Hyuga Lan looked at Sasori and Chiyo, who had suddenly joined the battle. Beneath his mask, his brow furrowed slightly.
The situation had seemed settled, but now there was an unexpected turn of events, which left him feeling rather displeased.
How had Sasori ended up here?
Seeing Sasori dressed in the Akatsuki's robes, Lan knew he was a rogue ninja. That meant Rasa couldn't have brought him here as backup.
If Sasori had come here because he knew about Lan and was after him, he would have had to learn of Lan's whereabouts in advance. Otherwise, there was only one other possibility: Sasori was after Rasa, too.
As for whether Elder Chiyo was someone Rasa had arranged to have waiting in reserve, Hyuga Lan couldn't say.
With Rasa's strength and the Anbu of Sunagakure at his side, it shouldn't have taken such a massive force to deal with just one Pakura. Still, it was possible that Rasa was simply being cautious and had sent Chiyo to provide backup.
Hyuga Lan's guess had been half right. Sasori was here precisely because he was after Fourth Kazekage Rasa.
Ever since Hyuga Lan had taken the Third Kazekage Human Puppet from him, Sasori had suffered a severe loss of power and desperately needed a replacement to regain his strength.
But having once controlled the Third Kazekage Human Puppet had raised Sasori's standards considerably. He no longer cared about Human Puppets made from ordinary people or even run-of-the-mill Kekkei Genkai users.
After searching through all possible targets, Sasori had settled on Rasa, who possessed the same Magnet Release Kekkei Genkai, as the ideal replacement for the Third Kazekage Human Puppet.
There was no denying that Magnet Release, which offered both offense and defense and allowed its user to fly, was incredibly useful. A Human Puppet made from a Kekkei Genkai user would be extremely valuable to Sasori.
But Rasa was not an easy man to deal with. And since Sasori had defected from the village, he couldn't deal with Fourth Kazekage Rasa by poisoning him as he had before. He could only wait for an opportunity when Rasa left the village.
Fortunately, his patience paid off. Before long, a spy he had left in Sunagakure provided him with information about where Rasa was headed after leaving the village, and Sasori followed him here.
As for Elder Chiyo, she had been searching for the village's spy when she stumbled upon Sasori by chance.
After discovering her grandson's whereabouts, she had followed him cautiously. She hadn't expected to see Rasa under attack, so in her haste, she had acted decisively and saved him in time.
Sasori seemed to have noticed Chiyo beforehand as well. But compared to her, Hyuga Lan and Pakura had a far greater grudge against him.
Hyuga Lan had stolen the work Sasori was proudest of, and now he was using its power right in front of him. Sasori's face burned with humiliation; he felt as if he'd been slapped.
So when Chiyo acted to save Rasa, Sasori had immediately tried to catch Hyuga Lan off guard. He hadn't expected Lan to block the attack so effortlessly.
And the more impressively Hyuga Lan controlled the Third Kazekage Human Puppet, the more unbearable it was for its former owner and creator to watch.
"You damn thief! Give me back my masterpiece!"
Sasori shouted furiously at Hyuga Lan.
Seeing this, Hyuga Lan's lips curled slightly beneath his mask.
"Now that I've shown off this power to its fullest, instead of letting it go to waste, you should be thanking me! Hahaha..."
Hyuga Lan's mocking laughter enraged Sasori. His face flushed, and his eyes grew bloodshot with agitation.
Chiyo seemed to have figured something out. Clearly, Sasori knew the mysterious masked man. She immediately asked,
"Sasori, who is this man?"
Faced with Chiyo's question, Sasori fell silent. One wrong answer, and he would be branded as the one who had murdered the Third Kazekage.
He had indeed done it, and Sunagakure had long suspected him. But without conclusive evidence, he could still rely on being Chiyo's grandson to join forces with her against Hyuga Lan and the others.
If he could take the Third Kazekage Human Puppet back today, he might even gain the bodies of Rasa and Pakura, both powerful Kekkei Genkai users. Turning them into Human Puppets would bring his strength to new heights.
But all of that depended on keeping his murder of the Third Kazekage a secret. Looking at Hyuga Lan's mask, Sasori began to feel uneasy.
If Hyuga Lan took off his mask and revealed that he was a Human Puppet, then Sasori's guilt would be proven.
After all, he was the only person in the shinobi world who knew how to make Human Puppets. And his grandmother Chiyo knew him very well; she would likely recognize the Third Kazekage Human Puppet as his work at a glance.
Seeing Sasori's hesitation, Hyuga Lan quickly understood what was holding him back.
Enjoying the chance to stir up trouble, he pointed at his mask and said to Sasori,
"Your grandmother's asking you a question. Why not tell her who I am?"
"What are you so afraid of?"
Faced with Hyuga Lan's accusation, Sasori's stammering made Chiyo's expression shift uneasily. She sensed that something was wrong and began to suspect who Hyuga Lan might be.
But as a long-serving elder, she knew the situation left no room for a falling-out between her and Sasori. That would only benefit Hyuga Lan and Pakura.
For years, rumors had circulated in the village that Sasori had murdered the Third Kazekage and defected as a result. Each time, the rumors had been swiftly suppressed without causing much of a stir—all because of Chiyo's influence behind the scenes.
Whatever crimes Sasori had committed, they were in the past. Besides, he was her own grandson, and Chiyo had always felt guilty toward him.
But Hyuga Lan and Pakura's attack on Fourth Kazekage Rasa was happening right in front of her. The Kazekage represented the dignity of Sunagakure, so no matter what, she couldn't let the two of them leave so easily today.
"Pakura, I used to feel some sympathy for what you went through. But today you've joined forces with an outsider to attack one of your own. Grandma is deeply disappointed in you."
Chiyo's words did nothing to make Pakura feel guilty. Instead, they only made her despise Chiyo and the other Sunagakure higher-ups even more.
"Where were you when I was framed and cast aside? Now you're lecturing me like you're above everyone else. What a sanctimonious elder. You make me sick."
After speaking, Pakura took a fighting stance, ready to face Elder Chiyo.
Meanwhile, Sasori pulled a scroll from his pocket. As soon as he unrolled it, one figure after another flew out, lining up neatly in the air.
"Red Secret Technique: Performance of a Hundred Puppets!"
Nearly a hundred puppets hovered in the air, facing off against Hyuga Lan in a truly imposing display.
The sides were now evenly matched, two against two. But although the numbers were equal, Hyuga Lan and Pakura had already fought a fierce battle and had spent a great deal of chakra. They were far from their best.
Chiyo and Sasori, on the other hand, were both at full strength. So Sasori was quite confident he could defeat Hyuga Lan in his current state.
Just as the battle was about to begin, Hyuga Lan drew all the Iron Sand floating in the air back to his feet.
Countless grains of Iron Sand spread from his feet across his entire body, stopping at his neck. It was as if he had donned a suit of Iron Sand Armor.
The rest of the Iron Sand joined the wings behind him. The wings, which had originally spanned only three or four meters, expanded to a full ten meters.
Whoosh...
With a single flap of his wings, Hyuga Lan shot over to Pakura's side and reached out to pull her into his arms.
Then, still holding Pakura, he flew back into the air to face Sasori and Chiyo. His movements were so swift that both Sasori and Chiyo stiffened in alarm!
Sasori and Chiyo looked deeply unsettled. There was no doubt that Hyuga Lan's movements had been a show of force.
With speed like that, even if they could defeat Hyuga Lan while he was worn out, they would be powerless to stop him if he chose to leave...