With the Kazekage declaring the death of the leader who secretly incited civilian Ninja to passively resist the Village's will, the Hidden Sand Village seemed to have returned to a brief state of calm.
His tactic of "killing the chicken to warn the monkey" seemed to have served as a deterrent.
The situation within the various departments of the Village also gradually stabilized.
But soon... an unexpected situation occurred.
One of Rasa's deputies died at home, his body secretly disposed of.
The killer left no traces of concealment and didn't even clean up the scene.
When he was discovered, he was lying stiffly in a pool of blood on his living room floor.
The neighbors hadn't noticed anything unusual, nor had they heard any sound, which meant the deceased hadn't fought back against the killer. Furthermore, being inside the Village... it was definitely an inside job.
It was one of their own!
With several people, led by the heads of the Nohara Clan and Fukushima Clan, having just died not long ago, the killer's intention couldn't be more obvious.
And of all people, the target was Rasa's deputy.
The conflict between Rasa, Murashi, and Fukushima Oka was, in fact, the fuse for the entire matter.
Though a deputy was killed, it was clearly aimed at Rasa.
When the Third Kazekage heard of this, his face instantly darkened.
"The patrolling Guard Corps didn't find anything unusual last night either..."
In the office, Sasori calmly reported to the Third Kazekage.
The deceased head of the Nohara Clan, Sakamoto's father, was the former captain of the Guard Corps.
When Yubi was ambushed by Konoha people back then, it was also this captain who handled it.
It was hard not to draw a connection.
Although the head of the Nohara Clan was dead, the team he built single-handedly remained, and the Guard Corps was mostly composed of civilian Ninja.
"Investigate... no matter who the killer is, find out who ordered it!" the Kazekage said firmly.
His decisions were not to be defied by anyone.
Clearly, the death of Rasa's deputy was an expression of someone's dissatisfaction with him.
Moreover, it was highly likely related to families like the Nohara Clan and Murashi's Family. Regardless, these families were the combat reserves of the Hidden Sand Village. While dealing with a single Family head was fine, even the Kazekage couldn't take drastic action against entire families without causing severe upheaval in the Village.
So... evidence had to be found.
A legitimate reason was needed.
The mere act of attacking one's own people was enough for a conviction.
"Yes."
Sasori replied with lowered eyes.
Then, he turned and left the room.
He was now the Anbu member in charge of investigating and handling the entire matter.
The Kazekage would never suspect that the person who killed Rasa's deputy was him.
In the entire Anbu, there weren't many members who could perfectly carry out the Kazekage's arrangements and had the strength to take down the Village's original high-ranking officials. Sasori happened to be one of them. While veterans like Arai could do it, they would easily be exposed because the targets were too familiar with them.
Because he had successfully dealt with some of the troublesome Family heads, Sasori had earned the Kazekage's trust and was given full responsibility for this matter.
Sasori was currently the sharpest blade in the Kazekage's hand.
According to Yubi's plan, inciting internal conflict in the Village was one aspect; he could also use this to get closer to the Kazekage and rise in rank behind the scenes.
Even targeting Rasa's deputy was Yubi's choice.
Sasori had originally planned to strike directly at some high-ranking officials, but Yubi stopped him... because in Yubi's view, the choice of the first target had to be cautious so as not to arouse suspicion.
Furthermore, the focus had to be on 'Rasa'. His deputy was insignificant but had the 'value' of escalating the conflict.
...
On the other side, Yubi was still working outside.
After several months, with sufficient funding, his pharmacological research was finally complete, having taken a full year in total.
Next came the process of formulating various drugs and conducting live animal testing.
He still needed money.
But the speed of this part of the experiment would be very fast.
It was estimated to be finished in about half a year.
Then... finished products could be produced. As for how many types of finished drugs there would be, that would depend on the experimental results.
After that, he would use the Village's existing trade routes and traveling merchants to find ways to push the medicines to all parts of the Ninja World and begin marketing them.
One step at a time.
The plans for the latter two stages also required a lot of financial support.
However, the missions Yubi was taking now were no longer about assassinating nobles... bounties on nobles only made up a small portion of the underground registry and weren't very numerous.
Because clients who could target nobles and afford hefty rewards were rare. The entire underground network mainly focused on striking at the military forces of various hostile powers, primarily Ninja from certain Villages... and with the smoke of war clearing from the Ninja World, the current trend was relatively peaceful, leading to fewer such bounties.
So, during this time, Yubi had been assassinating Ninja from small Villages... or looting some factions and organizations along the way.
But there weren't many bounties in that area either, plus the rewards were small... Therefore, Yubi eventually set foot on the soil of the Land of Rain.
For no other reason.
Than because the situation within the Land of Rain was still very 'lively'.
It was also the largest 'battlefield' in the Ninja World at the moment.
Wherever there's a battlefield, there's a market... it was profitable for 'mercenaries' or certain organizations.
So, Yubi also came to get a piece of the pie.
As long as he could make money, Yubi didn't care what he did.
"Every time I come... this place feels so oppressive." Wearing a straw raincoat, he strolled through the rain, looked up at the gloomy sky, and sighed softly.
Ahead was the Village he was heading to.
He was also keeping up with the current situation in the Hidden Sand Village through Sasori's messages.
Moreover, he would still return to the Village once in a while.
Killing Rasa's deputy... would surely be seen as the work of the civilian Ninja faction, as it appeared to be retaliation against Rasa rather than simple dissatisfaction with the Village's high-level leadership. But when this blame was pinned on those people, they would feel wronged. Even if they explained or complained, given the Kazekage's personality, he might not believe them.
There's nothing worse than this kind of stifling frustration.
Besides, after the recent series of events, the civilian faction would be even more convinced that the Kazekage was intentionally suppressing them.
No explanation would be given.
The opportunity for 'communication' between the two sides had been completely severed.
In the future, even if Sasori didn't act, the people of the two classes would eventually start fighting for real in private.
"Who's there?"
Just as Yubi appeared at the Village entrance, several farmers in patched clothes jumped out holding tools, shouting warily.
"The person you're looking for."
Yubi smiled slightly.
This was a Village in the Land of Rain that was frequently oppressed by local forces. The Village chief had gathered everyone to secretly pool their money, hoping to commission outsiders to help them fight against the local powers.
However, the money they could offer was very limited.
Naturally, Yubi didn't care for such a small amount.
The reason he was willing to lend a hand was that... his target was the leader of that local force.
He was simply using the Village's request as a legitimate excuse to wipe out the other party and then loot all their property in one go.
After stating his purpose, Yubi followed the men into the Village.
Once inside the Village, he realized that this dilapidated little place... was not as simple as it appeared on the surface.
Many people hiding in the shadows of the houses clearly didn't look like ordinary villagers... they looked more like mountain bandits or robbers, and the way they peered at him, a stranger, was full of wariness and ferocity.
In some houses, there were even wounded people lying down.
"It seems this is also a Stronghold for a group of Rebels..."
Yubi thought to himself.