I just returned to Konoha and found that my entire clan was gone.

As another cloud of smoke dissipated, Po Jun reappeared at Ye Lan's feet.

"Don't keep summoning me all the time, Ye Lan. What's wrong this time?" Po Jun complained. He was just about to succeed in flirting with another female Thunder Falcon when Ye Lan summoned him.

"Po Jun, I'm truly sorry, but this time the enemy is rather special." Ye Lan pointed towards Deidara, who was riding a giant bird in the sky.

When Po Jun saw Deidara sitting in the air like a giant bird, he understood why Ye Lan had summoned it.

"Brother Yelan actually has such a huge summoning beast." Hinata said in surprise when she saw the appearance of Pojun. As the eldest daughter of the Hyuga clan, she understood how helpful such a giant summoning beast would be.

Hong: "This is my first time seeing him too. I was worried that Ye Lan would have a hard time dealing with that Iwagakure rogue ninja named Deidara, but it seems that Ye Lan is fine now."

That kid doesn't even look as old as Deidara, and he already has a summoning beast. It seems this mission is doomed. The moment Sasori saw Po Jun, he knew that if the other wanted to escape, he could definitely get away. He was already considering retreating.

Upon seeing the situation, Maki's face lit up with joy, and he continued to launch an even fiercer attack on Sasori. At the same time, he said in a low voice that only Sasori could hear, "Please come back to the village with me. Elder Chiyo has been searching for you. Now that the Fourth Kazekage has unfortunately passed away, the village needs your strength."

"Maki, do you think I can't do anything to you? Don't talk to me about that old hag Chiyo!" Sasori was a little annoyed. The last person he wanted to see in his life was that damned old woman.

"Lady Chiyo is just concerned for your safety. You are Sasori, the most talented puppeteer in the history of Sunagakure. You are the most suitable person to inherit the position of Kazekage." Maki continued to persuade him, constantly using Wind Release to defend against Sasori's attacks.

"Hehehe, Kazekage?" Upon hearing Maki's words, Scorpion chuckled darkly and stopped his attack.

Maki thought that Sasori was moved by what he said and wanted to continue, but Sasori interrupted him directly and said, "Then, I will show you my artwork. If you still think I can be the Kazekage after seeing it, I will consider it."

Chapter 32 Crisis

"Then, let me show you my eternal art." Scorpion unsealed the scroll, and a humanoid puppet appeared before Maki.

"Could this be..." Maki stared at the puppet's appearance in disbelief. The puppet looked exactly like the missing Third Kazekage.

"I put a lot of effort into turning him into a puppet. Maki, let me show you the Magnet Release technique that is known as the strongest Kazekage." Under Sasori's control, the Third Kazekage opened his mouth, revealing the mechanism inside. Then, a ball of black magnetic sand was spat out of his mouth, turning into thin needles that shot towards Maki.

Magnetism Release, Iron Sand Rain

It can even use the Third Hokage's Magnet Release. So, it turns out Sasori killed the Third Kazekage back then. Maki didn't try to persuade Sasori again, carefully dodging the Magnet Release attacks; this puppet was putting too much pressure on him.

The Sand Village members watching from afar were also surprised to see Magnet Release. This was a secret technique of the Sand Village, which had not been passed down since the Third Hokage disappeared. They never expected to see it again in their opponent, and couldn't help but wonder who this person was.

“Those are human puppets. It is said that puppets made from human puppets can retain the ninjutsu they used in life. It is a forbidden technique in Sunagakure…” said Maki, who was a Jonin.

"Human puppets! You mean Professor Maki's opponent controls human puppets! And who exactly is he fighting?!"

Kankuro, being a puppeteer, had naturally heard of this forbidden technique and couldn't help but get excited.

"The puppet that can use Magnet Release is the Third Kazekage. I saw the Third Kazekage when I was very young, so I can't be mistaken. It's rumored that the Third Shinobi World War started because the Third Kazekage disappeared. Actually, there was another Sand Village ninja who disappeared with the Third Kazekage," Maki recalled.

"Who is it?" Temari and the others had not experienced the Fourth Shinobi World War and were not very familiar with the secrets of these villages.

"It's Sasori of the Red Sand, the grandson of Elder Chiyo, the genius puppeteer from the village back then." Juan said, enunciating each word clearly. If it weren't for this information combined, Juan wouldn't have been able to make such an analysis. Everything she saw before her eyes gave her an 80% certainty that Maki was facing Sasori. In that case, even Maki, an elite Jonin from Sunagakure, wouldn't be a match for Sasori.

"Sasori of the Red Sand! Are you sure?! Isn't he dead?!" Kankuro found that too many things had shocked him today. Since arriving in Konoha, one thing after another had left him bewildered, and the crow he was using was Sasori's creation.

"Yura, if it really is Sasori, Jonin Maki might not be a match for him. I'm going up to help. You guys go back to the village immediately and find reinforcements." Maki said to the Chunin wearing sunglasses, and rushed out before the others could react.

"drink!"

Deidara hadn't expected Ye Lan to have a flying summon beast, and one that was clearly much faster than his clay bird. He could only keep throwing clay bombs to block it. From the previous exchange, he knew he absolutely couldn't get close to Ye Lan. He believed that if he got close, Ye Lan would only need half a second to finish him off.

"Damn it, I don't have much clay left. I doubt I can hit that guy with C3. Should I use C2...?" Deidara didn't think too much about it. He took out the last piece of clay, chewed it with the mouth on his strange right hand, and spat out a piece of clay that looked like a Western dragon.

"Try this!" Deidara threw it out, and the dragon kept growing bigger and bigger, eventually becoming even larger than the Swift Falcon. It flapped its wings and kept spitting out explosive clay from its mouth to attack. The sky was filled with explosions, like fireworks.

The clay spewed out by the dragon was too dense, and Po Jun was also quite large. At first, he could barely dodge it, but later he couldn't dodge it anymore and was blown up several times. Fortunately, he was thick-skinned and didn't suffer any serious injuries.

"Po Jun, use Lightning Release!" A red glint flashed in Ye Lan's eyes. In his opinion, Deidara's ninjutsu was also a kind of Earth Release. Since that was the case, he would try using Lightning Release, which Po Jun was good at.

"Understood!" Upon hearing this, Po Jun increased his altitude, arriving above the clay dragon. Chakra and natural energy were constantly gathering in his sharp mouth, forming a ball of lightning. Finally, with a sharp cry, he spat the ball of lightning into the sky.

Thunder magic, lightning and thunder

The ball of lightning in the sky exploded instantly, brightening the entire sky and eventually forming an electric grid that covered the blue expanse. Any dragon that came into contact with the grid was instantly reduced to dust; just as Ye Lan had predicted, clay was indeed countered by lightning.

Strictly speaking, Po Jun's move is not a lightning release. This move not only contains chakra but also the natural energy that Po Jun has cultivated, making it much more powerful than ordinary ninjutsu.

Deidara looked up at the sky in surprise, not expecting that this person was a master of lightning release. This was the type that completely restrained him. Now he had no intention of carrying out the mission and only wanted to get away as soon as possible. Just as Po Jun released his lightning and thunder, Ye Lan jumped down from the sky and pounced on Deidara. He was already close by while Deidara was still in shock.

The air crackled with a series of whooshing sounds. Deidara had been careless; he hadn't expected Ye Lan, under the cover of Po Jun, to be able to reach him so quickly.

puff-

Deidara's entire right arm was severed by Ye Lan. The physical pain and psychological pressure caused Deidara to cough up blood. Just as he was about to retaliate, he met Ye Lan's eyes, a pair of Sharingan eyes that were turning.

"You are Uchiha..." These were Deidara's last words. He fell directly into Ye Lan's genjutsu and lost consciousness. Unable to control the giant bird, Deidara turned into a cloud of smoke. At this moment, Po Jun arrived and caught the two people who were falling.

Ye Lan didn't intend to kill Deidara. He hoped to get more information about Akatsuki and Itachi from Deidara. He wanted to know why Itachi joined Akatsuki after committing the massacre of his clan, whether Itachi's accomplice that day was someone from Akatsuki, and if so, who was he? What was the Akatsuki's purpose in collecting the Tailed Beasts? Ye Lan didn't know any of this information, and he had to figure out their background. Ye Lan stopped stopping Deidara's wound. He didn't care where his severed right hand had fallen off. He headed towards the direction Maki and the others had been. They had kept some distance when they were closest to Deidara earlier.

When he returned to the original location, he was shocked to find that only Maki was left in Sunagakure, struggling to hold on. Not only was the female Jonin from Sunagakure lying on the ground, but Kurenai Yuhi, who was with him, was also lying there. The other Genin and the Sensory Ninja were nowhere to be found.

Watching Scorpion wield a puppet that looked exactly like a human, manipulating black magnetic sand to attack, Maki dodged helplessly, completely unable to retaliate. Ye Lan suddenly accelerated and arrived directly beside Maki.

"You've finally arrived." Seeing Ye Lan carrying the other party's companion, Ma Ji finally felt a little more at ease and said breathlessly.

"What's going on with Hong and the others?" Ye Lan asked seriously, leaving Deidara behind.

Chapter 33 Rescue

Kurenai and the Sand Village ninja named Maki lay on the ground, their faces ashen and brows furrowed, looking unwell. They were in a semi-conscious state.

"They've been poisoned. Night Rin, you be careful too. The enemy's puppets are all coated with deadly poison. Red Rin and Maki only had a small cut and they're already like this. Maki's complexion isn't good either; his chakra is completely depleted."

Ye Lan: "You rest for a while. I'll deal with this enemy in front of you."

"That Deidara kid is so useless, I didn't expect him to fall so quickly." Sasori looked at the unconscious Deidara with dissatisfaction. He knew he had to retreat. It seemed that those genin had already left to find reinforcements. If he dragged it out any longer, he would be left behind.

Sasori immediately put away the Third Kazekage's puppet and left without paying any more attention to Deidara. Ye Lan glanced at him but did not pursue. There were too many wounded here, and there was also Deidara whom they had just captured. Fortunately, they waited for rescue in place.

Not long after, Temari arrived with the main force of Sunagakure, along with three of Kurenai's students.

"Red Teacher!" Hinata and the others couldn't help but rush forward when they saw Red, who was injured and unconscious.

"Let's go to the hospital in Sunagakure first and see if there's a way to detoxify it," Ye Lan said.

Maki nodded in agreement. They often poisoned puppets, so it shouldn't be a big problem.

A group of people hurriedly returned to Sunagakure. The welcoming ceremony that had been prepared was canceled. In the current situation, there was no need to consider formalities. It wasn't until Kurenai entered the infirmary that Ye Lan felt relieved. Looking at Hinata and the others who were full of worry, he said, "Don't worry, she hasn't been poisoned for long. The people of Sunagakure will cure Kurenai."

Hinata and the others breathed a sigh of relief after hearing Ye Lan's words.

"The crisis for Jonin Yelan has been temporarily resolved, but I heard that the enemy's target was the One-Tailed Beast. Could you please tell me about it?" The visitor was a high-ranking Jonin from Sunagakure, who spoke immediately upon seeing Yelan.

Ye Lan glanced at the door of the emergency room, guessing that Hong wouldn't be able to finish for a while, so he and the Jonin walked out of the corridor and came to a secluded open space.

"Actually, I don't know the specifics very well. The Hokage knows more. I only know that they are an organization called Akatsuki, which is full of S-rank rogue ninja from various countries. Orochimaru and Itachi Uchiha were both members of the organization, but I heard that Orochimaru has left the organization now. Itachi came to Konoha a while ago and clearly stated that his goal was the Nine-Tails. I think their organization might be after the Tailed Beasts. I don't know exactly how many people are in the organization or what they need the Tailed Beasts for. By the way, make sure you keep Deidara locked up. We need to take him with us when we return." Ye Lan said quite a bit, basically telling everyone he knew.

After listening, the Jonin replied, "This is outrageous! Since the founding of the Five Great Ninja Villages, no one has ever dared to target the Tailed Beasts. What do they want to do? Don't worry about that rogue Iwagakure ninja, Jonin Yelan. We have assigned someone to guard him. Just let us know when you return to your village. However, if you have any information about Akatsuki, please share it with Sunagakure. After all, we are allies now."

"I cannot agree to this matter now. I need to go back and consult with the Hokage." Ye Lan understood that he did not have the right to decide on matters between the two countries. Although he felt that Tsunade would most likely agree, he could not make the decision first.

"I see... I understand. Then I won't disturb Jonin Yelan any longer. I've already given instructions about where you'll rest; someone will take you there." The Sand Village Jonin didn't press Yelan further, knowing that it was best to consult his superior about such matters. He hadn't expected that Maki, a Sand Village elite, would be in such a sorry state, while Yelan seemed completely unharmed. He usually assumed that young, powerful ninjas like Yelan would be arrogant, but Yelan was surprisingly easy to talk to. He'd even heard that Yelan was an Uchiha.

"The mission failed. Deidara was taken down by the enemy." Sasori said, looking at the other members in the Illusionary Body Technique.

"Scorpion, I didn't expect your group to be so incompetent. Not only did you fail to find the Tailed Beast, but you also dragged Deidara into it!" one of the organization members mocked. It seems that there is not much friendship within their organization, and they are not able to get along well with these S-rank rogue ninjas.

"Shut up, Hidan! We've met a formidable opponent this time, and our enemy has a flying summon, Deidara, so he can't utilize his strengths at all." Sasori, who had previously said Deidara was useless, still managed to offer a few words of defense.

"Moreover, that Konoha ninja is an Uchiha, who should be the Uchiha Yelan mentioned last time." Sasori did not directly fight Yelan at the time, but he clearly saw the Sharingan in Yelan's eyes.

"Is it that Uchiha again? It seems he caused our members quite a bit of trouble. He's got a good heart," a member with eyes that glowed a faint green light said calmly.

"Alright, everyone quiet down." After the member in the center finished speaking, everyone quieted down, presumably the leader of the organization.

"Deidara absolutely must be rescued. Genbu, go find out where Deidara is being held. If there's an opportunity, take action. Suzaku, you all move closer to the Land of Wind in case you need to provide support. Santai, your group continues with the bounty missions." After issuing the orders to his members, the leader left the meeting.

“Kakuzu, I reckon Deidara will need your help again once he’s rescued. One of his hands was cut off and is still with me.” Sasori said as he watched the member with green eyes prepare to dispel the Illusion Body Technique.

"It's alright, just tell him to prepare the money. He'll be absolutely satisfied when he comes to me." With that, he dispelled the spell.

"This guy is really obsessed with money," Sasori couldn't help but think after Kakuzu left.

"Then, I'll go find Deidara first," the member codenamed Genbu said before leaving. Sasori nodded and gave no further instructions; he greatly admired Genbu's intelligence-gathering abilities.

...

"Jonin Ye Lan!" The emergency room door suddenly opened, and Ye Lan, who was standing against the wall, had a bad feeling.

"The poison that both the Red Jonin and the Rolled Jonin were afflicted with is not any of the Sand Village's types, and we are completely unable to treat it with our current technology!" The medical ninja said to Ye Lan in a somewhat panicked manner. The death of an ally in the other village, regardless of the reason, would affect the relationship between the two sides, let alone that of a Jonin.

"Does the Sand Village have no other way?" Ye Lan's face was grim. He hadn't expected that the Sand Village couldn't deal with this kind of poison. He should have gone back to Konoha to ask Tsunade for help.

"Elder Chiyo might have a solution, but..." The medical ninja stammered as he mentioned an elder.

"But what..." Ye Lan didn't have time to play guessing games with him. This was a matter of life and death, and not a single second could be wasted.

"Elder Chiyo hasn't left her residence for a long time and no longer cares about anything in the village. I'm afraid Elder Chiyo won't take action."

Before the medical ninja could finish speaking, Ye Lan turned around and prepared to go find Maki and ask him to handle the situation.

"Brother Ye Lan, Teacher Hong, she..." Ya's eyes were a little red. He didn't expect his first A-level mission to be like this, and he couldn't help at all. All he could do was pray.

"Don't worry, I'm here." Ye Lan sighed and rubbed his head.

Chapter 34 Sunagakure

"I see. The medical team is at a loss. No wonder it's Sasori of the Red Sand..." Maki exclaimed after hearing Ye Lan's description.

"Do you know that member of Akatsuki?" Even if Ye Lan was stupid, she could tell from Maki's tone.

“Since things have come to this point, I won’t hide anything anymore. That person is Sasori, the former genius puppeteer of Sunagakure, and also the grandson of Elder Chiyo.” Maki said heavily. The former genius of Sunagakure has now appeared, and he is the murderer of the Third Kazekage. It’s really making other villages laugh.

"I never imagined we'd have such a karmic entanglement..."

"There's no time to lose. I'll go find Elder Chiyo now. Jonin Yelan, please wait for me." Maki said and left in a hurry. The poisoned people included not only Konoha ninjas but also Sunagakure ninjas. No matter what the considerations were, even if it meant death, he had to ask Elder Chiyo to come out of seclusion.

In a secluded retreat in Sunagakure, an elderly brother and sister were fishing with fishing rods. This was one of their few forms of entertainment. The two of them remained silent, not caring how many fish they could catch; it was just a pastime to pass the time when they were bored.

"Sister..." The elderly man spoke first. His name was Ebizo, and he used to work in Sunagakure's intelligence network, but he was now officially retired. "It seems like a lot has happened in the village lately. Rasa is dead too? I never thought he would leave us..."

“The village’s ninjas are becoming more and more useless. As the Kazekage, he actually cooperated with a rogue ninja and ended up losing his life instead of gaining anything,” Chiyo said in an aged voice. The two of them seemed to never leave their house, but they had all the village’s intelligence at their fingertips and did not look like they were retired.

"Well, sister, you have to understand Rasa's difficulties. It's just that who can take on the position of Kazekage right now..." Ebizo voiced his concern. It seemed that no one in the entire village was qualified to be Kazekage. Although Rasa sometimes didn't respect them, he was strong enough to be Kazekage. The current state of the village... what were they thinking when they abandoned Pakura?

"If no one chooses the Kazekage position, we'll leave it vacant until a suitable person comes along." Chiyo sighed helplessly. The glory days of Sunagakure were long gone. Back then, Sunagakure was much stronger than it is now.