Sasori, Lord Danzo Sends His Regards

"Is there any news?"

"My apologies, Lord Kazekage, not yet."

Inside the Kazekage's office in Sunagakure.

Rasa stared darkly at the gathered ninjas before him. His mood was exceptionally foul.

Several days had quietly passed, yet Pakura was still neither found alive nor dead. And Kirigakure, stubborn as ever, seemed dead set on having that woman.

Moreover, Iwagakure's movements were growing increasingly bold. If this continued, things would only get worse!

"Damn it."

Rasa was utterly exhausted. The word "useless" nearly slipped from his lips.

Fortunately, he reined in his emotions in time before speaking helplessly.

"Continue the search with maximum effort, but we also need to pull back part of our forces and concentrate them in the north. We can't keep committing so much manpower."

"We understand."

The Sand Ninja all wore expressions of helplessness and unwillingness upon hearing Rasa's words.

Unfortunately, there was nothing they could do. The struggles between ninja villages were that cruel; every shred of benefit had to be contested down to the last detail.

"Lord Kazekage!"

Just then, a voice suddenly came from outside the office, followed by urgent knocking.

"Come in."

Rasa frowned. He felt the visitor was being somewhat discourteous, but this was no time to dwell on such matters.

The door soon opened, and a panting ninja rushed inside. He bowed respectfully before quickly speaking.

"Lord Kazekage, urgent report!"

"Is there news about Pakura?"

"No, but this matter may be even more terrifying—and more important."

Rasa was somewhat disappointed. Pakura's whereabouts were what mattered most to him right now, but he still patiently asked.

"Let's hear it."

"According to the report, a large-scale battle has broken out in the central desert region, and one of those involved..."

The ninja could not help pausing there before he continued in a trembling voice.

"Seems to possess puppet techniques no weaker than Elder Chiyo's. And everyone spotted the Third Kazekage's Black Iron Sand!"

The moment his words fell, everyone in the office changed expression. The next instant, they all rushed out.--

"Damn it."

Sasori glanced at the Sand Ninja steadily closing in from afar, then looked at the two guys before him. His expression grew increasingly grim.

These two brats were far more troublesome than he had imagined.

The moment he saw the first signal flare rise into the sky, he had wanted to leave. But these two had forcibly held him back!

Both of them were outrageously fast, and their attack methods were endless.

Especially that brat standing atop the head of a massive stone creature—the one he truly wanted to tear apart, the one who had fired the first signal flare—he infuriated Sasori even more.

He was the one who had turned the situation into this. He was also the one who had worked with the other brat to make it difficult for Sasori to escape.

If Sasori did not attack to suppress them, he had no answer to all their messy Fire Release and Earth Release harassment.

But once he attacked, he could not leave. And the Sand Ninja were getting closer and closer, which meant—

"Die!"

The more Sasori thought about it, the angrier he became. He swiftly controlled a great number of puppets and sent them rushing toward Hidezawa!

Clack, clack.

The floating puppets shuddered, and in the next instant, a mass of them charged at Hidezawa.

Some wielded blades, while others hurled ninja tools from afar. It was a full saturation assault!

I should've put some points into Fire Release earlier.

The densely packed shadows made Hidezawa's scalp tingle, and he could not help cursing inwardly.

Fire Release might have had difficulty killing people, but it was still quite effective at causing destruction and providing support.

The problem was that he had never had many Free Points to begin with, and he had already spent the bulk of them on his overall physical attributes.

Though Hidezawa had wanted to dump everything into physical attributes, he knew ninja battles could not rely on the body alone like samurai did. Even Guy possessed powerful Chakra.

Besides, without investing in those releases and the Chakra reserves linked to his physical attributes, his combat strength could never have reached its current level.

"But comparatively speaking, I'm not afraid of close combat!"

He swiftly controlled the giant stone dragon to twist around and wrap itself around him. The next moment, a series of metallic clangs rang out across the stone dragon's surface.

Once it was over, Hidezawa rapidly burst out from the stone dragon's body and casually picked up a ninja blade.

"Konoha Style: Hazy Moon!"

The ninja blade left afterimages as several puppets were shattered in an instant. The moment the remaining puppets landed, Hidezawa suddenly raised one hand in a seal.

Rumble—

Countless sharp Earth Spikes suddenly erupted from the stone dragon's body. In the blink of an eye, an unknown number of puppets were instantly destroyed!

Hidezawa did not pause in the slightest. While using his senses to observe Sasori's movements and prevent him from finding an opening to flee, he also kept an eye on the situation on Sunagakure's side.

At the same time, the ninja blade in his hand danced at high speed. Those puppets simply could not withstand his attacks.

Before long, the stone dragon's body was littered with broken puppets.

"But this can't go on."

He shattered another puppet with a slash. After silently assessing his condition, Hidezawa could not help shaking his head.

Level 3 Cursed Seal and Yin Release meant he was destined to be unable to fight a prolonged battle. He himself was fine, but his Chakra was nearly unable to keep up.

Even though he had been conserving it as much as possible, it still was not enough.

"In that case..."

Hidezawa silently turned to look at the large group of Sand Ninja continuously approaching. They were only a little over a hundred meters from the center of the battle.

They were also spreading out, apparently intending to surround the three of them. That gave Hidezawa an opportunity!

"You've watched the show long enough. Isn't it only fair that you put in some work?"

With another slash, Hidezawa split a puppet in two once more, then unhesitatingly took control of the stone dragon.

"Roar!"

The enormous stone dragon unleashed an earth-shaking roar. Amid the thunderous rumble, it viciously charged straight at the Sunagakure forces!

"Huh?"

The Sand Ninja clearly had not reacted in time. By the time they noticed the danger, the stone dragon was already upon them.

"Move!"

Terrified cries rose one after another, but they were useless. The ferocious stone dragon still came crashing down!

Boom—

A deafening blast echoed through the skies as huge clouds of dust spread everywhere alongside the violent impact.

The entire sky turned gray, sand and stones whirled in every direction, and countless sharp fragments broken from the stone dragon's body scattered outward.

Who knew how many people, already collapsed by the shockwave, and those lucky enough to avoid injury from the collision, instantly became unlucky victims!

Screams and howls rang out without end.

"Hm?"

As Hidezawa sensed the situation on Sunagakure's side, his brow suddenly rose. He detected several powerful Chakra signatures rapidly approaching.

His eyes narrowed slightly as he looked into the distance, and a flash of delight appeared on his face.

"Die!"

At that moment, Sasori suddenly controlled the Third Kazekage and countless puppets as they charged in.

The sheer pressure was chilling!

This time, however, Hidezawa did not dodge. Instead, he quickly formed hand seals.

"Sage Art: Yin Release: Earth Rise Spear!"

In an instant, countless sharp earthen spikes burst from the ground.

The spikes covered an enormous area. In almost the blink of an eye, the entire sand dune had become a forest of jagged stone!

Countless puppets were nearly instantly destroyed. Even Sasori's expression changed slightly as he immediately controlled the Third Kazekage to defend himself.

But at that moment, Hidezawa suddenly dashed to his side. Looking at Sasori, now protected by Iron Sand, Hidezawa did not seem to care. He merely smiled faintly.

"Lord Sasori, I'll leave the rest to you. Your grandfather Ebizo is here."

"..."

Sasori's gaze was dark as he spoke in a low voice.

"You know who I am?"

"As Lord Danzo's subordinate, of course I do."

Hidezawa nodded, then smiled.

"I imagine it'll be difficult for you to leave now. Let this be our farewell, then. And one more thing.

Lord Danzo sends his regards. Farewell forever!"

As his words fell, Hidezawa ran away without looking back, while Sunagakure's Anbu closed in at that very moment.

Meanwhile, outside the Kazekage Building.

A bespectacled youth watched the ninjas leaving the village under Rasa's lead, then turned to look at the seemingly deserted building.

A moment later, he slowly took a step forward.

New author, new book. Please keep reading and add it to your collection. Onz

PS: We'll be returning to the village soon.

Thanks to the generous readers Rice Ball Tastes Like Sea Breeze and Fool of Falling Salt for the tips. Thank you, thank you! Onz~