The elders felt it was still inappropriate to leave a dangerous existence like Sasori unsupervised in the Village.
So, after some discussion, they ordered Pakura, "Sasori, you are still highly suspicious. Pakura, from today onwards, you will stay by Sasori's side."
"Until the Anbu can confirm that Sasori poses no threat to the Village, Pakura, you are not to leave his side for a single step."
Pakura wanted to refuse, but Maki pulled her hand forcefully.
At this point, Pakura had already completely offended Chiyo's faction; if she went on to offend the Elder Council as well...
There would be no place left for Pakura in this Village.
Pakura eventually accepted the order.
Rasa said a few polite words, and then everyone dispersed.
Chiyo, Ebizo, Sasori's former subordinates, and a large crowd of Puppeteers surrounded Ryou as they headed home, as if he were the Kazekage of the Village.
Tsume, with Kuromaru, watched Ryou's retreating back from behind the crowd.
"Performance of a Hundred Puppets, controlling a hundred puppets simultaneously... Sasori of the Red Sand truly is Sunagakure's most gifted Puppeteer."
Kuromaru frowned as he watched Ryou's back. "I still think this guy is very suspicious. He's a bit of a dog."
Tsume pinched Kuromaru's canine head. "Aren't you a dog too?"
"Let's go. We'll have a good meal when we get back and then rest. In a few more days, we can leave this godforsaken place."
How should one describe life in Sunagakure?
It simply wasn't a place for humans to live. No wonder the Land of Wind so desperately yearned for the fertile lands of the Land of Fire.
...Chiyo drove away Sasori's old subordinates and the Puppeteers who were practically itching to shine Ryou's shoes.
Pakura and Maki, however, could not be driven away.
The Elder Council was still very wary of Sasori. If Pakura wasn't watching him, they wouldn't feel at ease.
Even without Pakura, there were Anbu watching Sasori from the shadows.
Sasori was far too dangerous to them. Not only was he a prime suspect in the assassination of the Third Kazekage, but the technique he had just displayed was equivalent to an entire shinobi army.
If Sasori had a sudden whim to 'let the world feel pain' inside the Village, who could stop him?
With Pakura and Maki present, Chiyo couldn't properly have a heart-to-heart with her grandson.
She simply decided to act as if the two of them weren't there.
She patted Ryou's shoulder and said, "Sasori, you can't live in your old place anymore. Why don't you stay with Ebizo and me from now on?"
Sasori used to live alone because the things he worked on were prone to making people 'fly' away.
If Chiyo were by his side, with her experience, she would easily discover Sasori's depravity.
Ryou snorted. "Whatever you want. Anyway, I'll be leaving the Village after I defeat Uchiha Madara."
Chiyo smiled. "Good, good! Whatever you say."
"Sasori, can you tell me about your experiences while you were away all these years?"
Ryou nodded and proceeded to fabricate a story about Sasori's years away. He couldn't mention the human puppets or the matter of the Third Kazekage.
He focused on how Sasori trained in the Performance of a Hundred Puppets.
Sasori's story was quite monotonous: taking bounties at the black market to kill for money, making puppets, developing the Performance of a Hundred Puppets... Pakura and Maki also pricked up their ears to listen.
Maki still couldn't believe that Sasori was the person who killed the Third Kazekage.
Pakura, on the other hand, remained very wary of Ryou.
This guy's gaze would inexplicably drift toward her back from time to time.
It was somewhat burning, as if he wanted to turn her into a puppet.
Pakura snorted coldly in her heart. Even if Sasori hadn't killed the Third Kazekage, he was certainly not a normal Puppeteer.
Chiyo was full of heartache as she listened. She rubbed Ryou's head and said, "You've suffered. You didn't even have a good meal out there; you're a bit malnourished."
"Sasori, tell me, why did you leave the Village in the first place?"
"..."
Silence. Ryou was silent, and those listening in were silent as well.
What else could it be? He'd killed the Third Kazekage and had no storage to hide the body. It was like hitting the jackpot and not running; was he supposed to wait for the mad dogs to come and bite him?
Ryou looked at Pakura, seemingly trying to find an excuse from her.
Pakura barked at Ryou, "Don't you dare slander me!"
Ryou thought for a moment and eventually relied on deception.
"Because I've been tracking the culprit who murdered the Third Kazekage!"
"..."
Except for Maki, none of the three—Chiyo, Ebizo, or Pakura—believed him.
Still acting? You're still acting?
Sasori, can you stop acting already?
Ryou still bit the bullet and continued, "Back then, I was with the Third Hokage, but suddenly a mysterious person wearing a black robe with red clouds appeared."
"He wore an orange swirl mask on his face, revealing a single Sharingan. He appeared to possess Space-Time Ninjutsu."
"The mysterious person appeared abruptly, instantly touched the Third Hokage's shoulder, and then absorbed the Third Hokage into a swirling spatial void."
"I gave chase immediately..."
Chiyo and Ebizo were initially watching Ryou act, but the more he spoke, the more they felt it might be true.
First of all, the Third Kazekage had vanished from the Village without any traces of a battle nearby.
Their first thought was that someone close to him had poisoned him.
At the time, Sasori had also vanished. If it wasn't him, who else could it be?
But hearing Ryou put it this way, perhaps there was a second possibility.
And that was Space-Time Ninjutsu. Space-Time Ninjutsu could indeed take the Third Kazekage away without anyone noticing.
Ryou then pretended to be ignorant and asked Chiyo, "By the way, old woman, I've never seen that kind of Sharingan before. It wasn't the shape of a tomoe; it was a pattern."
"What kind of pattern?"
Chiyo pressed him, her voice seemingly urgent.
"It was a pattern that looked like three scythes connected together."
Ebizo seemed to have guessed something. He exchanged a look with Chiyo, and both of them nodded in unison, confirming their thoughts.
"It's the Mangekyo Sharingan, an evolution beyond the Uchiha Clan's three tomoe Sharingan."
Chiyo and Ebizo were shinobi born in the Warring States Period. Even if they hadn't seen the Mangekyo Sharingan with their own eyes in that era, it was impossible for them not to have heard of the fame of the Mangekyo Sharingan and Wood Release.
Especially since these were the Kekkei Genkai of the two strongest men in their neighboring country.
Pakura was a bit dazed. "Grandmother, what is the Mangekyo Sharingan?!"
Chiyo explained, "The First Kazekage once told me that the Mangekyo Sharingan is the ultimate ocular jutsu of the Uchiha Clan, and it was the trump card that allowed them to clash with the First Hokage."
"Legend has it that this is the strongest heavenly eye that sees through the three realms. In the Warring States Period, Uchiha Madara and his younger brother Uchiha Izuna awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan and became the leaders of the Uchiha Clan."
"The Uchiha Clan's Mangekyo Sharingan is dozens of times stronger than an ordinary Sharingan and possesses very singular abilities."
"I suspect that the person who took the Third Kazekage must be an Uchiha who awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan and whose eye ability is Space-Time Ninjutsu."
Regardless of whether this was the truth, Chiyo was going to steer things in this direction.
In any case, the Third Kazekage was definitely not killed by her kind and lovely little Sasori.
So the question was, what would a mysterious Uchiha want with the Third Kazekage?
Ryou said, "I don't know. Perhaps he came to steal the Village's Tailed Beast. The Third Hokage stumbled upon him, and in his anger, he captured the Third Kazekage."
"I've been tracking this mysterious person's whereabouts all these years. I'm now eighty percent certain that he is Uchiha Madara."
Chiyo nodded. "It's possible. Uchiha Madara's Eye of the Moon Plan involves collecting the Nine Tailed Beasts; perhaps he had his eye on our Sunagakure's Shukaku from the beginning."
"Only a figure like him would possess such impossible-to-defend-against Space-Time Ninjutsu."
In the original work, why did Minato immediately assume that the Obito who attacked Kushina and released the Nine-Tails was Madara?
In the original work, there were no records of Madara possessing Space-Time Ninjutsu.
His Limbo is a Space-Time Ninjutsu, but that is a Rinnegan ocular jutsu, which Madara only revealed during the Fourth Great Ninja War.
The Space-Time Ninjutsu Madara possessed was, at most, the Summoning Jutsu, but that's just a common spatial transport technique and doesn't compare to the mysterious and unfathomable Kamui used by Obito.
Minato should have suspected Tobirama the most, as he was the world-renowned original wielder of the Flying Thunder God.
But Minato was certain the person was Madara.
Because Tobirama was the Hokage of Konoha; there was no reason for him to attack Konoha and release the Nine-Tails.
Furthermore, Madara was evil enough and had always harbored great hostility toward Konoha.
He was a legendary figure on par with the First Hokage; it wasn't strange for him to possess some form of Space-Time Ninjutsu.
In any case, if there was some incomprehensible disaster, blaming it on Madara was sure to be correct.
As it turned out, Minato wasn't wrong. Obito was Madara's backup plan, and Madara himself had also carried out an attack on Konoha with the Nine-Tails.