Scorpion: No way! Kuro, I sold you out!!

As Hatake Sakumo finished speaking, the blacksmith shop suddenly became so quiet that only the faint crackling sound of the burning charcoal in the furnace could be heard.

Asuma's eyes widened slightly for a moment:

"Are you telling the truth, Uncle Sakumo Hatake? Where is he now?!"

Hatake Sakumo wasn't surprised at all by Asuma's efforts to suppress his excitement.

For this person who had regarded Kou as an idol and family member since childhood, after Kou's defection...

For a young junior who voluntarily gave up a stable life in Konoha and wandered the Ninja World alone for five years, this demeanor is already quite restrained.

He placed his large hand on Asuma's shoulder and patted it gently.

Asuma quickly regained his senses.

He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, and when he opened them again, all the surging excitement had been suppressed back into his heart.

His years of wandering the Ninja World not only significantly improved his strength, but also tempered his mind to become more composed.

He took a deep breath and nodded to Hatake Sakumo, indicating that he had calmed down.

Hatake Sakumo saw that Asuma had quickly regained his composure and a smile of satisfaction appeared on his lips.

He withdrew his hand, the smile on his face slowly fading, and spoke slowly and confidently:

"According to the information I've recently received, Koko will most likely be heading to the Land of Lightning next."

"The Land of Lightning?"

Asuma paused for a moment, his words filled with deep doubt.

Why did he go to the Land of Lightning?

Kumogakure, located in the Land of Lightning, is the second largest ninja village in the Ninja World after Konoha. In terms of military strength, it is even superior to Konoha today!

Based on my understanding of Kou Na Gou's... well, cautious style of doing things, he shouldn't be taking such a risky action!

Hatake Sakumo looked calmly at Asuma in front of him, as if he had already anticipated his confused reaction.

He nodded, his tone more certain than before:

"The certainty of this information is very high; you don't need to worry about that."

At this point, Hatake Sakumo's voice lowered slightly:

"After all, the source of this information... is none other than Sasori of the Red Sands, a former genius puppeteer from the Sand Village who was also a member of Akatsuki alongside Koko."

"... ah?!!"

Asuma's eyes widened instantly, and he shouted incredulously:

"Red... Sasori of the Red Sands? That Sasori of the Red Sands?!"

Hatake Sakumo nodded in confirmation.

Looking at his expression, which was clearly not joking, Asuma couldn't help but ask to confirm:

"Uncle Sakumo Hatake, how did you get involved with that infamous S-rank missing-nin? What's going on?!"

Hatake Sakumo slowly shook his head:

"I have no direct connection with that Sasori of the Red Sands, no... perhaps that's not entirely accurate."

Although the process was somewhat complicated, I did indeed learn about this news about Kou from him.

Looking into Asuma's eyes, which were filled with eagerness and doubt, he didn't bother with any preamble and spoke directly:

"As you know, over the years, I have been searching for Kouchi's whereabouts through the Blacksmith Association's extensive network of contacts throughout the Ninja World."

Unfortunately, although I did contact many excellent craftsmen who had been commissioned by Kou and had maintained his Firebirth and Inazuma, this information was generally outdated.

Hatake Sakumo spoke, a hint of admiration crept into his voice:

"Kou was extremely careful to protect his whereabouts. He never entrusted the same blacksmith to the same place twice. Each time, he personally delivered the knife to the shop, supervised the entire maintenance process, and left as soon as he got the knife, never staying a day longer than necessary."

By the time the craftsmen relayed the news to me, he had already vanished without a trace.

Asuma listened in silence and nodded without a word.

He knew all of what Uncle Sakumo Hatake was saying, of course.

"But what does this have to do with Sasori of the Red Sands?"

Asuma raised his head again, his eyes filled with deep confusion:

"According to the intelligence I have gathered, although Sasori of the Red Sands and Kouchi are both members of the Akatsuki, they rarely appear together in the same mission, and it can even be said that they have almost no interaction."

Given Kou's level of caution, he would never allow a dangerous individual like Sasori of the Red Sands to know his exact whereabouts!

How exactly did Sasori of the Red Sands know that Koko would be going to the Land of Lightning?

Hearing Asuma's questioning words, Hatake Sakumo remained silent for a moment.

Inside the blacksmith shop, only the faint crackling sound of the embers popping in the furnace remained.

After a moment, Sakumo Hatake spoke slowly, his voice even lower than before:

"This... is exactly what I'm about to say."

Asuma's heart tightened as he looked at Hatake Sakumo's suddenly complicated expression.

Hatake Sakumo turned his head, looked towards the Land of Wind, and slowly spoke:

"Sasori of the Red Sands was a genius puppeteer whom Sand Village was once proud of."

Even though he had defected from Sand Village many years ago, the puppets and mechanisms he created still enjoyed a very high reputation in the Ninja World.

To make a puppet, you naturally need high-quality steel.

In particular, the special steel that can withstand Chakra can only be forged by a select few top-tier craftsmen.

Therefore, he maintained close and long-term cooperative relationships with many highly skilled blacksmiths throughout the Ninja World world.

Hatake Sakumo turned his gaze from the window back to Asuma's face, a deep sense of guilt creeping into his eyes.

"Among these blacksmiths who cooperated with him, there were naturally some who had been entrusted by me to search for Kou's whereabouts."

Perhaps by some coincidence, or perhaps it was Sasori of the Red Sands's deliberate investigation, but he found out that I was now living in seclusion in the Land of Iron and that I had been searching for news of Kou through the Blacksmiths' Guild's connections.

And just recently... I received a secret message from Sasori of the Red Sands."

He paused slightly, then continued in a heavy tone:

"Sasori of the Red Sands used the blacksmith's life as leverage, and lured me with the information that ' Uchiha Kuro will be going to the Land of Lightning with him on a mission,' demanding that I personally go to the Cloud Thunder Mountain Range to meet him."

As Hatake Sakumo's voice faded away, Asuma's expression gradually turned grim.

He almost instinctively took half a step forward and asked incredulously:

"Isn't Sasori of the Red Sands a puppeteer? Kidnapping a blacksmith with whom he has a long-standing working relationship would be entirely detrimental to him."

Not only will the Blacksmiths' Guild permanently blacklist him, but even the Land of Iron won't stand idly by!

Asuma frowned and murmured:

"Moreover, although Akatsuki is a mercenary organization that gathers countless dangerous individuals, it is unethical for them to disclose mission details and members' whereabouts to those outside the organization..."

This is absolutely unacceptable in any organization!

He looked at Hatake Sakumo in front of him and asked, with a puzzled expression:

"Sasori of the Red Sands took such a huge risk just to meet you? Why would he do that?!"

Hatake Sakumo listened quietly to Asuma's question, then shook his head with a wry smile:

"This... isn't actually that hard to understand."

He looked at Asuma and said seriously:

"Sasori of the Red Sands had perfectly valid reasons for doing this."

Asuma listened with a puzzled expression, quietly waiting for Hatake Sakumo to say next.

Hatake Sakumo looked directly at Asuma's bewildered face and spoke calmly:

"Because Sasori of the Red Sands's parents, a pair of genius puppeteers from Sand Village... died at my hands during the Second Ninja World War."