That Damn Bastard, You Deserve to Die!

To some extent, Sasori's significance in Sunagakure was comparable to Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage, in Konohagakure.

To put it bluntly, given his strength and status in Sunagakure back then, becoming Kazekage would not have been difficult for him at all.

Although the Third Kazekage had been hailed as the strongest Kazekage, the truth was that this unfortunate Kazekage's fate could no longer be described as simply tragic.

He was the perfect example of someone being whipped even after death, as well as someone whose final remaining value had been exploited to the fullest.

But that also proved one thing: if Sasori had truly wanted to become Kazekage, the so-called strongest Kazekage would have been nothing more than a joke to him.

Hidezawa had never expected that a single mission in this tiny Wind Country would let him run into so many "Wolong Fengchu" at once.

Sasori was certainly dangerous, but the moment Hidezawa saw him, a thought suddenly flashed through his mind.

It would be a shame not to make good use of this kind of influence.

"Oh?"

Sasori strolled over at an unhurried pace. After sweeping his gaze across Hidezawa and the others, he suddenly smiled.

"I never expected to run into you here. I've been looking for you for several days."

"Who are you?"

Shisui asked with a frown. He did not know who Sasori was, but he could sense that this man was extremely dangerous.

"You don't appear to be from Sunagakure either. Why are you looking for us?"

"Well, I'm indeed no longer from Sunagakure."

Sasori nodded. Unhurriedly, he took out a scroll and said with a smile,

"As for why I'm looking for you, I happened to see the traces left behind by your battle. I also happen to need some 'materials.' All of you are quite suitable, so..."

Materials?

Suitable?

Shisui did not quite understand what this man meant, but Hidezawa seemed to have grasped it.

"What a lunatic!"

Hidezawa cursed inwardly. So this guy had come to Sunagakure to "restock," and now he had set his sights on him and Pakura?

He had always known that in the ninja world, some people were full of vigor while others were full-on insane.

The Uchiha beside him were a prime example, but compared to the Uchiha, Sasori did not seem any less unhinged.

"Alright, that's enough nonsense. May I ask where you ninja are from?"

Sasori casually unrolled the scroll. After a puff of white smoke, a human puppet appeared before Hidezawa and Shisui.

"Of course, it doesn't matter if you don't tell me. I can inspect you slowly afterward."

"A puppeteer?"

Shisui raised a brow. As an Uchiha with the Sharingan—and an even higher-level Sharingan—he could see the Chakra threads.

He was not afraid of puppeteers, but the instant he saw the black iron sand floating around the puppet, his expression changed.

"Black iron sand... This is the Third Kazekage?"

The Third Kazekage had been missing for a long time. Neither alive nor dead, he had vanished without a trace, and a war had even broken out in the ninja world because of it.

Yet no one could have imagined that this "strongest Kazekage" had become a puppet?

And now, Shisui seemed to understand what Sasori meant by "materials." He could not help muttering under his breath,

"Psycho."

"..."

Hidezawa gave Shisui a strange look. An Uchiha calling someone else a psycho was rather bizarre, wasn't it?

"Call me whatever you like. Now then..."

Sasori tilted his head, utterly unconcerned, but his hand moved.

"Take a good look at my art!"

As soon as Sasori finished speaking, the iron sand floating around the Third Kazekage transformed into countless fine needles that shot wildly at Hidezawa and Shisui like rain.

Unfortunately, both Hidezawa and Shisui were incredibly fast, and the needles failed to hit either of them.

But Shisui's expression grew even uglier.

"He retained his Kekkei Genkai even after death? Just who is this puppeteer?"

Compared to Shisui, Hidezawa was much calmer. He nimbly weaved through the rain of iron needles while rapidly forming hand seals.

Earth Release: Earth Wall!

The sand instantly sank, and in the next moment, an earthen wall erupted from the ground. A chorus of clanging rang out as all the iron needles struck the wall.

With another hand seal from Hidezawa, the earthen wall immediately changed again.

Earth Release: Earth Dragon Bullet!

A massive dragon head with its jaws open emerged from the wall, firing roaring mud projectiles fiercely toward Sasori and the Third Kazekage puppet.

"This level of variation in Earth Release..."

Sasori raised a brow. True experts never cared about flashy tricks; what they looked at was the most basic fundamentals.

For instance, when Orochimaru had defected, the Third Hokage had defeated him simply by silently using an Exploding Tag.

But Sasori reacted quickly as well. Under his control, the Third Kazekage rapidly condensed the iron sand into a sturdy iron wall that blocked Hidezawa's attack.

Magnet Release: Iron Sand Wall!

Even though both he and the Third Kazekage were puppets, he had no desire to see his art damaged.

"Good chance!"

While Sasori's attention was on Hidezawa, Shisui attacked without hesitation.

He knew perfectly well that to deal with a puppeteer, he had to close in and seize their actual body. Otherwise, everything would be futile.

"Naive."

Yet Sasori slowly turned his head. Black iron sand instantly gathered, forming countless sharp spears that stabbed toward Shisui.

Shisui could only retreat helplessly. He truly had no easy way to break through such dense Magnet Release, unless...

"H-How is this possible?"

As Hidezawa and Shisui fought Sasori up ahead, Pakura, who was being watched by Yugao in the rear, was completely dumbfounded!

They had not been very far apart to begin with, and as someone from Sunagakure, how could she fail to recognize what that black iron sand represented?

She had never dreamed that the missing Third Kazekage would be found like this—only for him to have become a puppet?

And the person controlling the Third Kazekage puppet...

"Could it be him? But how is that possible? Why would he do this?"

Pakura clenched her fists. This was absolutely not something she wanted to see, nor was it something she had ever wanted to encounter!

"You know who that man is?"

Yugao noticed the change in Pakura's expression and immediately demanded in a low voice,

"Give me information on him, or else—"

"Don't threaten me. It's useless."

Pakura shook her head and sighed.

"Don't misunderstand me. If possible, I'd rather see you kill him. But unfortunately, I don't have any information on him either."

Pakura truly hated Sasori to the bone. If she could, she wanted him to die here too!

But Sasori had left Sunagakure a long time ago. Even she had no idea what he was like now.

Still, she felt that even if she knew something and gave them the information, it would not change anything.

Sasori was Sunagakure's greatest genius, and he had silently assassinated the strongest Kazekage. His strength alone was enough to suffocate people.

And now, he possessed a puppet that retained the Third Kazekage's power. Two super-strong fighters working together—she truly had no idea how they could possibly win!

Boom—

At that moment, the ground shook violently, and both Yugao and Pakura nearly lost their footing.

When they looked over, both their faces turned utterly incredulous. Pakura even cried out in shock.

"How is this possible?"

But soon, she raised her head toward the sky. A signal flare slowly rose into the air, bursting into dazzling colors across the heavens.

At that moment, her face turned deathly pale. That was the signal flare on her body, and she seemed to understand something.

"You damn bastard, you deserve to die!"