Land of Wind, The Hidden Sand Village.
Kazekage Office.
"Yashamaru, are you sure there's no issue with the initial report you submitted? Does the Hidden Rock truly intend to eliminate the Ninja Sect?" Rasa frowned.
"During that meeting, the Hidden Rock from Six Paths City did indeed express that intention." Yashamaru replied.
They hadn't even used their comprehensive plan to sow discord yet, and the Hidden Rock immediately started denouncing the Ninja Sect's ambitions, which obviously wasn't the attitude a normal cooperative ally should exhibit.
"Then why has the Hidden Rock been avoiding the topic of collaborating in a military expedition?"
At first, Rasa was pleased with Yashamaru's progress and quickly dispatched ninjas for formal negotiations with the Hidden Rock, but the results were unsatisfactory.
The Hidden Rock didn't display any intent to refuse cooperation, yet every time the Hidden Sand proposed jointly dispatching troops to annihilate the Ninja Sect, the Hidden Rock always found various reasons to delay.
They even expressed willingness to aid the Hidden Sand with resources, but refused to dispatch ninjas to the battlefield, citing the reason that the Great Ninja War had caused them significant damage.
Rasa would be a fool to believe that; during the last battle, the Hidden Rock surrendered quickly, and no one suffered significant losses.
Prior to this, although the Hidden Rock had suffered some defeats at Konoha, it certainly couldn't be said to be excessively damaged.
"Maybe they want to take this opportunity to weaken our Hidden Sand's strength?" Yashamaru pondered and answered.
Compared to joint troop dispatch, the Hidden Rock surely wants to act like an unruffled spectator.
"Possibly, yet it's strange that the Hidden Rock is willing to offer so many resources to support us." Rasa crossed his arms and showed a contemplative expression.
Despite exhibiting an avoidance of battle, the Hidden Rock was peculiarly willing to provide money, which made Rasa somewhat tempted.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say the money offered in the Hidden Rock's conditions was almost enough to hire the Hidden Sand to execute a campaign.
Moreover, the Ninja Sect indeed impacts the Hidden Sand's interests and is a force the Hidden Sand needs to strike against.
Upon further consideration, Rasa sensed something amiss; both are ninja villages, and the Hidden Rock also needs money. Why is the Hidden Rock willing to spend this money?
Due to the matter's significance, Rasa couldn't make the decision alone and called upon the Hidden Sand Anbu to gather the Hidden Sand's leadership for a discussion.
"Advisor Chiyo, Advisor Ebizo." Rasa, who had arrived early in the conference room, quickly greeted them as Chiyo and Ebizo arrived.
If it was the regular leadership, as the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa naturally didn't need to act like this.
These two were indeed somewhat different.
First, there was their seniority; Chiyo and Ebizo had already been renowned leaders from the Second Great Ninja War era, and now in the Hidden Sand Village, they were among the most experienced elders.
Next, there was their strength and influence.
Chiyo was currently the most powerful puppet master in the Ninja World, and her level of puppetry was ranked among the best in puppetry history.
Ebizo's strength wasn't as high as Chiyo's, but he controlled the Hidden Sand's intelligence department. During the internal conflict of the Hidden Sand when the Third Kazekage disappeared, Ebizo was the actual handler of the Hidden Sand Anbu, directly commanded by the Kazekage.
Finally, these two were brother and sister, which was what Rasa was most concerned about before.
Rasa was relieved that Chiyo's grandson had left the Hidden Sand Village.
After Sasori left the Hidden Sand Village, Chiyo seemed to have lost her soul and rarely intervened in politics, focusing either on researching ninjutsu or fishing.
Probably due to concern for his sister, Ebizo also set aside a lot of work and often accompanied Chiyo fishing.
Rasa took advantage of this period to grasp quite a bit of power, increasing his influence in high-level meetings.
"Fourth Kazekage."
The two nodded in response, neither cold nor seeming particularly attentive.
Once all the leaders were assembled, Rasa commenced the meeting.
"The rapidly expanding Ninja Sect affects our shared interests with the Hidden Rock, yet the Hidden Rock has displayed an anomaly in terms of cooperation."
Rasa promptly explained the Hidden Rock's strange conditions to the assembled high-level leaders.
"There's indeed a problem. Could it be that the Hidden Rock possesses intelligence that we don't?"
"It could also be that they want to preserve their strength for other schemes. However, on the surface, collaborating with the Hidden Rock isn't a loss for us. With this sum of money, it can alleviate quite a bit of military expenditure pressure."
The leaders began discussing, displaying notable differences.
Some felt the money was worth trying to earn; after all, the Hidden Sand couldn't stand idly by while the Ninja Sect continued to grow.
Some felt the money was too risky to accept, concealing a plot by the Hidden Rock and therefore not worth cooperating.
Chiyo sat in her chair, gazing indifferently at the leaders, with no intention of speaking.
If it weren't for the unfavorable state of the Hidden Sand, making it not the right time for complete retirement, Chiyo would have long resigned from her advisory position.
Her son and daughter-in-law died on the battlefield, her grandson voluntarily abandoned her, having fought for the village for most of her life, in the end, only her brother remained by her side.
She had contributed more than enough to this village and didn't owe the Hidden Sand anything; rather, it was the Hidden Sand that owed her.
"I will activate the Rain Country and Land of Earth's hidden operatives to investigate; the Hidden Rock's actions are somewhat unusual." Ebizo said.
Being involved in intelligence work, Ebizo was particularly sensitive to such anomalies.
"This matter is significant, indeed we can't easily make a decision, we need to investigate thoroughly, sorry to trouble consultant Ebizo."
The originally divided higher-ups all expressed their agreement with Ebizo's idea.
Those able to sit among the high-levels are not fools, they can all see something is off with the Hidden Rock, just unsure what exactly is being hidden.
Thus, the high-level meeting concluded here, to be continued once Ebizo's intelligence is in place.
However, what Ebizo didn't expect was that though he couldn't uncover the anomaly of Hidden Rock, he did find some unexpected information.
After reading the intelligence, Ebizo immediately sought out Chiyo.
"I seem to have found Sasori," Ebizo said.
Chiyo's calm face showed a trace of emotion, yet with a lonely expression, she shook her head and said, "What good is it to find him."
If Sasori had left due to persecution or harm, Chiyo would have tried everything to find him, but Sasori left the Hidden Sand Village voluntarily, left her side willingly.
With Chiyo's influence in the Hidden Sand Village, if she really wanted to find Sasori, unless Sasori did nothing but hide, she would find some information in any case.
But all these years, except for the initial period, Chiyo hadn't actively sought out Sasori.
Because she knew even if he were found, it wouldn't matter, as long as Sasori didn't want to be by her side, she couldn't stop him.
"Where is he? How is he doing? Is he settled or just staying temporarily?" Chiyo couldn't help but ask.
After all, Sasori is still her grandson, whether she knows the news or not, upon hearing it she invariably worries about Sasori's life.
"He's in Six Paths City in the Land of Rain, whether he's settled or how he's doing I'm not clear on, I just judged from the intelligence that Sasori might be there," Ebizo answered.
The puppetry technology in the intelligence is definitely not something that those third-rate Puppet Masters outside of Hidden Sand could develop.
Furthermore, connecting to the direction Sasori previously pursued in puppetry, even if Sasori himself isn't in the Land of Rain, Ebizo can be sure the source of Ninja Sect's puppet prosthetics is Sasori.
"Six Paths City? Isn't that the Ninja Sect's headquarters?"
Chiyo is no stranger to this emerging force, even though since Sasori left she cared less about Ninja Village affairs, being neighboring countries, various information about Rain and Wind Countries often comes her way, making it hard for Chiyo not to know.
"Yes, Sasori may have joined the Ninja Sect or reached some kind of cooperation with them."
Ebizo nodded and mentioned the matter of the puppet prosthetics.
"It's impossible for Sasori to join a Ninja force," Chiyo instinctively wanted to deny Ebizo's guess, although Ebizo only suggested it as a possibility.
Why would Sasori, who was unwilling to stay even in his nurturing Hidden Sand Village, join ninja forces inferior to Hidden Sand, no matter from the technical conditions of researching puppets or the familial relationship aspects, Sasori wouldn't join the Ninja Sect.
Ebizo said nothing, just let out a sigh.
Chiyo remained silent, the light in her eyes dimming a bit.
Judging from her life span, Sasori's departure was merely four or five years, not considered long.
But for Sasori, a youth in his teens, it's already a quarter of his current life.
In such circumstances, Sasori may have experienced things she knew not of, made changes unknown to her, it's not impossible.
"Why, out of all places, the Ninja Sect..." Chiyo murmured.
Undoubtedly, the ambitious and highly potential Ninja Sect is a rival that Hidden Sand will face next.
If it weren't for the dread of Sosuke's ability to defeat Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Hidden Sand's ninja squad might have entered the Land of Rain long ago.
If Sasori truly joined the Ninja Sect, then Sasori would become an enemy of Hidden Sand, standing in opposition, they might even meet on the battlefield.
Just imagining it, Chiyo couldn't help but feel faint, he is her own grandson after all.
"It's just a possibility," Ebizo spoke to comfort her.
"I will have my spies gather definite information about Sasori at all costs."
Ebizo should have focused more on the Land of Earth and Hidden Rock, but he simply couldn't neglect Chiyo.
If spies don't hurry to investigate clearly, what if Chiyo personally goes to the Ninja Sect?
Entering Six Paths City is easy, but getting out would depend on the Ninja Sect, on Sosuke's disposition, Ebizo couldn't let his own elder sister take such a risk.
Actually, Ebizo hadn't wanted to tell Chiyo about this intelligence in the first place, it really was a terrible piece of news for her.
The key reason is that Ninja Sect prosthetics are no longer a secret, Chiyo could hear about them from other places and infer Sasori's information, thus Ebizo chose to inform her.
"Mmm." Chiyo nodded.
She was originally thinking of fishing today in the nice weather, but upon receiving such news, her thoughts of fishing instantly vanished, her mind filled only with matters concerning Sasori.
She fervently hopes this is an erroneous report, Ebizo's intelligence was wrong, Sasori is not in the Land of Rain, not in the Ninja Sect.
PS:
This is 3k, with two chapters combined just over 8k, a perfectly complete third day's explosion of updates.
Asking for monthly tickets!