A Bet with Tsunade

In Amegakure's underground base, the torchlight cast flickering shadows over Sasori of the Red Sands's puppet shell.

The entire space fell into a brief silence.

Sasori of the Red Sands.

Though he had vanished without a trace for more than ten years, the fuse that had sparked the Third Shinobi World War was the disappearance of the Third Kazekage. And the one who had disappeared at the same time as that Third Kazekage was this puppet genius who appeared in Sunagakure only once in a century.

Five years ago, during the great war in the western shinobi world, Sunagakure had suffered a complete defeat, and the Land of Wind had been annexed by the Land of Stars.

At the time, some people in the organization had joked about how Sasori of the Red Sands must feel. After all, that was his homeland, the place he had come from.

Sasori's answer had been only two cold words: "How boring."

Now, under Pain and Konan's gaze, Sasori's puppet shell gave off a faint sound of mechanical friction.

His voice came through the sound device inside the puppet, carrying a metallic coldness and rasp. "I have no attachment to Sunagakure. That place was nothing but a cage full of sand."

He paused, and the puppet's eyes swept over everyone present.

"However, after the informant I left in Sunagakure joined the Land of Stars, he did provide some interesting intelligence."

Momochi Zabuza raised an eyebrow.

He had fought against Sunagakure during the Third Shinobi World War. Though Sasori of the Red Sands had already disappeared by then, the intelligence archives of Kirigakure had still listed Sasori as an elite jonin of Sunagakure, danger level S.

After joining the Akatsuki over these years, Zabuza had gained a certain understanding of Sasori.

This guy cared about