The pink mist had dispersed, but the gloom remained. Sasori's attack had been more like a precise probe and provocation. Like a venomous scorpion concealed in the shadows, he could bare his stinger again at any moment. Konoha tightened security, especially around the members of Purifying Karma. Ino was recuperating with the Medical Corps after exhausting her mental energy, and Ling visited her every day. He said little, but his silent vigil was a statement in itself.
Several days later, an encrypted intelligence report was urgently delivered to Tsunade's desk. Unusually active, powerful chakra signatures had been detected at an abandoned puppeteer stronghold called the Valley of a Thousand Puppets, on the border between the Land of Rivers and the Land of Wind. Their nature closely matched Sasori's chakra. According to top-secret records shared by Sunagakure, the site had once been one of the secret workshops where Sasori conducted forbidden research in his early years.
"What is he doing there? Rebuilding his puppet army?" Tsunade frowned deeply as she studied the area marked as high-risk on the map.
"I'm afraid there's more to it," Kakashi said. "The Valley of a Thousand Puppets is littered with abandoned puppets and ancient mechanisms. It's his home ground, through and through. He may not simply be hiding there. It looks more like he's preparing something... perhaps a more powerful 'work of art,' or a trap meant for us."
"Even if we know it's a trap, we still have to go." Ling's voice was calm but brooked no argument. Sasori's attack on Ino, along with the dangerous technology in his possession, made him a threat they had to eliminate as a priority.
Given the enormous advantage Sasori's Puppet Technique afforded him in complex terrain, the operation was designated an elite squad raid. Its members were