The face of a young man emerged from beneath the hood!
"Sasori!" Chiyo shot upright in alarm. "How... could it be you..."
A mocking curve touched Sasori's lips. "Could you not make such a revolting expression?"
Chiyo clenched her fists tightly. Suppressing the tenderness she felt at seeing her grandson again, she asked in a deep voice, "You came at the right time. There's something I need to ask you. The Third Kazekage disappeared shortly after you defected from the village. Answer me honestly—did you have anything to do with it?"
Sasori admitted it readily. "That's right. I did it!"
Chiyo demanded furiously, "You!!! Why did you do that!!!!"
Sasori replied casually, "Nothing much. I merely added another piece to my puppet art collection."
Chiyo's eyes went wide with fury. "You... you turned the Third Kazekage into a Human Puppet...!?"
A wicked expression appeared on Sasori's face. "That's right. It used to be my most satisfying work. Too bad it was already destroyed..."
"Well, you needn't look at me like that. Though perhaps it isn't my place to say so, you, Hidden Sand Village, and many people across the Five Great Nations should all thank me for killing the Third Kazekage, shouldn't you?"
"It was his militant policies that kept Hidden Sand Village pushing the war forward even after it had already been driven into desperate straits. Even within Hidden Sand Village itself, people had been hoping he would die sooner."
"If I hadn't taken him out, the Third Shinobi World War would have lasted at least another half year."
"The current Kazekage, and all those people who suffered through the chaos of war, should be thanking me. Conservatively speaking, what I did saved several thousand lives!!!"
"You bastard!!!" Overcome with rage, Chiyo drove a heavy fist into Sasori's face!!!