With schemes brewing in her mind, Pakura quickly and vigorously stood up.
"Sasori, it's getting late. We should leave."
Ryou was stunned. Pakura was calling it quits before they'd even finished their tea. Was it her time of the month?
Yashamaru tried to make them stay, saying, "Pakura, you're leaving before even drinking your tea? Why not stay a while longer?"
Ryou nodded. "Yeah, Pakura. I know you're in a hurry, but don't be in such a rush."
"It wasn't easy for me to come to Karura's house. Can't you let me have a good chat with her?"
"Chat about what? What do you and Karura have to talk about?"
Pakura grabbed Ryou's shoulder, hoisted him up, and then said to Yashamaru and Karura, "Sorry, you two, we're busy going on a date, so we won't be joining you."
"ฅ(๑д๑)ฅ!!" Karura and Yashamaru were speechless.
Pakura briskly led Ryou away, leaving behind a shocked Karura and Yashamaru.
The siblings looked at each other, both seeing the horror in each other's eyes.
Pakura and Sasori are on a date?!
Since Pakura admitted it herself, they couldn't help but believe it.
Dammit, Pakura is already at that age, practically a middle-aged woman, yet she has a preference for young boys.
Of course, ordinary people would only curse like that.
A gentle pair of siblings like Karura and Yashamaru naturally offered their blessings.
Karura smiled and said, "This is good too. Pakura has been single for so many years; it's nice that she and Sasori ended up together."
Yashamaru scratched his head. "But I feel their personalities are opposites. Pakura has a fiery temper, like an ant on a hot pan that can't stop for a second."
"While Sasori is extremely withdrawn, always alone, and unwilling to accept the outside world."
Karura stroked the Shukaku toy and smiled. "Perhaps this is personality complementarity! One is as active as a rabbit in the desert, and the other is as cold as a scorpion that likes the darkness."
"Love is the mutual completion of each other's lives."
Karura said as she patted Yashamaru's head, "Yashamaru, if only you were a girl. Your gentleness and earnestness would definitely save that child Sasori from the darkness."
Yashamaru brushed Karura's hand aside. "Sister, stop joking."
Karura's laughter grew a bit louder, then slowly faded. She stroked her chin and said, "I don't think he is Sasori."
"Sister!"
Yashamaru's expression turned serious. "I think so too, but Sasori's identity was personally confirmed by Granny Chiyo. She wouldn't fail to recognize her own grandson, would she?"
"Furthermore, a Forbidden Jutsu like the Hundred Puppet Technique could only be developed by a genius in the Puppet Technique like Sasori."
"If he's a fake, I really don't know what he's after?"
If an undercover agent or an impostor's talent is even better than the original, wouldn't it be better to just be himself? Why bother playing someone else?
Karura seemed to fall into a memory. "I just feel that someone like Sasori has been walking the path of darkness from the start; he shouldn't have become so human."
Yashamaru shook his head. "I think this is Sasori's change from being away! Having defected for three years without the Village's protection, Sasori must have faced the cold shoulders of the outside world."
"No matter how proud a person is, they will bow their head after knowing the coldness of the world."
Karura shook her head. "No, a person's soul does not change easily. I have seen Sasori's soul; it was a scorpion radiating death and darkness."
Yashamaru then asked, "If Sasori really is an outsider in disguise, then did your chakra not respond, sister?"
Karura's chakra was very special. If the chakra of most Ninjas represented power, then Karura's chakra represented protection.
As long as someone nearby wanted to harm Karura, her chakra would warn her and automatically protect her.
Karura shook her head. "No, my chakra didn't react. Sasori didn't have any intention of harming me."
"Maybe I'm overthinking it. Sasori has indeed changed a bit after being away for a few years."
Yashamaru, however, frowned. If it were truly a dangerous figure like Sasori, his sister's chakra would definitely have put up a defense.
Because Sasori was not the type to play nice.
The fact that there was no response now actually made Yashamaru vigilant.
This person is suspicious!
...
Pakura led Ryou out of Karura's house and headed toward the desert area far from the Village center.
Ryou's mouth didn't stop the whole way, constantly lecturing Pakura.
"Pakura, how can you speak so ambiguously? You're an old woman nearly 30 years old and you're dating me, aren't you ashamed?"
"However, I, Sasori of the Red Sand, am not unforgiving. If you let me do some cupping therapy on your beautiful back, I'll agree to be your boyfriend."
A cross-shaped vein popped on Pakura's forehead. She could hardly restrain herself from using Scorch Release to give this impostor a good roasting.
But she couldn't. Endure. Once they were out of Sunagakure, she'd see how she could burn him to death.
Ryou looked at Pakura's flushed face and laughed, "I hit the nail on the head, didn't I? You lewd woman."
"Who told you to dress so provocatively? You really lack feminine virtue. After you enter my family's door, you're not allowed to be so flashy."
"Of course, you can't dress like this in front of outsiders, but at home, it's best if you don't wear anything at all."
"I, Sasori of the Red Sand, just happen to like the provocative type."
The real Sasori inside Ryou's chest stung him hard. This guy was just making things up and slandering his name again.
Pakura endured it fiercely, a smile still plastered on her face. "Whatever you say, whatever you say. I'll make sure you burn up in a bit."
Ryou couldn't help but laugh. "Good, good, good, I just like it hot."
"Let's go, let's go. Seeing you like this, you're definitely taking me out of the Village for some outdoor action. You really can't hold back your fire!"
"But I recently practiced a peculiar Ninjutsu where my tongue can grow at will. I'll let you have a good look later."
Ryou took the opportunity to display Orochimaru's Soft Physique Modification technique, which he had obtained from Jiraiya a while ago.
Suddenly, his tongue extended like a venomous snake, reaching a full 30cm, as long as a forearm.
Pakura looked at Ryou's long tongue in shock. This could kill someone.
Wait—
Not that.
"Isn't this Orochimaru's Soft Physique Modification? How do you know his Ninjutsu?"
The fame of Orochimaru, one of the Konoha Sannin, resounded throughout the Ninja World. During the Second Great Ninja War, Sunagakure fought against Konoha, and as a high-level combatant, it was impossible for Pakura not to know the intelligence on Orochimaru's Ninjutsu.
On the battlefield, Orochimaru often extended his tongue very long to use as a weapon.
Female Ninjas would be scared away just by the sight of it.
Ryou retracted his tongue and laughed, "Naturally, I picked it up off the ground while I was defecting."
"Pakura, let me tell you, only after leaving the Village did I realize that opportunities are everywhere outside. You can pick up a Forbidden Jutsu just like that."
"Nonsense!"
Pakura didn't believe him, and she became increasingly certain of Ryou's true identity.
The two continued to walk toward the outskirts of the Village while chatting.
When they reached a sand-wall fortification, they were stopped by Sunagakure Ninjas. Pakura showed her identity, and the Sunagakure guards immediately let Pakura and Ryou leave the central residential area of the Village.
They went to the Demon Desert, which was similar to Konoha's Forest of Death.
This was the trial ground where Sunagakure and Konoha jointly held the Chunin Exams in the original work. Located in the suburbs of the Sunagakure, it was completely enclosed by sturdy fortress walls and was a restricted area under strict Sunagakure control.