Response

Earth Escape, Earthquake Core.

The earth subsided, then rose again, and in the blink of an eye, a deep trench was built.

"Whoosh..."

Holding his breath, he curled up, pressing his back tightly against the earthen wall, which tilted slightly inward, perfectly concealing his body.

The sand bombs landed on the ground outside the trench, and the earthen walls behind them vibrated. The sand bombs that landed in the trench were deeply embedded in the ground, five or six centimeters deep. The power of the sand bombs left Shuyuan speechless.

"Magnet Release... This Human Puppet is a real headache! If all the Puppet Master in Sand Village learned this technique... But that's probably impossible. Making Human Puppet isn't something anyone can learn. No, no, no, this isn't the time to think about that. The most important thing is to counterattack. We can't let Sasori get into a good position."

A purely defensive approach will only weaken one's own morale and embolden the enemy.

Shuyuan's true form patted her face, her gaze sweeping over the clones pressed against the wall. Without a word, she understood the meaning.

"Mind's Eye of the Kagura".

With his hands Hand Seals, his eyes closed, and his Mind's Eye open, every blade of grass and every tree in the entire park was under the monitoring of his Mind's Eye; not even a trace of Chakra could escape his mind's Mind's Eye.

"From my position at the three o'clock position, approximately twenty meters away, the puppet swarm is moving towards the trench."

They quickly reported what they had discovered, and the clones, standing in the trench, dodged the sand bullets while beginning to Hand Seals and unleash Ninjutsu to counterattack.

"Earth Release, Earth Spear"

"Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique"

The target of the attack was naturally the Human Puppet army.

No qualified Puppet Master would be foolish enough to put themselves within the enemy's attack range. Scorpion, a top-tier Puppet Master, would certainly not make such a basic mistake. Controlling puppets from a distance to fight is the style of Puppet Master.

Regular Ninjutsu couldn't reach Sasori, and unconventional Ninjutsu was reserved as a last resort, something he was reluctant to use.

Therefore, the only option is to focus fire on the puppet.

Ninja Academy.

Katsuki sat on the windowsill, eyes closed, leaning against the window, seemingly dozing.

However, in reality, they did open their Mind's Eye and searched the entire village inch by inch.

He didn't detect Chakra fluctuations from Shuyuan during the first search, so he knew that Sasori must have made a move, probably setting up a barrier to try and hide it from Sensory Ninjutsu.

Shuyuan is his biological son, who inherited his bloodline. With the power of the Hito Hito no Mi, he can sense Shuyuan's life or death status and even grasp his exact location. However, his perception was interfered with by a force, making it impossible to pinpoint the exact location. But he could still grasp the general area and knew that Xiuyuan had not left the village. Come to think of it, in such a short time, it would be impossible for Xiuyuan to go too far except by using Space-Time Ninjutsu.

That's why he used Mind's Eye of the Kagura to search the entire village inch by inch, trying to find the discordant place.

"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting, everyone."

A deep, magnetic voice can captivate countless young women.

Orochimaru pushed open the door and entered, dressed in Hokage attire. He must have come directly from the Hokage Building without even having time to change.

The distance between the Ninja Academy and the Hokage Building is not far, and he rushed over immediately after receiving the news.

However, upon seeing the chaotic state of the conference room, I was immediately taken aback.

"This is really... quite a big deal."

"Hey, Katsuki, you manage to cause trouble even in the village. You're really something else." Nawaki followed Orochimaru in, looking at the messy room and clicking his tongue in amazement.

"Lord Hokage, the Hokage's Assistant assist you."

The weasel bowed in greeting.

Nawaki is currently serving as the Hokage's Assistant, and he and Minato are considered Orochimaru's right and left arms. When Katsuki was the Anbu Chief, the three of them were known as the "Three Musketeers."

"Hokage"

A group of Sand Ninja, led by Rasa, also bowed to Orochimaru.

Orochimaru nodded in acknowledgment, his gaze fixed on Katsuki sitting on the platform, and quickly walked over.

"Katsuki- kun, what exactly happened? The young brat you sent was too vague; I'm still completely baffled."

"It's nothing major. It's just that Sasori of the Red Sands Sunagakure is planning to take revenge on me. He probably thought he couldn't kill me, so he's set his sights on my son. Unfortunately, Sasori probably infiltrated the village under the guise of a Sunagakure delegation, which has turned into a diplomatic issue. So, I need you, Lord Hokage, to handle it... Oh, and Sasori is also hanging out with 'that' guy."

"That!!? Are you sure?"

Orochimaru ignored the Sand Ninja's reactions and kept his eyes fixed on Katsuki.

"Katsuki, are you kidding me? That guy hasn't made a sound for over ten years?" Nawaki was also shocked. He had only come to see what was going on and catch up with the old friends since he hadn't been to the Ninja Academy in a long time, but he hadn't expected to come across something so big.

"Ah! That's right, one hundred percent certain." Katsuki nodded, while Itachi unfurled a scroll, summoning the corpse of White Zetsu and displaying it on the coffee table.

"That white thing is that guy's subordinate. I fought with them in the Land of Rain before. It's a rather strange thing that can transform into the appearance of other people with almost no flaws. This guy transformed into Sasori of the Red Sands, and Rasa and the others were completely unaware of it."

"Lord Katsuki is absolutely right. Even with my Sharingan, I couldn't see through this monster's disguise as Sasori of the Red Sands."

Itachi corroborated this from the side.

Rasa's expression was quite unpleasant at this moment. He had been fooled by his own people and now he had to clean up Sasori's mess, trying his best not to let this matter damage the relationship between Konoha and Sunagakure. Sunagakure did not have the strength to provoke Konoha, such a behemoth.

"It is indeed a terrifying Transformation Jutsu. My friendship with Sasori has lasted for more than a year or two. In fact, everyone in the delegation has worked with Sasori for some time or some time. But... even though I know now that Sasori is not the real person, I still can't imagine when exactly the identity was changed."

Rasa's face was gloomy; this incident had dealt him a considerable blow.

Sasori's actions not only affected the relationship between Sand Village and Konoha, but the loss of Sasori himself was also an unbearable blow to Sand Village.

Another pillar of the Sand Village has been lost.

"Is that so... Nawaki, why don't you accompany the Sand Village ninja back to the embassy? I'll handle things here with Katsuki- kun."

Orochimaru looked at Nawaki, seemingly seeking his opinion, but in reality, he was issuing a command.

Rasa remained silent upon hearing this. He had no choice here. Surrounded by top fighters like Orochimaru, Katsuki, Nawaki, and Itachi, he doubted whether he could leave the room alive if he uttered a word of refusal.

"Understood. We will not allow Scorpion to have any contact with the guests of the delegation."

Nawaki nodded.

"Rasa Sha, let's go!"

Rasa led his group of Sand Ninja obediently as they left with Nawaki, while a large group of Root ninja secretly followed closely behind, keeping the entire Sand Ninja delegation under tight surveillance. (To be continued)