The tightly locked gates of Unming City could bar ordinary people, but they could not stop a ninja. Especially since the outer walls of this massive city were more symbolic than functional.
Following Sasori, the trio moved swiftly through the crowded throngs at the gate. After traveling a short distance, they reached a low section of the wall where the defenses were sparse.
Channels of chakra adhered to the soles of their feet as they sprinted vertically up the wall and leaped down. Behind the outer wall lay a residential district. The three transformed into dark shadows, quickly vanishing into the dense clusters of buildings beneath the ramparts.
At that moment, Chiyo, who was being welcomed by a Kumo envoy as she walked through the city gates, suddenly felt a faint sensation.
"Strange... Who was watching this old woman just now?"
"That gaze felt so familiar..."
Beside her, Pakura turned her head and looked at Chiyo, who had come to a halt. "Elder Chiyo, what's wrong?"
"It's nothing." Chiyo shook her head and looked up at the massive city before her. Her gaze swept past the bustling market at the entrance, over the rows of mountain-side buildings, and toward the flattest terrain and the tallest palace in the center of the city.
Taking advantage of the moment Yura went forward to negotiate with the envoy, she narrowed her eyes and spoke slowly.
"Pakura."
"Although I haven't told you the purpose of this trip, I believe that someone with your Will of Shadow and sense of responsibility has already formed her own answers."
"In your opinion, what is it that we most need to do right now?"
Pakura remained silent for a moment before speaking with a trace of bitterness. "Elder Chiyo, Rasa is already the Fourth Kazekage. All I can do is my best to protect this village!"
"Rasa, eh..." Hearing that name, Chiyo's gaze grew cold.
The defection of her grandson, Sasori of the Red Sand, followed by the death of her brother, Ebizo, had been the final straws for the lonely old woman. As she delved deeper into her investigation of that war, she gradually uncovered truths that left her utterly chilled.
Ren Uchiha and Minato Namikaze were indeed the ones who killed Ebizo, but that was because of the war! Falling in battle due to inferior skill was not incomprehensible. She had placed a bounty on Ren Uchiha, eventually forcing him to vanish after a near-death leap off a cliff; that grudge was settled.
However...
Based on the calculations of Rasa's secret travel route and timing that day, he had clearly already arrived at the battlefield. He had ample time to reinforce Ebizo.
Yet, in the end, he returned to the village alone with Ebizo's corpse.
If it was true that Rasa had deliberately chosen to watch him die...
Chiyo's eyes turned icy. She took a deep breath and turned to Pakura with a kind, nonchalant smile. "It doesn't matter. Just treat it as a heart-to-heart with an old woman. The future of the village belongs to you young people, after all."
Pakura's eyes lit up slightly. To secure the position of Kazekage, Rasa had been working himself to the bone like a mule, putting out fires everywhere. If things were like this, did she still have a chance?
Pakura's breathing grew slightly heavy. Her gaze hardened as she began her analysis. "Suna stands alone against Konoha. Without the Daimyo's support, even with Rasa's Gold Dust supporting the finances, we cannot last. In the current situation, Suna only has a chance to win this war if we unite the power of the Wind, Lightning, and Earth nations to strike at the Land of Fire together!"
"And what we must do now is facilitate a tripartite offensive and defensive alliance between Wind, Lightning, and Earth."
"To that end..." Pakura's gaze also fell upon the glorious Tenshu pavilion in the distance. "We cannot sit and wait for the opportunity to pass. We must use thunderous means to divert the trouble toward Konoha, forcing Kumo to strike at them!"
Chiyo looked at Pakura and smiled. She tilted her head back, squinting at the heavy clouds above Unming City.
"Indeed."
"And that opportunity is coming!"
"Tonight... with the moon hidden and the wind high, it is a perfect night for killing."
A gap opened in the heavy cloud cover. Sunlight pierced through the rift, falling upon the entrance of a quaint, three-story teahouse, illuminating the sign.
The Crow's Tea.
Sasori pushed open the long-neglected door, kicking up a cloud of dust. "Get in."
Kumogakure was further behind the capital, making the city a necessary transit point. This safe house was a shop Sasori had purchased while tracking the Konoha ninjas led by Orochimaru. The two-story general store diagonally across from them was the secret Konoha post where Orochimaru had once stayed.
The three followed Sasori into the teahouse and went up to the second floor. They watched as Sasori pulled back a partition to reveal the opening leading to the third floor.
As soon as he entered the third floor, Ren's eyes widened.
The hidden space was small, but it was packed with tools: wood, bamboo, hammers, hand saws, and a wall covered in ninja tools. On the opposite wall hung items with a completely different aesthetic.
From ancient three-barreled guns and matchlocks to more refined pistols and revolvers... Ren even saw a very familiar three-barreled cannon! It looked like a scaled-down model of Kumogakure's Chakra Cannon, but without a carriage. It looked like something you could hoist onto your shoulder, scream "RPG!", and fire.
Seeing this room full of machinery, Ren couldn't help but tsk. He hadn't expected Sasori to be such a "tech-bro" hoarder. Taking advantage of the other's distraction, Ren quietly stepped forward, picked up a bird gun, and started aiming it.
"You can stay on the second floor. Do not disturb me on the third floor unless it's important. Also, you—"
Before Sasori could finish, En Oyashiro glanced at the pile of toys and shook his head. "I'll stay somewhere else. I saw some interesting people on the way."
En glanced at Ren, who was obsessed with the gun, and curled his lip. He didn't see the appeal of these toys. "I'll come find you later," he said directly. "Don't forget what you promised me."
With that, he turned and left, carrying his daughter. Ren wasn't worried about him; the man was destined to be the top black-market broker in the ninja world. Even if he was currently out of the loop, few people could take him down. Clearly, En didn't want to be restricted by others and preferred to gather intel using his own methods.
Sasori didn't stop En from leaving. Instead, he looked at Ren with interest. "You like these things?"
"Then why not stay and help me with an experiment? I'll let you have these 'inferior products' as a reward."
As he spoke, he stepped forward and took the thick, three-barreled cannon from the wall. He hoisted it onto his shoulder and aimed it straight at Ren!
The cannon didn't have a name before, but now, Sasori intended to call it—The Anti-Skeleton Cannon!
If the power of a handgun's chakra core couldn't pierce the skeletal layer on this brat, then what about this heavy weapon? It was a collection of multiple chakra cores, a replica of Kumo's Great Cannon designed to be fired once before breaking. What would the result be?
Facing Sasori's expectant gaze, Ren's mouth twitched. He immediately shook his head like a rattle.
"No! Absolutely not!"
"I'm leaving too!"
Information about a ninja's abilities should never be revealed to someone untrustworthy. Their relationship wasn't that close—and Ren hadn't forgotten that this bird-man still wanted to kill him!
"Is that so?" Sasori shook his head with some regret, his eyes dark as he watched Ren's retreating back.
"Hmph!"
Sasori snorted and moved his fingers, summoning a scroll. He began to write, then stuffed it into a small puppet. Yura, the turbanned Suna Jonin in Chiyo's team, was a spy he had planted using the Brainwashing Sand.
"Perfect. While I'm getting intel, I'll have Yura investigate the true identity of this 'Fugaku Uchiha'."
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