The Red Sand Scorpion

Jiang Feng and the Council of Elders, led by Chiyo, quickly reached a consensus.

At the opening ceremony of the Chunin Ninja Exams two days later, Jiang Feng would represent Konoha as its ambassador and sign a series of agreements with Sunagakure. They would supposedly strengthen mutual understanding between the two villages, encourage them to support one another, and promote friendly cooperation in building a beautiful new Ninja World—in short, a bunch of agreements that sounded wonderful but were utterly useless.

The most important agreement was simply that the two villages would not launch an unprovoked attack on each other for five years. Given Jiang Feng's authority, that was the best he could do.

The details of the agreement would not be made public to all the people of Sunagakure.

The Kazekage's office would promote the agreement both internally and externally with phrases like "according to well-informed sources," leading people across the Ninja World to believe that Uchiha Jiang Feng was a righteous hero, and that Konoha and Sunagakure were kindred spirits, as close as brothers.

It didn't matter that the Kazekage was dead. They had Uchiha Jiang Feng's friendship, and Konoha's friendship.

Anyone who dared to take advantage of the Kazekage's death and underestimate Sunagakure would face a crushing response from Jiang Feng, the righteous hero, and Konoha, ever eager to help. They'd learn that Sunagakure was not to be trifled with.

Whether or not the people of the Ninja World believed it, the people of Sunagakure did.

This agreement would allow Sunagakure to transfer power relatively peacefully and "elect" a new Kazekage. Rasa, the would-be Fourth Kazekage, could clear his name and establish the legitimacy of his claim to the position.

The Kazekage's office was brightly lit. Everyone saw hope there—the hope of making it through this crisis. Even if they couldn't get through it unscathed, at least they had tried. They had done everything they could for Sunagakure.

That effort gave them peace of mind.

After a brief discussion, the two sides reached a consensus they could both grudgingly accept. It was fair to say that everyone left satisfied.

At last, Chiyo managed a relaxed smile. She beckoned to Pakura, who had been listening all this time. "Pakura, go brew a pot of milk tea. Let's celebrate the friendship between Sunagakure and Konoha with a toast."

The nights in Sunagakure were cold. Everyone had talked at length, and they could use some hot milk tea to warm up and the sugar to ease their frayed nerves.

Pakura nodded reluctantly. She didn't want to acknowledge any friendship between Konoha and Sunagakure, and she certainly didn't want to brew milk tea for Jiang Feng.

But things had come to this. The elders had already made their decision, and she didn't want to say anything more.

"I'll go instead."

One of the elders seemed to notice Pakura's reluctance. He got up and went to brew tea in the adjoining lounge.

Seeing that someone else had gone to make the tea, Pakura—who had no initiative to speak of—didn't move. She simply stood there, motionless.

Chiyo could only give Jiang Feng an awkward yet polite smile. "Women, you know, they all have their little tempers. Pakura is actually quite considerate."

Jiang Feng returned the same awkward yet polite smile. He had already seen what Chiyo was planning.

Sunagakure had weathered the immediate crisis, but countless problems remained: the divide between the hawks and the doves, Pakura's awkward position, and the lack of a genuine alliance between Sunagakure and Konoha...

And there was one solution that could settle all these problems once and for all: sell Pakura to Konoha in a way that everyone could accept, such as a marriage alliance.

Chiyo was now considering the same thing Hiruzen Sarutobi had. And with the Kazekage dead, Sunagakure weakened and facing a crisis, she was even more eager to make it happen than Hiruzen.

Marrying Pakura to Jiang Feng—or at least arranging their engagement—would solve the internal tension and division within Sunagakure while cementing its alliance with Konoha.

If Sunagakure ever faced a real crisis, even if Konoha broke its agreement and stood by doing nothing, Jiang Feng—the "Sunagakure son-in-law" renowned throughout the Ninja World for his righteousness—and Pakura, "the daughter who had married out," wouldn't sit idly by either.

When you were famous and well-regarded, people really would rush to offer you a beautiful wife.

Before long, the elder returned with a pot of Camel Milk Tea and a stack of teacups. Only then did Pakura reluctantly take the pot and cups and pour tea for everyone.

Sweet, warm steam curled upward. Chiyo gave a slight nod; it seemed Pakura wasn't so foolish after all. But just as Chiyo was thinking that, Pakura finished pouring milk tea for the elders and even Rasa—and then stopped when it was Jiang Feng's turn.

That was an extremely serious breach of diplomatic etiquette.

The elders' expressions changed. The elder who had brought back the tea stepped forward with a genial smile, taking the pot and cup to smooth things over. "The tea for Konoha's ambassador should naturally be poured by an elder of Sunagakure."

"No need." Jiang Feng smiled as he pressed down on the elder's hand.

Chiyo and the other elders' expressions changed. Had Jiang Feng taken offense at Pakura's rudeness and decided that Sunagakure wasn't sincere about befriending Konoha?

The smile never left Jiang Feng's face. As he held down the elder's hand, his eyes turned bloodred, three tomoe spinning as he stared at the Sunagakure elder, who looked at him in confusion.

"This is the second time you've tried to poison me."

The second time?

When had the first time been...?

Chiyo and the other elders stared, stunned. Rasa reacted at once. With a wave of his hand, he used Magnet Release: Gold Dust to create dozens of needles and sent them flying at the elder who had been pouring the tea.

The elder stopped hiding his identity and leaped back. With a "poof," he dispelled the Transformation Jutsu and revealed his true face.

He had short, bright red hair and handsome, delicate features. He looked about the same age as Jiang Feng, and anyone would have called him a beautiful young man.

"Scorpion!"

Someone called out his name.

Chiyo and Ebizo looked dazed, while the other elders were stunned. None of them could understand why Sasori of the Red Sands had appeared here, or how he had dared to.

And if this elder had been impersonated by Sasori of the Red Sands, where was the real elder?

Had Sasori of the Red Sands killed him while he was brewing tea? But it had happened in the adjoining room, in the blink of an eye. Why hadn't they heard a thing?

Rasa used the secret technique Third Eye to send gold dust into the adjoining room. He shook his head. "There's no sign of Elder Masaki's body, and no evidence of a struggle."

"Of course there's no body of that old fool Masaki in there. I killed him and took his body before you returned to Sunagakure."

Sasori sneered. Even when outnumbered and surrounded by Sunagakure's top fighters, with Jiang Feng watching him like a hawk, he remained unafraid.

Was he so confident that he'd gone mad?

No. It was because this was only a Sand Clone.

Jiang Feng, Rasa, and the Sunagakure elders quickly worked out why they hadn't seen through Sasori's disguise: he knew the Sunagakure elders too well.

Sasori knew the elder so well that he could imitate his expression and little habits to perfection. He knew him well enough to use his identity and handle social interactions without slipping up.

That had allowed him to infiltrate the Council of Elders without being noticed.

He had pushed Transformation Jutsu, one of the basic techniques every ninja learned, to its theoretical limit.

Only Naruto's Harem Jutsu, which had once left Kaguya helpless in the original story, could surpass Sasori's.