Kazekage's Disappearance

In Ryūchi Cave, Garaga was fighting Manda.

Manda had not provoked Garaga. Garaga had gone looking for Manda.

It was because the Three Snake Sisters had spread throughout Ryūchi Cave the story of Manda spying on him mating with Mother Snake.

At the time, the Three Snake Sisters asked for details while Manda gave them a live broadcast.

Calling it a live broadcast was inaccurate. It should have been called a delayed broadcast.

In any case, the details were extremely thorough. Rumors had spread every last measurement of Garaga's size, down to the decimal.

Garaga found it utterly humiliating.

So he went to fight Manda.

After all, he did not dare provoke the Three Snake Sisters, so he could only vent his anger on Manda.

But despite having previously relied on his superior strength to make Manda flee time and again, this time he actually got beaten—and badly.

Manda might not have been very sharp now, but when he fought, he truly fought without regard for his life. Not only could he breathe fire and venom, but the horn on his head was also tremendously lethal when he charged.

In short, he fought recklessly, like someone who did not care whether he lived or died.

That was because the part of Manda's brain responsible for sensing pain had been removed.

Garaga had fought Manda once before Manda underwent his body modification.

The reason had been a dispute over a mate—the same one Garaga had previously mated with.

Garaga believed Manda had been unwilling to accept the loss and had deliberately spread rumors to get back at him.

He was not that short!

Back then, Manda had lost an eye and was not yet used to it, so Garaga had successfully ambushed him from his blind spot.

Garaga tried to use the same trick again.

But it no longer worked. Manda's eye had clearly been healed.

Moreover, Garaga thought the blue glow coming from Manda's eye looked cool and powerful, perhaps concealing some unknown technique.

So Garaga wanted one for himself too, considering that he was also blind in one eye.

Thus, when he approached the Three Snake Sisters with his request, they looked at him as if he were an idiot.

First time I've heard someone make such a pathetic request.jpg

Orochimaru was also surprised when he heard about it, and explained to him that Manda had been modified into an idiot.

He did not want White Snake Sage to think that Orochimaru intended to turn all the snakes in Ryūchi Cave into idiots in order to control the cave.

Garaga hesitated for a moment, but still formed a contract with Orochimaru, declaring his willingness to serve him on the condition that Orochimaru would not damage his brain once the technology had matured.

Orochimaru said that he only needed to avoid removing Garaga's prefrontal cortex, but Garaga remained skeptical.

He had heard from the Three Snake Sisters that this man was actually a pervert who liked to deliberately torture people during modifications.

So after installing a normal Mechanical Eye for him, Orochimaru did not continue with any further modifications.

That was because Garaga felt deeply uneasy about being unconscious after being paralyzed.

Ever since he had been sold off by the Third Kazekage in the past, he had been severely lacking in a sense of security.

It just so happened that Orochimaru's funding was no longer quite sufficient to modify Garaga further.

This time, Orochimaru had come to Ryūchi Cave with two goals.

One was short-term, and the other was long-term.

The short-term goal was to modify snakes that could replace shuriken, to be used as living shuriken.

The long-term goal was to learn Sage Art.

There were currently two plans for the former: one was to modify them directly at the genetic level, while the other was to modify their bodies directly.

Genetic modification would likely take a long time. It was even more difficult than genetic engineering.

It was no less difficult than creating an entirely new species.

What species had you ever seen that looked like a shuriken?

Without suitable genes to choose from, how was Orochimaru supposed to genetically modify them?

Orochimaru chose the latter option, not only because it was less difficult, but also because it cost less.

Through hormonal regulation and the use of other drugs, the scales of these small snakes—especially those on their backs—grew an additional special layer of keratin, an extremely hard layer.

But Orochimaru felt that was still not enough, so he directly branded a layer of steel over it, then sharpened the edges.

When these small snakes coiled up, they formed the shape of a peculiar shuriken. The protruding keratin layer on their backs, combined with the iron plates, formed the blades of the shuriken.

Orochimaru called them Snake Shuriken.

Snake Shuriken were much thicker than ordinary shuriken, and their weight was also vastly different. They felt somewhat different to use than regular shuriken.

They were harder to use than normal shuriken.

But it did not matter if they missed the enemy. Snake Shuriken were alive.

If it missed, let the little snake bite him!

Whether or not it struck the enemy, the little snake would eventually revert to its original form and attack the target.

Compared to other large snakes, this kind of snake was not as strong, but its fangs were long enough to be lethal.

It was also more agile, making it well suited for inscribing the Flying Thunder God formula onto it.

In the Land of Wind, sandstorms filled the air. As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but desolate desert.

"Knock, knock, knock."

A knock sounded outside the Kazekage's office.

No one came to open the door.

"Lord Kazekage, the Shamon Squad has completed its mission and has come to report."

The room remained silent.

At this time of day, the Third Kazekage would ordinarily arrive at work on time.

But if something important came up, the Kazekage occasionally did not come in.

Shamon did not think much of it and left. He could come back whenever the Kazekage had time; after all, this was not a particularly urgent mission.

It had merely been an escort mission for a merchant caravan.

What he did not know was that the Kazekage had already disappeared. With Sunagakure leaderless, its upper ranks had fallen into chaos.

In a highly classified chamber next to the Kazekage Building, a meeting of Sunagakure's higher-ups was underway.

"Lord Kazekage has been missing for two days. If we keep concealing it, I fear it will soon be discovered."

An elder of Sunagakure spoke with evident concern.

"The intelligence division has found no trace of Lord Kazekage... However... Sasori has also disappeared." It was Ebizo speaking.

Bang!

Chiyo slammed her palm onto the table. The Kazekage had vanished, and now her grandson Sasori had vanished too!

"This old woman suspects that the Kazekage and Sasori were assassinated! The culprit must be Konoha!"

"Elder Chiyo, have you received any information? Why are you so certain Konoha did it?"

The one asking was Pakura, a young Jōnin. With the formidable power granted by her Scorch Release Kekkei Genkai, her combat ability already ranked among the very best in the village. The Third Kazekage had regarded her as a candidate for the Fourth Kazekage.

"Only Konoha bears such deep enmity toward us. Whether it is the Konoha Sannin or White Fang, every one of them is a top-tier expert. With that lineup, they could assassinate even the Five Kage! Do the other villages possess such strength?"

"But why would Sasori disappear? Could it be connected to Lord Kazekage's disappearance as well?"

"This old woman suspects it was Danzo. If he learned of Sasori's potential, he would certainly spare no cost to eliminate him."

"Then are we going to seek revenge against Konoha?"

"We must launch a war. The resources we plundered from the Land of Rain years ago are no longer enough. If not for Rasa's Kekkei Genkai allowing him to pan for gold and support the village's finances, they would have run out long ago."

Rasa was the Third Kazekage's disciple and was also considered a promising candidate to succeed as the Fourth Kazekage.

He had inherited the Third Kazekage's Magnet Release, but instead of Sand Iron, his Magnet Release controlled Gold Dust.

This ability could help locate and mine gold deposits.

Rasa, the eternal workhorse.

"Then we can only launch a war and declare war on Konoha. This time, we must seize a piece of land with abundant water!"

"And kill White Fang while we're at it! To avenge this old woman's son and daughter-in-law!"

As Chiyo made the final decision, she silently added in her heart.