Ryou's stomach growled with hunger. He grabbed Sasori of the Red Sand's regeneration core, popped it back in, and then followed the scent.
A dog's sense of smell is 5 to 10 times that of a human; a powerful tracking dog can smell things kilometers away.
A Ninken of the Inuzuka clan like Kuromaru is even more formidable. The Konoha envoys were staying on the east side, while Chiyo's house was on the west side.
The distance between the two was quite far, but Kuromaru caught the aroma of dog meat coming from Chiyo's house.
"Woof, woof, woof!"
"That despicable Sasori, he's actually eating dog meat? The local Ninjas are so impolite; they don't show you any respect at all, Tsume."
"That's Sunagakure's own business. I can't control what they eat."
Tsume huffed, then proceeded to taste the prenatal meal her colleagues had meticulously prepared for her.
It consisted of some legumes and fish dishes.
Tsume didn't come to Sunagakure as an envoy alone with Kuromaru; she had several accompanying Ninjas, all of whom were at least Special Jonin.
Tsume was three months pregnant. Even while pregnant, her personality remained fiery and restless, unable to settle down at all.
Kuromaru barked, "Tomorrow, I'm definitely going to take a bite out of that despicable Sasori of the Red Sand."
"Be careful not to get poisoned to death by him."
"Woof, I won't."
Inside the home of Fourth Kazekage Rasa.
Rasa's home was very simple and minimalist, not as luxurious as one might imagine.
As Kazekage, Rasa didn't take a penny of his salary; he even spent more than half of his rest time panning for gold in the desert to subsidize the Village's expenses.
In the original work, from the Third Great Ninja War to the Konoha Crush period, the Daimyo of the Land of Wind cut Sunagakure's military budget every year.
Sunagakure only managed to pull through because of Rasa's gold panning in the desert.
If you set aside the matters of Pakura and Gaara, Rasa was undoubtedly a very qualified Kazekage.
Overall, his merits outweighed his faults.
A person cannot always be perfect.
Karura couldn't move around freely due to her pregnancy, so the meals were all prepared by Yashamaru.
Yashamaru was practically the housekeeper for Rasa's family.
A plain linen tablecloth was spread over the low table. In the center, the most eye-catching dish was Monkfish, a rarity in Sunagakure.
This was fresh seafood brought back from a coastal outpost by Sunagakure Ninjas as a gift for the Kazekage, which Yashamaru had carefully charcoal-grilled and prepared.
The fish was coated in a thin layer of miso sauce, turning a gentle golden brown after being slow-roasted over charcoal, emitting an enticing aroma.
Yashamaru made this for Rasa, who had worked hard all day.
With the remaining fish, Yashamaru made miso soup.
The broth was clear, the fish finely minced, and paired with a small amount of desert-exclusive sand leeks and kelp. It was simmered until soft and tender, fresh without being fishy.
It was specifically for Karura's prenatal care.
Besides that, there were dishes suitable for Temari and Kankuro.
There were sweets, salt-grilled desert mushrooms, soy-braised radish...
The dinner at Rasa's house was quite abundant.
Temari and Kankuro scrambled to eat.
Rasa seemed to have something on his mind; he stopped after a few bites with his chopsticks.
Kankuro took the opportunity to pull Rasa's grilled fish in front of himself, and Temari also took the chance to fight him for it.
Yashamaru reminded them, "Slow down, Temari, Kankuro. The fish has bones."
Temari nodded, "Don't worry, Uncle. Monkfish bones are very large; we can see them."
Kankuro gave Yashamaru a thumbs up, "Uncle, the fish you made is delicious."
"You flatter me!"
Temari was three years old, born in the 47th year of Konoha, roughly the same age as Inuzuka Hana and Ayame.
Kankuro was a year younger than Temari; a two-year-old child could already run and jump.
Drinking the fish soup, Karura saw that Rasa seemed troubled and asked, "Rasa, is something on your mind?"
Yashamaru glanced at Rasa, thinking that Rasa was distressed about Sasori.
The news of Sasori's return was restricted to the Ninjas. Karura, Temari, and Kankuro didn't know that the Village's famous Sasori of the Red Sand had returned.
He said, "Lord Kazekage, there's actually no need to worry so much about Sasori. Even if he really did that thing, in the face of Uchiha Madara's threat, he has no choice but to fight alongside the Village."
Karura was stunned, "Sasori? Sasori of the Red Sand is back?"
Upon hearing this, the two children fighting over the grilled fish also paused.
Kankuro was the most excited: "Lord Sasori is back! The Village's most legendary Puppeteer is back!"
"Uncle, tell me quickly, where is Lord Sasori? I want to go see him!"
Though Temari and Kankuro were young, being born into the Kazekage's family, their dreams of being Ninjas had begun to awaken early on.
Temari, like other children, wanted to be a powerful Ninja.
Kankuro, on the other hand, was interested in puppet toys and wanted to be a Puppeteer.
Rasa nodded and answered Karura's question, "That's right, Sasori is back, and he's become stronger than before."
"His Puppet Technique has entered the ultimate realm of a Puppeteer—the Hundred Puppet Technique! When he fought Pakura earlier, he controlled over a hundred Ninjas at once."
"Hundred... what? What's that?" Kankuro was somewhat confused.
He hadn't even begun learning to use Chakra yet and was far from the level of a Puppeteer! Naturally, he didn't know about the ultimate realm of Puppeteers.
"The Hundred Puppet Technique!!"
Karura was shocked and quickly set down the soup bowl and chopsticks in her hands.
Karura wasn't a puppet-style Ninja; she was just a civilian official of the Village. However, as a Sunagakure Ninja, she naturally understood what a Puppeteer's Hundred Puppet Technique signified.
Simultaneously controlling over a hundred puppets—such power could instantly destroy a small nation, comparable to an elite Ninja unit.
Karura then said with some pleasant surprise, "This is wonderful. With Sasori here, our Sunagakure's strength won't be in such an awkward position."
Currently, Sunagakure only had three top fighters: Rasa, Pakura, and Chiyo.
And Chiyo was getting on in years.
If they went to the Five Kage Summit like this, the other Villages would think Sunagakure was there to beg or scam for welfare.
How embarrassing would that be?
Having a top-tier Puppeteer like Sasori join made things much better; the power of the Hundred Puppet Technique could wipe out a small country in an instant.
What war needed most was this kind of coordinated force—ideally one commander and a group of puppet soldiers.
Because in large-scale military operations, military discipline must be strict.
Rasa also knew that Sunagakure would be much better off with Sasori's inclusion, but it also threatened his own position.
If they defeated Madara, Rasa would have to face the threat posed by Sasori.
Sasori's influence was much greater than Pakura's.
He had the support of Chiyo and Ebizo. Looking at how the Puppeteers in the Village reacted to seeing Sasori as if they were seeing the sun, they would basically all support him.
Furthermore, Sasori's personal strength was such that Pakura struggled to deal with him even without his puppets. If he had his puppets, who would be his match?
However, Rasa's worries were redundant.
Sasori still had skeletons in his closet; he and the high-ranking officials were well aware that Sasori had poisoned the Third Kazekage.
As long as he held onto Sasori's dark past, it was absolutely impossible for Sasori to threaten his position.
After Madara was eliminated, it would be best if Sasori left the Village.
Rasa thought it through, not hearing Karura calling him several times.
"Rasa, Rasa!"
Rasa snapped out of it and quickly apologized.
"Sorry, I wasn't paying attention. Because of the Uchiha Madara matter, there's been a lot going on in the Village lately, and I'm a bit tired."
Karura filled a bowl of fish soup for Rasa and said considerately, "Then drink more soup to nourish your body."
"Okay!"
Looking at the virtuous Karura, Rasa suddenly felt a pang of guilt.
Previously, he wasn't just worried about the Village's affairs, but also the matter of the Shukaku Jinchuriki.
Madara's goal was the Tailed Beasts, so Sunagakure had to hide Shukaku well.
After Shukaku was extracted from the body of the monk Bunpuku, it was sealed in the tea kettle which was its original sealing tool. The restraining power of the tea kettle was not ideal.
Shukaku was constantly rampaging, and every rampage would damage the seal on the tea kettle.
Rasa had always been using Magnet Release to suppress Shukaku's rampages.
A Tailed Beast was still safest when sealed in the belly of a Jinchuriki.
Rasa had already decided to make the child in Karura's womb the Jinchuriki of Shukaku.
This was also for the child's sake.
While being a Jinchuriki was painful, at least they would possess the power of a Tailed Beast and wouldn't be taken advantage of by others.
In the original work, it was always Gaara who taken advantage of others, and the people in the Village only dared to give him the cold shoulder.
In the eyes of a Ninja like Rasa, being given the cold shoulder was just tempering a Ninja's will. If a Ninja couldn't endure, could they still be called a Ninja?
For the future of the Village and the future of the child, no matter what, Rasa had to arrange the matter of Shukaku as soon as possible.