"Hey, Sasuke. Long time no see." Uchiha Sora raised a hand in greeting.
"Uchiha Sora!" Sasuke exclaimed softly. "What are you doing here?"
"I came to see how my clansman was doing here, of course." Uchiha Sora smiled. "Well? Want to come back to the village with me?"
Orochimaru hastily interjected from beside him, "Sora-kun, Sasuke-kun can learn far more here with me! As the leader of Kusagakure, you wouldn't have much time to teach him, would you?"
"I'm doing fine here. Tell my parents I'll come back once I'm strong enough!" Sasuke added.
Uchiha Sora glanced at Orochimaru with a smile. "Relax. Since Sasuke wants to stay here, I won't force him to leave!"
Then he said to Sasuke, "I'll pass your message along."
He did not tell Sasuke that Fugaku had gone missing in the Rōran Ruins.
As they were talking, an explosion suddenly rang out.
Kabuto's expression changed. "The enemy has already broken into the experimental area. If we let him advance any farther, we won't be able to protect the research data here either."
"Come on. Let's go take a look." Uchiha Sora waved a hand.
The four of them hurried outside.
In the passage leading out, a group of puppets wielding sharp blades was rampaging through everything in its path.
Behind the puppets stood a hunched figure.
He wore a black robe patterned with red clouds.
It was Sasori of the Red Sands of the Akatsuki!
"Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!" Orochimaru struck first. As he raised his arm, several snakes as thick as an arm suddenly shot out, coiled around a few puppets, and flung them hard, smashing them to pieces.
"Orochimaru, so you really are here!" A raspy voice came from the hunched figure.
"Sasori of the Red Sands, did the organization send you,