Sasori of the Red Sand

After leaving the prison where Shukaku was confined, Byakuya sensed a change within his Zanpakuto. It was as though something long dormant deep within the blade had been gently touched, trembling slightly before falling silent again.

But he had no time to determine exactly what had changed.

There were many more Sand Ninja in the desert that night.

Within the range of his Reiatsu Detection, at least six teams were moving back and forth in different directions. They were spreading out from Sunagakure to search the surrounding area, their formations widely dispersed. Every so often, they stopped to exchange signals.

Rather than a blockade, it looked more like they were searching for something.

Their numbers and the way they moved suggested that something major had happened in Sunagakure, something serious enough to require so many people to search through the night.

It probably wasn't him—the Sand Ninja weren't concentrating their search near Shukaku's prison. Bunpuku's cell wasn't on any team's primary search route. Only two squads passed by at a distance, and neither stopped.

He had a vague suspicion, but now wasn't the time to dwell on it.

He pushed the thought aside and focused on retreating. As he maintained Transparent Release and Kyokkō at the same time, the corrosive sensation of his Bloodline Disease seeped outward from deep within his marrow. With every step, he could feel a faint ache in his meridians.

Though he was long accustomed to pain of this degree, he still paused briefly behind a dune, giving Responded time to soothe the backlash from Transparent Release. Fortunately, the Sand Ninja weren't searching very quickly, and before dawn had fully broken, he finally slipped out of their search area.

Once he was safe, he began to review his deductions. Before the Third Shinobi World War broke out, there was only one event that could have brought the Sand Ninja out in force—the disappearance of the Third Kazekage.

Hatake Sakumo hadn't died, but thanks to the Konoha High Command suppressing the news, few people knew he had lost his Chakra.

But White Fang really hadn't appeared in public for a long time, nor had he completed a mission in ages. After spies from the major ninja villages failed to uncover anything, a rumor began to circulate through the Shinobi World.

White Fang was dead.

Konoha hadn't denied the rumor, making the other nations even more convinced it was true.

Sunagakure had evidently heard the news as well.

But the spy who sent the report back probably hadn't expected his intelligence to cost his village its supreme leader.

Of course, this was still only Byakuya's speculation. He might need more information to determine whether the Third Kazekage had really disappeared.

Byakuya got to his feet again and sped toward Rōran. As he raced onward without stopping, he hadn't expected the chance to test his theory to come so quickly.

As noon approached, his Reiatsu Detection suddenly picked up an unusual fluctuation ahead.

There were ninja fighting up ahead.

Without hesitation, Byakuya activated Shunpo and sped toward them.

Beyond a dune, on an open stretch of sand, Shibi Aburame was retreating. His swarm of Kikaichū circled around him in a flowing barrier, but their flight paths were much more scattered than usual. Sunglasses hid his eyes, but his tightly clenched teeth betrayed his condition—he was struggling to hold on.

His opponent stood some distance away, a figure who surprised Byakuya slightly. He was young and short, with delicate features. His crimson hair was particularly striking beneath the desert sun.

Sasori of the Red Sand.

A humanoid puppet darted between the two. Chakra Threads connected it to all ten of the boy's fingers, and every slight movement sent the puppet into motions that defied belief.

Shibi Aburame's swarm had already suffered a setback. Several Kikaichū had landed on the humanoid puppet, but before they could drain its Chakra, gaps had suddenly opened in its shell, spewing pale purple poison mist. The insects that touched it instantly stiffened and fell, carpeting the sand in a dense layer.

Sasori had used the opportunity to press his attack and finally break through the swarm's defenses. He didn't seem to notice that some of the fallen insects were quietly circling around toward his back.

"Now!"

Ignoring the puppet right in front of him, Shibi Aburame formed Hand Seals and unleashed a Ninjutsu. A wave of insects suddenly burst from the sand behind Sasori, forming a great net that swallowed him whole.

The boy fell, and the puppet dropped to the ground with him, less than half a meter from Shibi Aburame.

"Phew..."

Shibi Aburame wiped the sweat from his brow. Even now, he didn't know who the young puppet master who had suddenly appeared was.

Fortunately, it was over.

"Watch out!"

An urgent shout rang out behind him. Shibi Aburame suddenly felt a chill rush through his body and instinctively stepped to the right.

"Pssh!"

The puppet opened its mouth, and a sword shot out, piercing Shibi Aburame's shoulder.

If not for that step, the sword would probably have pierced his heart.

Somehow, Sasori, who had clearly just fallen in the distance, was back on his feet, his fingers twitching.

The sword retracted, then changed direction inside the puppet's mouth. Aiming at Shibi Aburame's chest, it thrust out again.

"Clang!"

The harsh sound made Shibi Aburame turn his head involuntarily. He then saw another boy standing in front of him.

This one had black hair.

"Shibi-senpai." Byakuya landed in a low stance before Shibi Aburame, his Tachi held across his body.

"You're Gekkō Byakuya?" Shibi Aburame couldn't hide the surprise in his voice. "You really are alive. We heard you held off five elite Sand Ninja on your own. We all thought you..."

"Senpai, what are you doing here?"

"Minato insisted you were still alive and asked me to help look for your trail. He went deeper into the desert to search for you himself. I didn't expect to run into this guy..."

"Can you contact Minato-senpai?"

"I placed a female insect on Minato. I can send my insects to find him... but it'll take some time." Shibi Aburame pressed a hand to his wound and took a deep breath. "But I won't be much help in the fight ahead."

"Then I'll handle him."

"Don't be fooled by his age. He's very strong."

"Haha, don't worry, senpai. Don't be fooled by my age either. I'm very strong too."

The two exchanged those words rapidly, while Sasori made no move to attack. His gaze passed over the hovering puppet and settled on Byakuya.

Long hair, a sword, great speed, and a Konoha Ninja. His utterly impassive eyes shifted and fixed on Byakuya.

"What's your relationship with White Fang?"

Byakuya froze. "What?"

"Are you his son?" Sasori stepped forward, the calm in his voice beginning to crack. "Konoha's White Fang—is he your father?"

"...No."

The Chakra Threads attached to Sasori's fingers drew taut. "You deserve to die."

I already told you I'm not...

Byakuya tightened his grip on his sword. Sasori gave him no time to react. The puppet charged at Byakuya along a bizarre trajectory. It raised a finger and fired a poisoned needle, while a long sword extended from its mouth, aimed straight at Byakuya's lower back.

Byakuya tapped the ground with his toes and used Shunpo to open the distance. He drew his Tachi and deflected the sword, using the force to turn sideways and dodge the poisoned needle at the same time, but the puppet's attacks came without end.

After constantly traveling and frequently using Shunpo during this time, however, he had reached the threshold of B-rank. Combined with his repeated experience of overlapping dual forces while fighting at close range with Hakuda, it gave him more precise control over his body after moving instantaneously.

Facing the puppet attacking from every direction, he appeared to be in constant danger, but in reality, he handled it with ease.

Besides, as a medical-nin, he had brought plenty of antidotes and wasn't particularly afraid of poison. The poisonous gas the puppet sprayed from time to time didn't make him hold back.

As they clashed again and again, Byakuya gradually worked out the puppet's patterns of movement.

Finally, when the puppet attacked his side once more, Byakuya didn't dodge. Instead, he gripped his sword and delivered a diagonal slash.

"Crack!"

Cutting the puppet in two with one stroke, Byakuya continued forward and charged toward Sasori.

"Be careful," Shibi Aburame suddenly warned. "There's something strange about him."

Byakuya ignored him and swung his sword.

Sasori didn't retreat. He flipped his hand and gripped a Kunai, looking ready to fight to the death.

Just as the two were about to collide, countless burning Explosive Tags suddenly appeared on Sasori's body.

"Boom!"

The violent explosion sent a fierce wind rushing outward, blowing back Shibi Aburame's hood and revealing a face full of lingering fear.

For he had seen Gekkō Byakuya evade the explosion at the last moment, moving several times faster than before.

The kid had been hiding his abilities all along.

Pulling his hood back up, Shibi Aburame gained a new understanding of the strength of this "Strongest Chunin."

After evading the explosion, Byakuya charged straight in another direction. His Reiatsu Detection had long since told him that the figure standing on the sand wasn't Sasori of the Red Sands himself—it was merely a lifelike puppet with no soul inside.

The Chakra throughout his body erupted, and he pushed his Shunpo even further. His body traced an arc across the sand, his blade slashing toward an entirely ordinary-looking patch of ground thirty feet away.

There really was something beneath the sand.

"Hiruko—"

A huge, non-humanoid puppet burst out of the sand. It resembled a hunched giant scorpion, with a long, barbed tail trailing behind it, and took Byakuya's slash head-on. The blade struck Hiruko's shell, leaving only two shallow scratches.

"How did you find me?"

"Take a guess."

Sasori was silent for a moment, then chuckled in his current unpleasant voice. "It doesn't matter. You're going to die here today anyway. Although 'that thing' isn't fully complete yet, you'll do nicely for testing its power."

He took a scroll from his back and unrolled it. Amid a puff of smoke, a new puppet appeared before Byakuya. Its mouth opened slightly, and a stream of "black mist" slowly drifted out.

Byakuya recognized it as a puppet made from the Third Kazekage.

That meant the "black mist" was the Iron Sand for which the Third Kazekage was famous.

Sure enough, Sasori had made his move against the Kazekage after all.

Just then, a Kunai bearing a Flying Thunder God Formula embedded itself at Byakuya's feet. A figure appeared beside him immediately afterward.

"Am I late?"

His blond hair swaying gently in the wind, Minato Namikaze looked at Byakuya and smiled.

"You're actually right on time."

Sasori's expression grew serious as he looked at the figure who had suddenly appeared before him.

"Konoha's Yellow Flash?"

Before Minato could respond, Byakuya spoke up in surprise. "You're that famous now?"

"Maybe I've been doing a few too many missions lately."

"To marry Kushina-senpai, you've really been working hard, Minato-senpai."

Minato felt somewhat deflated.

"...Byakuya, this isn't the time to chat."

"It's fine. I don't think we'll be fighting."

"Oh? You think one Yellow Flash is enough to make me back down?"

Sasori's voice was low, but anyone could hear his anger at being underestimated.

"No, it's because the Sand Ninja search parties will be here soon."

Byakuya looked at the newly appeared puppet. "The person they're looking for... is him, isn't it?"

Sasori stopped moving, and Iron Sand ceased drifting from the puppet's mouth.

"You seem to know quite a lot."

"I do."

"...Very well. You're lucky this time. I hope we can have a proper exchange somewhere without interruptions next time... Tell me your name."

"Gekkō Byakuya."

"Gekkō, is it? I'll remember you."

He sealed the puppet back into the scroll and tucked it behind his back.

"Don't die at someone else's hands before you meet me again."

Hiruko slowly sank into the sand and soon vanished from sight.

"What exactly is going on?"

Minato waited until Sasori had left before asking.

"That last puppet was made from the Third Kazekage's corpse."

"What?!"

Even Minato Namikaze couldn't help losing color when he heard that.

"Then we should have made him stay..."

"Then tell me, when the main Sand Ninja force arrived and saw us fighting their village's missing-nin... would they have ignored us and attacked only the missing-nin?"

"Let's go back and send the news home."

Looking at Minato's grave expression, Byakuya ultimately left his final words unspoken.

War is coming.