The Fortunes of Sasori's Parents

"Lord Chiyojuro, we are approaching the border of the Land of Fire. We'll enter the Land of Fire in another 10 kilometers," a Chunin reported.

"Rest for half an hour, maintain vigilance, and send out three squads to slowly scout Leaf Village's defenses," Chiyojuro quickly made his deployment.

"Yes, my lord!" The Chunin went off to assign tasks.

Chiyojuro took out a map and checked their position. They were scheduled to attack the Land of Fire at 6 PM that day, creating a massive spectacle to draw Leaf Village's forces away and create an opportunity for the other two Sand Village attack routes.

"My lord, there's a caravan being attacked by bandits on the flank."

A report snapped Chiyojuro out of his thoughts. He frowned and said angrily, "Do I need to report something like this! You should have handled it yourself..."

Chiyo stopped her husband and said, "I'll handle it."

Chiyojuro nodded and continued his contemplation.

The ninja led Chiyo to the side.

On the road below the mountain, the caravan's situation was dire. Only six guards were desperately holding on, facing over twenty bandits. If things continued as they were, all the guards would die, and the people inside the caravan would be abducted!

Chiyo asked, "Can you recognize whose caravan it is?"

A Chunin nearby looked for a while and said, "It should be the Fukugi family's. They are minor nobles from the Land of Rivers. It looks like they were going to the Land of Fire for business, but ran into robbers."

Below the mountain, the guards had all perished. The person who looked like the bandit leader, grinning ferociously, pulled someone out of the carriage. It was a child.

"Boss, how much money will this kid make us this time?" one bandit asked gleefully.

"At least 500,000 Ryo, hahaha!" another bandit fantasized.

"That's great! I haven't been to Yuro Street in two days!"

"Shota, you're getting antsy after just two days. You'll die in a woman's bed sooner or later!"

"Hahaha!" The bandits burst into laughter.

The child, seeing their ferocious expressions, didn't cry. He only showed a hint of fear.

The bandit leader hoisted the child onto his shoulder and cursed with a laugh, "This brat is pretty well-behaved this time. If he dares to cry, I'll make sure he knows how formidable I am."

His subordinate flattered him, "Of course! Everyone knows our boss is the 'Fearsome Bandit' known far and wide!"

Hearing the praise, the leader's ego swelled, and he became even more smug.

Chiyo looked at the child, who resembled her own child when he was young. Her heart ached, and she acted decisively.

Swish, swish, swish, swish!

Dozens of kunai precisely harvested the bandits. In less than a minute, the group of bandits was wiped out.

Seeing Chiyo holding the unconscious child, the Chunin cleaning up the battlefield reminded her, "My lady, this child will only slow us down on our mission. Why not just..."

Before he could finish, he saw a pair of fierce eyes. "I will handle it. I don't need you to interfere."

"Yes!" The Chunin was startled by her gaze and dared not speak further, retreating to the side.

Chiyojuro, who was deploying his troops, frowned when he saw his wife carrying a child.

He quickly finished arranging his tasks and went to his wife's side, asking, "Why are you carrying a child?"

Chiyo's eyes dimmed slightly. "I saw this child being kidnapped and it reminded me of our child, so I..."

Chiyojuro stepped forward, hugged his wife, and patted her back comfortingly.

Seeing his wife's expression soften, he asked, "We are on a mission. How do you plan to deal with him?"

Chiyo replied, "I plan to place him in a nearby village."

Seeing that his wife had made a decision, he didn't inquire further.

In the village of Yamakusa, the child woke up. The household wasn't wealthy, and Chiyo had thoughtfully left some money behind.

The child was, of course, Su Zheng, who had used the Transformation Jutsu. His goal was to implant the "Death Substitute" jutsu into the bodies of the two to save them!

After reverting to his original form, Su Zheng used the Sharingan to control his family members into forgetting him. Anyway, Sasori's parents wouldn't be returning here.

At 6 PM, the Sand Village army entered the Land of Fire. They swiftly eliminated the ninjas deployed at the border, wreaked havoc, and blocked the transmission of intelligence, causing Leaf Village to misjudge the invading forces. This would increase the chances of success for the other two routes.

Su Zheng stood on a distant tree, watching the flames of battle between the two sides, his gaze deep. "The show is about to begin!"

Battlefield in the Land of Rain.

Hanzo, standing on the Salamander's back, looked at the Leaf Village ninjas still standing on the field and praised them, "I admire you all. From this day forward, you shall be known to the world as the 'Konoha's Sannin'!"

Hanzo withdrew his Amegakure ninjas from the battle. He had received intelligence that the fighting strength of the Kisaragi and Higure clans had been depleted, and his nephew had found the Kisaragi members he had eliminated.

He had achieved his goal. He understood that the desire to achieve peace between "great nations and small nations, and great nations and great nations" through himself was a pipe dream!

However, he had an excellent nephew, in whom he saw hope for peace. At the very least, it could ensure that the Land of Rain would not become a battlefield for the great nations. That was enough.

"You damn guy, who wants your title," Tsunade grumbled indignantly.

Jiraiya slumped to the ground, letting the rain fall on him, and asked, "Did we win this?"

Orochimaru calmly stated, "In terms of combat, it was a draw. However, the war can end now!"

Jiraiya exclaimed, "I don't care, as long as the war is over."

He turned to Tsunade and said, "Tsunade, now that the war is over, will you go on a date with me when we get back to the village?"

"Hmph!" Tsunade turned her head away.

Rarely did she refuse, perhaps to vent her frustration.

"Hahaha, that's great." Jiraiya danced with joy.

"Alright, the next step is to rest our forces."

"We can't let our guard down. Although the battle is over, we must remain vigilant until the peace treaty is signed," Orochimaru cautioned.

He also wanted to return to the village soon. Here, he couldn't eat or sleep well, and his nerves were constantly on edge.

However, things would be much smoother from now on. Once the treaty was signed and arrangements were made, they could withdraw.

For the next few days, Su Zheng spent his time bonding with a few children. On sunny days, he would go barbecue with Shota and the others. On rainy days, he trained at home. It was quite pleasant.

Meanwhile, the conflict between the Sand Village and the Leaf Village was gradually escalating.

Leaf Village, Hokage's Office.

"Hiruzen, the Land of Fire's border has been attacked by the Sand Village's army. Are you just going to stand by? As Hokage, you should personally intervene and deliver a heavy blow to those people," Danzō demanded.

Hiruzen Sarutobi glanced at him and said, "As Hokage, it's more important to hold the rear. I've already dispatched Sakumo Hatake."

Danzō wanted to force the issue, but he had no grounds to do so and grudgingly backed down.

At night, Su Zheng lay in bed, deep in thought. He had already upgraded his Sharingan to Three Tomoe. To get stronger, his only option was the Mangekyo, but he didn't have enough points.

Moreover, he didn't dare to use them. Death Substitute and the alias should be the top priorities. Many people would die in the future: Nawaki, Danzō Katō, the Leaf's "White Fang" Sakumo Hatake, and those from the Third Shinobi War…

He couldn't waste his points. He needed to save them to rescue them later (though Danzō Katō was an exception)!

After much deliberation, he found no good solution. He couldn't just kill his own loved ones!

Sigh! Su Zheng suddenly thought of a way to increase his strength: Madara Uchiha, who was already "dead."

He was looking for someone to inherit his will, and that person had to be an Uchiha.

"Should I intercept Tsuchi-bro's script ahead of time?" Su Zheng weighed the pros and cons.

With Madara's power, he could accomplish many things. His current strength was still too weak to reform the Land of Rain.

Furthermore, he wouldn't have to follow the original script. He could design his own future script.

With his mind made up, Su Zheng slept soundly.