Chapter 281: A Chilling Truth, the Traitor’s Cannon!

Chapter 281: A Chilling Truth, the Traitor's Cannon!

The tightly shut gates of Yunming City could block ordinary people, but not shinobi.

Especially since the towering walls of this massive city were more symbolic than practical.

Following Sasori, the three swiftly maneuvered through the dense crowd gathered at the city gates. After covering some distance, they arrived at a lower section of the city wall where the defenses were lax.

Infusing chakra into their feet, they sprinted vertically up the wall and leaped over.

Beyond the outer wall was a residential district.

Like shadows, the three figures quickly vanished into the maze of densely packed buildings.

At this moment—

Chiyo, who was being escorted into the city gates by the Kumo emissaries, suddenly had a strange feeling.

"Odd... Who was watching me just now?"

"This gaze feels so familiar."

Beside her, Pakura turned her head toward the halted Chiyo and couldn't help but ask:

"Chiyo-sama, what's wrong?"

"It's nothing..." Chiyo shook her head, then raised her gaze toward the enormous city before her. Her eyes passed over the bustling marketplace at the entrance, past the layers of buildings climbing the mountainside, and finally settled on the highest and flattest area of the city—the grand palace.

Taking advantage of the moment when Yura, the third member of their group, stepped forward to negotiate with the emissaries, she narrowed her eyes and spoke slowly:

"Pakura."

"I haven't told you the purpose of this trip along the way, but I believe that as someone who carries the will and responsibility of a Kage, you should have already come to your own conclusion."

"What do you think is the most important thing for us to do right now?"

Pakura fell silent for a moment before speaking reluctantly:

"Chiyo-sama... he is already the Fourth Kazekage. All I can do now is my best to protect the village!"

"Rasa, huh..." Hearing this, Chiyo's gaze turned cold.

Her grandson, Sasori of the Red Sand, had defected.

Her younger brother, Ebizō, had died.

These were the final straws that broke this lonely old woman.

Yet, as she delved deeper into the war, she uncovered truths that left her utterly disillusioned.

It was true that Uchiha Ci and Namikaze Minato were the ones who killed Ebizō. But it was war.

If he was weaker, then dying on the battlefield was not something incomprehensible.

She had placed a bounty on Uchiha Ci, ultimately forcing him to the brink of death, where he fell off a cliff and vanished. That grudge had been settled.

However—

Based on the timing and route of Rasa's secret movements that day, he had clearly already arrived at the battlefield.

He had ample time to rescue Ebizō.

And yet, in the end, only Rasa returned to the village—with Ebizō's corpse.

If Rasa had deliberately chosen to stand by and let him die…

Chiyo's gaze darkened. She took a deep breath and then, as if nothing had happened, smiled kindly at Pakura.

"It's fine. Just think of it as an old lady chatting with you. The future of the village ultimately belongs to your generation."

Hearing this, Pakura's eyes lit up slightly.

Rasa had been so preoccupied with securing his position as Kazekage that he had been running around like a workhorse, constantly putting out fires.

If that were the case… did she still have a chance?

Her breathing became slightly heavier, and she fixed her gaze, analyzing the situation:

"Suna is fighting Konoha alone. Without the support of the Daimyō, even with Rasa's gold dust financing the war, we can't sustain it for long."

"In this situation, our only chance of winning is to form an alliance between the Wind, Lightning, and Earth nations to strike against the Land of Fire together!"

"And right now, our priority should be to establish this defensive pact among the three nations."

"For that..."

Pakura's gaze also locked onto the majestic palace in the distance.

"We can't just sit and wait for the opportunity to slip by. We must take decisive action to shift the conflict onto Konoha and force Kumo to retaliate against them!"

Chiyo looked at Pakura, smiling faintly before tilting her head up to gaze at the thick clouds above Yunming City.

"Correct."

"And that opportunity is coming soon."

"Tonight, on a dark and windy night—perfect for killing."

A break in the heavy clouds above revealed a sliver of sky.

Sunlight pierced through the gap, casting light upon the entrance of a quaint, three-story teahouse, illuminating the wooden sign hanging at its door—

"Crow's Tea."

Sasori pushed open the long-neglected door, sending a puff of dust into the air.

"Come in."

Since Kumo lay beyond the capital of the Land of Lightning, anyone traveling to Kumo would inevitably pass through this city. This safe house had been secured by Sasori when he was tracking Orochimaru and the Konoha shinobi.

Directly across from the teahouse was a two-story general store—previously a hidden Konoha outpost where Orochimaru had stayed for some time.

Following Sasori inside, the three of them ascended to the second floor. Sasori then pulled aside a hidden panel, revealing an entrance to the third floor.

The moment Uchiha Ci stepped inside, his eyes widened in shock.

The hidden room was small, but it was filled with tools—wood, bamboo, hammers, saws—and an entire wall stacked with ninja tools.

And on the opposite wall—

There were some very different-looking contraptions.

From antique triple-barreled muskets and matchlock firearms to more refined revolvers and handguns,

Uchiha Ci even spotted something that looked eerily familiar—

A triple-barreled cannon!

It bore a striking resemblance to the chakra artillery used by Kumo, except it lacked a mounting stand—looking more like something you could shoulder and fire while shouting "RPG!"

Seeing this arsenal, Uchiha Ci couldn't help but click his tongue in astonishment.

Who would've thought? This seemingly serious guy, Sasori, turned out to be quite the arms dealer.

Taking advantage of Sasori's momentary distraction, Uchiha Ci sneaked over, picked up a matchlock gun, and mimed aiming it.

Might as well get a feel for it!

"The second floor is for living quarters. Stay out of the third floor unless necessary."

Sasori's words were cut short as Oyashiro En, after glancing around at the "toys" in the room, shook his head and rubbed his chin.

"I'll find another place to stay. Saw some interesting people on the way here."

Then, looking at Uchiha Ci, who was clearly fascinated by the firearms, he smirked and added bluntly:

"I'll find you later. Don't forget what you promised me."

With that, he left, cradling his daughter.

Uchiha Ci wasn't worried about him. After all, this guy would later become one of the most powerful black market bosses in the entire shinobi world. He might not know much about the current landscape, but few could outmaneuver him.

Right now, it was clear that Oyashiro En no longer wanted to be controlled by others—he was determined to gather intelligence on his own.

Sasori didn't stop him. Instead, he turned to Uchiha Ci with interest.

"You like these things?"

"Then stay and help me with an experiment."

"I'll even let you keep all these inferior products as a gift."

As he spoke, Sasori took two steps forward, pulled down the massive triple-barreled cannon from the wall, and hoisted it onto his shoulder—

Aiming it straight at Uchiha Ci!

This cannon never had a name before, but now Sasori decided—

It would be called the Traitor's Cannon!

Since his handguns' chakra cores couldn't penetrate this brat's skeletal armor—

Then what about this heavy weapon, a scaled-down replica of Kumo's chakra artillery, designed for one devastating shot before breaking?

Meeting Sasori's expectant gaze, Uchiha Ci's lips twitched.

Then, without hesitation, he shook his head like a rattling drum.

"No way! Absolutely not!"

"I'm out of here!

A ninja's intelligence must never be exposed to someone untrustworthy.

Their relationship wasn't close enough for that, and Uchiha Ci hadn't forgotten that this bastard still wanted to kill him!

"Oh?" Sasori sighed with a hint of regret, shaking his head slightly as he watched Uchiha Ci's retreating figure with deep, shadowed eyes.

"Hmph!"

With a cold snort, Sasori raised his hand and summoned a scroll, swiftly jotting down some information before sealing it inside a small puppet.

Among the three-person Suna squad, the turbaned Jōnin, Yura, was actually a spy he had planted inside Sunagakure using his Brainwashing Sand Jutsu.

"Perfect. When retrieving intelligence, I'll have Yura investigate this 'Uchiha Fugaku' as well."

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