Orochimaru: Chiyo, Heaven and Earth Bridge in ten days, rain or shine.

Sunagakure.

The harsh environment where sand and dust danced became the perfect nourishment for cultivating ninjas, making every Sunagakure ninja the elite of the elite.

That was the polite way of putting it.

The reality was that the geographical location was poor, resources were scarce, and the Daimyo of the Land of Wind was unwilling to allocate funds.

Sunagakure had no choice but to reduce the number of ninjas they trained, selecting only those with talent and abandoning those without.

The passage in and out of Sunagakure was limited to a rift between two cliffs; it was easy to defend and difficult to attack.

Night fell, and the bright moon hung high.

The Sunagakure ninjas patrolling the village entrance discovered several broken puppets and a large amount of blood.

"These puppets... I've never seen anyone use them before..."

"Who fought here, and who was the enemy?"

Puppet masters were a rare profession, and every puppet bore the strong personal style of its creator.

This Sunagakure ninja was certain that no one currently in the village possessed puppets like these.

Furthermore...

These puppets gave him a very uncomfortable feeling... If he possessed the relevant knowledge, he would have known this was called the uncanny valley effect.

These puppets were simply too human-like.

"Report this to the captain."

"Right, you go, I'll keep watch here."

Atop a distant sand dune, Uchiha Sora and Shisui stood still.

A crow stood on Shisui's shoulder, chirping into his ear.

After listening to the crow's chatter, Shisui turned to Uchiha Sora and said, "They say they can carry you in, but don't use your Fire Style Chakra Mode during the process; they can't handle it."

"You can actually understand crow calls?"

Was this a natural ability to communicate like Jugo's?

"Isn't it common knowledge to be able to communicate with your contracted summon? Can't you understand what the Ninja Cats say?"

Uchiha Sora's face darkened: "Ninja Cats speak human language, you out-of-touch second-generation ninja."

Shisui gave an awkward smile; most Uchiha chose Ninja Cats as their summons, unlike him, who had a family-inherited summon.

"By the way, the flock has a new batch of hatchlings. Are you interested in becoming a contractor?"

Uchiha Sora thought about it carefully and shook his head.

He didn't have Shisui's talent for genjutsu, and if he wanted flight capabilities, the giant hawk that Sasuke would eventually have was a better choice.

No...

The best choice, of course, would be Rayquaza!

In six years, I should be close to the level required to tame Rayquaza, I hope it doesn't sell off my IOUs.

Thinking this, he saw a familiar face drawn in by their bait in the distance.

Baki.

The very same Sunagakure jonin who, in the original timeline, killed Gekko Hayate with a single Wind Blade.

He had a white cloth wrapped around his head, covering half his face, looking much the same as he would over a decade later.

Click...

Baki picked up a puppet head to examine it closely, his brow furrowing deeper the more he looked.

Like the team members before him, he confirmed that this was not the work of any puppet master in the village, but unlike them...

He realized that this was a puppet made from a human!

This technique...

He pried open the skull, and the installation of the internal mechanisms gave him a sense of familiarity.

It was Crow!

He and Sasori of the Red Sands were from the same generation, but when he was eight years old, he had been instantly defeated by Sasori during the Chunin Exams.

The puppet Sasori used back then was Crow.

The installation method of the mechanisms in this puppet was identical!

Baki's expression shifted, and he said in a deep voice: "Call for reinforcements, I am going to report this to the Kazekage!"

They still hadn't uncovered the truth behind the disappearance of the Third Kazekage, but Sasori of the Red Sands had slaughtered many villages in the Land of Wind over the years and had long been an S-rank missing-nin of Sunagakure.

The matter was of great importance; he had to report to the Kazekage immediately!

By the time Baki returned at high speed, only four Sunagakure ninja remained, guarding the pile of wreckage with nervous expressions.

One of the team members had just launched a signal flare.

Whoosh!!

A kunai struck him squarely between the eyebrows!

"Enemy attack!!"

Before the words had even faded—

Whoosh!!

Another kunai pierced his throat.

The other two had just assumed their stances...

When they realized their field of vision had begun to tilt.

Thud—

Two kunai, connected by a steel wire, had severed their heads.

From the darkness, a man with a pale face wearing a black cloak with red clouds stepped out.

It was none other than Orochimaru.

He stepped forward to retrieve the steel wire, then shook several snake corpses from his sleeve.

He stood in place for a moment, waiting until a squad of Sunagakure ninja rushed over.

"You are... Orochimaru!!"

The leader of the Sunagakure squad braked hard, his face filled with terror.

No Sunagakure ninja could fail to recognize the legendary Sannin; the prestige of these three was built, in large part, upon the corpses of Sunagakure ninja!

"Orochimaru" flashed his signature wicked smile and raised a hand, holding up the head of a red-haired youth.

Someone recognized the red-haired youth; it was their village's former genius puppeteer, Sasori of the Red Sands!!

"Hehe, I've been chasing for a long time, but I finally found him. You should thank me for dealing with a traitor for you."

"Tell Chiyo that in ten days, I will be waiting for her at the Heaven and Earth Bridge."

"I have a deal to make with her."

"Bastard!!" the Sunagakure ninja roared, suppressing his fear: "To dare kill in Sunagakure, this is going too far!!"

Swish—

Orochimaru ignored him and vanished with a Body Flicker, appearing hundreds of meters away in an instant.

"Two of you stay behind, we... forget it, let's wait for Captain Baki and the Kazekage to arrive."

In the end, he lacked the courage to pursue Orochimaru.

Behind a sand dune, "Orochimaru" went poof in a cloud of smoke, reverting to the appearance of Uchiha Sora.

He stomped the head of Sasori until it burst, the fragments sinking into the shifting sands.

"Let's go, we'll head to the other side and set out once the Kazekage and the others emerge."

--

Not long after, Kazekage Rasa and Elder Chiyo arrived at the crime scene.

Chiyo knelt to examine the puppet remains, a look of sorrow appearing on her aged face.

Human Puppet...

Sasori, did you truly go this far...

The Sunagakure ninja relayed the words "Orochimaru" had left behind, causing Chiyo's brow to furrow even deeper.

Ten days from now, at the Heaven and Earth Bridge...

What kind of deal could I possibly have with Orochimaru?

Could it be...

Chiyo connected this to the head of Sasori that Orochimaru had held up before leaving...

She did not believe Orochimaru had actually killed Sasori of the Red Sands; all signs indicated that Orochimaru had intentionally waited for the Sunagakure ninja to pass on the information.

His target is this old woman... but...

As for her primary rival, Chiyo understood the Sannin well enough; if there was something she possessed that Orochimaru would covet...

One's Own Life Reincarnation!

He had someone he wanted to bring back to life!

How did he even know about this technique...

There were too many things that didn't add up; even with Chiyo's seasoned experience, she couldn't deduce the truth from such chaotic information.

"Elder Chiyo, what do you think?" Kazekage Rasa asked in a deep voice.

Chiyo shook her head, then nodded: "It is indeed the work of my disobedient grandson, but I cannot fathom why Orochimaru would appear."

"I suspect he has formed an alliance with Sasori to lure me in."

Rasa's brows furrowed tightly, his mind racing with a thousand thoughts.

The village had suffered heavy losses during the Third Shinobi World War, and as they stood on the brink of reconstruction, many major affairs still required Chiyo's guidance.

He wanted to urge Chiyo not to fall for the trap, but given that it concerned Sasori of the Red Sands, he didn't know how to broach the subject.

Chiyo smiled faintly: "Rest assured, I would not fall for such a simple trap."

As they were speaking...

A shrill alarm pierced the night sky!

This is...

Chiyo stood up abruptly, exclaiming: "No! Shukaku!"

Sunagakure.

Inside a house, Yashamaru held the swaddled Gaara in one arm while gripping a kunai in the other, staring fixedly at the window.

The piercing alarm following the shattering of the barrier was intermingled with the low cawing of crows.

The window faced the full moon.

The young man's silhouette stood against the moonlight, his scarlet eyes reflecting the lunar glow.

"Yashamaru."

"Hand him over to me."