Born in Sunagakure, dedicated to antagonizing Konoha for decades

1117. The hanging of Changmen doesn't follow the usual pattern.

"It's good that he's alright. If he's really too weak, give him some oysters, kidneys, deer blood, or something similar to help him recover..."

Shinto looked at Rasa, who was showing signs of fatherly love, and felt somewhat surprised. Although Rasa wasn't quite like the handsome Sasori, he was someone who never revealed his true feelings. As the Kazekage, he had to remain calm even if Mount Tai collapsed in front of him. Rasa had risen to power due to some unavoidable circumstances, so he had been working towards that goal all these years. However, he rarely showed his concern for his children, even when he genuinely cared about them. This was the first time Shinto had seen Rasa show such a worried expression.

To be honest, it's quite surprising. If we follow the original storyline, Rasa would have already been killed by Orochimaru by now, and Gaara would have become the youngest and weakest leader in the history of the ninja world. Now that Rasa is still alive and Gaara hasn't become the leader, it's rare to see Rasa showing such worry.

As for Gaara, he is just an ordinary human, and his vitality is not as strong as Shuri's. Even though the Seven-Tails broke off one of its tails to save her life when the tailed beasts were extracted, Shuri, who is pureblood, is now so weak that she is dying. Let alone Gaara.

......

"I never expected that the Akatsuki would attack our village first. I thought they would capture the Eight-Tails and the Nine-Tails before coming to Sunagakure."

After the great battle, Sunagakure began its post-war recovery efforts. Overall, Sunagakure did not suffer significant losses, as the two Animal Paths, which were extremely lethal to the village, were instantly defeated by Shinto at the start. The powerful Deva Path Pain was also blocked by Shinto in the air. Their clash was conducted high in the sky, so it did not have much impact on the village. However, Itachi Uchiha and Kisame's battle against the two tailed beasts caused considerable damage to the village. In addition, a group of underlings also left the village in a mess while chasing after the Human Path and Naraka Path.

Inside the Kazekage Tower, such a massive event had even forced Ebizo, who had dedicated his life to the village, to return to the front lines and organize post-war reconstruction. Seeing the devastation, Ebizo's heart bled. The collapsed buildings were no big deal; his earth-style underlings could work overtime and restore everything in a day or two. But seeing that the fallen were all Jonin—not many, but a dozen or so—was a serious blow. Moreover, Sunagakure had always maintained an elite system; every death meant one less to lose. Jonin weren't easy to train; it required a great deal of time and resources. Sunagakure had profited from several wars, so their resources were manageable, but time… unfortunately, there simply wasn't any time left.

As someone who's been through it all, I have a feeling that the next world war is about to begin, and it will be the largest in the history of the ninja world. To survive this catastrophe, preserving our strength is of utmost importance.

His initial guess was similar to Shinto's: the information about the Jinchuriki of Sunagakure was almost transparent, while Kumogakure and Konoha had hidden the Eight-Tails and Nine-Tails. Without finding out the whereabouts of the Eight-Tails and Nine-Tails, the Akatsuki was unlikely to take action against the One-Tails and Seven-Tails of Sunagakure. After all, taking action would make Kumogakure and Konoha more vigilant and hide the Tailed Beasts even more carefully.

So, while the Akatsuki hadn't figured out the whereabouts of the Eight-Tails and Nine-Tails, he wasn't worried at all that they would attack them. The village's defenses remained as usual. However, the Akatsuki leader acted completely unpredictably, suddenly attacking and catching them off guard. Fortunately, he had been quick-witted enough to recall Shinto; otherwise, the village's losses would have been even greater. If the battle with Shinto in the sky had taken place on land, who knows how many people would have died—it would have been impossible to stop them...

"What's happened is done. Fortunately, Shuri and Gaara are unharmed. Mei Chuan has analyzed that those things are special puppets, probably using the Rinnegan's abilities. Each puppet's abilities should be different. The puppet that clashed with me in the sky earlier possessed powerful repulsive and gravitational forces, making it very difficult to deal with. Two of the puppets I smashed had unusual summoning techniques. Another two could absorb chakra to nullify the opponent's attacks and transform into various weapons. The remaining two are still unknown. Sasori is currently researching them. However, it's certain that the reason these puppets can be controlled without chakra threads is because of the black rod inside their bodies. As for the true leader of Akatsuki, he should have come along too, but he didn't show up. Pass this information to Kumogakure and Konoha and warn them to be careful."

Masato rolled his eyes speechlessly at Ebizo's somewhat Versailles-like remark. With the Six Paths Puppet Technique, Itachi Uchiha, and Kisame all deployed, only a dozen Jonin were lost. Was this already an excellent result? Back in the battle against Kirigakure, your grand-nephew alone single-handedly racked up countless Kirigakure kills. And yet, they haven't come forward to demand an explanation from Sunagakure. With a major enemy at hand, internal strife isn't advisable. Who knows if Kirigakure will come after sealing Kaguya and demand an explanation from Sunagakure? Sasori's kill count back then was indeed a bit too high...

Moreover, if Ebizo knew how devastating the losses Konoha suffered from the Six Paths of Reincarnation invasion in the original story, he wouldn't be lamenting like this. Konoha was razed to the ground by Nagato, who killed more than half of its people. If it weren't for the savior's sharp words that persuaded Nagato to become a monk, Konoha wouldn't have had a chance in the Fourth Shinobi World War.

"Hiss... This Rinnegan is truly terrifying; it's so powerful yet it's just a puppet."

Even Scorpion's father, a puppet expert, couldn't help but gasp. He had previously thought the two things they were chasing and beating were puppets, but the ones battling his brother in the sky were also puppets. How could he not feel a headache coming on?

He originally thought that after learning the White Secret Technique, he had reached the pinnacle of puppetry. His mother had also told him that the White Secret Technique was the pinnacle of puppetry.

However, since his son controlled thousands of puppets to fight tens of thousands of ninja in Kirigakure some time ago, his understanding of the upper limit of puppetry has been completely refreshed. It was as if a window had been opened for him to see the scene of puppetry.

But now, the leader of the Akatsuki has opened another door for him. He's discovered that puppetry can be used in so many ways! He thought his son, Sasori, was already at the pinnacle of puppetry, but this Akatsuki leader is even more formidable. A few attacks from him are already so powerful. Luckily, his older brother is there to hold the line, otherwise the village would be in serious trouble...

1118. Hidan: Why hide so well if there's nothing wrong?

"That's the Rinnegan, after all. It must possess some exceptionally powerful abilities, otherwise it wouldn't live up to the name of the Eye of God. It's not something ordinary people can master. In terms of traditional puppetry, your son is already at the pinnacle, unless he can create fully automated, intelligent puppets..."

Seeing that Handsome Scorpion's father was somewhat out of sorts, Shindou tried to comfort him.

Nagato's use of the Six Paths Puppet Technique was mediocre at best, a far cry from Sasori's. If Sasori were to learn the Six Paths Puppet Technique, he could probably create amazing effects. After all, even an ordinary human puppet in Sasori's hands can unleash thousands of small fireballs; imagine what he would be capable of with the Six Paths Puppet Technique...

.....

Several days later

The news that the leader of the Akatsuki organization personally led Itachi Uchiha and Kisame to attack Sunagakure and forcibly take away the One-Tailed and Seven-Tailed beasts shocked the ninja world, thus unveiling a veil of mystery about the leader of the legendary Akatsuki organization.

The leader of the Akatsuki fought a fierce battle with Shiki the Golden Lion in the skies above Sunagakure. Itachi Uchiha and Kisame then flanked the enemy and raided their base. This maneuver made everyone realize that the leader of the Akatsuki was also a cultured man, skilled in stratagems.

Many people were shocked that Kirigakure couldn't stop Akatsuki from taking down the Three-Tails. It was understandable that Kirigakure's overall strength had declined significantly after the Bloodstained Mist era, and it was understandable that they couldn't stop so many double-flowered red staffs. But Sunagakure had the legendary ninja Shiki the Golden Lion, yet they still couldn't stop Akatsuki from taking down the tailed beast.

Those unaware of the inside story are even marveling at the strength of the Akatsuki leader, who can actually fight Shiki one-on-one. You have to understand that since the Third Raikage died and Konoha's White Fang aged, no one in the entire ninja world dares to say they can fight Shiki one-on-one. This Akatsuki leader is quite formidable.

Only the higher-ups of Kumogakure and Konoha, who received the message from Sunagakure, knew that it was nothing more than a puppet of the Akatsuki leader. In fact, even without Sunagakure's information, Konoha had analyzed the numbers Jiraiya had passed down before his death and dissected his personality to conclude that the Akatsuki leader was merely a puppet, and the real leader was still hiding behind the scenes. However, because Jiraiya was already dead, no one could confirm their guess until they received information from Sunagakure about the Akatsuki leader, which allowed them to confirm the accuracy of the information Jiraiya had given before his death.

.....

"...This leader of Akatsuki is so fierce."

In the Hidden Cloud Village, inside the Raikage's tower, the Fourth Raikage stared at the information about the leader of the Akatsuki organization written in Rasa's own hand, his brow furrowed for a long time.

A puppet leader capable of controlling repulsion and gravity, plus two unknown puppets that may possess powerful summoning techniques, one capable of absorbing chakra to nullify the opponent's attacks, one capable of transforming into various weapons, and two others whose specific abilities are unknown. However, through Rasa's brief description, the Fourth Raikage could tell that almost every one of these puppets was a formidable double-ranked powerhouse.

In other words, this invasion of Sunagakure to take down the tailed beasts involved at least nine of the nine Red Staffs, not counting the Akatsuki leader who didn't even appear. Among them, these puppets were the most troublesome. Humans can die, get tired, and get injured, but puppets can't. If they can't be destroyed in a short time, it will be a tragedy if the battle drags on to the later stages.

After reading the information in his hand, the Fourth Raikage couldn't help but close his eyes and simulate the situation of encountering these puppets in his mind. In the end, he had a big question: how should he fight against so many puppets that were all at the level of Double Flower Red Stick?

The fact that there was only one puppet capable of absorbing chakra rendered his Lightning Release Chakra Mode useless, not to mention the other six puppets with different characteristics, and the puppet leader even had advanced abilities like repulsion and attraction.

Although he wasn't well-educated, he knew that repulsive and attractive forces were both part of the laws of mechanics. Even if he were resurrected, he might not be able to handle them...

"Lord Raikage, I'm starting to think Killer Bee might not even be safe on Turtle Island anymore. Perhaps we should contact Konoha? They suggested bringing Jinchuriki to Konoha back then; they should have a way..."

Although the Fourth Raikage didn't say it, his secretary, Mabui, knew from his boss's furrowed brows that if the Akatsuki's lineup came to their Kumogakure, their Kumogakure forces would definitely not be able to hold out. If they couldn't even defend the village, Killer Bee hiding on Turtle Island would be of no use.

"...It's too late now. Since Akatsuki has already made a move against Sunagakure, they're already watching us and Konoha. Someone might have already come here to find out about Bee. If we let Bee out now, it will only make them discover us. Let's wait until after the Five Kage Summit. As long as they don't find out about the Jinchuriki, they probably won't take any action. Besides, they didn't suffer any losses during this invasion of Sunagakure... We just need to step up our defenses."

After hesitating for a moment, the Fourth Raikage finally shook his head. Now that even the tailed beast of Sunagakure, where the Golden Lion was stationed, had been taken down, it was estimated that transferring Bee to Konoha now would not be very effective. Konoha had fewer high-end combat forces than Sunagakure. If Sunagakure couldn't even defend itself, how could Konoha? Moreover, transferring Bee now would indeed be discovered by the Akatsuki, which would be even more unwise. The reason why the Akatsuki hadn't taken action against Kumogakure and Konoha was precisely because they hadn't yet discovered the whereabouts of the Jinchuriki.

He felt that it was fine to maintain the status quo, and besides, the coordinates of Turtle Island were hidden and not on the map, so it wouldn't be easy for outsiders to find it.

"Hahaha! I never thought that old blond guy would actually have his day. Pain did a fantastic job... Damn Cloud Ninja, where did they hide the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki? We've been searching for so long, and we can't find a single hair..."

Inside a cave in the Land of Lightning, Hidan, who could never die, would sometimes laugh loudly and sometimes angrily spew insults. Recalling the brutal torment that blond old man had inflicted on him, Hidan, who could never die, felt a truly damn satisfying feeling.

But then he thought about how they'd been in the Land of Lightning for so long and still didn't know where the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki was. Meanwhile, the big boss and Itachi Uchiha were making headlines again, but he was conspicuously absent. Hidan, who was sure he wouldn't die, felt a surge of anger. It was all that damn Eight-Tails Jinchuriki's fault! Why did he have to hide so well...?

1119. Was it unnecessary for Jiraiya to go to the Land of Rain?

"..."

My little brother has been acting like a lunatic for days now; Kakuzu is used to it by now.

The younger brother was indeed badly beaten by his good friend back then, so it's understandable that he's gloating now.

However, Kakuzu didn't expect Pain to be so brave, taking Itachi Uchiha and Kisame to storm Sunagakure. What he didn't expect was that they actually succeeded and managed to retrieve the Tailed Beasts. Pain's tactics were quite sophisticated.

No one who can be a leader is stupid. Over the years, his impression of Payne was that he was a highly capable but brainless illiterate. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been appointed as the Minister of Finance. He didn't expect that Payne was also very good at playing tricks.

But seriously, this Eight-Tails Jinchuriki is incredibly good at hiding. Even he's furious. They've searched almost every corner of the Land of Lightning, even had Hidan sniff out public restrooms, but they still can't find a trace of the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki. He's speechless. This guy's even better at hiding than Orochimaru...

.......

"Brother Sakumo, if the Akatsuki organization comes, can Konoha protect them...?"

In the Hokage Building, Nawaki looked at Hatake Sakumo with a mixture of worry and anticipation. The news from Sunagakure was far too alarming, even more detailed than what his older brother Jiraiya had investigated before his death. This made him wonder if Jiraiya's risky trip to the Land of Rain had been somewhat unnecessary. They had just deciphered the numbers left by Jiraiya, only to have Sunagakure give them even more detailed information. It made him feel as if Jiraiya's death had been in vain.

Moreover, they couldn't even find the body, so they couldn't rebuild the village. Jiraiya really lost out this time.

However, he also knew why Jiraiya, who possessed only a mediocre Sage Mode, was killed in the Land of Rain. Although his talent and strength were not great, he often hung out with the Double Flower Red Sticks, so he still had some insight. He had just learned about the puppet of the Akatsuki leader from the Sand Village.

If these puppets were pulled out individually, apart from the puppet leader who controls repulsion and attraction and is somewhat more powerful, the other puppets are not very strong, and are even not as strong as Orochimaru. Of course, he was not belittling Orochimaru, but because Orochimaru's talent points were all put into survival, so he basically doesn't have any offensive special moves, and just relies on releasing snakes and summoning his two grandfathers to make a living.

Therefore, in terms of practical skills, Orochimaru is somewhat inferior to other high-end double-flower red sticks.

While the individual combat abilities of those puppets couldn't match Orochimaru's, meaning that although these puppets were all at the Double Flower Red Staff level, they weren't actually that powerful individually and couldn't possibly kill Jiraiya. However, if you didn't know their abilities or that they were puppets, it would be a different story. Although these puppets weren't particularly strong individually, the abilities they possessed were very powerful.

Nawaki was even wondering if his older sister and Sakumo could handle these puppets if they were to take their place, not to mention that there was a real leader behind these puppets, who was the real big boss!

Now that Sunagakure's One-Tail and Seven-Tail have been taken, only their Nine-Tail and Eight-Tail remain. The Akatsuki organization doesn't play by the rules at all. Nawaki is worried that if the Akatsuki suddenly attacks, Konoha won't be able to withstand it, and the Nine-Tail will be taken away as well. That would be the end of the world. As the only male member of the Senju clan, he hasn't even had a chance to have children for the Senju clan yet.

I have truly let down my ancestors...

"...Don't worry, now that we've discovered the puppets' weaknesses, dealing with them shouldn't be difficult as long as we target those weaknesses. Besides, the Akatsuki's invasion of Sunagakure to capture the Tailed Beasts wasn't without its losses; they probably won't come to Konoha anytime soon. And Sasuke's duel with Itachi is almost here. Since Itachi has already accepted Sasuke's challenge, everything will likely have to wait until their battle is over before anything else begins..."

Hatake Sakumo frowned. He wasn't worried about the Akatsuki organization. Since obtaining detailed information about those puppets, Nara Shikaku had already prepared a strategy. Although he was old, he was still at his peak. Although he couldn't fly, it would be a bit troublesome to deal with the puppet leader who controlled repulsion and gravity, but it wasn't impossible for him to confront him.

What he was really worried about was Uchiha Itachi. His former boss, the Third Hokage, hadn't hidden Itachi's identity from him, but since the Third Hokage's death, Itachi hadn't contacted him. He didn't feel comfortable taking the initiative to contact Itachi, so he had no idea what Itachi's plans were.

According to normal procedure, after Itachi Uchiha found out the Akatsuki's purpose, he could have escaped and returned to Konoha to join the Anbu under a mask. However, now that the entire ninja world knows the Akatsuki's purpose, Itachi Uchiha has not escaped and returned but has instead helped the Akatsuki capture the Tailed Beasts.

At first, he thought that Itachi Uchiha was helping the Akatsuki capture the Tailed Beasts in order to infiltrate the Akatsuki organization more deeply and then stab them in the back at the right time. But if that were the case, Itachi Uchiha would not have needed to agree to Sasuke Uchiha's challenge. After all, agreeing to Sasuke's challenge would be meaningless for his actions and would even waste time and affect the Akatsuki's capture of the Tailed Beasts.

It's highly unlikely that Itachi Uchiha would succumb to the temptations of the Akatsuki and betray them. A person capable of abandoning their clan for the sake of the village, filled with boundless love, is undoubtedly a person of unwavering will. Even the Akatsuki's attempts to seduce him with their feminine charms wouldn't have worked...

But what does it mean that Itachi Uchiha went to fight his own brother at this crucial moment?

Should I tell my younger brother the truth about what happened back then?

But even if you were to tell your younger brother the truth about what happened back then, you shouldn't have chosen this time...

Uchiha Itachi's actions left Hatake Sakumo completely baffled, but he couldn't tell anyone. The only thing he could think of was that something unexpected might have happened to Uchiha Itachi.

This was what he was most worried about. Although he wasn't the Hokage, he was still a part-time Hokage. The village owed Itachi Uchiha far too much. He even failed to keep his promise to take care of Sasuke Uchiha, allowing Sasuke to be kidnapped by Orochimaru. Although Sasuke killed Orochimaru, based on his understanding of the corrupted Orochimaru, he didn't know how much inhuman treatment Sasuke had suffered at Orochimaru's hands. Thinking of Sakumo Hatake made him feel guilty. He should have taught the boy the Hatake swordsmanship when he knew the kid was after power. After all, Kakashi was only good for killing small fry...

"I'm a little worried about Kakashi going after Sasuke Uchiha, so I'll go check it out..."

Sakumo Hatake felt increasingly guilty towards Itachi Uchiha, so he made up an excuse to find out more.

1120. The destructive power of the most handsome man in the ninja world

Where did the second male lead in the series have his duel with Itachi Uchiha?

Masato wasn't entirely sure either; he only vaguely remembered that it was in a small, dark room...

But there are so many dark rooms in the entire ninja world, where is he supposed to find one?!

As Shinto, accompanied by Sasori and Karin, flew and stopped intermittently until they entered the skies above the Land of Fire, he was bewildered. He truly had no idea where to find the two Uchiha brothers...

"Grand Uncle! It's been several days, are we going to find it or not?"

Karin, who was being carried away, began to complain impatiently. After the Six Paths Puppet and Itachi Uchiha took away the Tailed Beasts, Karin saw that her mother and her friend Gaara were alright, so she immediately went to her handsome father to act cute.

Normally, given what happened in the village, Chiyo and Yusaori wouldn't have let her go out and have fun. However, since Sasori is their beloved grandson and son, and he's always been withdrawn, Chiyo and Yusaori thought that letting the father and daughter spend more time together might change Sasori. Besides, with Masato by their side, they didn't have to worry about Sasori taking his daughter to become a terrorist...

However, it's been a while since it came out, and it's been wandering aimlessly in the sky, with no idea where the Uchiha brothers are fighting.

"...Don't worry, if we can't find it, we can just ask someone, right? Look, they're here! Nephew...I wasn't calling you, I was calling Kakashi..."

"Kakashi, come here to your uncle, I have something to ask you..."

Just as Masato finished speaking, he saw Kakashi and Green-skinned Guy leading a few Konoha Karami speeding towards him from afar, having run countless red lights. They shouted and waved at Kakashi, earning a glare from his nephew beside him.

"..."

"Weren't your tailed beasts captured by Akatsuki? What are you doing here...?"

Kakashi's Mangekyou Sharingan had already spotted the blond old man a few dozen meters above him, but he planned to pretend he couldn't see him. However, the old man landed right in front of him, rolling his dead fish eyes speechlessly. But when he saw the handsome red-haired guy next to the old man, the hair on his body instantly stood on end.

Although I've never seen him before, looking at the entire ninja world, who else is such an incredibly handsome man with red hair? Even though he's face-blind, he's not blind. He's so outstandingly handsome, so dazzlingly handsome. Although he's not as stunning as Mizuki Haku, he has a more masculine beauty. Who else but the number one handsome man in the ninja world, the super puppeteer Sasori of the Sand?

This guy is another one who can take on ten thousand men... and the key point is that he's a terrorist. What is this old guy planning to do by bringing this terrorist to their Land of Fire...?

"Wow! So handsome! Who's that handsome guy next to Lord Golden Lion? I've never seen him before...ヽ(愛′?｀愛)ノ"

Kakashi, the pink-haired girl next to Green Dai, and the girl dressed as Chun-Li also saw Sasori and their eyes were already filled with hearts. The love of beauty knows no gender. Although Sasori was already in his thirties and his daughter was fifteen or sixteen, his pretty face was still very youthful. Coupled with his taciturn and aloof temperament, his charm was just as irresistible to these teenage girls who were full of curiosity about the opposite sex as it was to the readers' fathers in their prime.