No...
No... that's not right...
The important thing now is to gather intelligence!
If Lord Hanzo was killed by Akihara Kagura in the past few days, then there is still room for redemption, proving that their move was correct...
If Lord Hanzo became Akihara Kagura's puppet before the Ninja Alliance formed, then it signifies they are engulfed in a huge conspiracy!
"This is really... surprising..."
Nara Shikaku took a deep breath, unexpectedly revealing a smile: "I'm curious, when did this happen?"
"Yes, when did this happen!"
Jiraiya looked at Salamander Hanzo's body and questioned sternly: "When did you kill Hanzo and control his body!"
"It's been a long time, hasn't it?"
Salamander Hanzo extended his palm, stroked his cheek, and with the elderly voice of the Six Paths Puppet calmly spoke: "About ten years ago... there is one thing I deceived you about, Lord Jiraiya..."
"Actually..."
"I awakened the Rinnegan a long time ago..."
"Earlier than the last time I told you, probably after transplanting the Hashirama Cells, I activated the Sage Body, and in less than a year, I awakened the Rinnegan, creating Salamander Hanzo as my third puppet..."
"That time deceived you..."
"Was just to cover up Hanzo's identity."
"The third one..."
Jiraiya's heart sank.
This means Akihara Kagura has other puppets!
Even Salamander Hanzo is merely the third puppet!
This guy...
Just how many puppets are hidden!
How many people in the Ninja World are his tools!
The Five Kage present couldn't help but ponder over this question!
"So..."
Jiraiya gritted his teeth and continued sternly: "When I took you to the Land of Rain for travel and training, you already had the Rinnegan..."
"Approximately... it was around that time..."
"Back then..."
"Even before we met Nagato senior again..."
Salamander Hanzo's voice remained elderly and slow, except it was someone else speaking now: "Let me think... it was when you wanted to track down Nagato senior and the Akatsuki Hideout, I found Hanzo..."
"After chatting with Hanzo, he willingly became my puppet, together we decided to destroy this declining and broken world and created a New World, by then Hanzo was very old, with little value to capitalize on..."
"Yet I still chose him."
Salamander Hanzo ignored the others, sweeping his gaze across Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Tsunade: "Because his status was high enough, he was a rather suitable old man..."
"I just needed to make a little insignificant disguise on his character to establish a tall image in your hearts..."
"Why didn't you find it strange at the time?"
Salamander Hanzo's voice carried a hint of confusion, seemingly unable to comprehend Jiraiya: "Lord Jiraiya, why did you not find it strange when an isolated old man suddenly volunteered to die..."
"..."
Jiraiya suddenly remembered.
Before he arrived in the Land of Rain, Salamander Hanzo had been inactive for a while, but when he arrived, Hanzo suddenly became active, even seemed ready to sacrifice at any moment...
"That all..."
"Was you controlling him from behind!"
Jiraiya widened his eyes, recalling how Salamander Hanzo secretly told him he intended to sacrifice, even went willingly before Nagato...
Back then...
Jiraiya was deeply moved by Salamander Hanzo...
Back then...
Akihara Kagura even seemed quite touched!
However, it was all Akihara Kagura's manipulation, that kid was constantly disguising himself to show respect to the Ninja Demigod!
"There's no need to deceive you now..."
Salamander Hanzo's aged voice carried a trace of emotional detachment: "Hanzo had long lost his ambition, it was I who helped him retrieve everything..."
"Wait..."
Orochimaru suddenly caught a flaw, squinting his eyes: "Kagura, I recall you seemed to have communicated with Hanzo during the Five Kage Conference..."
It's a flaw.
Is Akihara Kagura scaring them?
"That's quite normal."
Salamander Hanzo's body continued speaking: "Because within this body, Salamander Hanzo's soul still remains, the Rinnegan can create puppets using two methods..."
"One method is to use corpses, finding a suitable body from when alive to make into a puppet; the other method is using souls, even Reanimation Jutsu ninja can be made into puppets..."
"This guy is right."
Uchiha Madara, the Rinnegan possessor, vouched for Akihara Kagura, speaking coldly: "Materials for Six Paths Puppet don't have high requirements... puppets created by the Rinnegan are inherently composed of Yin-Yang Release, thus have low material demands... as long as sufficient compatibility is present, it can become a suitable Six Paths Puppet..."
"Indeed."
"Before creating Hanzo, during the first puppet creation attempt, I tried placing the puppet's soul from its alive state within the puppet;"
"During the creation of the second puppet, it happened to be an individual who transformed his body into a puppet, thus refining my technique further..."