenly remembered that he hadn't seen Karin's mother, who had taken Ryozai's first time, since returning yesterday. Ryozai had run away from home. Although he had occasionally thrown Ryozai into Karin's mother's room to spend the night, Ryozai's marksmanship was as bad as his father's. Karin's mother's belly hadn't shown any signs of pregnancy. According to that girl's personality, if her boyfriend ran away from home, she should have already caused a huge uproar. But he hadn't heard any news about her for so long, which was a bit strange.

That's the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki, and because the Seven-Tails is a bit weak, it gets along very well with Karin's mother. Karin's mother is fully capable of using the Seven-Tails' power. If she were to cause trouble, she would be much fiercer than the One-Tails, that fat cat. Apart from her, there really isn't anyone in the village who can stop her. But now that Sasori is gone, it's very abnormal that Karin's mother hasn't caused any trouble!

Could it be that while Handsome Scorpion was away, he found someone new and cheated on Handsome Scorpion?

Imagine a girl who's been dumped by her boyfriend and cries every day, only to meet a gentle and refined man who helps her through the lowest point of her life... That kind of story is just the most damn captivating.

"You brat, what nonsense are you talking about? Ever since Sasori disappeared, Yusaori's health hasn't been very good, and that girl has been taking care of her the whole time. Sigh, the silly girl was really heartbroken before, and we didn't know how to comfort her, but fortunately she recovered quickly. When Yusaori was sick, she was the one who took care of her."

Chiyo looked at him with annoyance and said.

Speaking of which, she was worried to death when her beloved grandson went missing. Not only was Shuri her intended granddaughter-in-law, but more importantly, Shuri was the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki, with six more tails than the One-Tailed Shukaku. If she were to go berserk, and with Masato not in the village, no one could withstand her. Fortunately, Chiyo had not misjudged her, and all these years of raising her had not been in vain. This girl did not go berserk as she had imagined. On the contrary, she took care of Yusaori when she fell ill, which completely put her mind at ease.

"Really? Looks like your precious grandson's flirting skills are pretty good. Even after the girl's gone, he's still head over heels for her. It's just that his marksmanship isn't great. If he had White Fang's marksmanship, you'd already have four generations under one roof by now!"

Masato raised an eyebrow.

But then another problem arises: why is Karin's mother called Karin's mother in the future? Isn't it just because she gave birth to a daughter named Karin? But now Sasori has gone off to pursue art and will probably join the Akatsuki group and become a skinny guy. As for whether Sasori, who has experienced the balance of yin and yang, will become extreme and transform himself into a wooden doll, we don't know. But now Sasori has left the village, and Karin's mother's belly hasn't shown any signs of pregnancy. If Sasori doesn't come back, there won't be a Karin in the future.

Anyway, Karin is just a minor character with a name, so the impact isn't too great. The most important issue is that if that brat Sasori doesn't leave behind any seed and turns himself into a wooden puppet in a few years, wouldn't all his previous efforts have been wasted?

That won't do. When I have some free time later, I'll ask Kakuzu and the others where they are, and bring that kid back to Karin's future mother. We need to leave behind a seed...

735. It's quite reasonable for Sunagawa to commit suicide for love.

Ignoring Chiyo's Reincarnation Eye, Masato finished his breakfast, went out, bought a fruit basket, and headed towards the Umekawa clan. He had important business to attend to today. Yesterday, he and Sasori's father had already pieced together the reason for Sunagawa's disappearance and the time of his death. Sasori's father was dealing with the false evidence. Everything was ready except for Umekawa Shirachi's old help.

The reason for Sunagawa's disappearance and the time of his death are easy to guess. According to the information found by Sasori's father, Sunagawa had a good relationship with a famous songstress in their Land of Wind when he was young. At that time, Sunagawa was just a nobody who had not yet made a name for himself and was not from a big family. Shamon did not discover him. Due to the pressure of life, the songstress became one of the former daimyo's wives through a series of unknown operations. After Sunagawa became the Kazekage, the two had some contact from time to time. However, because one was the wife of the former daimyo and the other was the current Kazekage, the difference in their status prevented the two lovers from being together. This is a tragic love story that can be passed down to future generations.

However, by sheer coincidence, the former daimyo's wife had already died of illness a month before Sunagawa disappeared.

So, Scorpion's father thought this was a perfect opportunity to pull off a scheme. Sunagawa was single, and whatever the reason for his single status, based on his own experience, he was certain that the former daimyo's wife was involved. There are plenty of devoted lovers in the world, so it's reasonable for Sunagawa to be one of them. If, after learning of the death of his beloved former daimyo's wife, Sunagawa received the news a month later, was heartbroken, and in a moment of despair, decided to drown himself... ugh! Die for love, from a human perspective, that would be perfectly reasonable.

As for why Sunagawa's body couldn't be found, that's even easier to explain. If Sunagawa had committed suicide for love, he would definitely have gone to the grave of the former daimyo's wife or the old place where they often met to commemorate their tragic love. The Land of Wind is full of sandstorms, so who would know if the body was buried by sand or moved somewhere by a sandstorm? Even if Sasori later found out that he used the third-generation puppet to fight, at most he would only be charged with the crime of privately researching forbidden puppet techniques.

This kind of crime can be serious in some ways and not in others. Take Orochimaru a few years later, for example. The real reason he left Konoha was definitely not as simple as researching forbidden techniques. If it was just about using living people to perform forbidden techniques, as long as the impact was not significant and did not harm the village, Orochimaru was a meritorious figure in Konoha's Second and Third Shinobi World Wars and a disciple of Hiruzen Sarutobi. How could he possibly be judged as a rogue ninja?

Danzo, the "half of Konoha's sky," was definitely involved in this. Whether Orochimaru actually used villagers for experiments is irrelevant now, because Danzo had already spread the news, and many people already knew. Hiruzen Sarutobi punished Orochimaru to quell the situation and because he genuinely believed his beloved disciple had used villagers for experiments. Orochimaru is the kind of person who isn't good with words, and it's normal for scientific experiments to use living people as subjects. He was under too many restrictions in Konoha, so he wanted to take this opportunity to leave the village, to roam freely in the open, and for his cultivation career to be unrestrained.

However, in Sunagakure, especially for someone like Sasori who was born into a powerful family, researching forbidden techniques on his own wouldn't be a big problem. Besides, Sasori himself is a super genius and the hope of the whole village. It's normal for a genius to be a little extreme. As long as you have big fists, it's fine. If one pair of fists isn't enough, then two pairs will do!

Their family has the most double-flower red staff in the entire Sunagakure, so everyone will turn a blind eye. Anyway, the crime isn't that serious. As for turning the Third Hokage's corpse into a human puppet... as long as they're not the murderers of the Third Hokage, it's fine. It's no wonder that people who research human puppets would be tempted by the Third Hokage's corpse.

At that time, the Gong Lie clan might be affected by the fact that Liangzai Xie used the corpse of the third generation to make a puppet. However, the impact will not be significant and will be much less serious than the crime of killing the third generation and causing a world war!

So what handsome Sasori's father had to do was create evidence that Sunagawa had committed suicide for love, such as some letters between Sunagawa and the former daimyo's wife, to make people mistakenly believe that their feelings were very deep, to the point that they wanted to share a bed in life and a grave in death. This was too easy for handsome Sasori's father, who had brought Yusaori home to meet his parents when she was seven years old. As a top student, he could write some cheesy love words with ease. He must have said so many when he secretly dated Yusaori in those years, and every word he said was a classic.

However, what Shindou was going to do was different from what he had planned. He originally thought that he would let Meikawa Hakuchi know the truth and then make him give false testimony for Handsome Scorpion. This would be much more difficult to do. First of all, his relationship with Meikawa Hakuchi was no different from that of a father's murderer. Secondly, given Meikawa Hakuchi's straightforward personality, if he knew that Handsome Scorpion was the murderer of Sunagawa, it would be strange if the old guy would give him false testimony.

According to Handsome Scorpion's father's plan I, there was no need for so much trouble, nor was it necessary to tell Mei Chuan Baidi the truth. All that was needed was to fool him and make him stand up from the village's perspective to prove that Sunagawa and the former daimyo's wife were indeed deeply in love to the point of no return, to the point that if one of them died, the other would not live on alone. As for Handsome Scorpion bringing out the third-generation puppet to fight later, by then Mei Chuan Baidi would already be dead, so how could he confess to the fact that he had fooled Masato into giving false testimony?

They really didn't believe that this old guy could live for another ten years or so!

"Go and inform Chief Mei Chuan that I have come to see his father."

Carrying a fruit basket, I arrived at the entrance of the Meichuan Clan and spoke to the two bewildered "gatekeepers" standing there.

This was his first time visiting the Meikawa clan in all these years. He had never gotten along with these wealthy and powerful families since he was a child. Although the clan members and villagers were now on friendly terms, the relationship between the clan ninjas and the villagers was extremely bad in the first ten years after the village was established. Although it hadn't reached the point where the Konoha Uchiha could fight five against one and distinguish between the upper and lower classes, the relationship was still extremely hostile. It was common for clan ninjas to look down on commoners. It was only after the village promoted harmonious coexistence between clan ninjas and commoners for several decades that the relationship improved. After graduating from the academy, the clan children and commoners were still mixed together in the team.

It just so happens that Masato was born in such a hostile era, and he often offended these powerful and wealthy families by relying on Retsuto and Chiyo for protection. The Umekawa family and the Yusa family, among other prominent families, were naturally the first to be affected. In all these years, he has never visited the Umekawa family once. He only visited the Yusa family once, when Sasori's father got married. Even after he took Umekawa Naiyi as his disciple, he never visited the Umekawa family.

736. This world gets more monstrous with age.

"Lord Shindou, please wait a moment while I go and inform the clan leader."

The bewildered gatekeeper realized what was happening and thought the old man had something important to discuss with their clan chief, so he hurriedly ran inside to inform him.

You see, this old man has never been to the Meichuan clan before. In fact, he's been guarding the gate for so many years and has never seen this old man come to their clan. Now he's actually come to see their old clan chief. The younger people in the village might not know about the feud between this old man and the old clan chief, but those who have been around for a while know that the two are at odds. Just the fact that their old clan chief said he would wait for this old man to go to the Yellow Springs together shows how deep their grudge is... Could this old man have come to see if their old clan chief is dead or not?

"Lord Shindou, please come in. What brings you to see my father?"

Not long after, Naito Umekawa came out with the "doorman," looking at Masato with a bewildered and somewhat wary expression. It's no wonder he was careless. If this guy had come to see his youngest son, he wouldn't have been surprised, since his youngest son was his disciple. It's normal for a teacher to come to see a disciple. But if this guy came to see his father, then there was a problem, and a big problem at that.

This guy has a foul and obnoxious mouth. His father doesn't have many years left. What if this guy really drives him to his death? Even if he wants to avenge his father, he can't possibly beat this guy. A man who can't be killed even by a Tailed Beast Ball, his little ninjutsu is only good for scratching at best...

"It's nothing serious. Yesterday, when Jie mentioned the old clan chief, it reminded me of how I was young and reckless back then, and how I did some foolish things that offended the old clan chief. Now, I truly regret it and feel deep remorse. So, I thought I'd come to visit the old clan chief, apologize to him, and settle our past grievances..."

Masato, feigning deep remorse, spoke to Naito Umekawa, secretly holding a grudge against Sasori. "For this little bastard, I went to find the enemy! Next time I'll drag him back and let Karin's mom eat him a few more times..."

"Sogga, my father has been bedridden and unable to move around much these past few years. Lord Masato, please come with me."

Mei Chuan Naito didn't seem to be faking it. Thinking about it, it made sense. The last time this guy and his father had a falling out was many years ago. Now this guy is over forty. Even if his brain hasn't fully developed and he can't pick up girls, he should be more mature by now!

...

"Elder Chief Meichuan, I've come to see you. How are you doing?"

Upon arriving at Mei Chuan Baidi's room, he found an elderly man with white hair lying on the hospital bed. Shinto, sensing with his Observation Haki that the old man's life force was waning, knew he'd be nearing his end in a year or two. He secretly breathed a sigh of relief, fearing the old man might be too resilient to wait until they both perished...

"Hmph! Cough cough... What are you doing here? You're not welcome here. Get out of here right now! (▼へ▼メ)"

Upon seeing that strange yet familiar, smug face, Mei Chuan Baidi, who had been sickly, suddenly seemed to have a burst of energy before death. He coughed a couple of times, perhaps because he was too excited, but he was still full of energy and didn't seem to want to stay alive at all, much like when he first met Uncle Ban.

"Elder Chief, please don't get too excited. Take care of your health. You are a meritorious figure in our Sand Village. We cannot do without you! Elder Chief, would you mind letting me be alone with you for a while?"

After speaking to Bai Meichuan with a worried look, Masato turned to Naito Meichuan with embarrassment.

"...I'll wait for Master Shinto outside."

Seeing Masato's embarrassed expression, Naito Umekawa thought about it and realized he was right. Masato had come to apologize to his father and try to improve their relationship; it was a matter between him and his father, and it wasn't appropriate for him, an outsider, to be there. Besides, this guy was a legend in the ninja world; even if he was shameless and lacked the dignity of a strongman, he still had some pride...

Moreover, the Golden Lion of Sunagakure is such a powerful figure that he wouldn't dare to lay a hand on his dying father. If he really wanted to, he would have done it decades ago when his father was still able to fight. Why would he wait until now?

After saying that, Naito Umekawa turned around and left, closing the door behind him.

"Speak, what brings you to this old man?"

After his son left, Mei Chuanbai composed himself and said...

Although he was now clinging to life, he was still an old man who had survived since the beginning of the Meichuan clan and had been in charge of the clan for decades. He knew very well that this little rascal had never visited the Meichuan clan in all these years. Now, he suddenly said he had come to visit him, said so many nice things, and sent his son away. He must have something to ask of him.

"They say having an elder in the family is like having a treasure, and the old clan chief is truly insightful. Actually, I came to see you about something. You know about the Third Hokage and my nephew's disappearance, but it's safe to say the Third Hokage is dead. Although we used the excuse that the Third Hokage was killed by White Fang to start a war with Konoha, I believe that with your wisdom, old clan chief, that was just a pretext for our war. I think you understand that perfectly well, don't you?"

Zhen Dou paused here and looked at Mei Chuan Baidi. To deceive people, you need to be three parts truth and seven parts falsehood. The truth must be mixed with the falsehood. First of all, the other party must agree with his statement. Only then can you continue to deceive. Although Mei Chuan Baidi is old, he has been the head of the family for so many years. How can he not have some brains?

There's no such thing as dementia in this world. Black Zetsu, the mother of the Six Paths, was hundreds of years old and could still plan to destroy the world and save his mother. Madara, also in his fifties, could still come up with a plan to destroy the world. Danzo, at sixty years old, was still plotting to seize power.

It's clear that people in this world become more cunning with age, and they're not easily fooled!

"...Although I'm not familiar with Sakumo Hatake, I do know something about the Hatake clan. Given their nature, it's unlikely they would assassinate the Third Hokage."

Mei Chuan Bai Di nodded slightly in agreement with his statement. When the village launched a war against Konoha under the pretext of killing the Third Hokage, he felt that it was unlikely that the Third Hokage was killed by the White Fang. Given the situation in the ninja world at that time, it was only possible that Hiruzen Sarutobi had not taken his medicine and would have ordered the White Fang to assassinate the Third Hokage, and then the White Fang happened to have taken his medicine and would have carried out such a brainless order from Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Such a scenario is practically nonexistent. How could someone as powerful as Hiruzen Sarutobi, the head of Konoha, be brainless? White Fang has been with this bastard for decades, and someone who has led Konoha's Anbu with performance far surpassing that of the Anbu of other villages is also unlikely to be brainless.

Such a flawed excuse might have initially convinced the villagers, who were blinded by greed, but it was ultimately untenable. Once they calmed down, they realized something was amiss.

737. This prelude has been successfully laid.

"Old ginger is spicier! The old clan chief is right. You know our war with Konoha is over now. In this war, we upheld the village's fine traditions. Jie led the people to obtain a large amount of supplies from the Land of Water. If we don't cause trouble, it will be enough for us to develop peacefully for ten years. Currently, the three-way war between Konoha, Kirigakure, and Kumogakure is not yet over. We should take advantage of this lull to accelerate our village's development and strive to win at the starting line. You know our Sunagakure's geographical location. If we wait until Kumogakure and Kirigakure are finished, and if we are on the same level as them..." On the race line, overtaking them will be difficult! Kirigakure is surrounded by the sea, easy to defend and difficult to attack, and is also the gateway to the sea for major ninja nations, making its marine industry extremely rich. Kumogakure has always valued martial arts, with numerous security companies and the largest explosive tag weapon factory in the ninja world. Konoha is even worse; compared to these three villages, our Sunagakure's environment is far too harsh. We can't even compare to Iwagakure, which has always been poor. Although they are poor, their geographical location is at least many times better than ours. As the saying goes, "If you fall behind, you will be beaten," Elder Clan Chief, don't you agree?

After some analysis, even he himself found it quite reasonable. At least that seemed to be the case in Sunagakure. They had plenty of gold dust and money, but unfortunately, the world's resources were limited. Most of them were divided up by the major ninja villages. Even if they were willing to spend money, they couldn't buy much from outside. They always had to cooperate with the Land of Craftsmen and the Land of Iron, but the resources of those two countries were also limited.

"......you mean...?"

Mei Chuan Baidi listened to his analysis and nodded in agreement. He had lived in the Land of Wind for many more years than Masato, so he knew a lot more about this than Masato, who was only half-literate. He had even experienced more difficult times. Before the establishment of the Ninja Village, their Land of Wind had even less water resources, almost none at all.

After each nation established its own ninja village, they still needed Hashirama Senju to create an oasis for them, providing them with a water source. Therefore, he knew the environmental conditions of Sunagakure much better than Shinto. However, he didn't understand what this guy meant by first telling him a bunch of mysteries about the Third Hokage's life and death, and then analyzing the development history of the various ninja nations. Did this ignorant guy also start studying world history?

No way!