"Unknown ceiling."
When Sasori opened his eyes again, he found himself in a strange, empty, small room.
Sasori rubbed his forehead. Nagato had hit him hard, and Sasori's whole body was still aching.
Sasori glanced around, and the iron door at the entrance made him instantly realize he was in a place similar to a prison.
"Teacher Sosuke, he's awake."
Sasori heard Nagato's voice and looked towards the door, seeing Mokgetsu and Nagato walking over.
"What does your Ninja Sect mean? I didn't make a move in your Six Paths City. Are you going to interfere in my personal vendetta with the Konoha Ninja?" Sasori thought for a moment and said expressionlessly.
Although he's a traitorous ninja from The Hidden Sand Village, he's an unknown one. The Hidden Sand Village neither issued a wanted notice nor publicized his actions widely.
Because the matter of Sasori killing the Third Kazekage hasn't been exposed, Sasori was deemed a traitorous ninja just because he left The Hidden Sand Village without cause.
So even if his true appearance was revealed, Sasori didn't think his identity as a traitorous ninja was exposed.
"Sasori, grandson of Chiyo, advisor of The Hidden Sand Village." Mokgetsu didn't speak in riddles but directly revealed Sasori's identity.
Sasori instinctively attempted to take out his scroll and release his puppet but found himself empty-handed.
Since Sasori had been captured, Mokgetsu couldn't possibly leave anything on him. All of Sasori's possessions had been taken away.
To even prevent Sasori from hiding the Puppet Scroll within his body, Mokgetsu checked with Byakugan.
Unable to access his puppet, Sasori tried to gather Chakra, but found it within his body as stagnant as dead water, unable to be moved; he had been sealed with Fuinjutsu.
"Once a genius puppet master of The Hidden Sand Village, now a traitorous ninja." Mokgetsu continued.
With his identity completely revealed, Sasori's demeanor changed slightly, yet he realized he had no power to resist.
"So, what do you intend to do?" Sasori asked, staring intently at Mokgetsu and Nagato.
In the Ninja World, the identity of a traitorous ninja is considered lower than low; the Ninja Sect needs no reason to act against him and doesn't need to worry about causing trouble by killing him.
"That should be our question to you. If it wasn't for you attacking the Martial Arts Tournament participants, I wouldn't have acted against you." Nagato said in a deep voice.
Of course, there was another reason, which was why Nagato hit hard: Sasori attacked not only the tournament participants but also Nagato's siblings.
However, this needs to be kept secret, Nagato couldn't say.
"Hatake Kakashi's father, the White Fang of Konoha, killed my parents on the battlefield, so I wanted to kill him for revenge, nothing more." Sasori replied calmly.
For Sasori, there's nothing left to hide. His life or death is now completely in the hands of the Ninja Sect.
Nagato was stunned, momentarily speechless.
No other reason; he couldn't refute this one. He could somewhat understand Sasori.
Because Nagato truly experienced the pain of seeing his parents killed before him, that heart-wrenching anguish, Nagato still remembers it clearly.
"Based on the crimes you committed, you need to undergo labor reform in the Ninja Sect for ten years. If you commit no other offenses during that time, you will be released." Mokgetsu did not employ mutual understanding to dispel hatred but announced Sasori's punishment.
Mouth Release also requires a foundation. Although Mokgetsu understands Sasori, Sasori doesn't understand Mokgetsu or Nagato.
If Mokgetsu spoke of letting go of hatred and mutual understanding between people now, not only would it fail to make Sasori truly relinquish his hate, but would also plunge Mokgetsu's perception to an all-time low.
"Ten years, huh? It's not too late." Sasori accepted the result.
In Sasori's heart, in this situation where people are knives and he is meat, being alive is already quite something; seeking revenge ten years later wouldn't be too late.
Of course, if an opportunity arises to escape, Sasori certainly won't choose to stay obediently for the full ten years. He dares to kill the Third Kazekage, and breaking out of prison bears no psychological burden for him.
"Nagato, I'm entrusting him to you for now, take him to the construction team over there." Mokgetsu turned to Nagato and said.
This counts as a training task Mokgetsu gave Nagato. If Nagato can successfully guide Sasori out of his hatred, it would be a significant growth for Nagato himself.
"Alright." Nagato nodded, his gaze towards Sasori revealing a resolute determination.
For Sasori, who went through a similar experience, Nagato resolved to try pulling him out of the sea of hatred. He won't persuade Sasori to abandon revenge, but he will make Sasori discover better, beautiful, and meaningful things.
…
When Might Guy mostly recovered, Mokgetsu and the others left the Land of Rain and returned to Konoha.
Upon arrival at the gate, Mokgetsu saw three familiar figures at the entrance.
"Teacher Mokgetsu." Hagane Kotetsu, Kamizuki Izumo, and Anko greeted in unison.
Mokgetsu smiled in response.
"Why have you taken the gate guarding task again?" Obito asked curiously.
Although the task level is a B-rank, if Obito were to choose, he'd rather undertake a C-rank task of hunting bandits.
Guarding the gate is too boring; standing still at the entrance all day obviously takes an entire day.
"Though you're Elder Brother Obito, I must correct you: this is not a gatekeeping task, it's guarding Konoha's main gate!" Kamizuki Izumo corrected seriously.
"Indeed, we are guarding Konoha, preventing any invading enemies." Hagane Kotetsu nodded, following Kamizuki Izumo's words.
The two stood sternly on either side at the gate, arms crossed, faces serious. If not for their height, it might indeed look plausible.
Obito scratched his head, realizing they couldn't be argued against.