An uninvited guest, Sasori of the Red Sands

Long Ye had met Zhu Hu at sea, where they had briefly exchanged blows. In his estimation, the man was the strongest swordsman he had encountered in the Shinobi World.

He had even judged that Mifune, leader of the samurai nation known as the Land of Iron, might not be any stronger than Zhu Hu.

"Bamboo Country?"

Pakura looked puzzled.

"I've heard of Bamboo Village, but this is the first I've heard of Bamboo Country."

Pakura was utterly confused.

Long Ye nodded. "It seems this place really is mysterious. But since Bamboo Village has such a similar name, there might be some connection!"

"The person you're looking for is from this Bamboo Country you mentioned?" Pakura asked.

Long Ye nodded. "Since we have no leads, we might as well visit Bamboo Village. Perhaps we can find some useful information there."

Pakura nodded. "But I've only heard of that village myself. I don't know exactly where it is, so we'll have to ask around as we go."

With that, the two were just about to set off when they both suddenly stopped.

A hunched figure was approaching them from directly ahead.

The moment Long Ye saw the figure, his eyes lit up.

"Hiruko!" he murmured to himself.

He could not have been more familiar with the thing approaching them. It was clearly a Human Puppet that Sasori of the Red Sands had used in his early days. Unless something unexpected had happened, Scorpion's real body was hidden inside.

At this point, however, the figure's identity was a mystery to everyone in the Shinobi World. Long Ye, who had transmigrated here, was probably the only person in the entire Shinobi World who knew his true identity.

Long Ye glanced at his clothing.

Hiruko was not wearing the Akatsuki's flame-cloud cloak yet. Clearly,